Chapter XIV

THE MOON AS A SATELLITE: ITS RELATION TO THE EARTH AND MAN. 171
The Moon as a Luminary—Secondary Nature of Light-giving
Function—Primary Office as a Sanitary Agent—Cleansing
Effects of the Tides—Tidal Rivers and Transport
thereby—The Moon a “Tug”—Available Power of
Tides—Tide-Mills—Transfer of Tidal Power Inland—The Moon
as a Navigator’s Guide—Longitude found by the Moon—Moon’s
Motions—Discovered by Observations—Grouped into
Theories—Represented by Tables—The Nautical Almanac—The
Moon as a Long-Period Timekeeper—Reckoning by
“Moons”—Eclipses the Starting-Points of
Chronologies—Furnish indisputable Dates—Solar Surroundings
revealed by Eclipses when Moon screens the Sun—Solar
Corona—Moon as a Medal of Creation, a Half-formed
World—Abuses of the Moon—Superstitions—Erroneous Ideas
regarding Moonlight pourtrayed by Artists and Authors—The
Moon and the Weather—Errors and Facts—Atmospheric
Tides—Warmth from Moon—Paradoxical Effect in cooling the
Earth