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Curiosities of the Sky by Garrett P. (Garrett Putman) Serviss
page 139 of 165 (84%)
For similar reasons it seems not impossible that the theory mentioned
in a former chapter -- that some of the meteorites that have fallen
upon the earth originated from the lunar volcanoes -- is well founded.
This would apply especially to the stony meteorites, for it is hardly
to be supposed that the moon, at least in its superficial parts,
contains much iron. It is surely a scene most strange that is thus
presented to the mind's eye -- that little attendant of the earth's
(the moon has only one-fiftieth of the volume, and only one-eightieth
of the mass of the earth) firing great stones back at its parent
planet! And what can have been the cause of this furious outbreak of
volcanic forces on the moon? Evidently it was but a passing stage in
its history; it had enjoyed more quiet times before. As it cooled down
from the plastic state in which it parted from the earth, it became
incrusted after the normal manner of a planet, and then oceans were
formed, its atmosphere being sufficiently dense to prevent the water
from evaporating and the would-be oceans from disappearing continually
in mist. This, if any, must have been the period of life in the lunar
world. As we look upon the vestiges of that ancient world buried in
the wreck that now covers so much of its surface, it is difficult to
restrain the imagination from picturing the scenes which were once
presented there; and, in such a case, should the imagination be
fettered? We give it free rein in terrestrial life, and it rewards us
with some of our greatest intellectual pleasures. The wonderful
landscapes of the moon offer it an ideal field with just enough
half-hidden suggestions of facts to stimulate its powers.

The great plains of the Mare Imbrium and the Mare Serenitatis (the
``Sea of Showers'' and the ``Sea of Serenity''), bordered in part by
lofty mountain ranges precisely like terrestrial mountains, scalloped
along their shores with beautiful bays curving back into the adjoining
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