284 LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE. 



the moon had a force thirty times greater than our own, 

 they could not project masses far enough to come within 

 reach of our atmosphere. Such gigantic and continued 

 eruptions could, moreover, not fail to cause some per- 

 manent change in the surface of the moon, of which no 

 trace has as yet been perceived. 



Great heavenly bodies commune not, like men, by 

 throwing bombshells at each other; their influence is 

 felt through the agency of light, heat and attraction. 

 The light of the moon, it is true, is ninety thousand times 

 weaker than sunlight, and that its rays warm not, is a 

 popular assertion. But people are not always right, with 

 due deference be it said, even in matters of science. They 

 used to say that moonlight nights were colder than oth- 

 ers. So they are ; but the moon is not to be blamed 

 for it. She shines brighter when the sky is not ob- 

 scured; but when that is the case, the earth also grows 

 colder, because radiation is increased. Thus the two facts 

 are perfectly true, only there is no connection of cause 

 and effect between them. Melloni's experiments, made 

 in 1846, prove even that the rays of the moon have a 

 certain amount of heat, though so little, that the most 

 powerful lenses fail to make it perceptible on the ther- 

 mometer. 



The old Phoenicians already knew the moon well as 

 their faithful companion and guide on their long, bold 

 sea voyages ; they knew that the gigantic breathing of 

 the ocean, its ebb and tide, were her work. Antiquity 

 looked with awe and wonder upon this supernatural 

 power of the great pale orb. Modern science sees in 



