AN INTERESTING CHAPTER FOR FARMERS. 



[From Dr. Lardner's Lectures.*] 



SUPrOSED EFFECT OF THE MOON ON TEREESTEL\L OBJECTS. 



The Red Moon— Supposed efiect of the Moon on the Movement of Sap in Plants— Prejudice respecting the 

 time for t'ellina; Timber — Kxtent of this Prejudice— Its Prevalence among Tiansatlantic People — Prejudices 

 respecting Ettects on Grain— On Wine— On the Complexion— On Putrefaction— Oh Wounds— On the 

 Size of Oysters and Shell-tish— On the Marrow of Animals— On the Weight of the Human Body— On the 

 Time of Births — On the Hatching of Eggs— On Human Maladies— On Insanity— On Fevers— On Epidem- 

 ics-Case of Vallisnieri— Case of Bacon — On Cutaneous Diseases, Convulsions, Paralysis, EpUepsy, &c. — 

 Observations of Dr. Olbers. 



On a former occasion I examined the question 

 respecting the supposed influence of the moon 

 upon the weather, and demonstrated that so far 

 as actual observation lias hitherto afforded 

 grounds for reasoning, there is no discoverable 

 correspondence between the lunar changes and 

 the vicissitudes of rain and drouth which can 

 justify or in any degree countenSice the popu- 

 lar belief so generally entertained as to de- 

 pendence of change of weather upon the changes 

 of the moon. 



But meteorological phenomena are not the 

 only eflpects imputed to our satellite ; that body, 

 like comets, is made responsible for a vast vari- 

 ety of interferences with organized nature. The 

 circulation of the juices of vegetables, the quali- 

 ties of grain, the fate of the vintage, are all laid 

 to its account ; and timber must be felled, the 

 harvest cut down and fiathered in, and the juice 

 of the grape expressed, at times and under cir- 

 cum.stances regulated by the aspects of the 

 moon, if excellence be hoped for in these pro- 

 ducts of the soil. 



According to popular belief, our satellite also 

 presides over human maladies ; and the phe- 

 nomena of the sick chamber are governed by 

 the lunar phases ; nay, the very marrow of our 

 bones, and the weight of our bodies, suffer in- 

 crease or diminution by its influence Nor is its 

 imputed power confined to physical or organic 

 efiects ; it notoriously governs mental derange- 

 ment. 



If these opinions respecting lunar influence 

 were limited to particular countries, they would 

 be less entitled to serious consideration ; but it 

 is a curious fact that many of them prevail and 

 have prevailed in quarters of the earth so distant 

 and unconnected that it is difficult to imagine 

 the same error to have proceeded from the same 

 source. At all events, the extent of their preva- 

 lence alone renders them a fit subject for seri- 

 ous investigation ; and I propose at present to 

 lay before you some of the principal facts and 

 arguments bearing on these points, for the col- 

 lection of which we are mainly indebted to the 

 industry and research of M. Arago. 



A large volume would be necessary to ana- 

 lyze all the popular opinions which refer to the 

 supposed lunar influences. We shall confine 

 ourselves, therefore, to the principal of them, and 

 shortly examine how far they can be reconciled 

 with the established principles of Astronomy 

 and Physics. 

 (•1135) 



The Red Moon. — It is believed, generally, 

 especially in the neighborhood of Paris, that in 

 certain months of the jear, the moon exerts a 

 great influence upon the phenomena of vegeta- 

 tion. Gardeners give the name of Red Moon to 

 that moon which is full between the middle of 

 April and the close of May. According to them, 

 the light of the moon at that season exercises an 

 injurious influence upon the j-oung shoots of 

 plants. They say that when the sky is clear the 

 leaves and buds exposed to the lunar light red- 

 den and are killed as if by frost, at a time when 

 the thermometer exposed to the atmosphere 

 stands at many degrees above the freezing point. 

 They say also that if a clouded sky intercepts 

 the moon's light it prevents these injurious con- 

 sequences to the plants, although the circum- 

 stances of temperature are the same in both 

 ca.ses. 



Any person who is acquainted with the beau- 

 tiful theory of dew, which we owe to Dr. WelLs, 

 will find no difficulty in accounting for these ef- 

 fects en-oneously imputed to the moon. If the 

 heavens be clear and unclouded, all substances 

 on the surface of the earth which are strong aiid 

 powerful radiators of heat, lose temperature by 

 radiation, while the unclouded sky returns no 

 heat to them to restore what they have lost. 

 Such bodies, therefore, under these circum- 

 stances, become colder than the suiToundiug air. 

 and may even, if they be liquid, be frozen. Ice,, 

 in fact, is produced, in warm climates, by siaif- 

 lar means. But if the fiimamtnt be enveloped 

 in cloud.s, the clouds have the quality of radiating 

 heat, win restore by their radiation, "to substances 

 upon the surface of the earth, as much heat as 

 such substances lose by radiation ; the tern- 

 perature, therefore, of such bodies will be main- 

 tained at a point equal to that of the air surround- 

 ing them. 



Nowthe leaves and flowers of plants are strong 

 and powerful radiators of heat ; when the sky is 

 clear they therefore lose temperature and may 

 be frozen ; if, on the other hand, the sky be 



* PopiTLAR Lectures on Science and Art, de- 

 livered in the principal Cities and Towns of the 

 United States, by DioNYsa'S Lardner, Doctor of 

 Civil Law, Fellow of the Royal Society of London 

 and Edinburgh, formerly Professor of Astronomy and 

 Natural Philosophy in the University of London. 

 2 vols, octavo, with numerous Engravuigs. New- 

 York : Greeley & MoEh-ath. 



