148 



Marvels of the Universe 



riiitio (.;/] [Thf r.iri- 0!,.<rn-nlorli. 



THE ^OUNG MOON. 



Aged seven days, three hours 



THE MOON NEARING HER ZENITH 



the Mountains of Leibnitz rise to a height of 5 

 miles 222 yards, the Rocky Mountains to nearly 5 

 miles, the crater of Newton to 4 miles and 888.81 

 yards. A most curious feature is that the 

 interior well of these mountain links is always at 

 a very much lower level than the land on the 

 further side of the enclosing mountains. 



It is not possible that these circles owe their 

 origin to volcanoes such as we are cognizant of, 

 and the mountains surrounding them are not 

 composed of material thrown up bj' these craters. 

 They are districts of overturned soil caused 

 through the same agency — a gaseous explosion 

 coming from the interior. The eruptions have 

 diminished in power, but they are still to be 

 found almost everj'where, and have even formed 

 little circular marks upon the ramparts of the 

 larger circles, while their numbers are legion. 

 The beautiful photographs taken from the Ob- 

 servatory at Paris show that over vast stretches 

 of country a veritable deluge of mud finally 

 invaded and submerged the lowest districts, often 

 blotting out almost completely even the vestiges 

 of these craters and burying the hollowed 

 ground. 



There are yet to-day very small craters which 

 give off intermittent vapours. The little crater 

 Linnaeus appears to be one of these. For two 

 and a half centuries it has been watched atten- 

 tively, and sometimes it can be seen quite 

 clearly, very deep and possessing a shadow ; 

 sometimes it has disappeared completely and has 

 been replaced by what appears to be a very 

 brilhant white cloud. 



In the same lunar region, to the north-west 

 of the disc, on the borders of a vast depression, 

 which is circular and of a grey colour and has been 

 named " The Sea of Serenity," there are two other 

 craters a considerable distance one from the other 

 — Posidonius and Caquet — which afford similar 

 phenomena ; that is to say, they appear at times 

 to be filled with a white vapour which effectually 

 hides their openings. Other points on the 

 surface of the moon appear to be affected by 

 similar changes. There is also Messier, whose 

 variations are so strange. 



It is possible that during the long and cold 

 lunar night, which lasts about fourteen days, 

 during which time the temperature of the hemi- 



