94 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



April 



LUNAR INrLTTENCE-THE TIDES, &c. 



BY PROF. C. DEWEY. 



That attraction holds bodies together, draws 

 bodies towards each other, directs the course of the 

 earth around the sun, influences the motions of the 

 moon and planets and produces the tides, was main- 

 tained by wise men before the Christian Era. It has 

 been the glory of modern philosophy to ascertain the 

 amount of the attractive power, its direction, its 

 varying action, and in that way to come at the solu- 

 tion of phenomena before inexplicable. 



The force of gravitation takes place between the 

 parts of matter comprising the earth, moon, &lc. It 

 operates downwards upon the matter around, and 

 sideways upon matter contiguous to a mountain, 

 between two balls of lead, between a pendulum and 

 any large mass of matter. All this is proved by 

 experiment. A pendulum is proved to be drawn 

 sideways towards a mountain. 



What is attraction ? The answer — and hence the 

 definition of attraction — is, these effects must have a 

 cause, and attraction is the name given to the cause 

 of these effects. It is of no consequence what the 

 nature of the cause is ; the operation is the same as 

 if attraction took place between the bodies, and 

 hence the power or cause, be it what it may, is 

 named attraction. 



You strike a ball and it is set in motion by the 

 blow. You call it impulse, or the momentum of the 

 striking body which moves the ball, and thus you 

 call the cause, be it resistance, or repulsion, or 

 momentum acting on the matter, or mass upon mass 

 directly, impulse. So, attraction is the name of ttie 

 cause. 



The force of gravitation at the earth's surface in 

 our latitude is sufficient to move a body a little more 

 than sixteen feet In the first second of time, if the 

 body could fall without any resistance or counteracting 

 action. The amount of the force is thus determined. 



The law of the force is ascertained; and the force 

 diminishes as the square of the distance increases. 

 Hence, the moon, at sixty semidiameters of the earth 

 from the earth's center is attracted but one-thirty-six- 

 hundreth as much as matter is at the surface of the 

 earth. This is actually the distance she falls towards 

 the earth at a mean rate, in order to revolve round 

 the earth. 



The force varies too as the quantities of matter, 

 that is, each particle attracts each particle in the 

 sphere of its influence. Hence the attraction of the 

 earth upon the moon is equal to the moon's attraction 

 of the earth. The earth has eighty times the matter 

 to attract the moon, and the moon has eighty times 

 her own matter to be attracted by her in the earth. 

 Their attractions must be equal. 



If any one is disposed to say there is no such thing 

 as attraction; very well, let it be so. Still the fact 

 is before the eyes of all men, that the earth and moon 

 revolve around a common center in a little more than 

 twenty-seven days, or a little less than those twenty- 

 seven and one-third days, and thus fall towards each 

 other. There must be some cause or power which 

 does thiv:, and makes them so fall and revolve ; that 

 cause is called attraction, or in this case, gravitation. 

 Again — oxygen and iron unite and form rust of iron, 

 and lead and oxygen combine and form red lead. 

 Some poiver unites and holds together these sub- 

 stances, and that power is called attraction ; and 



because a new compound has been produced, the 

 power is called chemical attraction or affinity. 



We as easily conceive of attraction operating 

 a distance as near or in contact : for how it does 

 it, we know not in either case. A magnet holds 

 iron in contact with it, or attracts it at some dis- 

 tance, but we know not the how in either respect. 

 But, the fact is certain, and some cause or power 

 acts in this case, which is called magnetic attraction. 

 Objection to the name does not alter or annihilate 

 the thing. 



The tides are one result of this power, called 

 gravitation, or an attraction which makes matter 

 gravitate towards matter. Both sun and moon must 

 operate on the earth, and as their power varies at 

 different parts of the earth, matter in a fluid state 

 and capable of being easily moved will be affected 

 by this power. The earth too is in different posi- 

 tions in respect to both the sun and moon, and both 

 are in varying situations in respect to the equator of 

 the earth. Sometimes power of the sun acts with 

 that of the moon, sometimes with direct opposition 

 to it ; sometimes the power of the sun and moon act 

 obliquely with or against each other, and with all 

 degrees of obliquity. The moon too, being so much 

 nearer than the sun, exerts a greater power in moving 

 the waters or in producing the tides. Her power in 

 this respect is about two and a half times greater 

 than the sun's at a mean rate. Hence the moon 

 must have the controlling influence on the tides, and 

 the power of the sun will be employed in modifying 

 the effects produced by the moon as the tides are 

 respectsd. 



This is exactly what takes place ; and the tides 

 are computed from the relative positions of the sun, 

 earth and moon, varying distances and obliquity of 

 forces. If we call this a mere coincidence, we cheat 

 ourselves with the name. I put my finger in the 

 fire, and it is blistered — a mere coincidence. I put 

 iron in the furnace, and it is softened — a mere coinci- 

 dence. I wish to move my hand to my head, and it 

 moves — a mere coincidence. A man lets a brick 

 fall ten feet on my head, and breaks my skull — a crush- 

 ing coincidence. Another fires a pistol towards 

 you, and the ball pierces your heart — a bloody 

 coincidence. But — more on the tides, hereafter. 



A New Kind of Wheat. — Advices from St. Petersburg 

 to the 12th of August, mention that a new variety of the 

 Arnautka wheat has recently been discovered and cultivated 

 in Bessarabia. It is called the Kolas, or large-eared wheat, 

 on account of the peculiar beauty of its ears. At present it 

 is limited to mere seed wheat, and fetches twice the price of 

 the ordinary Arnaukta. One other and important peculiarity 

 of this grain is; that it is less affected by drought than any 

 other varieties. At the same time it posses-en several 

 features, its deep amber colour, and its earlier ripening. 

 This important discovery was- made by a peasant of the name 

 ofBulatowsich, in the villiage of Troitzk, in the district of 

 Bender, who beingaclose observer of nature, detected in his 

 crops certain ears which were larger and became ripe more 

 speedily than the rest of the ercp. These he collected and 

 sowed separately, and the result was an adundant harvest, 

 and the introduction of a new and valuable variety of wheat. 

 The event had created a great sensation amongst the agri- 

 culturists and dealers in grain, and the new wheat well 

 merits being named after its discoverer. 



LAUDABLE. — The authorities of Oswego assume the duty 

 of planting shade trees in the streets.— The street Commis- 

 sioner advertises for "three or four thousand Elm and other 

 uitabie trees for border and street shrubbery," to be delivered 

 the present spring. 



