CHAPTER II.
LUNAR VOLCANOES.
The surface of the moon presented to our view affords such remarkable indications of volcanic phenomena of a special kind, that we are justified in devoting a chapter to their consideration. It is very tantalising that our beautiful satellite only permits us to look at and admire one half of her sphere; but it is not a very far-fetched inference if we feel satisfied that the other half bears a general resemblance to that which is presented to the earth. It is scarcely necessary to inform the reader why it is that we never see but one face; still, for the sake of those who have not thought out the subject I may state that it is because the moon rotates on her axis exactly in the time that she performs a revolution round the earth. If this should not be sufficiently clear, let the reader perform a very simple experiment for himself, which will probably bring conviction to his mind that the explanation here given is correct. Let him place an orange in the centre of a round table, and then let him move round the table from a starting-point sideways, ever keeping his face directed towards the orange; and when he has reached his starting-point, he will find that he has rotated once round while he has performed one revolution round the table. In this case the performer represents the moon and the orange the earth.
Now this connection between the earth and her satellite is sufficiently close to be used as an argument (if not as actual demonstration) that the earth and the moon were originally portions of the same mass, and that during some very early stage in the development of the solar system these bodies parted company, to assume for ever after the relations of planet and satellite. At the epoch referred to, we may also suppose that these two masses of matter were in a highly incandescent, if not even gaseous, state; and we conclude, therefore, that having been once portions of the same mass, they are composed of similar materials. This conclusion is of great importance in enabling us to reason from analogy regarding the origin of the physical features on the moon's surface, and for the purpose of comparison with those which we find on the surface of our globe; because it is evident that, if the composition of the moon were essentially different from that of our earth, we should have no basis whatever for a comparison of their physical features.
When the moon started on her career of revolution round the earth, we may well suppose that her orbit was much smaller than at present. She was influenced by counteracting forces, those of gravitation drawing her towards the centre of gravity of the earth,[1] and the centrifugal force, which in the first instance was the stronger, so that her orbit for a lengthened period gradually increased until the two forces, those of attraction and repulsion, came into a condition of equilibrium, and she now performs her revolution round the earth at a mean distance of 240,000 miles, in an orbit which is only very slightly elliptical.[2] How the period of the moon's rotation is regulated by the earth's attraction on her molten lava-sheets, first at the surface, and now probably below the outer crust, has been graphically shown by Sir Robert Ball,[3] but it cannot be doubted that once the moon was appreciably nearer to our globe than at present. The attraction of her mass produced tides in the ocean of correspondingly greater magnitude, and capable of effecting results, both in eroding the surface and in transporting masses of rock, far beyond the bounds of our every-day experience.
Of all the heavenly bodies, the sun excepted, the moon is the most impressive and beautiful. As we catch her form, rising as a fair crescent in the western sky after sunset, gradually increasing in size and brilliancy night after night till from her circular disk she throws a full flood of light on our world and then passes through her decreasing phases, we recognise her as "the Governor of the night," or in the words of our own poet, when in her crescent phase, "the Diadem of night." Seen through a good binocular glass, her form gains in rotundity; but under an ordinary telescope with a four-inch objective, she appears like a globe of molten gold. Yet all this light is derivative, and is only a small portion of that she receives from the sun. That her surface is a mass of rigid matter destitute of any inherent brilliancy, appears plain enough when we view a portion of her disk through a very large telescope. It was the good fortune of the author to have an opportunity for such a view through one of the largest telescopes in the world. The 27-inch refractor manufactured by Sir Howard Grubb of Dublin, for the Vienna observatory, a few years ago, was turned on a portion of the moon's disk before being finally sent off to its destination; and seen by the aid of such enormous magnifying power, nothing could be more disappointing as regards the appearance of our satellite. The sheen and lustre of the surface was now observed no longer; the mountains and valleys, the circular ridges and hollows were, indeed, wonderfully defined and magnified, but the matter of which they seemed to be constituted resembled nothing so much as the pale plaster of a model. One could thus fully realise the fact that the moon's light is only derivative. Still we must recollect that the most powerful telescope can only bring the surface of the moon to a distance from us of about 250 miles; and it need not be said that objects seen at such a distance on our earth present very deceptive appearances; so that we gain little information regarding the composition of the moon's crust, or exterior surface, simply from observation by the aid of large telescopes.
Reasoning from analogy with our globe, we may infer that the exterior shell of the moon consists of crystalline volcanic matter of the highly silicated, or acid, varieties resting upon another of a denser description, rich in iron, and resembling basalt. This hypothesis is hazarded on the supposition that the composition of the matter of the moon's mass resembles in the main that of our globe. During the process of cooling from a molten condition, the heavier lavas would tend to fall inwards, and allow the lighter to come to the surface, and form the outer shell in both cases. Thus, the outer crust would resemble the trachytic lavas of our globe, and their pale colour would enable the sun's rays to be reflected to a greater extent than if the material were of the blackness of basalt.[4] So much for the material. We have now to consider the structure of the moon's surface, and here we find ourselves treading on less speculative and safer ground. All astronomers since the time of Schroter seem to be of accord in the opinion that the remarkable features of the moon's surface are in some measure of volcanic origin, and we shall presently proceed to consider the character of these forms more in detail.
But first, and as leading up to the discussion of these physical features, we must notice one essential difference between the constitution of the moon and of the earth; namely, the absence of water and of an atmosphere in the case of the moon. The sudden and complete occultation of the stars when the moon's disk passes between them and the place of the observer on the earth's surface, is sufficient evidence of the absence of air; and, as no cloud has ever been noticed to veil even for a moment any part of our satellite's face, we are pretty safe in concluding that there is no water; or at least, if there be any, that it is inappreciable in quantity.[5] Hence we infer that there is no animal or vegetable life on the moon's surface; neither are there oceans, lakes or rivers, snowfields or glaciers, river-valleys or cañons, islands, stratified rocks, nor volcanoes of the kind most prevalent on our own globe.