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♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[May 29, 1885. 



"What a story do you tell," says the lady, interrupting 

 me. 



"It is no imposition, madam," replied I, "they have 

 perceived in the moon a particular figure, which had the 

 air of a woman's head jutting out of rocks, and it is owing 

 to some changes that have happened there. Some pieces 

 of mountains have mouldered away, and left us to discover 

 three jmints, which can only serve to make up the fore- 

 head, nose, and chin of an old woman." 



"Well," fsays she, "but do not you think it is some 

 destiny that had a particular spite to beauty ? And very 

 justly it was this female-head, which she would attack 

 above all the moon." 



" Perhaps in recompence," replied I, " the changes which 

 happen upon our earth, dress out some face, which the 

 people in the moon see ; I mean something like what we 

 conceive a face in the moon ; for every one bestows on 

 objects those ideas of which they themselves are full. Our 

 astrsnomers see on the surface of the moon, the faces of 

 women, and may be, if the ladies were to make their specu- 

 lation", they would discern the physiognomy of fine men. 

 For my part, Madam, I do not know whether I should 

 not fancy your ladyship's charms there." 



" I protest," says she. " I cannot help being obliged to 

 any one who should find me there. But to come back to 

 what you were mentioning just now : do any considerable 

 changes aflect the earth ? " 



" In all appearance they do," replied I. " Old fables 

 tell us that Hercules split asunder with his hands the 

 two mountains called Caipe and Abila, which stand 

 betwi.xt Afric and Spain, stopped the ocean from flowing 

 there, and that immediately the sea rushed with violence 

 over the land, and made that great gulph which we call 

 the Mediterranean. Xow this is not only fabulous, but a 

 history of those remote times, which has been disguised, 

 «ither from the ignorance of the people, or thro' the love 

 they had for the marvellous, the most ancient frailties of 

 mankind. That Hercules should separate two mountains 

 with his two hands, is absolutely incredible ; but that in 

 the time of one Hercules, or other, for there were fifty 

 of that name, the ocean should force down two mountains, 

 not so strong as others in the world, perhaps thro' 

 the assistance of some earthquake, and so take his course 

 betwixt Europe and Afric, gives me no pain to believe. 

 What a notable spot might the lunar-inhabitants all of a 

 sudden discover on our earth ; for you know, Madam, that 

 seas are spots. It is no less than the common opinion, that 

 Sicily was separated from Italy, and Cyprus from Syria. 

 There are sometimes new islands formed in the seas ; earth- 

 quakes have swallowed up mountains, others have rose and 

 altered the course of the planets. The philosophers give 

 us apprehensions that the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, 

 which are countries founded upon great subterranean 

 vaults, full of sulphur, which will one day sink in, when 

 those vaults shall no longer be able to resist the flames 

 which they contain, and at this time exhale at those vent- 

 holes, the mouths of Vesuvius and vEtna. Is not here 

 enough to diversify the sight which we give to the people 

 in the moon ? " 



" I had much rather," says the Marchioness, " that we 

 had disgusted them with the same object always than 

 diverted them with the .swallowing up of provinces." 



" I do not know," replied I, " i"f within this little time 

 there have not been several burnt up in Jupiter." 



"What, proviuces burnt up in Jupiter!" cries she, "upon 

 my word, that would be considerable news." 



" Very considerable," says I, " madam. We have re- 

 marked these 20 years in Jupiter a long trail of light more 

 glaring than the rest of that planet's body. We have, 



here, had deluges, j.erhaps they may have suffered great 

 conflagrations in Jupiter. How do we know to the con- 

 trary ? Jupiter is 9ii0 times* bigger than the earth, and 

 turns on his own center in 10 hours, whereas we do not 

 turn in less than 24, which implies that his motion is 21G 

 times stronger than ours. May it not be possible that, in 

 so rapid a circulation, its most dry and combustible parts 

 should take fire, as we see the axle-trees in wheels, from the 

 rapidity of their motions, will break out into flames? But 

 however it is, this light of Jupiter is by no means com- 

 parable to another, which in all probability is as ancient as 

 the world, and yet we have never seen it." 



" How does a light order it to be concealed 1 " says 

 she. " There must be some singular address to compass 

 that point." 



"This light " [the zodiacal], replied I, "never appears 

 but at twilight, which is often strong enough to drown 

 it : and even when twilight suffers it to appear, either the 

 vapours of the horizon rob us of it, or it is so very faint, 

 and hardly to be perceived, that for want of exactness in 

 our knowledge, we mistake it/or the twilight. But, in short, 

 they have of late years with much certainty distinguished 

 it ; and it has been for some time the delight of the 

 astronomers, whose curiosity wanted to be roused by some 

 novelty ; and they could not well have been more touched 

 if they had discovered some new secondary planets. The 

 two latter moons of saturn, for instance, did not ravish 

 them to that degree which the guards or moons of Jupiter 

 did. But now we are fully accumstomed to it. We see, 

 one month before, and after, the vernal equinox, when the 

 sun is set and the twilight over, a certain whitish light 

 resembling the tail of a comet. We see the same before 

 sunrise, and before the twilight, towards the autumnal 

 equinox : and towards the winter solstice we see it night 

 and morning, except at these times it cannot, as I but 

 now observed, disengage itself from the twilights, which 

 are too strong and lasting ; for we suppose it to be a 

 continued light, and, in all probability, it is so. We have 

 begun to conjecture that it is produced from some pro- 

 digious quantity of matter crowded together, which circles 

 round the .sun to a certain extent. The greatest part of 

 his rays pierce through this gross circuit, and come down 

 to us in a right line ; but some, resting on the inner sur- 

 face of this matter, are from thence reflected to us, and 

 come with the direct rays, or else we caimot have them 

 either morning or evening. Xow, as these reflected rays 

 are shot from a greater height than those which are direct, 

 we must, consequently, have them sooner, and keep them 

 longer. On this foot I must acquiesce in what I have 

 already mentioned, that the moon must have no twilight 

 for want of being surrounded by such a gross air as the 

 earth. But she can be no loser ; her twilights will pro- 

 ceed from that kind of gross air which surrounds the 

 sun, and reflects his rays on places which his direct one 

 cannot reach." 



" But pray let me know," says the Marchioness, " are 

 not there twilights settled for all the planets, who will not 

 need every one to be clothed with a distinct gross air, 

 because that which surrounds the sun alone, may have one 

 general eflect for all the planets in the vortex I I am 

 mighty willing to think Dame Nature, agreeable to that 

 inclination which I know she has to oeconomy, and good 

 management, should make that single means answer her 

 purpose." 



" Yet," replied I, " notwithstanding this supposed 

 oeconomy, she must have, with respect to our earth, two 

 causes for twilight ; one whereof, which is the thick air 



* 1,200 times wotUd have been nearer the mark. — R.P. 



