The St. Johns herald., 1892-01-07
FACTS ABOUT THE MOON.
Some Popular Superstitions Done
 Away With
An Interesting Lecture on the Actions ard Appearance of the Lunar Body t-Its Influence on the
 Earth.

Prof c. A. Young lately gave an in- teresting lecture On the moon in the as- tronomical course which is being con- ducted under the auspices Of the uni versity extension at Cooper Union.
 The moon, in the first place, has nothing whatever to do, the lecturer said, with the changes in our weather. He had known some farmers in the west who would never plant 9 root crop except on the wane of the moon, while a growing-up crop. like wheat or other grain, he would always insist on plant ing when the moon was waxing. These notions. as well as those held by some sea captains, that the wind would blow for week from the quarter in which the change of the moon took place, were. he declared, without the slightest foundation.
 The moon was an insignificant body in herself It was her proximity to the earth thatgavc her astronomical impor- tance. At the same time her position was unique among satellites. She was by far the largest in proportion to her planet of twenty or more satellites In the solar system, being onc-cightieth the weight of the earth, while no other satellite exceeded one one-thousandth ot the weight of its planet
 In the peculiar motions taken by the moon there were certain elements which, the professor said, the law of gravitation might not fully account for. Astronomy would one day reach the limit of an accurate provision and would reach the field where such ele- ments of uncertainty would creep in as the effect of the human will Speak ing with exactitude, for instance, a man could not build tall building on the surface of the earth without lengthen- ing the day by the change in the posi- ton of matter involved. Such changes as this when accumulated through long periods must produce effects that would make the astronomical problem very difficult one-in fact, an incompatible lonesome day.
 The heat that the moon sends had been measured, he said, and found to be 1-160, 900 of tbat sent by the sun, while the light was 1-600. 900 of the sun light. The s'earth shine" if we could observe
 
 it from the surface of the moon, was fourteen times as brilliant as that we now saw from the moon, and from surface that was about four times as large as the full moon exposed to us. This brilliant light was reflected back from the moon to HIS slightly, render ing just visible that part of the moon in the shade at the time of the new moon.
 The moon, said the professor, had no atmosphere to speak of Its surface as shown by the slides was mass of circular volcanic craters of peculiar formation, but rent by mysterious fis- sures which started from the crater of Tvcho in all directions like the streaks on the skin cf an apple. These Assures were about half Q mile in width and extended into the body of the moon no- body knows how far. They cut through craters and mountain chains in straight lines and their explanation was not yet. Some had attributed them tc the congelation of the central mass like water frozen in a glass globe. Bits of the mountain scenery of the moon were thrown on the curtain and seemed very unattractive, though evidently grand in their very uplineSS. 1. ------ -a--s--+