re of this
strange lunar figure. It was held to be a mysterious world, the more
extraordinary in that it always presented the same face to us. Some
compared it to an immense mirror reflecting the image of the Earth.
Others pictured it as a silver star, an enchanted abode where all was
wealth and happiness. For many a long day it was the fashion to think,
quite irrationally, that the inhabitants of the Moon were fifteen times
bigger than ourselves.

The invention of telescopes, however, brought a little order and a grain
of truth into these fantastic assumptions. The first observations of
Galileo revolutionized science, and his discoveries filled the
best-ordered minds with enthusiasm. Thenceforward, the Moon became our
property, a terrestrial suburb, where the whole world would gladly have
installed itself, had the means of getting there been as swift as the
wings of the imagination. It became easy enough to invent a thousand
enchanting descriptions of the charms of our fair sister, and no one
scrupled to do so. Soon, it was observed that the Moon closely resembled
the Earth in its geological features; its surface bristles with sharp
mountain peaks that light up in so many luminous points beneath the rays
of the Sun. Alongside, dark and shaded parts indicate the plains;
moreover, there are large gray patches that were supposed to be seas
because they reflect the solar light less perfectly than the adjacent
countries. At that epoch hardly anything was known of the physical
constitution of the Moon, and it was figured as enveloped with an
atmospheric layer, analogous to that at the bottom of which we carry on
our respiration.

To-day we know that these "seas" are destitute of water, and that if the
lunar globe possesses an atmosphere, it must be excessively light.

The Moon became the favorite object of astronomers, and the numerous
observations made of it authorized the delineation of very interesting
selenographic charts. In order to find one's way among the seas, plains,
and mountains that make up the lunar territory, it was necessary to name
them. The seas were the first to be baptized, in accordance with their
reputed astrological influences. Accordingly, we find on the Moon, the
Sea of Fecundity, the Lake of Death, the Sea of Humors, the Ocean of
Tempests, the Sea of Tranquillity, the Marsh of Mists, the Lake of
Dreams, the Sea of Putrefaction, the Peninsula of Reverie, the Sea of
Rains, etc.

With regard to th