Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1879-08-28
'siic Sun and The Weather.

go ~Nb ShANS CAV " SsthSAs
Ike suaner in EaEoEo has been cold ard
Ea5y. Ii Eas rainy and cold last year. The
sceni!t; meu are discussing ths Why and
wherefore Of this unBecome weather, ard
Emile FIammasioc, the French astronomer,
thlhks nc has solve the problem.
IL Il Tcrs eng 10 Fano, or in Europe that
the Summer was raiGv," be writes, the dues.
;l0a would be purely meteorological one, and
Is soIu'lon you'd be found 10 some atmosphere
CO: mo7snonts. But now We have to deal With
TACT 81 very u!tftranG pature. The sky has
ce3n covered With clouds around tho whole
sur'aca CT our sljbo for more than year. Tue
last "la;Sr vas uGusulily long cnd cold 10 Asia
att!ca End America, as we'll as 10 Euroue.
Such state Of things must hsva general and
'neroioE9 az a5rSnonicsl ciuse.
1 dc SUD governs our planet: it regulates our
tampeTatuse, climate AID seasons. Therefore,
We have TO turn our attention to the sun for the
sgiaIiou OF cur question. We fed thut the sun
Is uGw 10 40 uuu.ua! condllicu. During the
whole ct last gear It appeared to be 10 a safe
| OF rtpcs, that ii vars rare At present there
ere Go spots aud eruptioDs to be seen on the SUD.
1t locks Ike an ocsau Of light undisuybed eth.
er b2 %lnd or by storm, Wuch is unusual.
! "Ghe suns SPOTS sTe the Signs If Its aosiv.S;
| they APPEAR simultaneously with tho truptiops
that u:o seco 90 lis euriac,. q, su,h times
Urreuta OF White hot hydrogen, OF napuum
steau! aud .! GIe are thrown up for several hut,
| dreds OF thousand miles. TIC whole of our
giCbl could be thrown Up from ore of these
ApeIiurcs SD DC melted and transformed into
gaseous rt.it, iik: dtop ct water in an erup'
tor Il L. na, i9cso clouds OF gases arc g.
! hos tkst .hcy cl1no: burn. and SO they fall
! dG"D Cd the boz surlacs OF the sun as a fiery
| y.;n.
! Tho immense heat OF tho SUP duriug erupr
| ,i3:s cluIt barn up over eleven mill! .rds Of
| tons oil coal 10 Il s,c,nd. Sometimes tho sua's
surface appears 70 De IN motion, like al OCEAN
tossed by 2 slorE; sometimes il is quiet as the
| ctou'S c!=eF:s i flon stuvs by the r:ouaut.
| Bat egcu ia he period Of ropcso the Sun emits
suct az awful heet that if our globe were to
apNEaGGn i; i: wold be iastaallg melted like
VS..
'NoT the a1Id aud rainy summers coincide
with The nousual rcpose Of the sla. Tbs car
| l1ci3trct cucs aot seem to BE- accIdeotaI t1r il
appears TO repeat its-f periodically, Just as the
| formation Of tho suu'- spots aud the cruptioos
aTn periodical. Ia 1870 aud 1871 The uumher
| u The sun 5 spots WAS abuu. 30O AID there were
| several THOUSAND erupucns One Of these spots
| have iIund to b. three lines as large as the
diameter i the earth. Siucs then the number
| OF the sul's spots and eruptlons has regularly
| decreased year BY year. The decrease goes 90
for 1 years, and then Ii tskss = years to reach
| aGaln us MAXIMUM. Ii is known that 1870 ADD
ISL we're dry aud warm years
The last mluiDum OF the suns spots ard
eruptions was in 1866 and 1867 and those
years were .airy-especislIy 10 1866 The last
maximum was in 1859 aud 1860, these years
bcirg dry. 4 previous miuiuuu was 10 1856.
which Was e rrlny year. Apparently, then, the
maximum period OF tho suu's spots and erup
tions comedies with and causes dry and warm
years; while the mioimum maaDs raDy and
| cold years. This explanation is offered only as
a hypothesis however,fo as vet positive mathe.
Iaatcai proof is wanting"
Another French savant, Do PerViile, puts
Forward this explanation 10 the Journal des
Debates: The annual apparent dcoIination of
the moon IS not constant; i! varies from lo0 l9>
to Is So. Ii takes plae years fer the moon to
reach its maximum Of decinaiou. Do PeIvillo
! asserts that each period of maximum decua-
ton is accompanied by excessive rains This
opinion lie supports by observations made dur
ilg seventy years. The rainy summers of Eu
rope have always corresponded, he says, to that
posii9n Ct the MOOD. This scar the decna-
lion of the mooo is 26' 10 1872 and 1875,
tho faiay years, it was from 90 TO 80. Accord.
ing TO til swc shall have rainy summer 10 1885.
whlic the summers OF 1881, 80, 'S3 and 'S4
shall b. dry.
Ao English scicDtii, man, Henry Ray, from
bis otSe va'lols OF thirty years past, makes the
tolo"log calculations II the number of q year
is even aud ciVslbie by three, then i! ia the
middle ooo o! three rainy and cold years. For
txampe. 1860 is 90 even number, divisible by
.; 1859 1860 ard 1861 we're rainy and cold. If
the num5er Of the year is odd aud divis5Ie by
three, th.n it is the middle one of three dry
and wa!m years. For example, 1868 is az odd
nuubsr, GlVsi0le by 3; 1862. 1863 and 1864
we're dry and warm. According to this calcu!s.
:Ion 1880, 1881 aad 1882 will be dry years.