378 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 
“phases ’’ of the Moon, which add so much to 
her’ beauty and interest. 
Who is there who has not watched them 
with admiration? <“ We first see her as an 
exquisite crescent of pale light in the western 
sky after sunset. Night after night she 
moves further and further to the east, until 
she becomes full, and rises about the same 
time that the Sun sets. From the time of 
full moon the disc of light begins to diminish, 
until the last quarter is reached. Then it is 
that the Moon is seen high in the heavens in 
the morning. As the days.pass by, the cres- 
cent shape is again assumed. The crescent 
wanes thinner and thinner as the Moon draws 
closer to the Sun. Finally, she becomes lost 
in the overpowering light of the Sun, again 
to emerge as the new moon, and again to go 
through the same cycle of changes.’ ? 
But although she is so small the Moon is 
not only, next to the Sun, by far the most 
beautiful, but also for us the most important, 
of the heavenly bodies. Her attraction, aided 
by that of the Sun, causes the tides, which 
1 Ball, Story of the Heavens. 
