356 On the Lunar Cycle. 



more. This grand revolution (says Mr. Smith, p, 253) seems to 

 have heen entirely unknown to the ancients." And I may add, 

 truly, sir, this period might well be unknown to the ancients, who, 

 with all their adsurdities, never thought of such a useless astrono- 

 mical dream ! The best answer is, that it requires no less than 

 12 or 13000 years to prove the assertion; and since there are no 

 historical data to maintain the argument, the whole rests upon 

 hypothesis. The manner and principle bv which this calcula- 

 tion is made is largely shown in Mr, Ferguson's Treatise ; and 

 whoever calculates by the same process will arrive at the same 

 conclusion: but I deny that the principle is correct beyond cer- 

 tain limits; as for instance, that the eclipse of the sun which 

 happened about 88 years after theConquest, traversed the voids 

 of space ever since the Creation, and never appeared until A. Do 

 1153, when it was eclipsed 11 digits on January 26th. I say, 

 ■\ve must take all this upon trust, that no such eclipse happened 

 or could hapjien from the creation of the world until that time, 

 computing this interval at 5157 years! Mr. Utting computes 

 the entire period of any respective eclipse about 760 Chaldean 

 periods, or about 13700 vears ; the whole terrestrial phenomena 

 being completed in about 76 Chaldean periods, or 1370 years, 

 allowing for some irregularities in the lunar motions which may 

 lengthen or protract this period 100 years, page l5. So that 

 subtracting 1370 years from 13700, we have 12330 years for 

 the said eclipse to travel ificognilo in the voids of space. Mr, 

 Ferguson attributes the vast length of this period to the falling 

 back of the line of conjunction at the rate of 28 minutes 12 se- 

 conds every Chaldean period, page 24S : thus all this superla- 

 tively grand and exquisite system is founded on subtilties, and a 

 difference of a few minutes and seconds of a degree in eighteen 

 years ! 



Mr. Utting pursues his lunar calculations to the vast amount 

 of 365 12 solar years, in which he savs are contained 488695 lu- 

 nations, wanting about 5" only of the line of conjunction of the 

 O and 5 . Science ought to be indebted to so laborious a calcu- 

 lation, jM-ovided it be true. But let me ask if Dr. Maskelyne ever 

 ventured to obtrude such romantic speculations on the public, or 

 any others profound in this science, and experienced in the intri- 

 cacies and subtilties of the lunar motions. It was acknowledged 

 by La Caille, an excellent astronomer, thai there is no likelihaod, 

 of coming of. a perfect theory of the moon, page 373: in short, 

 any astronomical computation surpassing the age of the world 

 itself, and founded on mere arithmetical process, is only fit for 

 the arlmiralion of the credulous, and is of no utility in human 

 concerns. 



The 



