The Book of the Damned

But numerousness is a new factor, or new disturbance, to our explorations-- A new aspect of inter-planetary inhabitancy or occupancy-- Worlds in hordes--or beings--winged beings perhaps--wouldn't astonish me if we should end up by discovering angels--or beings in machines--argosies of celestial voyagers-- In 1783 and 1787, Herschel reported more lights on or near the moon, which he supposed were volcanic. The word of a Herschel has had no more weight, in divergences from the orthodox, than has had the word of a Lescarbault. These observations are of the disregarded. Bright spots seen on the moon, November, 1821 (Proc. London Roy. Soc., 2-167). For four other instances, see Loomis (Treatise on Astronomy, p. 174). A moving light is reported in Phil. Trans., 84-429. To the writer, it looked like a star passing over the moon--"which, on the next moment's consideration I knew to be impossible." "It was a fixed, steady light upon the dark part of the moon." I suppose "fixed" applies to luster. In the Report of the Brit. Assoc., 1847-18, there is an observation by Rankin, upon luminous points seen on the shaded part of the moon, during an eclipse. They seemed to this observer like reflections of stars. That's not very reasonable: however, we have, in the Annual Register, 1821-687, a light not referable to a star--because it moved with the moon: was seen three nights in succession; reported by Capt. Kater. See Quart. Jour. Roy. Inst., 12-133. Phil. Trans., 112-237: Report from the Cape Town Observatory: a whitish spot on the dark part of the moon's limb. Three smaller lights were seen.