Newspaper Page Text
No. 48 Vol. IV.
Philosophical.
FROM THE EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
■ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE MOON UPON THE
SEASONS.
Translated from a paper of Oilers , in “ An
nates de Chiinic it de Physique. Fcvrier
1822.” .
The moon acts upon (he earth in a man
ner certain and demonstrable; for it en
lightens our nights, it draws the earth a lit
tle. from its oliiptick orbit, it occasions a
small oscillation in the earth’s axis, it pro
duces the flux and reflux of the sea, and an
analogous hut less motion in the atmos
phere.—-But it has been the general opin
ion of mankind, from time immemorial, that,
besides thise demonstrable effects, the
moon, according to its different phases, ex
ercises a considerable influence upon the
wea'her, upon the health of mankind, up
on animals, upon vegetation, and on chem
ical operations. Exp - rifuce alone can
throw light upon this subject; for it is pos
sible that the rnoou may have an influence
upon our atmosphere, produced by the dif
ferent forces of attraction which it exercis
ed at different times, —and also by its light.
Long and well-conducted experiments have
completely refuted such hypotheses; they
have proved, that neither the lunar phases,
nor the situation of the moon with respect
to the sun and earth, have scarcely any in
fluence upon the weather; for no fixed
relation whatever can he discovered be
tween them, notwithstanding the vast num
ber of trials and observations which have
been made for a great number of years.
The results deduced from one series of me
teorological observation, are always contra
dicted by another series: we cite, forex
ample: Howard, who believed he had dis
covered that the barometer rose most fre
cueutly in the quadratures, and that its fall
*.a? most common in the syzygies. Code,
on the contrary, to whom meteorology is so
much indebted, and who commenced id or
der to confirm The remark of Howard, af
terwards Ibtiud by twenty years’ observa
tion, that the barometer was the highest at
the limn of the nerv moons, and lowest at
the time of the full moons. Lalanrle and
Lamark have drawn from their observations
the most opposite results, respecting the
e(frets of the moon in her passage by the
plane oi the equator. But a decisive proof
of (he small influence of the moon, appears
to me to result from this circumstance, flint
this influence, by whatever forces it mav
be produced, known dr unknown, ought to
he the greatest possible between the trop
icks; however, in the equatorial regions,
not a trace of it can be found.—ln these
countries, the heat, the rain, the winds, &c.
all depend on the distance of the sun from
the zetiidi of the place, without any regard
to the situation or the phases of the moon.
We may be yet more convinced of the
smallness of this influence,- if we reflect
that the most opposite weather, in different
parts, takes place at the same instant of
time, and consequently, under the same iu
uy.r phase. This fact is determined, with
tbe greatest evidence, by the accounts of
the weathqr which we receive from differ
ent places during the time of an eclipse.
111. Bode, lor example,-has collected the re
mark- made during the lime of the solar
eclipse which happened on the ISihof No
veniber, 1816; where we perceive a
Strang-: mixfnre of good and had weather,
without any respect to order, spread, dur
ing ti.is day, through a great port of Eu
rope. Professor Brandes, having compar
ed, with great labour, but in a very instruc
tive manner, the variation of the weather
wliicii took place over a great part of the
canh’s surface in 1783, found no relation
between it and the lutur phases; and if a
variation in the weather appeared to coin
cide with these phases in any one country,
*iio variations, or opposite variations, would
take place in other countries. The peri
ods of eighteen and of nineteen years make
no discovery of any sensible analogy in the
variations of the weather, during the years
equally distant from these intervals.
Some have pretended to have remarked
sensible effects produced by the rising of
the inoon, and by her culmination ; but the
phenomena cited by them, either do not
prove this influence, or are not accurate.
