Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/833

Rh M O O M O O 803 is tho most difficult and intricate of celestial mechanics, and no satisfactory general method of attacking it has yet been found. The sources of difficulty are two in number. First, the disturbing action of the planets is modified by that of the sun in such a way that the ordinary equations of disturbed elliptic motion are no longer rigorous, and hence new and more complicated ones must be constructed. And, secondly, the combination of the four bodies moon, earth, sun, and planet leads to terms so numerous and intricate that it has hardly been found possible to isolate them. The question has, indeed, been raised whether the rotation of the earth on its axis, and hence the unit of time, may not be subject to slow and irregular changes of a nature to produce apparent corre sponding changes in the motion of the moon. But it has recently been found, from a discussion of the observed transits of Mercury since 1677, that, although such inequalities may exist, they cannot have the magnitude necessary to account for the observed changes of long period in the moon s motion. The following is a summary of the present state of the various branches of the lunar theory. (1) The numerical solution of the problem of the sun s action on the moon may be regarded as quite satisiuctory, at least when Hanson s results shall have been verified by an independent method. (2) The analytic theory needs to be perfected by finding some remedy for the slow convergence of the series by which it is expressed, but its general form may be regarded as quite satisfactory. (3) Except in one or two special cases, the action of the planets on the moon, when treated with the necessary rigour, is so intricate that no approach to a satisfactory solution has yet been attained. When this desideratum is reached, the mathematical theory will be complete. (4) The general discussion of ancient and modern observations with a view to finding what real or apparent inequalities of long period in the mean motion may exist is still to be finished. With it the astronomical theory will be complete. (S. N.) MOORCROFT, WILLIAM (&amp;lt;-. 1770-1825), traveller in Asia, was born in Lancashire, about 1770. He was edu cated as a surgeon in Liverpool, but on completing his course he resolved to devote himself to veterinary surgery, and, after studying the subject in France, began its practice in London. In 1795 he published a pamphlet of directions for the medical treatment of horses, with special reference to India, and in 1800 a Cursory Account of the Methods of Shoeing Horses. Having been offered by the East India Company the inspectorship of their Bengal stud, Moorcroft left England for India in 1808. Under his care the stud rapidly improved ; in order to perfect the breed, he resolved to undertake a journey into Central Asia to obtain a stock of Turcoman horses. In company with Captain William Hearsay, and encumbered with a stock of merchandise for the purpose of establishing trade relations between India and Central Asia, Moorcroft left Josimath, well within the mountains, on 26th May 181 2. Proceeding along the valley of the Dauli, they reached the summit of the frontier pass of Niti on 1st July. Descending by the towns of Daba and Ghortope, Moorcroft struck the main upper branch of the Indus near its source, and on 5th August arrived at the sacred lake of Manasarowara. Returning by Bhutan, he was detained some time by the Gurkhas, and reached Calcutta in November. This journey only served to whet Moorcroft s appetite for more extensive travel, for which he prepared the way by sending out a young Hindustani, who succeeded in making very extensive explorations. In company with this young man and George Trebeck, Moor croft set out on his second journey in October 1819. His enterprise was looked upon rather coldly by the directors, who merely allowed him his pay for a time, all the expenses being borne by Moorcroft himself. By way of Almord and Srfnagar, Lahore was reached on 6th May 1820. On 14th August the source of the Biyah (Hyphasis) was discovered, and subsequently that of the Chenab. Leh, the capital of Ladak, was reached on 24th September, and here several months were spent in exploring the surrounding country. A commercial treaty was concluded with the Government of Ladak, by which the whole of Central Asia was virtually opened to British trade. Kashmir was reached on 3d November 1822, and by the Pir Panjal mountains Jalalabad on 4th June 1824, Cabul on 20th June, and by Khulm, Kunduz, and Balkh Mocrcroft arrived at Bokhara on 25th February 1825. Everywhere he bought horses for the company, and endeavoured to establish trade relations. At Andkho in Cabul Moorcroft was seized with fever, of which he died on 27th August 1825, Trebeck surviving him only a few days. It was not till several years afterwards that his papers were obtained by the Asiatic Society, and published under the editorship of Horace Hayman Wilson in 1841 under the title of Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Punjab, in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Ptshaivur, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara, from 1819 to 1825. Though published so long after the traveller s death, the narrative was a valuable contribution to a knowledge of Central Asia, and still remains a classic. In vol. xii. of Asiatic Researches will be found an account by Moorcroft of his first journey, and in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. i., a paper on the Purik sheep. MOORE, EDWARD (1712-1757), minor poet, dramatist, and miscellaneous writer, was the son of a dissenting minis ter of Abingdon, where he was born in 1712. He was the author of the thrilling domestic tragedy of The Gamester, originally produced in 1753 with Garrick in the leading character, and still in the repertory of acting plays. It is perhaps the strongest lesson against gambling ever preached from stage or pulpit. The literary merit of the play is not great, but it is powerfully constructed and full of impressive incident, and the career of Beverley the gambler (a character modelled on Fielding s Captain Booth) affords great scope for the actor. Moore also wrote two comedies. As a poet he produced clever imitations of Gay and Gray, and with the assistance of Lyttelton, Chesterfield, and Horace Walpole conducted The World (1753-57) during the great decade of the revival of periodical essay- writing. The World followed Johnson s Rambler, and was followed by The Idler ; it had as rivals The Adventurer and The Connoisseur. Moore died at London in 1757. MOORE, DR JOHN (1 730-1 802), born at Stirling in 1 730, was one of the most prominent writers of travels and novels in the latter part of the 18th century. His novel Zeluco (published in 1789) produced a powerful impression at the time, and indirectly, through the poetry of Byron, has left an abiding mark on literature. The novel would in these days be called a psychological novel ; it is a close analysis of the motives of a headstrong, passionate, thoroughly selfish and unprincipled profligate. It is full of incident, and the analysis is never prolonged into tedious reflexions, nor suffered to intercept the progress of the story, while the main plot is diversified with many interesting episodes. The character took a great hold of Byron s imagination, and probably influenced his life in some of its many moods, as well as his poetry. It is not too much to say that the common opinion that Byron intended Childe Harold as a reflexion of himself cannot be cleared of its large mixture of falsehood without a study of Moore s Zeluco. Byron said that he intended the Childe to be &quot;a poetical Zeluco,&quot; and the most striking features of the portrait were un doubtedly taken from that character. At the same time it is obvious to everybody acquainted with Moore s novel and Byron s life that the moody and impressionable poet often adopted the character of Zeluco, fancied himself and felt himself to be a Zeluco, although he was at heart a very different man. Moore s other works have a less marked individuality, but his sketches of society and man ners in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and England furnish valuable materials for the social historian. Like his countrymen Burnett and Boswell, he was a sagacious, penetrating, and in the main unprejudiced observer, with something of a natural historian s interest in the human species ; and he had exceptional opportunities of observation.