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Linné had been known to Lohrmann and Mädler, 1822-32, as a deep crater, five or six miles in diameter, the third largest in the dusky plain known as the "Mare Serenitatis"; and Schmidt had observed and drawn it, 1840-43, under a practically identical aspect.
One may faintly imagine the magnificent prospect of the coast- line of the Mare with the Haemus range, which would be obtained were it possible to stand on the summit of one of these elevations. It is doubtful whether Bessel has a central mountain. Neither Madler nor Schmidt have seen one, though Webb noted a peak on two occasions. I fail to see anything within the crater.
The principal ranges on the limb are the Leibnitz Mountains, extending from S. lat. 70 deg. on the west to S. lat. 80 deg. on the east limb. They include some giant peaks and plateaus, noteworthy objects in profile, some of which, according to Schroter and Madler, rise to 26,000 feet.
Messier A, however, as the companion is termed, though larger, is certainly not circular, as sometimes shown, but triangular with curved sides. It is just possible that change may have occurred here, for Madler carefully observed these objects more than three hundred times, and, it may be presumed, under very different phases.
Schröter's assertions to the same effect, though scouted with some unnecessary vehemence by Herschel, have since been repeatedly confirmed; amongst others by Mädler, De Vico, Langdon, who in 1873 saw the broken line of the terminator with peculiar distinctness through a veil of auroral cloud; by Denning, March 30, 1881, despite preliminary impressions to the contrary, as well as by C. V. Zenger at Prague, January 8, 1883.
FOUCAULT. A bright deep ring-plain, about 10 miles in diameter, lying E. of the mountains fringing the Sinus Iridum, between Bianchini and Harpalus. A very lofty peak rises near its N. border, and, according to Neison, it has a distinct central mountain, though neither Madler or Schmidt show any detail within.
Werner, forty-five miles in diameter, is interesting because under its northeastern wall Mädler, some seventy years ago, saw a light spot of astonishing brightness, unmatched in that respect by anything on the moon except the peak of Aristarchus, which we shall see later.
Nasmyth's and Carpenter's beautifully illustrated volume was succeeded, after two years, by a still more weighty contribution to lunar science in Mr. Neison's well-known book, accompanied by a map, based on the survey of Beer and Mädler, but adding some 500 measures of positions, besides the representation of several thousand new objects.
Besides a more popular treatise of the astronomer Mädler in "Westermann's Monatshefte," October, 1872, there belong to them the frequently mentioned work of Wigand, and especially three essays of great importance from the pen of a man who in questions of development and its extent has among all contemporaries the first right to speak, namely, Karl Ernst von Baer.
Between the obtuse-angled bend of this object and the W. wall of Madler, two large circular dark spots may be seen under a high sun; and on the surface of the Mare N. of it, a great number of delicate white spots.
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