ok upon as a very ordinary
and common-place affair.

Only three days ago we asked a medium where Sir John Franklin was at
that time; to which he replied, he was cruising about (officers and crew
all well) on the interior of the Earth, to which he had obtained
entrance through SYMMES HOLE!

With a few remarks upon the Earth's Satellite, we conclude the first
Lecture on Astronomy; the remainder of the course being contained in a
second Lecture, treating of the planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and
Neptune, the Asteroids, and the fixed stars, which last, being
"fixings," are, according to Mr. Charles Dickens, American property.

THE MOON

This resplendent luminary, like a youth on the Fourth of July, has its
first quarter; like a ruined spendthrift its last quarter, and like an
omnibus, is occasionally full and new. The evenings on which it appears
between these last stages are beautifully illumined by its clear, mellow
light.

The Moon revolves in an elliptical orbit about the Earth in twenty-nine
days twelve hours forty-four minutes and three seconds, the time which
elapses between one new Moon and another. It was supposed by the ancient
philosophers that the Moon was made of green cheese, an opinion still
entertained by the credulous and ignorant. Kepler and Tyco Brahe,
however, held to the opinion that it was composed of Charlotte Russe,
the dark portions of its surface being sponge cake, the light _blanc
mange_. Modern advances in science and the use of Lord Rosse's famous
telescope have demonstrated the absurdity of all these speculations by
proving conclusively that the Moon is mainly composed of the
_Ferro_--_sesqui_--_cyanuret, of the cyanide of potassium_! Up to the
latest dates from the Atlantic States, no one has succeeded in reaching
the Moon. Should anyone do so hereafter, it will probably be a woman, as
the sex will never cease making an exertion for that purpose as long as
there is a man in it.

Upon the whole, we may consider the Moon an excellent institution, among
the many we enjoy under a free, republican form of government, and it is
a blessed thing to reflect that the President of the United States can
not _veto_ it, no matter how strong an inclination he may feel, from
principle or habit, to do so.

It has been ascertained beyond a doubt that the Moon has no air.
Consequently, the common expressions, "the Moon was gazing down with an
air of benevolence," or with "an air of complacency," or wi