THE TIDES 95 



tide which the moon is alleged to raise up under her, 

 never by any chance appears anyivhere near there, but in- 

 variably hides below her horizon some eight hours in her 

 wake! 



Having, let us say, been freshly taught by our New- 

 tonian savants as to how the moon causes the tides, and, 

 furthermore, that gravitation acts instantly over very 

 great distances, our first impulse is to glance at the near- 

 est expanse of ocean to note the evidential phenomena. 

 But instead of beholding the expected hillock, we really 

 see a hollow ! Dumf ounded, w^e conjure up apologies for 

 the solecism, as, that the water here is too shallow, or 

 the expanse too restricted, and the like. Accordingly, we 

 decide to test out the hypothesis under the most favorable 

 conditions possible, and for this purpose select the 

 central meridian of the Pacific, on the equator, where the 

 ocean is at its deepest, when the full moon is in the zenith, 

 and where there can be no suggestion of continental resis- 

 tances to hinder the tidal process. But even here, here, 

 under ideal conditions, we behold, not a rise, but a more 

 pronounced depression than ever! and we recall Dar- 

 win's words once more, "It would seem, then, as if the 

 tidal action of the moon was actually to repel the water 

 instead of attracting it ; and we are driven to ask whether 

 this result can possibly be consistent with the theory of 

 universal gravitation! 



Now the tide must come into being somewhere and 

 someivhen, and it must exist before it can be " dragged ". 

 If it be not lifted into being under the ideal conditions 

 mentioned above, when or where else can it be generated 

 with greater certainty and facility, or more promptly 1 

 Again, if it arise not there until many hours after the 

 moon has passed, how can she drag thence against resis- 

 tence what she could not and did not lift, unresisted, on 

 the spot? While, amazedly, we are pondering these con- 

 tradictions, our Newtonian cicerone pulls us by the sleeve 

 and learnedly says, ' i The tide never forms where it is 

 created, save only in lofty scientific contemplation; but 

 look away off into the mid- Atlantic. There is the tide, ' ' 

 he explains, "that the moon gave birth to yesterday while 



