THE FIFTH OF OCTOBER.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1089, 5 October 1869, Page 3

THE FIFTH OF OCTOBER.

This day is big with fate. Jußt as I set My foot across the threshold, lo ! I met A man whose squint terrific struck my view ! A second came, and lo ! he squinted too ! s And ere I'd reached the corner of the street, walking apace, 'twas my chance to meet A third who squinted more 1 A fourth, and he Squinted more vilely than the other three. Bonibastes Fwrioso. Sib,— l always like to begin a letter with a quotation from the classics, for it not only serves as an exponent of what you intend to write about, but I have the example of Addison, Scott, my friend Mr. Colenso, and other men of genius to convince me it is the proper thing to do. Having got so far as an introduction, here goes in medias res. It appears we are all going to be swallowed up, and, if we don't make haste, without benefit of clergy, for the time is fast drawing nigh. The Maoris have been carrying food to the tops of the highest hills, and many old women of our own race are sorely afraid. The alarm, moreover, extends to many who are neither Maoris nor old women. Superstition, alas ! strongly holds its own, even near the close of the nineteenth century ; and though the age is in a transition state, there is much to be done before ignorance and wild credulity are exorcised. I consider the letter of Mr. Colenso's, in your issue of the 24th ult., the most sensible one he has written for some time past, and but for his unfortunate aptitude to " make a mess" of things, and his inability to differ without being abusive, his letter would have had a good effect, and the writer been correspondingly respected. With his usual blundering, however, Mr. C. classes Saxby with Zadkiel and the other magicians, and he gets considerably the worst of it, for a relative of Mr. Satby gives him so sound a " cudgelling " in a gentlemanly way, that I have been, grinning all the day at the thought of it. Mr. Saxby, senr., appears to be not only a clever man, but a conscientious one too, and as such he is entitled to our respect, however much we may differ from him in opinion. I cannot agree with Saxby in considering that the moon has any reliable influence on the weather ; and as a high authority in support of my opinion, I may refer to the illustrious French astronomer M. Arago, who, after a long series of years of the closest observation, could detect no peculiarity of weather he could attribute to lunar influence. The facts appear simply to be these. The moon's particular influence is upon the aqueous fluid of the globe, and the sun's upon the atmospheric. The air, from its easy rarefaction, is greatly affected by the solar heat, and the colder air immediately rushes to supply any partial vacuum caused by excessive rarefaction. It is, therefore, to the sun's power that we are generally to look for atmospheric disturbance ; whilst for the tidal phenomena we must consider the lunar influenoe. For instance, we may assume the moon's attractive power upon the ocean as five feet, and the sun's as two feet. .Now, when the sun and moon are in conjunction or opposition we have 6 and 2, equal to 7, and when the moon is at its first or third quarter we have 5 less 2, equal to 3, or a difference of 4 feet in mid ocean between neap and spring tides, In one case the sun and. moon are pulling;

so to speak together, and in the other they' are puffing nearly at right angles. This is a clumsy way, perhaps, of explaining the matter, but the subject seems to; be so : little understood generally, that ft bad- ex-, planation is better than none at all. Now, on the 6th we hare two or three rather j remarkable coincidences. The sun has only just passed the earth's equator, and the moon will be passing it about the 6th. The moon, moreover, is new, and is in perigee, or the point in her orbit when she nearest approaches the earth. We have, therefore, the sun and moon in pretty close conjunction, with their attractive powers combined, the latter body exerting its greatest intensity. Now, there is nothing very dreadful in all this ; it has happened before, and will happen again. The full attractive force of the assumed power, 7, will be in operation, and the simple fact of a higher tide than usual will be the result. We need hot, therefore, fly to the hills ; notwithstanding Lieut. Saxby's modesty ort disinlination to give the rise of tide, it hot only em but is calculated with accuracy for the sth and 6th inst., excluding, of course, the unforseen contingencies of wind and flood. Now, in certain straits and, channels (owing, of course, to the water being more confined and circumscribed in area), the rise is correspondingly higher than in mid-ocean. To show now the configuration of land affects the tidal rise, I may mention that the usual height of spring tides is, in some parts of Europe, from 70 to 80 feet, whilst in New Zealand, the rise in localities most affected is only about 12 or 13 feet. Believing, as 2 do, that the moon has little (if any) influence on the atmosphere or weather, I should not fear to bear Mr. Colenso company in his proposed voluntary incarceration on the sth, even in a building with no means of egress. The truth is, this anticipated tide has been made a great deal too much of. In New Zealand, 1 believe, it will not realize its omenous reputation ; and the only thing to be surprised at is, that persons who, from education, ought to know better, have been first to circulate the unnecessary alarm. Apologising for my intrusion on your space, I am, &c, Obbit. P.S.— Agreeably to a law in Physics, too tedious to describe here, the highest tide will, most probably, be on the evening of the 6th.