MOONLIGHT IN DIFFERENT LATITUDES. 137 



thing to do with the whitening of linen, or the 

 ripening of corn ; and yet the two are as closely 

 connected as if they were parts of one single pro- 

 cess. That should teach us not to pass any one 

 thing or occurrence unobserved, or any one 

 observation without reflecting on it ; because there 

 is knowledge in them all ; and, at a time when 

 we may have no means of obtaining it, we may 

 be greatly at a loss for that very knowledge which 

 we pass over unheeded. 



There is another circumstance connected with 

 moonlight which is worthy of notice, and that is, 

 that where there is least sunshine there is most 

 moonlight. The full moon is not always directly 

 opposite to the sun, but sometimes a little higher 

 and sometimes a little lower than the point oppo- 

 site, but directly opposite is the average place of the 

 full moon ; and thus the full moon is, on the average, 

 just as long above the horizon and shining, as 

 the sun is below it and set ; and if the sun is high 

 at noon, the moon is low at midnight; also, if 

 the mid- day sun is low, the midnight moon is 

 correspondingly high. The influence, or action 

 of the light, both of the sun and the moon, is in 

 proportion to the length of time that they shine, 

 and also to their height above the horizon ; and 

 thus, during winter, there is the greatest duration 

 as well as the greatest strength of moonlight ; and 

 always as one goes into a higher latitude, the 

 winter full mocns shine longer and more brightly. 

 The Lapland moon is an object far more beautiful 

 than they who live in more genial climates and 

 have the atmosphere loaded with vapour can 

 easily imagine. The intense frost there sends 

 down every particle of water in a state of finely 

 N 3 



