A little study, however, will show that the Moon, while influencing the tides, affects also all fluidic life on the globe. It appreciably affects the sap-cells of plants and trees. It exerts a direct influence on blood pressure in the animal body, and consequently affects the brain and nervous system of human beings, and excites a variety of passions and impulses which are but remotely connected with the lunar orb itself.

It may even be a fact that on account of the observed influence of the Moon upon the physical system of man, the ancients said that it ruled “the populace,” and made of it a common significator of public affairs. For it must be remembered that the belief in lunar influence in mundane affairs, ordinarily presumed to be of human origination and under human control, was prevalent before the days of printing and encyclopædic knowledge, possibly before the art of writing was invented, and men then depended entirely on their powers of observation for whatever knowledge they had. As many of the ancient astronomical statements will show, their powers of observation were almost the equal of our scientific instruments. Thus Dr. Pouchet rightly says: “Hipparchus and Ptolemy had no instruments to scrutinize the heavens with. The astronomers of the Renaissance, such as Regiomontanus, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler, were scarcely more favoured, and yet how many immortal discoveries do we owe to them! They seem with their lynx eyes to have seen or divined everything!”

They observed not only the courses of the stars and planets as well as those of the luminaries, but what is of more human interest, they watched the effects that these bodies had upon the course of human events and upon nations and persons. That the Moon influenced the weather was the logical deduction from the fact of its influence upon the waters of the earth. For obviously the Moon must not only be water-lifter, but also a cloud-lifter, and its effects upon the atmosphere itself must be in proportion to the saturation point of the air from hour to hour according to the incidence of its rays. Only when all meteorological methods have failed to indicate the kind of weather we are likely to have, to predict the kind of summer we shall have, or even to explain such as we have, then men throw about for new ideas, and frequently manage to seize upon old ones. This of the Moon’s influence on the weather is one such.

I have this following note of intelligence from the Daily Mail of the 14th August last: “The tides follow the Moon; local weather conditions are indisputably affected by the tides. Scientific meteorologists no doubt laugh the belief to scorn, but observers who are not scientific can produce sufficient data to prove that a change of weather coinciding with a change of the Moon is usually lasting.” The Daily Mail is right. But unfortunately the theory of the Moon’s influence on the weather has been badly distorted since the learned and observant Dr. Clark took the matter in hand and formulated a theory based on observations conducted over a very long period.

His theory goes to show that the Moon does not act directly upon the weather, but by a tidal action upon the Earth’s atmospheric envelope, which accordingly depends upon the time of the Moon’s syzygies and quadratures. It is this time-factor that has been overlooked and neglected. Reduced to a single sentence, the lunar theory may be stated as follows:—The nearer to midnight any phase of the Moon may occur, the finer will be the weather during the ensuing week, and consequently the nearer to midday it may occur, the more humid will be the weather. The barometer which shows the atmospheric pressure at a mean altitude will consequently be affected in terms of the above statements, and as it ranges from 28° to 30° over these islands, we may also indicate the state of the barometer from the Moon’s phases. For it will be seen that, so long as there is but moderate wind, the barometer will answer to the Moon’s phases in harmony with the weather. Very strong winds without rainfall will affect the barometer and register a fall. I have endeavoured to embody the whole of this theory of the Moon’s action on the weather in a single diagram.

Figure 26.

In attempting to account for a very wet summer in the year 1912, and a record downfall of rain in the month of August, I shall have to refer to the times of the phases of the Moon since the solstice. Here are the dates and times, taken from the Ephemeris of Greenwich.

June 21. First Quarter 8.39 p.m. Fair.
” 29. Full Moon 1.34 p.m. Wet. Stormy.
July 7. Last Quarter 4.47 p.m. Unsettled.
” 14. New Moon 1.13 p.m. Wet. Stormy.
” 21. First Quarter 5.18 a.m. Change.
” 29. Full Moon 4.28 a.m. Change.
Aug. 6. Last Quarter 4.18 a.m. Change.
” 12. New Moon 7.58 p.m. Change to Fair.
” 19. First Quarter 4.57 p.m. Unsettled.
” 29. Full Moon 7.59 p.m. Change to Fair.

Here there are indications of plenty of variable and changeable weather, with splashes of very wet and stormy weather, and just a suspicion of fair in the whole period.