Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 January 1877 — Grazing Plains in the Moon. [ARTICLE]

Grazing Plains in the Moon.

Every one has noticed the dark spots which mottle the surface of the full moon. These long ago used to be considered seas, and in the geography of the lunar orb went under such names as the Sea of Tranquility, the Sea of Nectar, the Sea of Serenity, the Sea of Ruins and the Ocean of Tcm|>ests. They are still designated seas by astronomers, for convenience sake, but are known to be nothing bat vast plains hemmed in, in some cases, by lofty nigged mountains. When examined through the telescope, some of these plains exhibit a greenish tint, strongly marked, but here and there difficult to catch except under favorable conditions. This verdant hue has excited speculation. If the moon has no atmosphere and no water, It may arise from the color of the ground, but certainly cannot indicate vegetation. If, however, the moon has an atmosphere, the case is entirely altered, and recent stndies of the state of the lunar surface have excited grave doubts as to its being nothing but an airless, waterless, unalterable desert, a changeless mass of dead matter. An American scientitic contemporary proceeds boldfly from doubt to certainty. “The moon.”it observes, “ fa now known to have an atmosphere of considerable volume and density, to present abundant evidence of physical activity and change, and to have in all probability water enough to make life easily possible on its surface. The moon is dying, but not dead. Being so much smaller than the earth it has run its course more rapidly, but it is still a good way ofi from that goal of ultimate deadness to which so many astronomers have theoretically assigned it. There is not the slightest adequate evidence, Neison says, of the popular view of want of life, and its truth would be admitted by no astronomer who told devoted sufficient attention to selenography to enable him to thoroughly realize the probable present condition of the moon.” If such is the case, the green-tinted plains may be nothing but vast grassy regions covered with nocks and herds. The “ man in the moon” may have abundant pasturage for his cattle, and many a shepherd-boy may be there seated on the ground, piping as though lie should never grow old. It is a pity we .can only speculate. Reality is true romance, and if we knew all that goes on in the moan, astronomers probably would shut up their books and break ■ their telescopes.—CasMll't Magazine.