Norwich bulletin., 1913-02-12
The Moon and It's Changes.

| 1 prompt the writing of this letter.
 From time fmmemoriaI men have
 associated the coming of a storm with l the simultaneous appearance of the
 new or the full moon Is there any | thing in this, other than fancy or superstition? To come to a decision we must weigh the question carefully,
 applying all the causes and possible
 effects, not ignoring possibilities.
 First of all. what is the moon? The
 moon is simply great mass of rocky material about one-eiehtieth the size of the earth's mass. The moon is cold except where the sunshine strikes it.
 Its only light (except for the possibil- tions) is reflected sunlight The moon is 240,000 miles distant.
 How could the moon affect our weather2 Not by sunlight, for there can be no possible modification of sun
 light into moonlight of other nature than lessened intensity. q say not pos
 sible. basing the statement upon ap-
 parently fairly complete knowledge
 that scientists have upon this subject,
 Moonlight, present or absent is but
 One-mfllionth part of sunlight, present
 or absent in possible effect. If the
 cause be magnetic or electrical in na-
 ture, it is difficult to see how the
 moons change of phase could bring
 about weather changes which would be
 at all coincident with weather changes.
 There is one possible cause left. The
 moon may send out unknown radia-
 tfons akin to those of radium. If the
 moon does affect the weather then we
 must seek the cause here. Even in
 this case we could scarcely expect CO.,
 incidence of moon-phases and weather
 changes. The most. we could expect
 would be variations of weather that
 harmonized roughly with the periods
 of new and full moon. The sunshine
 lasts upon the moon about fourteen
 days, an equal period of comparative
 dl lrlxF int laofx +I,n
 rfods of sunlight The moons surface
 beyond much doubt undergoes ex-
 treme variations of temperature
 conditions which might well set up
 disturbances in such areas of the moon
 as might possess salts of radium.
 In the preceding paragraph I have
 listed possible causes of weather
 changes possessed by the moon. Let
 us now approach the question from
 another standpoint. If there is any
 reason to believe that the moon can
 affect our weather, then the records of
 the United States weather bureau
 should uphold that belief. Though men
 interested have carefully compared
 weather changes covering a period of
 some thirty years with the moon
 phases of those same years, they have
 been able to find no condolences frem which any rule could be deduced. The two changes run along haphazard, re- gardless each of the other. This alone is enough to convince any reasonable
 person that the moon affects the weather in no appreciable degree-any possible effects being so small as to be beyond finding out.
 Again. let us approach the question from third standpoint. The moon goes about the earth every month, tween us and the sun. now outside us. When it is outside we can see the whole of it's lighted side Qor the moon like the earth has one side lighted, the rnf6 -1-A 1Nfafy nnrI us and the sun it's lighted side being l next the sun and its dark next to us, l we see none of its lighted side. Two | days later it has swung out from be- | tween and the sun enough for us 1 to see crescent of it's lighted side. |
 If one considers the. facts mentioned | in the preceding paragraph, it will be l a apparent that new moon comes fer the | entire earth at the same instant. Chi | na. South Africa, Panama, Norwich, | all have the new moon the same even | ing. So it is with the full moon. If l we have the glorious light of the full ! moon on February 20th, so does every | other individual upon the face of the | earth. How is it with weather changes? | Taken the earth over there are all va l rieties of weather at any selected time. | At one place storms are clearing away, 1 at others they are in full blast at oth | CTS they are just beginning, at others 1 only the signs of storms appear Gn- 1 cluding, if you will, the existing phase | of the moon among those signs). At | other places the weather is warm and | clear, at others cold and clear, at oth- ] CTS all degrees of fair weather, etc., | etc.
 Now I would candidIy ask anyone | who believes in moon weather signs l he thinks that one particular | phase of the moon can simultaneously | account fo1 the hundreds of weather l conditions the world over? It is not | necessary to leave our own country to | A ct say, in western Texas. At this time l the moon has just reached the first | quarter. Down in Texas a man looks | at the approaching storm and remarks | night The storm moves on, and next | day it is over Kansas. A farmer in l Kansas remarks to his wife, T knew | this storm was coming, for the moon | night before last" The next | day the storm has reached Tennessee, 1 There storekeeper looks out his door | way and remarks to the customer who has just received his plug of tobacco.
 T suspected this storm was coming, for the moon changed the night before the night before last" By the next l day the storm is over Pennsylvania, and no very confident remarks are made about 1t, though some bold per son may say that the moon brought l 1t, the delay being only accidental When it finally reaches New England the meon-change is so long past that | nOtnlnB IS Sdlu aDOuC the cause Of that l particular storm, Even less is said about the splendid weather that has l. prevailed for four days, though in ev- cry village throughout the length and breadth of New England only four l lays before dire forebodings of stormy l weather had been offered when the moon was seen in the first quarter
 It is very easy to account for a be- lief in weather signs. Like all other suPefstitions they are due to coinci- fences. Let a farmer and his wife start out some day on a trip to their | 'elatises ten miles distant They are out Of sight of their house when s squirrel skipS across the road l. n front of the horse. Nothing Is | thought of il at the time but upon their ,eturn they recall the fact while liewing the smoking remains of their beloved home. That season squirrels Ire plentiful and a neighbor and his f. wife upon their return home to find he best COW dead. recall that squfr- II .el crossed in front of their horse ear \ that morning. Thereafter the easy thinking people of that neighborhood urn back when the kindly squirrel ,ives the warning.
 The moon offers aest intsEestiaS