The Lunar Apennines. 383 



significant than they now appear. Chains of hills branch off 

 from the neighbourhood with the usual S.W. parallelism 

 nearly to Manilius, and the profusion of slightly curving ridges 

 to the S. is said to produce a beautiful effect. 



Immediately N. of Conon we find another of the great 

 summits of the principal chain, Bradley A, which towers over 

 the M. Imhrium to a height, according to Schr., of 16,2 50f., 

 overtopping by several hundred feet, and greatly surpassing 

 in relative height, the monarch of our Alps. It sends down a 

 bright spur into the plain ; and some long low ridges at its 

 foot have a direction not parallel to the grand chain, but nearly 

 at right angles to it, and pointing to the magnificent ring- 

 plain Archimedes (33). Further S.E. is the rival summit 

 Bradley, which, however, falls short of its neighbour by nearly 

 300f. ; B. and M. give it but 14,400f. These masses stand in 

 superb relief near the terminator. 



The next eminence towards the S.E., after crossing a 

 depression, is Sivy gens 9 the supreme culminating point of the 

 whole chain ; unless, as Schmidt remarks, there may be still 

 loftier summits in positions further from the escarpment, 

 where they would cast no measurable shadow. It is a ridge 

 about 46 miles in length, commencing on the N. with a steep 

 promontory, bearing a peak of 14,600f. (15,400 Schmidt), and 

 rising gradually to a height, according to B. and M., of 

 18,000f. There is a difficulty in the measurement, owing to 

 the interfering shadow of another promontory on its E. side 

 (Suygens A, 12,250f.), and thus they explain the difference 

 between their value and the 20,900f., the mean of four good 

 measures by Schr., who also found 21,600f. by HevePs 

 method. Even at the lowest estimate, this is a colossal height, 

 which, especially as taken in connection with the vicinity of the 

 plain beneath, greatly overtops all the magnificence of Swit- 

 zerland. On the very loftiest point is a minute deep white 

 crater, detected by Lohrm. ; but not a difficult object, as I 

 have seen it with 3 T V in., and a power of 144. Such an 

 arrangement is exceptional on the moon, and, as Schmidt 

 observes, occurring on the summit of a long ridge, bears no 

 analogy to the terrestrial crater at the apex of a cone. 



" The magnificent clearness," say B. and M., " with which 

 this whole steep edge presents itself at the time of the First 

 Quarter in a bright telescope exceeds all description. Islands 

 of light innumerable, each still more minute than the pre- 

 ceding, rise up out of the black lunar night, and the scene 

 changes itself under the observer's eye, as new points are con- 

 stantly becoming visible, while others are increasing and 

 uniting themselves with their neighbours into long shining 

 ridges." 



