378 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE chap. 



" phases " of the Moon, which add so much to 

 her beauty and interest. 



Who is there who has not watched them 

 with admiration ? " We first see her as an 

 exquisite crescent of pale light in the western 

 sky after sunset. Night after night she 

 moves further and further to the east, until 

 she becomes full, and rises about the same 

 time that the Sun sets. From the time of 

 full moon the disc of light begins to diminish, 

 until the last quarter is reached. Then it is 

 that the Moon is seen high in the heavens in 

 the morning. As the days pass by, the cres- 

 cent shape is again assumed. The crescent 

 wanes thinner and thinner as the*Moon draws 

 closer to the Sun. Finally, she becomes lost 

 in the overpowering light of the Sun, again 

 to emerge as the new moon, and again to go 

 through the same cycle of changes."^ 



But although she is so small the Moon is 

 not only, next to the Sun, by far the most 

 beautiful, but also for us the most important, 

 of the heavenly bodies. Her attraction, aided 

 by that of the Sun, causes the tides, which 



1 Ball, Btory of the Heavens. 



