There is a proverb which is used in certain parts of France as a wnrning ' 

 against night promenades : 



" due Ion PO! y la sereine 

 Fau gene la gent Mouraine." 



It is remarkable that this proverb is current in places where the red moon is 

 not noticed. 



Supposed Lunar Influence on Putrffaction. Pliny and Plutarch have trans- 

 milted it as a maxim, that the light of the moon facilitates the putrefaction of 

 animal substances, and covers them with moisture. The same opinion pre- 

 vails in the West Indies, and in South America. An impression is prevalent, 

 also, that certain kinds of fruit exposed to moonlight lose their flavor and be- 

 come soft and flabby ; and that if a wounded mule be exposed to the light of 

 the moon during the night, the wound will become irritated, and frequently be- 

 come incurable. 



Such effects, if real, may be explained upon the same principles as those by 

 which we have already explained the effects imputed to the red moon. Ani- 

 mal substances exposed to a clear sky at night, are liable to receive a deposi- 

 tion of dew, which humidity has a tendency to accelerate putrefaction. But 

 this effect will be produced if the sky be clear, whether the moon be above the 

 horizon or not. The moon, therefore, in this case, is a witness and not an 

 agent ; and we must acquit her of the misdeeds imputed to her. 



Supposed Lunar Influence on Shell-flsh. It is a very ancient remark, that 

 oysters and other shell-fish become larger during the increase than during the 

 decline of the "moon. This maxim is mentioned by the poet Lucilius, by Au- 

 lus Gellius, and others ; and the members of the academy del Cimrnto appear 

 to have tacitly admitted it, since they endeavor to give an explanation of it. 

 The fact, however, has been carefully examined by Rohault, who has com- 

 pared shell-fish taken at all periods of the lunar month, and found that they ex- 

 hibit no difference of quality. 



Supposed Lunar Influence on the Marrow of Animals. An opinion is preva- 

 lent among butchers that the marrow found in the bones of animals varies in 

 quantity according to the phase of the moon in which they are slaughtered. 

 This question has also been examined by Rohault, who made a series of ob- 

 servations which were continued for twenty years with a view to test it ; and 

 the result was that it was proved completely destitute of foundation. 



Supposed Lunar Influence on the Weight of the Human Body. Sanctorius, 

 whose name is celebrated in physics for the invention of the thermometer, held 

 it as a principle that a healthy man gained two pounds weight at the begin- 

 ning of every lunar month, which he lost toward its completion. This opinion 

 appears to be founded on experiments made upon himself; and affords another 

 instance of a fortuitous coincidence hastily generalized. The error would 

 have been corrected if he had continued his observations a sufficient length of 

 time. 



Supposed Lunar Influence on Births. It is a prevalent opinion that births 

 occur more frequently in the decline of the moon than in her increase. This 

 opinion has been tested by comparing the number of births with the periods 

 of the lunar phases ; but the attention directed to statistics as well in this 

 country as abroad, will soon lead to the decision of this question.* 



Supposed Lunar Influence on Incubation. It is a maxim handed down by 

 Pliny, that eggs should be put to cover when the moon is new. In France it 

 is a maxim generally adopted, that the fowls are better and more successfully 

 reared when they break the shell at the full of the moon. The experiments ai.d 



* Other sexual phenomena, such as the period of eertation, vulgarly supposed to have some relu- 

 tion to the lunar mouth, have no relation whatever to that period. 



