THE TIDES. 189 



This indirect effect of the moon upon the weather 

 through the tides is exceedingly interesting ; but 

 it does not at all invalidate the scientific con- 

 clusion that there is no direct influence, and the 

 general effect of the moon on the weather the 

 changes in the moon and the changes in the 

 weather, and their supposed connection remains 

 a mere chimsera. 



The subject of elastic tides in which the yielding 

 of the solid earth is taken into account is to be 

 one of the primary objects of Mr. G. Darwin's com- 

 mittee. The tide-generating force which tends to 

 pull the water to and from the moon, tends to 

 pull the earth also. Imagine the earth made of 

 india-rubber and pulled out to and from the moon. 

 It will be made prolate (Fig. 30). If the earth were 

 of india-rubber the tides would be nothing, the 

 rise and fall of the water relatively to the solid 

 would be practically nil. If the earth (as has 

 long been a favourite hypothesis of geologists) 

 had a thin shell 20 or 30 miles thick with liquid 

 inside, there would be no such thing as tides of 

 water rising and falling relatively to land, or sea- 



