Some Lunar Phases.

' Among the ancient Greeks and Romans the crescent waa regarded ns a protection against the wiles of the Evil One , and small metal crescents were worn around the neck of man and beast as amulets . This custom bos not yet entirely disappeared in Italy and the East , and some years ago tho Neapolitan ladies wore silver crescents on their arms as preservations against epilepsy . Tho talismanic crescent

has ever been the badge of Islam , and Masons are familiar with the distinction between tbo Believer and the Infidel . How the crescent became the Turkoman ' s standard is not well established—indeed , like many Masonic observances , its history is legendary . The Koran says that Mahomet broke the disc of the moon , and as the crescent fell from heaven , he caught it in his sleeve , and made it tho symbol

of his divine authority . It is related that Othman , tho Conqueror , founder of the Turkish Empire , had a dream , in wich he saw the crescent moon waxing in splendour , until it illumined the whole world , when ho adopted it as his standard , with the legend , " until it fills the world . " Still another account is that when Philip of Macedon was engaged one dark night , in undermining the walls of

Byzantium , a new moon suddenly made its appearance and discovered his operations to the besieged , who in gratitude for its timely light erected a temple to Diana , ancl adopted her crescent as a symbol of the state . The crescent was a religious symbol , however , long before the Turkish empire began ; old statues of Diana represent her with the crescent over her brow , attesting that it was a familiar

symbol to the worshippers of that deity . All nations seem to have had a desire to account for the spots on the moon , and as they were unable to do so in scientific manner , their lively imaginations soon fashioned an accepted theory . Among the heathen nations the hare ia said to inhabit the moon ancl to be the cause of the spots . In Ceylon it is related that when Buddha was

a hermit on earth , he one day lost his way in a forest , and after long •wanderings met a hare , who proffered his services as guide out of the wilderness . Buddha thanked him for his kindness , and stated his inability to requite him for the service , as he was poor and Starving . The hare replied to light a fire , kill and eat him , whereupon Buddha lit the fire and the hare immediatly leaped in : here

Buddha displayed his power and magnanimity by taking the hare from the flame and placing it in the moon . A French traveller mentions this story , and says his telescope was frequently borrowed by the natives in order that they might inspect tho hare in tbe moon . The Hottentots have a hare legend somewhat different ; they say that the moon once sent the hare to man to inform him that aa

she died and rose again , so should man die and rise again . Bnt the hare forgot the purport of the message , and said to man tbat as the moon died and did not rise again , so should man die and not rise to life again . When the hare mado report to the moon , the latter became so angry that she struck at him with a hatchet ' and slit his lip , whereupon the hare fled , and is still fleeing ; others assert that the

hare flew at the moon and almost scratched her eyes out . The most popular and harmless fancy connected with our satellite is the man in the moon , and very few persons have any idea of tho meaning or origin of the phrase . In response to an inquiry what ifc mean ? , the answer would doubtless be given that it refers to that faint appearance of a face that the moon presents when full . An

acquaintance with folk-lore , however , invests the object with much interest , and it is known to be the resemblance to a human figure which appears in the side of the moon when eight days old , being something like a man carrying a thorn . bush on his back and climb , iug an elevation , while a detached object in front seems to be his dog going on before him .

In Numbers xv . 32—36 , we read : " And while tho children of Israel were in tho wilderness , they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day . And they that found him gathering sticks •brought him unto Moses and Aaron , and unto all tbe congregation . And they put him inward , because it was not declared what shonld be done to him . And the Lord said unto Moses , 'The man shall

be surely put to death ; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp . ' And all the congregation brought him without the camp , and stoned him with stones and he died as the Lord commanded Moses . " This circumstance is supposed to havo given rise to the fancy , among the nations worshipping the true Gcd , of the man in the moon , where the unhappv Sabbath-breaker

is ID perpetual purgatory , bearing his bundle of sticks npon his back , ever climbing without advancing , ever fearing a fall , aud shivering as the frosty nir bites his back through his thorn-rent clothing . In Germany the legend is tbat an old man cut some sticks on a Sunday morning , and having gathered all he could carry , slung them in a bundle upon his back , and started homeward . He had

not proceeded far when he met an elegantly dressed stranger—none other than the Almighty—who reproved him for not keeping the day holy , and asked if he was not aware it was Sunday on earth . "Sunday on earth or Monday in heaven , it is all the same to me , " was the irreverent reply . " So be it , " said tbo stranger , " bear thon your faggot forever ; nnd since you do net value Sunday on earth , von

shall have an everlasting moon-day in heaven—standing for eternity in the moon as a warning to Sabbath-breakers . " As he pronounced the sentence the stranger vanished , and before the poor wood-chopper could apologize for his rudeness , he was seized by invisible hands and borne to the moon , pole , faggot and all . Another version stated that lie was given the choice of burning in the sun or freezing in the

moon , and chose the later . The story has various other renditions ; that he was pruning his vineyard on Sunday , 'or had stolen a parcel of cuttings from a neighbour , and when questioned about it protested his innocence by saying , "If T have committed such a crime , mav J go to the moon , " which fate bcfel him at his death . In soma

localities , the man had stolen wood on Easier Day , and in others was fencing his field on Good Friday ; in another , he . had robbed a neighbour ' s garden of cabbages on Christmas eve , and this story says lie turns once arotu . d with his plunder on the anniversary of his crime and detection . The Suabians say that a man and woman arc iu tho moon ; thy former for spreading thorns and brambles on the road to church , one

Some Lunar Phases.

