LU.NAK IMLLKNCES. 269 



four days of June and the first six of July were so wet that the farmers 

 in several of the Middle Stales were apprehensive of losing their wheat 

 crop, and it was said that, at the same time, there was by no means a 

 deficiency of rain in the valley of the Mississippi; and yet several days 

 of smoke immediately succeeded. The same happened towards the 

 close of the same month. Indeed during every month in the year, the 

 conclusion is warranted that, in general, the smoke of the atmosphere 

 has no dependence vvhatever upon the existence of fires, but upon the 

 quantity of moisture and the comparative equilibrium of disturbing- 

 causes. 



LUNAR INFLUENCES. 



From the earliest ages, popular opinion has assigned to our satellite 

 a powerful influence upon the physical condition of planets and animals, 

 and a large class of natural phenomena has been supposed to be sub- 

 jected to its control. Its imputed power is not confined to organic ef- 

 fects, it notoriously governs mental derangement, and aflects to a great 

 extent the healthful performance of the vital functions. 



These opinions have not been confined to particular ages oi coun- 

 tries, but have been universally prevalent; and even at the present day, 

 nothing is more common than to find persons sustaining a high reputa- 

 tion for intelligence, in other respects, who are firm believers in many 

 of the most absurd of the lunar fallacies. 



That the Moon does exert an influence upon our planet, and that it 

 is the cause of several phenomena, no one who is at all acquainted with 

 the laws of gravitation will be disposed to deny : but independently of 

 its attraction, we can discovei no cause of influence, at least none that 

 is sufficient to account for the effects that have been attributed to it. 



It is well known that aqueous and aerial tides, the precession of the 

 equinoxes, and the nutation of the Earth's axis are caused by the attrac- 

 tion of the Moon, and it is barely possible that it may in some way ex- 

 ert an influence upon the delicately constructed and exceedingly sensi- 

 ble nervous system. That it does not exert such an influence is not ea- 

 sily susceptible of direct proof, but it is even more difllcult to show that 

 the affirmative of the question is true. No observations, that have ever 

 been made with sufficient care to be .relied upon, give the least encour- 

 agement for such an opinion. Tlie celebrated discoverer of the planets 

 Pallas and Vesta, Dr. Olbers of Bremen, states that in the course of a 

 long medical practice, during which he directed his attention particularly 

 to the subject, he could not discover the slightest trace of any con- 



