74 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Mar. 



Lunar Influence. — Shrinking of Pork, &c. 



Messrs. Editors : — The February number 

 of your paper came to hand punctual "as ever," 

 filled with " choice bits" from many experienced 

 and able writers. The ^'■Editorial Correspon- 

 dence^' was read with interest, and also the 

 '■'• Gleanings from Foreign Journals.'''' The ar- 

 ticle on " Grasses,''' brougiit to light new facts, 

 (cows eating cotton for instance,) and was fol- 

 lowed by Professor Agassiz' views of " Animal 

 Life.''' Wm. L. Van Dusen then settles the 

 mooted question of Boiled Pork, to his entire 

 satisfaction ; but, with your permission, I will 

 convince him he has not satisfied all. 



By way of introduction let me here remark 

 that I am a farmer, and have never enjoyed the 

 advantages of a liberal education ; and if I am 

 occasionally a little uncouth in expression, you 

 must excuse me. Your correspondent's prem- 

 ises are wrong, hence his conclusions amount 

 to nothing. " The moon governs the tide." 

 Ever since the creation of the world, philosophy 

 has assumed very obscure causes to explain the 

 most simple effects, for the purpose of exciting 

 the attention of the vulgar, who scarcely ever 

 admire any thing but what they do not under- 

 stand. The most learned men have, throughout 

 all time, been puzzled to account for the tides of 

 the ocean, and until a late period their move- 

 ments have been a perfect mystery. The New- 

 tonian system is received by many as truth not 

 to be questioned, and for want of a better is now 

 taught in our public institutions of learning. 

 Still many of the most scientific men of our 

 day doubt its' correctness, yet acquiesce with 

 the popular feeling because they have no sub- 

 stitute to offer. 



I am afraid, sir, of trespassing upon your pa- 

 tience if I write a lengthy article to sustain my 

 position, so 1 will merely observe that the phases 

 of the moon and tides of the ocean are mere 

 coincidences. In consequence of this coinci- 

 dence a most powerful agency is attributed to a 

 secondary planet, which is as false in fact as it is 

 absurd in theory. Let me here ask, why place 

 such an important force in a secondary planet, 

 at a distance of 240,000 miles, when it could 

 have been lodged in the primary itself? The 

 law of gravitation is the grand principle which 

 governs all the motions of the heavenly bodies. 

 Hence nothing can be more deserving of the 

 attention of the friends of science than the de- 

 velopments of the results of this universal law. 

 The effect of gravity is in exact proportion to 

 the quantity of matter the mass contains, and 

 not in proportion to its bulk. The volume of 

 the moon is 1-49 that of the earth. Her density 

 is nearly 2-.3 the density of the earth, and her 

 mass is about 1-80. It is now admitted that the 

 moon by the force of attraction causes the tides 

 to rise in Boston 11 feet; in Bristol, England, 40 



feet ; and in the Bay of Fundy 70 feet I ask 

 what would be the effect of the earth's attraction 

 upon the moon, for we must suppose the action 

 to be reciprocal. I ask, in the name of common 

 sense, if there could remain a single vestige of 

 the art of man or God upon that planet ? Nay, 

 more, could the moon itself revolve around usi 

 I can imagine nothing more ridiculous or absurd, 

 nothing more contrary to the general simple 

 laws of nature. Why is there little or no tide 

 under the equator 1 The surface of the earth 

 is much nearer the moon under the equator than 

 in high northern or southern latitudes, and the 

 attractive force of the earth much less, and it 

 would naturally seem to follow that owing to the 

 convexity of the earth, and other causes above 

 mentioned, the tide should be much the highest. 

 But the REVERSE is true. Why does not the 

 moon exert a perceptible influence upon the 

 Mediterranean and Caspian seas ? Why do they 

 undergo intermittent movements and retarda- 

 tions of two or three days? Surely they are of 

 sufficient size to be subject to the influence of 

 the moon, if any existed. The same remark 

 might apply to the large lakes upon our northern 

 frontier. Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, ebbs 

 and flows daily, and it is not near as large 

 as many of our northern lakes, which exhibit 

 no tide. Why do the tides ebb and flow on the 

 west of Florida once in three hours, on the 

 east once in twelve hours, in the city of New 

 York once in six hours, and in Arabia only in 

 the NIGHT time ? Why does the water rise in 

 the Pacific at Panama 13^ feet higher than the 

 Atlantic at Chagres, and then in 12 hours be the 

 same number of feet lower, although the two places 

 are less than sixty miles apart, and the tide 

 occurs at the same hours ? 



The point and significance of these questions 

 are not to be evaded and turned aside by the 

 usual reference to the opinions of great men. 

 They disdain to dwell on simple observations, if 

 they tend to level to every capacity the myste- 

 ries of nature's works, which so generally accord 

 with the reasoning faculties of man. If. then, 

 the theory of the tides is thus inconsistent and 

 absurd, what must we say to the sage conclusions 

 of your correspondent ? What proof have we 

 that the moon affects the animal kingdom ? None. 

 With equally the same reason might we contend 

 that the earth in different positions of its orbit 

 would have an influence in producing fools 

 and maniacs in the planet Saturn, or exciting 

 insurrections and wars among the inhabitants 

 of Uranius, as to suppose " your pork will 

 shrink or swell with the ebbing or flowing of the 

 tide, and wane or wax of the moon." 



J. Wilson Dickinson. 



Avon, N. Y., Feb., 1848. 



Messrs. Editors : — In your February num- 

 ber [ see a short article in regard to the influence 