Several of our mariners also hold, that the
full moon, when rising, dissipates the
-clouds; hut this prejudice owes its origin to
the circumstance, that the clouds common
ly disappear during a tranquil evening, and
-consequently also at the rising of the moon,
according to a very just remark of.M. Btan
des. The pretended observation, that a
etorin cannot approach from the zenith, at
the time offull mono, contradicts itself; for
the electrick cloud which is at the horizoc
of one place, is at the zenith of another
place not many miles distant. But in asser
ting that the lunar influence upon the sea
sons is extremely weak, and that it is near
ly lost among the other causes which pro
duce a variation in the weather, we are not
certain that the moon does not produce
tome little effect. —Let us see what theory
seems to indicate. The moon and sun pro
duce, twice in twenty-four hours fifty min
utes, a flux and reflux, both in the ocean
and in the atmosphere: these motions vary
with the phases of the moon j they are
THE MISSIONARY.
the strongest in the new and full moons, and
the weakest in the first and last quarters-
Let us suppose, for example, that the tides
of the atmosphere produce a change of
.0354 ofan inch in the height of (he barom
eter, in the syzygies; it will produce only
half that variation in the quadratures.
Now, though these effects are so weak, it
is not impossible but that the strong tides at
the new and full moon may dispose the at
mosphere to receive considerable motion.
IN e dare not, therefore, declare as absolute
ly false, the observations which some phi
losophers pretend to iiave made, namely,
that more storms happen at the time of
new and fuil moon, than at the quadratures -
It is the same with respect to the passage
of Ihe moon through the equator,- arid
through the perigee; at these times it may
act as an exciting cause, although no violent
motion he produced by it iu the atmos
phere.
Ihe moon may also have an influence
upon the variation of the weather, in an in
direct manner; that is, by the motion of the
waters of the ocean, at Iw6st upon some
coasts. It is true, that, in the open sea, tin
height of (he tides never exceeds three or
four feet; but upon tue coasts, in bays, and
narrow channels, the rise of the tides s
much more considerable. At” Brest, for
example, it rises more than twenty feet,
and it Bristol more than fifty. Ought not
the motion of these large masses of water
to occasion some variations in the atmos
phere, especially as they appear to have a
small influence on the electricity of the air?
The inhabitants of the sea-coasts believe it
to he a fact, that the changes in the weath
er, and the force and direction of the wind
and clouds, depend on the tides. We may
here observe, that the tides of the ocean,
am! those ol the atmosphere, do not happen
at the same instant, though both are pro
duced by the sun and moon, and both have
the same period. The air being easily
moved, and net being hindered by any ob
stacle, instantly obeys the attractive force
of the moon ; hut the waters of the ocean
are more tardy in obeying this force. Oo
this account, the atmospheriek tides imme
diately follow the passage of the rnoou over
the meridian ; but high water, in the open
spa, does not take place till three hours
afterwards; and on coasts, and in bays, it
happens still later. It is possible, then,
that the mediate and immediate effects of
the rnoop upon the atmosphere, in some
places, mutually destiny each other; and
this is perhaps the cause why the astrono
mer Horsley, at Oxford, could not perceive,
-in the English observation, any relation be
tween the weather and phases of the moon;
while Toaldo, at Padua, believed that he
could distinguish the moon’s influence in the
observations made during fifty years by
Poleni. Now, though I would not deny
but that the results deduced from olverva
tiffns by Toaldo, might he partly true for
the climate of Italy, 1 must still observe,
that, from the great number of’ exceptions
to his rules, he was himself convinced that
the lunar influence was extremely small.
A series of expe: iments, for many years,
has convinced me, that in our climate,
where the weather is subject to morn con
siderable gtid more numerous variations,
the rules of Toaldo are entirely wrong.
