Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1904-01-22
LUNAR sUpnRsr1Ir1ONs
Man in the Moon was Seen by the
Ancients, who also Saw Some
other Things in Her Face

Other Things in Her Face
In his recently published book on
the moon, Prof. W. H. Pickering
presents an interesting account of
the superstitions in which the moon
plays an important part.
Probably even in prehistoric times
men have noticed the face Of the
"man in the moon. Plutareh
noticed it and even wrote a whole
book on the face. But besides this,
many other objects are supposed to
be visible The dark markings on
the surface are likened by the Chi
nese to a monkey pounding rice. In
India, they are said to resemble a
rabbit. To the Persians, they seem
like our own oceans and continents
rejecting as in a mirror.
The size of the moon, as seen by
different persons, varies from that
of a cart wheel to silver dollar.
To many it seems about a foot in
diameter, from which Prof. Young
concludes that to the average man
the distance Of the surface Of the
sky is about 11O feet. It is certain
that artists usually represent the
moon much too large in size in their
paintings. Occasionally they repre-
sent 1t in evening scenes with the
horns turned downward instead OF
upward, whereas they must always
point away from the sun. The true
angular size of the moon is about
half degree, so that 1t can always
be concealed behind a lead pencil
held at arms length.
The majority of the superstitions
relating to the moon relate to the
weather. Besides, we have the
superstition that sleeping in the
moonlight, especially if the moon be
full, induces insanity. Witness our
word "lunaoy, in which the belief
is expressed. Farmers believe that
the moon exercises a certain in
huence over vegetation, and that
beans should be planted when the
moon is light and potatoes when it
is dark. Many believe that a change
in the weather will come at about
the time that there is a change in
the moon. Prof. Pickering points
out that since the moon changes
every seven and a half days, every
change in the weather must come
within four days of a change in the
moon, and that changes will neces-
sarily come within two days of a
lunar change. This superstition
must not be confused with the real,
but ill-defined, seven-day period of
the weather, which is genuine
phenomenon and holds true to
certain extent. Thus if one Sunday
is stormy there is a probability that
the several Sundays following may
also be stormy. This phenomenon
Is probably due to terrestrial causes
and has nothing whatever to do
with the moon.
Some people believe that if the
horns Of the new moon will hold
water, it will be a dry month that
if they are so tipped that the water
will run out, it will be rainy
Nearly as many people hold the
reverse view. Both views are wrong.
The line joining the moons horns is
always perpendicular to the direction
Of the sun and, therefore, depends
merely upon the place of the moon
in its orbit.
It has been said that thunder
storms are infiusnced by the moon.
Nearly l2, 900 observations collected
by Hazen in the United States in the
year 1884 show a prepondsrance Of
thirty-three per cent in the first
half of the lunar month. The great
est number Of thunder storms come
between tho new moon and the first
quarter the least number between
full moon and the last quarter
This is, perhaps, the only satistac.
tory evidence that we have that the
weather is at all Influenced by the
moon. Even in this case the effect
is so slight that it has only a
| theoretical interest.