The moon hoax : $b or, A discovery that the moon has a vast population of human beings — John Locke — John Shaqi
The moon hoax : $b or, A discovery that the moon has a vast population of human beings
John Locke · en
In order to learn, then, what is the constitution, and what has been
or may be the probable history of the various worlds in our firmament,
we must study the constitution and physical history of our own.
The men of limited reason who believed that the earth was created
and launched into its ethereal course when man was summoned to its
occupation, must have either denied altogether the existence of our
solar system, or have regarded all its planets as coeval with their
own, and as but the ministers to its convenience. Science, however,
has now corrected this error, and liberated the pious mind from its
embarrassments. The Palæontologist--the student of ancient life--has
demonstrated, by evidence not to be disputed, that the earth had been
inhabited by animals and adorned with plants during immeasurable cycles
of time antecedent to the creation of man--that when the volcano, the
earthquake, and the flood, had destroyed and buried them, nobler forms
of life were created to undergo the same fiery ordeal:--and that,
by a series of successive creations and catastrophes, the earth was
prepared for the residence of man, and the rich materials in its bosom
elaborated for his use, and thrown within his grasp. In the age of our
own globe, then, we see the age of its brother planets, and in the
antiquity of our own system we see the antiquity of the other systems
of the universe. In our catastrophes, too, we recognise theirs, and in
our advancing knowledge and progressive civilization, we witness the
development of the universal mind--the march of the immortal spirit to
its final destiny of glory or of shame.
The following are the names which have been given to the mountains and
valleys, or hollows, in the moon, and which are referred to in the
accompanying picture [See title page].
MOUNTAINS.
1. The Apennines.
2. The Caucasus.
3. The Alps.
4. Taurus.
5. Hæmus.
6. The Altai Mountains.
7. The Cordilleras.
8. The Riphæ Mountains.
9. The Carpathians.
10. The Hercynian Mountains.
HOLLOWS, OR VALLEYS.
A. The Crisian Sea.
B. The Sea of Fertility (!!).
C. The Sea of Nectar.
D. The Tranquil Sea.
E. The Serene Sea.
F. The Sea of Dreams.
G. The Sea of Death.
H. The Dreamy Marsh.
I. The Cold Sea.
K. The Sea of Vapors.
L. The Middle Bay.
M. The Sea of Clouds.
N. The Sea of Mist.
O. The Bay of Epidemics.
P. The Stormy Ocean.
Q. The Showery Sea.
R. The Sea of Rainbows.
S. The Sea of Dews.
T. Humboldt's Sea.
As will be seen, astronomers have done what they could to relieve the
dreariness of nature by a free indulgence in fanciful names.