For example, on the 7th of December,
1813, the full moon coincided with the per
igee, and two days after the rnoou hail its
greatest northern declination ; so that, from
the principles of -Toaldo, the lunar iuflu
ence ought to have been ihe greatest pos
sible; but notwithstanding all this, there
was not any sensible change in the weath
er. I believe, then, that I have demonstra
ted, that the influence of the moon upon (he
weather is so small, that it is totally lost
among the infinite number of other forces
and causes which change the equilibrium
of our very moveable atmosphere. —The
influence of the moon upon the weather,
and upon the atmosphere, being so insensi
ble, we are entitled very much to suspect
its pretended influence, either upon men,
animals, or plants. In fact, it is all of it,
due to illusion and prejudice. It is evident
that tho duration of the period of seme
phenomena exhibited bj’ men in health,
agree only nearly, and never exactly', with
the lunar revolutions; and that these phe
nomena show themselves under every
phase of the moon, not only in persons of
the same age, and of the same coustitotion,
but also in the same individual. This alone
issufficient to show that the moon has no
influence, and all modern physicians are
agreed on this point.
I have little faith in the observation of
Sanctoriu?; namely, that men in health gain
one or two pounds in weight at Ihe com
mencement of the month, and that they
lose as much towards the end. In the same
manner, observations made with the great
est care, have induced me to douht very
much the remark cited by the poet Lucili
us, and often since repeated: namely, that
lobsters, oysters, and other shell-fish, are
fatter while the moon is on the increase,
than when she is decreasing. Avery little
attention will convince us of the nullity of
this assertion; especially if we can but cred
it the remark? made by the able physician,
Rob iult. I have great confidence in the
very careful experiments made by the
celebrated agriculturists, kadquioterje,
MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK COUNTY,’GEORGIA,) MONDAY, MAY 12, 1823.
‘CO VE INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL To EVERY CREATURE.
Nardmann, Reichard, and Hartenfels; also
by the great naturalists, Buffon and Reau
mur; who proved distinctly, that the in
crease or decrease of the moon had no in
fluence, either upon the germination of
seeds, or upop the increase of plants, or up
on the rapidity of their dovelopement, or
upon their quality. I have also much diffi
culty iu believing, that (he light of the moon
produces a particular effect different from
that of any other light. The experiments
made in Rome, in 1783, by Athau. Caval
lon, and repeated by Bertholon de Saiot-
Lazare, prove nothing respecting lunar
light augmenting evaporation ; in the same
manner I assert, that those of VVeitz, made
with potash at Lautenberg, prove nothing
respecting the lunar rays drawing forth hu
midity. If, in South America and Batavia,
they have such a dread of moon light, I
should attribute the pretended pernicious
effects said to be produced, more to the hu-
- tnidijy of the air, and to the coldness of the
nights, than to the effect of any influence of
the moon. Bontius observed (be tetanus to
taice place at Java most frequently during
the night, in the rainy season ; and he ex
pressly remarked, that the two terrible dis
eases so frequent in the East Indies, name
•y, cholera morbus and the dysentery,
most frequently took place during the rainy
months of summer. The celebrated Reil
observes, that sailors have become incapa
ble of supporting day-light from having
slept exposed to the light of the moon. I
have, however, never heard from our sai
lors any complaint of this kind. M. Reil
also asserts, that children sleep less tran
quilly when the moon is on the increase.
Having had no experience on this subject, 1
cannot speak decidedly as to the truth of it;
hut, in any case, we could explain it without
having recourse to the influence of the
moon. I should be glad to know if painters
have really remarked that the feeble light
ot the moon has an effect ,upoD their col
ours, as they have pretended it has.* In a
word, experience does not prove any par
ticular influence of the moon’s phases upon
animal organization ; and the theory given
by R. Mead is absolutely false. 1 can posi
tively assert, that I have always been at
tentive to this subject, with respect to sick
persons, during the long time that I have
practised medicine, and that 1 never per
ceived any relation between the courses of
the mooa and my patients, or between their
symptoms and the means of effecting cures.
IVeliber have 1 remarked any intluencci ot
the lunar pha-es, either on diseases caused
by worms, or dropsy, tumors, or even on
epileptick diseases ; l will not, however,
deny, contrary to so many ancient observa
tions, but that the mooD may have some in
fluence in particular diseases.
