88 THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 
SELENOGRAPHY. 
Read before the Astronomical Section of the Hamelton Sctentific Association, 
April 29th, 1902. 
BY H. B. WITTON. 
Except the sun itself, none of the heavenly bodies has attracted 
so much attention as the moon. Her apparent size and nearness to 
the earth, the subdued splendor of her light, her erratic course in the 
heavens, the rapid change and frequent recurrence of her phases, 
and the weird effect of her eclipses, have made the moon, from time 
immemorial, an object of intense interest. Literature, ancient and 
modern, bears witness to the truth of this. The Vaidie hymns shew 
that in the early dawn of Indogermanic civilization the phases of the 
moon were personified, and her influence was invoked with solemn 
rites. In many languages her name is given to one of the days of 
the week ; this indicates how long she has been held in veneration, 
as Laplace has shewn names of the week-days are among the most 
ancient monuments of astronomical knowledge. Poetry, too, has 
thrown over the earth’s satellite graceful veils of myth and fancy ; 
while the most prosaic utilitarianism, in the interests of commerce, 
has been fain to do her honor. Pythagorus, in his system of cosmic 
barmony, credits the moon with contributing the highest note to the 
music of the spheres ; and our own less imaginative forefathers, by 
such names as lunar caustic, selenite—thought to be moon-froth— 
and lunatic, have left a legacy to our vocabulary shewing their faith 
in the potency of the moon’s influence. 
In these latter days, that peculiar veneration the moon formerly 
commanded no longer obtains. ‘he age of faith in her occult 
powers expired with the astrologer and alchymist, to be succeeded 
by an age of inquiry and knowledge which, rejecting the superstition 
of the old learning, still cherishes some measure of its devotion. 
Though we no longer plant and sow, herd our cattle, prune our 
vines, and gather in our harvests in awe of her sovereignty, yet our 
