654 



SCmNGE, 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 176, 



.roeh." For further details regarding the 

 rock and the lunar flora which covered it, 

 reference must be made to the original 

 pamphlet. There, too, can be found descrip- 

 tions of deep blue oceans, breaking in large 

 billows upon beaches of brilliant white sand, 

 girt with wild castellated rocks. Passing 

 inland wide tracts of country of apparently 

 volcanic character were rapidly passed over, 

 soon bringing to the observer's eye lofty 

 chains of slender pyramids of faint lilac hue, 

 which, when examined with the highest 

 power of the instrument, were seen to be 

 monstrous amethysts reaching to the height 

 of sixty to ninety feet, and glowing in the 

 intense light of the Sun. It must not be 

 supposed that such delightful regions were 

 devoid of life. Birds and beasts of strange 

 and uncouth form were soon brought to 

 view, and, last and greatest marvel of all, 

 the observer was permitted to behold beings 

 of manlike form. Although not seen en- 

 gaged in any work of industry or art, they 

 were evidently of a high order of intelli- 

 gence, and to them was doubtless due a 

 magnificent temple, built of polished sapph- 

 ire, with roof of yellow gold. The observer 

 did not at the moment pause to search out 

 the mystery symbolized in the unique archi- 

 tectural details, for he was then '' more 

 desirous of collecting the greatest possible 

 number of new facts than of indulging in 

 speculative theories, however seductive to 

 the imagination." 



But we have already dwelt too long upou 

 this product of enterprising journalism, 

 which poor Sir John was too far away to be 

 able to contradict. It is enough to remark 

 that the author accomplished his immediate 

 purpose, and moreover bequeathed to future 

 generations a classic in this special field of 

 literature. 



The astronomer of to-day is unfortunately 

 exposed to similar misrepresentation. On 

 account of the fact that it is a little larger 

 than any other refractor, the Yerkes tele- 



scope is particularly open to attack. Take? 

 for example, these sentences from a news- 

 paper which would not ordinarily be con- 

 sidered as one of the sensational class : 

 " After Professor Barnard had swept the 

 sky in the region of the nebulae he pointed 

 the instrument toward a region located to 

 the astronomer in Pos. 312 degrees ; Dist. 

 53 minutes. He swung the giant tube 

 toward the region and the first discovery 

 at the Yerkes Observatory was registered 

 on the dial near the dome." This is merely 

 the newspaper's own peculiar way of para- 

 phrasing a simple statement in the Astro- 

 physical Journal regarding the detection of a 

 faint star near Vega. A persistent search 

 by all the members of the staff has not yet 

 brought to light the mysterious ' dial near 

 the dome,' with its precious record of dis- 

 covery. It seems probable that the same 

 dial must have treasured up the remarkable 

 observations of the Moon, which the Asso- 

 ciated Press thought worthy of transmission 

 to Europe, though they originated in a re- 

 porter's fertile brain, and still remain un- 

 known to the telescope to which they were 

 ascribed. An influential newspaper selected 

 these latter observations as the text of an 

 editorial setting forth the marvelous bene- 

 fits the Yerkes telescope is destined to con- 

 fer upon mankind. 



It may be added that the great telescope 

 of the ' Moon Hoax ' is hardly more extrava- 

 gant in conception than certain schemes 

 which have been proposed in all seriousness 

 within the past year. One of these inven- 

 tors, whose familiarity with the difficulties 

 of telescopic observation is certainly sur- 

 passed by his optimism, remarks : " I think 

 the limit (of magnification) will be due to 

 the shaking of the instrument caused by the 

 trembling of the earth and of the clockwork 

 mechanism which moves the telescope. 

 Under these high magnifications extremely 

 minute vibrations are so much magnified 

 that a small object like that of a house 