Among ail the instruments we can em
ploy, in order to detect natural agents, oth
erwise imperceptible, the most sensible, as
Laplace has very properly observed, are
the nerves, the sensibility of which is often
increased by disease. It is by means of
the nerves that we can discover the feeble
electricity produced by the contact of two
metals; and it can only be owing to the ex
treme sensibility of the nerves, that some
sick persons are able to perceive the influ
ence of the moon in particular situations,
that influence being so extremely small.
It may also be - this circumstance, per
haps, which has discoveAd to physicians,
that there is a relation between the lunar
phases and the access of epilepsy and insan
ity. I dare not decide whether we are to
explain in this manner the remarks made
by Diemerbrasck and Remozzini, respect
ing the pestilential fevers which raged in
the years 1636, 1692, 1693, and 1694. It
could, however, be owing to nothing but
accident, that so many persons affected with
fever died, during the time of the lunar
eclipse, which happened on the 21st of Jan
uary, 1693. The influence of the moon
upon the crisis of diseases, taught by GaleD,
and defended so long in the schools of med
icine, is contradicted by experience, at least
in Europe ; and if Balfour be right, in as
serting that there is a connexion between
the tides and the access ofendemick fevers
in India, and that the crisis of fevers hap
pens hut at the moment when the luni-solar
action begins to decrease, we can only so
far agree with him, that this effect only
takes place near the sea-coast, In gener
al, we must read those authors who refer
so many things to the effects of the moon on
diseases, with considerable distrust. It is
here as in many cases of reverie—we only
see it when we believe it. A belief in this
influence can only deceive the observer,
who, otherwise fond of truth, shares (his
belief with the sick persons} and thus it is
that hope and fear excite in the imagination
effects to which the moon does not in any
way contribute. Thus, also, it was in form
er times. People in general were afraid
of eclipses of the sun and moon, and believ
ed that these phenomena exercised certain
pernicious influences over sick persons, and
persons possessed of weak nerves; now,
absolutely no sick person perceives (he ef
fect, & the physicians pay no attention to it.
* Experiments made at the Royal Observatory
at Paris, have proved tTTTt the light of the moon,
condensed by a very powerful lens, had no effect
whatever in altering chemical products, though
very sensibly, and easily affected by the ligki of
she sun ,—ffutt by the French Translator.
JUDICIAL.
From the Journal.
The remarks preceding the sentence passed up
on Woodard Tramel, for murder at IVilkes
Superiour Court , by Judge Clayton.
At the last term, after your case had
passed the solemn and to you the fatal
voice of the jury, by your counsel, you
made a forcible and as you have just aw
fully heard, an unavailing appeal to my
discretion for another hearing. Although
the protraction of your sentence may, in
the minds of some, have created a just in
quietude, yet, in the bosom of the court, it
Dever has for a moment produced a solitary
regret. By such a course the sober cnar
acter of justice has been vindicated, the
humanity of our institutions has been justi
fied, and what is a matter of deep concern
to me, my conscience is at rest. If after
so long and wearisome a trial, as it was
your misfortune to undergo, if upon the. has
ty and unprepared argument which was
made in support of your motion, at a time
when my own strength and that of your ad
vocates was nearly exhausted, my mind
worn down by the alternate agitations of
doubt and anxiety, and may I not add, by
sympathetick excitement which may even
break from the sufferings of a guilty cul
prit, 1 had resigned you to the dreadful fate
demanded by your verdict, and afterwards
it should have appeared that I had cut you
off from a single support afforded either by
justice or humanity, I should never have
ceased to upbraid the precipitancy of the
step, and reproach the cruelty of such un
feeling impatience. 1 nm now entirely
satisfied as to my duty ; but I should scan
dalize (he unwonted feelings of my heart,
could ! own that this solemn duty is about
to be dischaiged either with cheerfulness
or indifference.
