"Like the young moon, When on the sunlit limits of the night Her white shell trembles amid crimson air, And while the sleeping tempest gathers might, Doth, as the herald of his coming, bear The ghost of its dead mother, whose dim form Bends in dark ether from her infant's chair." That is a more charming way of putting the ordinary expression, "the old moon in the new moon's arms." We are regularly accustomed to the moonshine, but only occasionally is the _earthshine_ on the moon so regulated that the shadowed part is visible. This is not seen at the appearance of every new moon. It depends upon the positions of the sun and moon, the state of the atmosphere, and the absence of heavy clouds. I never in my life saw the phenomenon so marvellously beautiful as on May 7th, 1894, at my manse in Strathmore. I took particular note of it, as some exceedingly curious things were connected with it. At nine o'clock in the evening, the new moon issued from some clouds in the western heavens, the sun having set, about an hour before. The crescent was thin and silvery, and the outline of the shadowed part was just visible. The sky near the horizon was clear and greenish-hued. As the night advanced the moon descended, and at ten o'clock she was approaching a purple stratum of clouds that stretched over the hills, while the position of the sun was only known a little to the east, by the back-thrown light upon the dim sky. Through the moisture-laden air the sun's rays, reflected by the moon, threw a golden stream from the crescent moon, for the silvery shell became more golden-hued. The horns of the moon now seemed to project, and the shadowed part became more distinct, though the circle appeared smaller. By means of a field-glass I noticed that this was extra lighted, with points here and there quite golden-tinged. The darker spots showed the deep caverns; the brighter points brought into relief the mountain peaks. Why was the surface brighter than usual? I cannot go into detail about the phases of the moon; but, in a word, I may say that, while the sun can illuminate the side of the moon turned towards it, it is unable to throw any light on the shadow, seeing that there is no atmosphere around the moon to refract the light.