But let us hear what he
has to say on the subject himself. What is your theory. Barbican?"
"My theory," said Barbican, "is pretty much the same as that lately
presented by an English astronomer, Nasmyth, who has devoted much study
and reflection to lunar matters. Of course, I only formulate my theory,
I don't affirm it. These streaks are cracks, made in the Moon's surface
by cooling or by shrinkage, through which volcanic matter has been
forced up by internal pressure. The sinking ice of a frozen lake, when
meeting with some sharp pointed rock, cracks in a radiating manner:
every one of its fissures then admits the water, which immediately
spreads laterally over the ice pretty much as the lava spreads itself
over the lunar surface. This theory accounts for the radiating nature of
the streaks, their great and nearly equal thickness, their immense
length, their inability to cast a shadow, and their invisibility at any
time except at or near the Full Moon. Still it is nothing but a theory,
and I don't deny that serious objections may be brought against it."
"Do you know, dear boys," cried Ardan, led off as usual by the slightest
fancy, "do you know what I am thinking of when I look down on the great
rugged plains spread out beneath us?"
"I can't say, I'm sure," replied Barbican, somewhat piqued at the little
attention he had secured for his theory.
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