_Mare Imbrium_, the Sea of Rains here revealed itself in all its
vastness to the eyes of the travellers, though it must be acknowledged
that the immense depression so called, did not afford them a very clear
idea regarding its exact boundaries. Right ahead of them rose _Lambert_
about a mile in height; and further on, more to the left, in the
direction of _Oceanus Procellarum_, _Euler_ revealed itself by its
glittering radiations. This mountain, of about the same height as
_Lambert_, had been the object of very interesting calculations on the
part of Schroeter of Erfurt. This keen observer, desirous of inquiring
into the probable origin of the lunar mountains, had proposed to himself
the following question: Does the volume of the crater appear to be equal
to that of the surrounding ramparts? His calculations showing him that
this was generally the case, he naturally concluded that these ramparts
must therefore have been the product of a single eruption, for
successive eruptions of volcanic matter would have disturbed this
correlation. _Euler_ alone, he found, to be an exception to this general
law, as the volume of its crater appeared to be twice as great as that
of the mass surrounding it.
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