The power that constrains me to’surren
der you over to the appeaseless vengeance
ofjustice, shall never rob rne of that inter
nal emotion which answers to the distres
ses of a fellow being, or blunt the sensibili
ty that should feel for “ another’s woe.”
1 proceed then with no common sensation
of solicitude; and miy 1 cherish the hope,
that it will procure for ine, your most seri
ous attention, while in this our last inter
view, I offer to your mind, some reflections
intended solely for your future peace.
ou have been found guilty of having
procured a slave iu ;,iirTuer,Oy poison, an iir
fant female orphan, and that infant orphan
your sister. Great God! what a story of
depravity is told in a few short words! Can
any thing like it he found in the history of
judicial proceedings? It has a character
too strong for fact and too unnatural for fic
tion ! To what class of human frailty it
shall be referred must baffle all inquiry !
Through the whole frame of the moral
sense it will diffuse a sickening influence
and discolour its universal complexion,
while in the annals of guilt it will be hailed
as its proudest era.—All other crimes will
exult in its superiour hue, and upon the
bloody escutcheon of murder it will flourish
as its most triumphant trophy. Perhaps
you are not aware of the singular and strik
ing combination of elements which your
crime presents. In its outline it h perfect,
in its structure it is stupendous, in the style
of its order it is exact, audio all its mem
bers there is a superlative finish. Behold
its features as I bring them in review ! Iu
its execution you employed a being whose
condition was already so morally degraded,
as to imply the most heartless cruelty in
one, who should seek to jeopardize his life
or increase his wretchedness—your means
were the most deadly and insidious and
therefore the most difficult to elude—your
warfare was against orphanage , and there
fore actuated by the worst of all present
ments—it was directed against infancy, and
therefore it pierced the purest of all hu
man innocence—it ruptured one of the
strongest ties of nature, and therefore be
trays the most unnatural of all passions—
Perpetrated (hen by an agent so debased,
upon a sex so helpless, an age so tender, a
condition so unprotected, and a relation so
dear, will it be uncharitable to say it was a
deed the most remorseless.
Do not imagine that these remarks are
made to mock your misfortune or reproach
your misery—yours is a situation that in
spires far other and different feelings.
Brought up ta receive the last and severest
stroke ofjustice, with a courage bowed and
spirit broken, you cannot he an object of
derision. Theie is vengeance for your
guilt, but there is sympathy for your weak
ness—the first is the law’s, the other is the
heart’s, and no colJ calculation of civil pol
icy or social safety can check its legitimate
authority.
This feeling, though it can do you no
good here, comes from a source and is al
lied to a compassion that is all sufficient for
your future repose—ls then I can present
your offence to your own mind in such a
denouncing voice, as to alarm your con
science, to arouse your fears, to diclose
jour danger, and thereby inspirit your ex
ertions to strengthen your confidence, to
animate yourzal and to exhibit your infi
nite necessity of far other pity than that of
man, you will have the true scope of my
object, wad yvil! receive 1 trust the foil ben-
Price $ s 3 > so P r- ; w>n. or,
’ ( $3,00 in advance. >
efit of its aim.—Besides, the only atone
ment now left in your potter to offer for
your crime, is to lend the example which
its suffering has produced, to those whose
avarice bis swallowed up every other
affection—To such indeed it will be an
awful warning, and for that purpose I have
endeavoured impressively to hold it
up to the publick view, to the end,
that as its fatal catastrophe will always be
sufficiently unpitied, so its solemn admoni
tion can never be too long remembered.
