Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-04-25
Planets that Deal Death.

Planets that Deal Death.
sOME REMARKABLE CALCULATIONS By
AN ENGLISH sCIENTIsr-THE ORIGIN
AND RECURRENCE OF EPIDEMIES con-
TRoLLED BT PLANETARY AND MAG
NETIC CONDITIoNs-AN OUTBREAK
PROBABLE IN 1855.
b. G. jenkins, F. r. A 5. writes an
interesting paper to the Pal Mall
Gdz6te, in which he says it is TO the intense
prejudice educated people have against
astrology- contOunding the aStrology Of
the ancents and of the scientific men of
the Middle Ages with the nonsense OF the
gipscs-that we are indebted for our igno-
rance OF the origin of epidemics. As
Heckcr remarks 'Of the astral inilu-
ence which was considered to have origi-
mated the great mortality physicians
and learned men were rs completely con-
yinced as OF the fact of its reality The
fatal error they made, however, was il
supposing that the influence was due to
the conjunction OF the planets in their
orbits. Omitting the nonsense OF fortune
telling, the reasons why people OF the
present day do not believe in planetary
influence are two-fold First, ii is held
to betoken ignorance and superstition
| points on which educated people are very
sensitive; and, secondly, they cannot i'm
agine how such tiny objects can affect
their great globe, unconslouslv forgetting
that our earth among the planets is as
a marble among cannon-Lalls. From
| lengthy study of great terrestrial phenom-
ena aud the movement of the large
| planets. can come to no other conclusion
than that they are intimately connected;
| and shall, in as few words as possible,
Law before your readers my reasons for
such conclusion.
About eight years ago | spent many
months accumulaling information on
| cholera throughout the world, from 1916
to 1871 | tabulated my results threw
them into the form Of u CURVE, and was
surprised to find that there had occurred
great outbreak about every seventeen
years, and that these outbreaks took place
alternately at maxima and minima OF sun
spots Certainly the sun-spots could not
have produced the cholera, for there was
great outbreak when the spots were
very plentiful. and the next when they
were very low. But that there was a con-
nection | ielt convinced, and also that
they were both in the nature Of effects.
l suggested in paper on the subject 1
read at the time before the Royal His
torical Society that the cause would proha-
bly, be found in the influence of the plan
cts, and IN their approach to the sun.
There were minor outbreaks which | could
not explain but felt sufficient confidence
in my results to state (see Nature, May,
1922 that, as there has been great out
breaks in lsl6-l1, 1924, 1880, 1861,
we might confidently expect tho next in
1854 | left the subject Tor seven years.
Meanwhile | worked at the subject OF sun
spots, and was rewarded by finding that
the average period for these phenomena.
for magnetic storms and for aurore period
was ll.9 years. the period OF Jupiter's
anomalistic year, and that these phenome-
ma were always least when Jupiter was
nearest to the sun. then turned to terres-
trial magnetism. and fcundthat the needle
OF the compass, which at London was
moving east up TO 1850 and west till lSlG,
and east ever since, follows the move
ments Of strong magnetic pole which
Sir James Ross found in 1880 in BOothia,
but which has now, hold, travelled west
to Prince Albert Land, and has moved at
such a rate that it will complete its revo-
luton round the pole of the earth in about
500 Years. On examining the accumula-
ted evidence in regard 10 the dip OF the
needle, | found that the magnetic pole
must be in the atmosphere over the place
where il appears to be in the earth.
In the midst of this work a little Incl
dent occurred which induced me to write
to the Registrar-General Tor the number
Of deaths in England for the last forty |
years, which he kindly sent me. | i'm
mediately found what ! suspected was
true-that the number Of deaths in Eng
land was greatest, on an average over the
whole period, every six Years. threw
the numbers into the form ci i curve and |
under it placed the curve represented b. |
Jubter's orbit during the same period, |
and found that whenever Jupiter was at
two points equally distant from the near
est point TO the sun corresponding TO
our September and March) the deaths in
England were greatest. CA short paper
on the subject will appear in the next
number of the Proceedings OF the Stats |
tical Society," If this is true tor England |
it should be true for the death rate of the |
world. On examining the curve for |
cholera over the world from 1916 TO lS7l, |
which drew out seven years ago, found |
that this held good. am at present en-
gagged in examining the death rate of the |
world for the last forty years as far as
possible. The outbreak Of the plague |
directed my attention to that subject. / |
examined a magnetic chart OF the world |
and found that the lines Of no declination |
d. c. the lines which indicate where the |
needle points 10 true north and therefore |
the lines il which the greatest magnetic |
power IS maniicsted) are advancing west. |
at the average rate Of about one-seventh !
OF a degree annually, over the regions !
which are the present epidemic-stricken !
quarters of the globe-Russia, Prussia,
United States, Brazil, and Western China. |
As the magnetic poles advance these lines
advance, and epidemics on man and |
beast accompany them On calculating |
back | find that the line which IS now |
passing across Russia must have passed |
over that region 500 years ago. This |
will take US back to the middle Of the |
fourteenth century and with similar mag
netc conditions we have the same cpl |
demic-the Black Death. We know that
plague devastated Europe more or less
for the next two centuries, eliminating
in the great plague OF London in 1865, and
curiously enough Just at the time when a
line OF no declinatiyn was advancing over
England. II occurred to me that Nep-
tune might be the cause Of the movement
the magnetic pole On examining the
movements Of the planet in its orbit. |
found that those Of the needle varied in
accordance with those ofthat planet while
it makes three revolutions The mag
netic poles make an eccentric circle round
the pole OF the earth this eccenuicity
found was due to some influence at a
maximum Of about eighty years. On eX-
amining the movements and position OF
Uranus found that they were such as TO
| account for the anomaly / have Iuliy
detailed the subject in paper sent to
the Royal Astronomical Society; they
have announced il whether they viii
have the courage To have II read Is
another matter
have. Sir, occupied 50 much OF Your
| space that | will not 60 into other curious
| points, especially some relating To the at
mospheric change which produces plague,
and possible remedy. In conclusion,
would say that within The next seven years
there will happen that which has not hap
pened for hundreds OF years all the plan
ct. at or near THEN nearest point to the
sun about the same time. II j. true oi
| the earth that It's msguctic intensity is
| greatest about the time when il is near
the sun; the same is probably true oi all
/ the planets therefore We may expect eX-
traordinary magnetic phenomena during
the next seven years, and great plaques.
| which will manifest thcmselvr- in ali their
intensity when Jupiter is about three
years from his perihelion that is. IA lSSi.
iIfRE IS a touching paragraph from the
| PDrtsmOuth Wal T,ut-,
The real reason Of this grand and ANA,
ing uphcaval OF affair which has resulted
in placing the Southern people IN thu umph
in the CHIEF places OF the national govern
ment Is due to the grand superiority Of the
Southern race. Never were such people
seen under the sun 80 grand, 50 steadiast
! an faithful and trur 50 full of sublime ma