HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



49 



LUNAR INFLUENCES. 



Bv A. W. BUCKLAND, 



Author of "The World Beyond the Esterelles," &c. &c., IMember of the Anthropological Institute, and 



Hon. Member of the Bath Lit. and Phil. Association. 



graph 



following 



para- 

 from a con- 

 temporary, has to do 

 with certain lunar 

 phenomena very 

 little studied or 

 understood, even by 

 astronomers ; but 

 which can hardly be 

 ignored, in face of 

 the persistent testi- 

 mony of practical 

 agriculturists in cli- 

 mates differing from 

 our own : 



" The influence of 

 the moon upon 

 vegetation is an 

 interesting problem 

 awaiting solution. A 

 recent writer upon the subject mentions that wood- 

 cutters in Cape Colony and in India insist that timber 

 is full of sap, and unfit to be cut at full moon. Another 

 ■observation of lunar influence in Cape Colony is the 

 rapid spoiling of meats and other provisions when 

 exposed to moonlight, though this may be due to the 

 fact that the light serves as a guide to insects." * 



Before treating of these influences, which wq 

 believe to be worthy of scientific enquiry and investi- 

 gation, we will just glance at the numerous super- 

 stitions still lingering among us in connection with 

 the lesser light which rules the night, and see 

 whether we can discover a few grains of reason in the 

 apparent absurdities. 



When you first see the new moon you must courtesy, 

 and turn your money for luck. It is unlucky to see 

 the new moon through the window, or over your left 

 shoulder. 



" If the new moon you see 



Neither through glass nor tree, 

 It shall be a lucky moon to thee." 



* " Wit and Wisdom," Jan. 1S89. 



No. 291. — March 1889. 



A Saturday moon is always unlucky, for the 

 weather will be bad during the ensuing month ; but 

 to see the old moon in the lap of the new betokens 

 fine weather. If the crescent moon lies on her back 

 she holds the water in her lap ; but, if the horns are 

 upright, the water will be poured out, and it will be 

 a wet month. You should cut your hair in a waxing, 

 and your nails in a waning moon. Herbs should be 

 gathered when the moon is full, and you must kill 

 your pig when the moon is waxing, or the meat will 

 shrink in cooking. 



These are the principal superstitions relating to 

 the moon, and they seem to fall naturally into three 

 parts : the first of which may be traced to moon- 

 worship, the second to the influence of the moon on 

 the weather, and the third to the effect of moonlight 

 upon plants and animals. 



The worship of the moon is probably as ancient as 

 that of the sun. In most countries the sun held the 

 first place, the moon being regarded as his consort ; 

 but in some ancient religions the moon was regarded 

 as the chief divinity, and was the male element, the 

 sun becoming female. This metamorphosis is still to 

 be traced in many languages, as in the German, but, 

 either as brother and sister, or husband and wife, the 

 sun and the moon have held sway over mortals from 

 ihe earliest times to the present day. 



If we look to the attributes assigned to lunar 

 deities, we shall find they are almost always associated 

 with the chase ; thus the attributes of Artemis, the 

 moon goddess of the Greeks, and of Diana, her 

 representative among the Romans, are the bow and 

 quiver, arrows or a spear, stags and dogs. We may, 

 therefore, conclude that moon-worship originated 

 among hunters, and that the horned divinities met 

 with so frequently in ancient sculptures have some 

 connection with the moon, the horns representing the 

 cusps of the crescent moon. 



We find Assyrian and Egyptian goddesses thus 

 adorned, and it would seem from various notices in 

 the Bible, that the Hebrews were given to the use of 

 "Round tires like the moon" (Isaiah iii. 18) as 



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