DOES THE MOON EXERCISE ANY INFLUENCE ON VEGETATION.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 278, 21 February 1874, Page 2

DOES THE MOON EXERCISE ANY INFLUENCE ON VEGETATION.

Tde following 19 the extract read at the mcetiug of the Royal Society by M. Simon, Consul for France, translated from the Journal dcs Debats of July 12- — " Does the moon, or does she not, exercise any influence on vegetation ? It is nesdless to say that savana always answer in the negathe. A clever and well-known fishbreedrr, Mr C.v bonnier, Im* just communicated to the Acclimatisation Society some curious observations which tend to »atisfy and prove the truth of the popular belief. " Every one knows that the glass sides of an aquarium placed in a full light always get covered by a greenish moss ; m course of time n. thickish vegetation invaces the whole aquarium. Mr Carbonmer, obliged to keep a large number of these reservoirs constantly clean, noticed that this microscopical vegetation took more than ten dayo to appear, while in others it wa9 completely developed in 'two or three days. In reflecting on this phenomenon, he acquired the certainty that the maximum intensity, cryptogamique, corrasponaed with the time of the full moon. The growth dimishes during the other phases so as to stop ulmost completely during the new moon At the time of the full moon to keop tho aquariums clean they must be daily attended to, after this period cleaning twice a week is sufficient. "These facts eontirm older experiments we made under the Equator. They show, in fact, that the respiration of plants is vory active under the influence of the light of the moon, nud tli.it the growth of a plant is much more rapid during the full moon than that during the new. To test the truth of a widely spread popular belief in America we made sowings of rliifereitt sorts at the full and new moon. All the seeds sown at the new moon came up much better than those sown at the full; the giowth of the plants was notably faster for the first than the second. The results were very decided in an alternative planting of orange trees at the full and new moon. These very considerable variations in the rate of growth seem to us easy to explain. We know that light is composed of several sorts of rays, and principally of warm rays, and of chemically acting rays. These last, principally by chemical action, act on the production of vegetation. Nn light, no vegetable growth. If the rays of the sun are allowed to tali on snnd, the sand is heated, and give* out in its turn as much heat as it received ; if these same rays fell on a torc-t, if it was possible to take them away and count them, you would not find the same number, lor many of them will have been utilised by the plants for the construction of the vegetable life. In fact, the light makes I the plant j and when you burn a piece of wood, you onlj give liberty to the quantity of heht which has been successively borrowed irom the sun during the life of the tree. " The moon returns us the active lavs ot the solar light ; the hoatinn rays are absorbed in great quantity by the moon itself and by the atmosphere of the narth, so thiit we receive exceedingly little. At the Peak of Tenentfe the heat of the moon is howen s r frit ; although the moon was very low at the time of the expeinnent it ncted as much, according to Mr Piaz/.i Smith, on a candle placed at five yards' distance. The chemical rays still have enough energy to leave an impression on a certain number of substances ; some beautiful photographs of the principal lunar circles (Mr Rhutherpie's American photographs.) That being so, why should noi lunar rays, active to a certain point like the direct hcht of the sun. provoke the interchange of atoms bet ween the atmosphere and the plants, — why should not vegetables deyelope themselves uuder its influence? " Thus, it is easy to understand serds sown at thr time of the new moon should grow fa«ter than if planted at the' full moon. In the first case thry find, when they come out of the earth, the lunnr light to accelerate their development ; in the second, they come up when the moon is below the horizon, and only grow during the day, instead of during both d»v and night. " Hero is, however, a new proof of lunar action also brought forward by Mr Carbonnier. The water which is used in his acqunrium comes from the cantil de l'Ourcq The canal, before arriving at Pans, has a long course in the open air, which enables the germs ot nncroicopic.il moss to multtply and develop. The quantity of these germs carried into the acquanums varies considerably. Generally almost insignificant, it is considerable at the time of the full moon. At the tune of the equinoxes, «ays Mr Carbon ■'ier, the water gets a greenish tinge with them. All my aquariums with running water get so dirtj that the glasses have to be cleaned" several times a day if it is wished to keep them transparent. The presence of these germs is not without influence on the fish. They often fix themselves in the respiratory organs, obstruct them, and the fish is smothered m a very short time. From this occurs a periodical and sometimes large mortality. "I attribute it entirely," sajs Mr Carbonnier, >( to the rapid development and out of tlf proportion of the vegetable germs at the times of the full moon and particularly at the equinoctial ones " Thi« statement is not without importance in connection with public health. " How do these germs accumulate in crater te«ervoirs ? The phenomenon is easy understood. Let nn attentive observer examine the side of a hole, these thready mosees which often cover the surface, he does not take long in convincing himself that these are kept floating by small bubbles which lodge between their branches. " l'hese bubbles produced hy the respiration of the plant UDder the surface by the influence of insulation do not form in the night ; the plant, having lost its supports, iinki. The passage of a clond over the sun'd disc often suffices to prove this. The vegetable germs, like the mossen, are lifted hy lilliputian balloons under the solar influence. If the moon bringi her quota of action when that of the sun ceases, it is easily understood that the upheaving becomes constant, and the vegetals are carried by the curreut of water into the distributing channels. This is the cause of large quantities of vegetation in the resesvoirs. These facts, observed by Mr Carbonnier, appear to us to interest directly public health, and it would be a subject of regret weie they to pass unperceived. The result therefore, of these experiments is, that when the moon shines, all sorts of germs come to the surface of the waters, and that a very luxurious mouroscopiuu) vegetation ensues. The quality and the purity of running water may therefore vary considerably on the different days of the month, and the moon thus has an indirect influence on public health One must not put as.de too lightly popular prejudices ; they contain, sometimes, facts more or less true — truths which escape the cleverest experimentalists. It is clear from what precede?, that the water of open-«r reservoirs, wells, or ponds is richer in germs it the timts of the full moon than at any other time, and principally at the approach of spring and autumn, when the declinations of the moon are least. Perhaps thiß may have something to do with the presumed insalubrity of the Versailles water last equinox. Perhaps this may explain the unhealthfulncss and certain special affections of spring md autumn. It would at any rate be interesting to test the opinion of Pliny and Plutarch, and to see whether there is not some coincidence not as yet much noticed with tb? principal phases of tho moon and the general mortality. Assuredly it would be wrong to exaggerate certain facts, but it would be just as deplorable to tee them always denied by tradition and the influence ot the schools — in tcifnce people ought to be independent