56 ROUND THE YEAR 



waning. If she is waxing, the illuminated edge is 

 to our right hand ; if she is waning, it is to our left 

 hand. The reason of this is easily seen if we pass a 

 ball round the head in a room lit by a lamp or a 

 single window. If the ball is made to circle with 

 clock-hands, the dark side will travel foremost, and 

 will lie to the right hand, while the ball recedes from 

 the light. During this part of its course the ball 

 will appear more and more illuminated as it moves. 

 When the ball approaches the light, the bright side 

 will travel foremost, and will lie to the right hand. 

 If we reverse the direction of the ball, the phases 

 will succeed one another as they do in the Moon. 

 It is evident from this that the Moon circles against 

 clock-hands. 



The bright side of the Moon is always turned 

 towards the sun, whether the sun is visible to us 

 or not. Hence we should expect that, if the Moon 

 is less than full, a line joining the centre of the Moon 

 and the centre of her illuminated edge would always 

 point towards the sun, while the cusps or horns of the 

 Moon in her first or last quarters would point away 

 from the sun. But if we come to watch the Moon 

 we shall find that the position of her cusps is often 

 different from what we had expected. For instance, 

 the sun may be well below the horizon, yet the cusps 

 may be turned a little downwards, and the centre 

 of the bright edge a little upwards. Some fanciful 

 people have even supposed that the position of the 

 Moon's cusps varies according to the weather which 

 we are going to have! With or without reason 



