| Show WHEN MOON LOSES ITS SILVERY HUE as orb of can assume intense who has haa seen been a black moon some have seen a blue moon but butchis this Is so BO uncommon that alint its rarity has passed into a proverb of infrequency silvery Is the term that the poets apply to the new moon and golden to the full moon sometimes owing to the heaviness of the air near the tha horizon the moon may rise or set wearing a deep red as if in the scriptural phrase it had find turned to blood but when it if ever Is the moon black itigan it can only be when its side turned toward the earth la Is wholly unlighted then why not in an eclipse of the moona moon it then has haa a deep shade over ever it but its hue la Is coppery suit anil it la Is lighted so well that we can e even V en make out its ita face this Is due dua to irradiation through the earths atmosphere the rays ot of the hidden sun are bent around the solid body of the earth and fall upon the moon which at that time Is always exactly full we shall have to look for some other time it if we arc to find it black la Is there any time when the moon as it looks ut at us Is wholly unlighted 7 yes just when it Is passing from old to new for then the opposite side of the moon receives all the sunlight and outside our side none hut but it if it la is not lighted how can we see it at alii aill As a matter of fact wo we usually cannot particularly since it la Is so near the sun as to bo be lost in its brightness the moon would surely be black it we could see it but how are N vu lle ever going to we have only to wait for an eclipse of the sun whether Whet ber the eclipse be total or partial the blackened part of the sun as it seems to us Is not the sun atall at all but this very moon that we are looking tor for there la Is no doubt about its blackness the bible compares it to the blackest haircloth but no hair or ink or jet was ever so black its as this black moon and when the eclipse ts Is total and this great black ball hangs in heaven blotting out the sun one must have bavo strong nerves to behold it without a sudden feeling of terror it Is a black moon black beyond our w wildest ild imaginings it if once we se see e it we never shall forget it and we shall be fortunate it if it does not haunt our dreams atris providence journal |