On this side of that great fountain of
mercy, where we all have a need to raise
a supplicating eye, there is ooe of its tem
poral depositaries instituted by the lenity
of government for the relief of the unfortu
nate —thither you have been directed, and
to its bewailing help you hare been earnest
ly recommended. This is not only a fa
vourable but remarkable circumstance in
your case, and evidently implies a donbt of
your guilt, on ihe minds of your peers—for
if the charge was satisfactorily established,
it would seem to have been the last outrage
that should dare to lift its blood-stained
hands towards the seat of executive clem
ency. Far be it from me then, in youc
present deserted condition, by any of my
remarks, to rob you of a solitary gleam of
hope, that hangs upon that relieving though
dubious alternative. Go then, as it is youc
peculiar right, to that source, not 1 beseech
you in the full confidence of forgiveness,
for as you have incurred a penalty that it
would he impious to defy, so it involves a
fate, that will be difficult to defeat. Gj
there prepared for the worst event, that
whatever may be the issue, von will be the
better able to sustain the duties of the liv
ing or dying character, in the first to be
less detested, in the latter more lamented.
SENTENCE.
You Woodard Tramel shall be taken
from this bar to the jail from whence you
came, and there remain until Friday the
sixteenth day of May next, on which day,
you shall he taken from thence, with a
rope about your neck, and by the sheriff of
the oounly, or his deputy, be conducted to
the common place of execution, in or Bear
the town of Washington, and then and there
between the hours of ten o’clock in the
forenoon, and three in the afternoon, by
(be officer aforesaid, he hanged by the
neck until yon are dead—And may the
Lord have mercy upon your soul.
r LCiuratrs.
From the Tillage Preacher.
“Father, forgive them. 1 ’
Go, proud infidel—search the pon
derous tomes of heathen learning : Ex
plore the works of Confucius; examine the
precepts of Seneca, and the excellencies of
the ancient and the modern moralists, and
point to a sentence equal to this simple
prayer of oor Saviour. Reviled and insulted
—suffering the grossest indignities—crown
ed with thorns, and led away to die! no
annihilating curse breaks from his tortured
breast. Sweet and placid as the aspirings
of a mother for her nursling, ascends the
prayer of mercy on his enemies, ‘Father
forgive them.’—o, it was worthy of its
origin, and stamps with the bright seal of
truth that ins mission was from Heaven I
Acquaintances, have you quarrelled?—
Friends, have you differed ? If He, who tvaS
pure and perfect, forgave his bitterest ene
! mies, do you well to cherish yoor anger ?
Brothers, to you the precept is imperative;
you, shall forgive—not seven times, but
seventy times seven. Husbands and wives,
you have no right to expect perfection iu
each other. To err is the lot of humanity.
Illness will sometimes render you petulant,
and disappointment ruffle the smoothest
temper. Guard, I beseech you, with unre
mitting vigilance, your passions: controlled,
they are the genial heat (h;g warms us along
the way of life—ungoverned, they are con
suming fires. Let your Strife be one of re
spectful attentions, and conciliatory conduct.
Cultivate with care the kind and gentle
affections of the heart. Plant net, but
eradicate the thorns, that grow in vour part
ners’ path: Above all, let no feeling of re
venge ever find a harbour in your breast;
Let the sun uevergo down upon your anger.
A kind word—an obliging action— if it be in
a trilling concern, has a power superiour to
the harp of David in calming the billows of
the soul.
Revenge is as incompatible with happi
ness as it is hostile to religion. N Let him
whose heart is black with malice and studi
ous of revenge, walk through the fields
while clad in verdure, and adorned with
flowers; —to his eye there is no beauty;
the flowers to him exhale no fragrance.
Dark as his soul, nature is robed in deepest
sable. The smile of beauty lights not up
his bosom with joy; hut the furies of hell
rage in his breast, and render him as miser
able as he would wish the object of bis
hate.
But let him lay his hand upon his heart
and say—“ Revenge, I cast thee from me—
Father forgive me us I forgive my ene
mies”—and nature assumes anew and de
lightful garniture. Then, indeed, are the
meads verdant and the flowers fragrant
then is the uiusfck of the groves delightful
to his ear, and the smile of virtuous beauty
lovely to his soul. *