EFFECT OF THE MOON ON WINE-MAKING, GRAIN, &C. 549 



one position act advantageonsly upon the vege- 

 tation of beans, and that in the opposite position, 

 and at the same distance, she shall be propitious 

 to lentils." 



Supposed Lunar Infiuenceon Grain. — Pliny 

 states that, if we would collect grain for the pur- 

 pose of immediate sale, we should do so at the 

 full of the moon ; because, during the moon's in- 

 crease, the grain augments remarkably in mag- 

 nitude ; but if we would collect the grain to pre- 

 serve it, we should choose the new moon, or the 

 decline of the moon. 



So far as it is consistent with observation that 

 more rain falls during the increase of the moon 

 tlian during its decline, there may be some rea- 

 son for this maxim ; but Pliny, or those fi-om 

 whom we receive the maxim, can barely have 

 credit for grounds so rational : besides which, 

 the diffijrence in the quantity of rain which falls 

 during the two periods is too insignificant to 

 produce the effects here adverted to. 



Supposed Lnnar Influence on Wine-malcing. 

 It is a maxim of wine-growers that wine which 

 has been made in two moons is never of a good 

 quality, and cannot be clear. Toaldo, the cele- 

 brated Italian meteorologist, who.se mind ap- 

 pears to have been predisposed for the reception 

 of lunar prejudice, attempts to justify tliis max- 

 im. "The vinous fermentation,"' he says, "can 

 only be carried on in two moons when it begins 

 immediately before the new moou ; and, conse- 

 quently, that this being a time i^ien the enlight- 

 ened side of the moon is turned for the most 

 part from the earth, our atmosphere is deprived 

 of the heat of the lunar rays ; that, therefore, the 

 temperature of the air is lowered, and the fer- 

 mentation is less acti%"e. 



To this we need only answer that the moon's 

 rays do not aflPect the temperature of the air to 

 the extent of one-thousandth part of a degree of 

 the thermometer, and that the difierence of tem- 

 peratures of anj- two neighboring places in 

 ^vllich the process of making the wine of the 

 same soil and vintage might be conducted must 

 be a thousand times greater at any given mo- 

 ment of time ; and yet no one ever imagines that 

 such a circumstance can afl'ect the quality of the 

 wine. 



It is a maxim of Italian wine merchants tliat 

 wine ought never to be transferred from one 

 vessel to another in the months of January or 

 March, unless in the decline of the moon, under 

 penalty of seeing it spoiled. 



Toaldo has not favored us with any physical 

 rea.sou for this maxim ; but it is remarkable that 

 Pliny, on the authority of Hyginus, recommends 

 preciselj' the opposite course. We may pre- 

 sume that, from such contrarj- rules, it may rea- 

 sonably be inferred that the moon has no intlu- 

 eiice whatever in this case. 



Among the maxims of Pliny we find that 

 grapes should be dried by night at new moon, 

 and by day at full moon. 



When the moon is new it is below the hori- 

 zon during the night, and above it during the 

 day : and when it is full it is above the horizon 

 during the night, and below it dnrimr the day. 

 The maxim of Pliny, therefore, is equivalent to 

 a condition requiring that the grapes should be 

 dried when the moon is below the horizon. It 

 is evident that the absence of the moon is not re- 

 quired in tliis case in consequence of any effect 

 which her light might produce if she were pres- 

 ent ; for when tlie moon is new she affords no 

 light, even when in the finnament — the illumin- 

 ated side being turned from 'he eanh. If the 



maxim be founded upon any reason, it must, 

 therefore, either be on some influence which the 

 moon is supposed to produce ■when present, in- 

 dependent of her light (the absence of which in- 

 fluence is desired) ; or it may be that she may 

 be supposed to transmit some effect through the 

 solid mass of the earth, when on the other side 

 of it, which she is incapable of producing with- 

 out its intervention. The maxim is probably as 

 absurd and groundless as the other effects im- 

 puted to the moon. 



Supposed Lunar Influence on the Complex- 

 ion. — It is a prevalent popular notion, in some 

 parts of Europe, that the moon's light is attended 

 with the effect of darkening the complexion. 



That light has an effect upon the color of ma- 

 terial substances is a fact well known in physics 

 and in the arts. The process of bleaching by 

 exposure to the sun is an obvious example of 

 this class of facts. Vegetables and flowers 

 which grow in a situation excluded from the 

 light of the sun are different in color from those 

 which have been exposed to its influence. The 

 most striking instance, however, of the effect of 

 certain rays of solar light in blackening a lisht- 

 colored substance, is afforded bj' chloride of sil- 

 ver, vs'hich is a %vhite substance, but which im- 

 mediately becomes black when acted upon by 

 the rays near the red extremity of the spectrum. 

 This substance, however, highly susceptible as 

 it is of having its cokr affected by light, is, nev- 

 ertheless, found not to be changed in any sensi- 

 ble degree when exposed to the light ot~ the 

 moon, even when tliat light is condensed by the 

 most powerful burning lenses. It would seem, 

 therefore, that, as far as any analogy- can be de- 

 rived from the qualities of tliis substance, the 

 popular impression of the influence of the moon's 

 rays in blackening the skin receives no sup- 

 port. 



M. Arago (who generally inclines to favor 

 rather than oppose prevailing popular opinions) 

 appears to think it possible that some effect may 

 be produced • upon the skin exposed on clear 

 nights, explicable on the same principle as that 

 by which we have explained the effects errone- 

 ously imputed to what is called the red vioon. — 

 The skin being, in common with the leaves and 

 flowers of vegetables, a good radiator of heat, 

 will, when exposed on a clear night, for the 

 same reasons, sustain a loss of temperature. — 

 Althoush this will be to a certain extent restored 

 by the sources of animal heat, still it may be 

 contended that the cooling produced by radia- 

 tion is not altogether without effect. It is well 

 known that a person who sleeps expo.sed in the 

 open air, on a night when the dew falls, is liable 

 to suffer from severe cold, althoueh the atmo- 

 sphere around him never falls below a moderate 

 temperature, and although no actual deposition 

 of dew may take place upon his skin. This ef- 

 fect must arise from the constant lowering of 

 temperature of the skin by radiation. In mili- 

 tary campaigns the effects of bivouacing at night 

 appear to be generally admitted to darken the 

 complexion.* 



There is a proverb which is used in certain 

 parts of France as a warning against night 

 promenades : 



" Que lou sol y la sereine 

 Fau gerie la gent Mouraine." 



* Le hale de bivouac is an effect quite recognized. 

 Hale is a term which expresses a state of the air 

 which makes an impression upon the complexion, 



rcndcrin2 it tanned and burnt. 



