290 LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE. 



no longer deny the mysterious effects of magnetism, even 

 though we may look upon them only as symptoms of 

 disease and self-illusion ; since we have to admit the effi- 

 cacy of light, long after human eyes perceive it no longer 

 it is surely high time that we should try to find the 

 grain of truth which is in .every fable, and probably in 

 these superstitions also. We are aware that men of sci- 

 ence are sedulously employed in this noble undertaking, 

 and that, for instance, in medicine very remarkable re- 

 sults have already been obtained. 



This practical tendency need not destroy the sweet, 

 magic charm, which the moon now, as of old, exercises over 

 the soul of man. The poet tells us to-day, as he did 

 yesterday, how the mountains kneel before God in silent 

 prayer, when the peace of the sabbath reigns all around, 

 how the host of stars light up the gigantic temple, and 

 " the moon hangs, as the ever-burning lamp of man's 

 worship, high above the eternal altar of nature." The 

 painter studies the quaint, fairy lights of the pale orb, 

 as it pours its mild radiance over field and town. The 

 lover communes with the tender amber round which the 

 moon spreads about her, moving through a fleecy night, 

 and the pained heart finds sweet comfort in her peace- 

 ful silver light. The arctic traveller blesses her as sho 

 lights up with her faint but ever welcome fivor, the long, 

 cold polar night; and the people at large, look up to 

 her for mysterious blessings. For many are the charms 

 of the pale light of the moon, not known to -the man 

 of science. How peacefully and kindly she smiles through 

 the window upon the little bed of the infant, and wakes 