Sunday morning , and the woman for churning butter tho samo day , while some traveller in countries bordering on Eastern seas reports an idea held by the inhabitants that the man in tho moon is a giant who bends down to scoop up the water to pour on the earth to cause a flood tide , and who stands upright , at rest , when the tide ebbs . Shakespeare refers to the man in the moon in Midsummer Night ' s

Bream , when Mr . Quince , the carpenter , gives description how moonshine is to be represented , and in Act V . Scene I . Moonshine says , " All I havo to say is to tell yon that the lantern is the man ; I , the man in the moon ; this thornbnsh , my thorn-bush ; and this dog , my dog . "

Some years ago an Irish acquaintance explained to me a rule for determining the age of the moon , which I have in mind as to method , but am not quite sure I can recall the doggrel verso in which tho rule was told to me . It is of iuterest to Masons , and I do not think it has ever been in print . With theso verses in mind , no one need ever consult an almanac for the moon ' s age :

When fifteen hundred years are past Of Jesus' age , sure nineteen cast , And what remains , I pray remember , You'll surely find the golden number . Minus ono the Golden Number , Multiply by eleven placed under , And cast it into thirties first , And what remains is Epact just . Count the months , with March begin , Unto the month that yon are in , Add to it as on you go The Epact and the day of month ; All over thirty leave behind , Ancl the moon ' s ago you'll surely find . When fifteen hundred years are past Of Jesus' age , sure nineteen cast , And what remains , I pray remember , You'll surely find the golden number . Minus ono the Golden Number , Multiply by eleven placed under , And cast it into thirties first , And what remains is Epact just . Count the months , with March begin , Unto the month that yon are in , Add to it as on you go The Epact and the day of month ; All over thirty leave behind , Ancl the moon ' s ago you'll surely find .

Now to explain the process ; I am writing 22 nd August 1881 ; deduc ' 1600 from 1881 and there remains 381 ; cast ( divide ) 19 in this and i *" goes twenty times with one remaining , which is the Golden Number , aud by refering to the almanac it is found that the Golden Number for 1881 is 1 . "Minus one the Golden Number multiply by eleven placed under . " This gives zero , or nothing , and eleven times nothing

is nothing , but we must have the Epact , and the rule is where we have nothing , to make it 30 ; consequently 30 must be the Epact , ancl the almanac says it is 30 . Commencing with March and including August makes six months ; add to this the Epact , 30 , and the day of the mouth , 22 , and the sum is 58 ; " all over thirty leave behind , " and we have 28 as tho moon ' s age . The August moon was new 26 th July , so that the six days of July and 22 days of August make

the twenty-eight days . Of conrse , being twenty-eight days old wo are so near another new moon that we can look for ifc in two days , and the almanac says there is a new moon on 24 th August . Ifc is unnecessary for astronomers to smile and announce that tho rule will not always work ; the instances when it will not are so very , very rare , that it serves all practical purposes , and I gladly give it for tho good of the Craft .

Obituary.

Obituary .

THE LATE BRO . BARNARD . WE regret to have to record the death of an old and esteemed Craftsman , Bro . J . A . L . Barnard , who died at No . 20 Navarino-road , on the last day of the old year , at the ripe age of seventy-three . The deceased was a lineal descendant of the celebrated Lord Mayor Barnard , who was one of tho members for the City of London and

Lord Mayor in the year 1737 , and also knovvn as one of the most popular members for the City of London for over forty years . His statue , executed in marble , was erected in the old Royal Exchange . The deceased gentleman was educated in the Bluecoat School , and , early brought up to

commercial pursuits , was for many years a clerk and cashier in the Bank of England , which establishment ho left to join the disastrous British Bank . He took a lively interest in literary pursuits , and was for many years one of the Committee of the celebrated Literary Institution

in Aldersgate-street ; ho was also an active Director of the entertainments connected with that Institution . He was for many years an active and useful Freemason , having been twice W . Master , and for a long timo lAdher of the-Ionic Lodge , wherein lie for years appeared as Master of

Ceremonies . Ho took a deep interest in all matters pertaining to the Craft , and was ever ready to assist in act ,- ) of charity . For many years lie acted as Honorary Secretary to the Benevolent Society of Old Blues . Members of the

Craft who have been accustomed to sec him , not only in his own . bnt also in Grand Lodge , will long miss his cheery and genial countenance and kindly expressions . Wc regret to say that he 'has left a widow and two aged sisters in somewhat , straitened circumstances . Wc arc

•assured when this is known to lhe Craft there will be no lack of generous assistance brought to bear—tho brethren are over mindful of those left dependent , and especiall y so where those who fulfilled the duty of bread winners were tbe first to lend aid on behalf of tho necessitous .