New-York tribune., 1886-01-08
THE EARTnlS DAUGHTER.
nporFsSoR YOUNG TALKsABOUTTFEMOoN

pporFsS0R YOUNG TALKSAB0UTTFEMOON
.s proBABLs ORIGIN AND PRESENT sTArE-AD-
"' VICE TO POETS.
Tho first lecture in the course OF Science
.,n.os~ which are 20 be held weekly hereafter under
A.. m uaccneut of Ingersol Lockwood, was delivered
''O morning in shc bali rnoiD of the Hotel Bfuns-
t Professor Young Of Princeton. The subject was
- ,Io,u." or rs the d.le read The Earths Petrted
nauybter" The lecturer said in opening;
PROBABLY the best way 10 which can introduce 1he
.,,rs have to make this morning is to justify the
oe,yhat sensational title which have chosen IhiheS
~ not to-day what they used to be in the dl'u past II
,oucc has taught us thing more clearly than an
~,ncr It is that all natural phenomena are subject TO
i.nre development evolution. II you choose in inc
,n, mast O, which speak, pact which Is 10 be meas
rsd not by years thousands o1 years. out ny aece
,ha earth was probably neither solid nor n1u'a o"t
oaseous ike the sun, was III Tact tse Ht'ic sun
otaton OF this gaseous mass ou It's axis resucu III INC
hoyins off from the main body perhaps OF rug IKE
no rings of Saturn perhaps OF sono excreScehce winch
I'll, have formed on the surface. Tie matter thns
troUn of soded did tue earth ITSELF ana fored 'e
earth's fatherl9ss daughter the moon In cohhecton
with this 1t is curious to notice the ehecI "hon
,utay produced by tho earth and the moon upon e"ch
othsr through the tides. The tides, which the earth
a he supposed have created on the mO0n DefOre tS
s ware dried up would tend to retard the rotation OF
49, moan nm It's axis until the period OF this rotation cor
rosronle with period OF Its revolution ABOUT 1he
earth Such in fact is now the case or at ieaSe ap'
nroximstely The moon reyolves anOut tho edrIn oce
a. month and having always the same face toward us
mat AXE single roteton Oh Its axis III the same tne
Tn effect Of the tides produced by the moon upon tho
,h,s rotation tends similar way To increase the
,th fonr DAYS The tides the earths surface also
,and IN tow the along In ts 0rOt MAKING IL go
trael aster titan ut would otherwise travel ana 'has
sliehy increasing the length OF the month";
sI call the moon petred, because 1t Is stony ariess
roterless and probably eless. OF course no bounds
no 90, to the creating powsr Of Deity aud there may
n creatures who find the climate Of the sun or the moon
0mte to their liking No form OF "reahIco me- ncw W.
ever as we know t tbs earlh coulu eXist on the
ever, ~ ia curious how little actual influence the
heavenly bodies have upon mundane affairs bio' out W
the stars and the sol@i system @ ,S epco from the
We should only miss them py .nH M auso1v @ 80 ~ oono
heavens at night. But take away the moon apd at olGo
t wan u"nId be ruired Tue great steamships could no
longer to their wharves, ior there Womu nr m
tides Formerly the moon had another grsat ca b
Importance as O chronometer 10 determine .ne
position of ship at sea- it Is neoesSary ~ hnUT t r
The sun furnishes the first aud nowadays
furnish the second But before the Gays S o. ,Sa ,
formed the figures the dial OF the heavens ine times
at the would ccSnpy gySn % e,cssed
beforehand and S any Of paris pns aSd TeenwcS We're
founded With the object perfectiug lunar tables for
the use OF mariners The scientific value OF tne moon
that most OF the bright things that have been dscOveied
of recent wears In mathematics have Deen uScoN
the studv of the moons movements. We nave hnally
traned her su that she walks nearly In the PAIN tnat We
Law ont for her from time to time sie VIII TAKE tne
Lit between her teeth and TO the horror OF
Will appear some four 1--WE miles out OF her coure
What is tie OF these 1eylatioDs we cannot ye1 ue
The moon moves about the earth in an orbit slightly
einticsl which the is scontnuay turning ana tWis'
Ing about in all sorts OF The chief enect OF the
sns attraction. upon the lunar movements is 10 make
the month about hour longer than woulu otnorNIso
be- The moon is the most Respectable sateIlte IN Tue
whole solar system. Ii Is even little heavier tuan
Jupters great satellite Ttsn and In size relative 70 tue
principal body no other satellite approaches H. 10 an
observer stationed the planet Venus the moon wout
annear thesze of Siras and beautiful sight the earh
and moon wCad present moving together through the
heavens AS for the moons reputed lnnuohce on tno
weather need hardly that 1t mas none fet woAlu
hardly dare make such remark before an audience OF
sailors once seriously offended an old sea captain py
ridcung his theory that the wind would always coue
from -e direction which the moon was AT the lnc OF
changing from quarter TO another. nave come
across some other extremely curious supersttos OF LUIS
kind One that carrots, beets, turhlps anu OtuoI
VEGETABLES that grow downward should always pe
grain that grow upward should be planted when the
moon was waxing Artists when they lhint thc moon
usually 1t too large, and sometimes havo seen o
moon represented with its horns pointing doWhWaru,
The horns OF course must alway point away from the
snn word OF ad vice TO poets-When Yoa talk ahCut
the moonlight be sure that the moon did actually shine
on the nlght in question. The author or te Wei
poem on the OF Sir John Moore has fallen INTO thls
error -, ... . ...,..
Professor Young then threw upon the screen series
OF phot graphs Of the moons surface. showing tue pt
cipe cfatera and mountain ranges ana cxPlahou
t teos of the formation OF the cfatcrs, the "Dsorp
ton OF the moons atmosphere, and the Temperature o
its surface.