The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-04-30
THAT DEAL DEATH.

PLANETS THAT DEAL DEATH.
Some Remarkable Calculations by an
English Scientist.
The Origin and Recurrence of Epidemics
Controlled by Planetary and Mag
netic Conditions.
[B. G. Jenkins F. R. A. s., in Pail Mall Gazette.l
1t is to the intense prejudice educated
people have against astrology -confounding
| the astrology of the ancients and the scien-
tific men of the middle ages with the nom
sense of the Gypsies-tl1at we are indebted
for our ignorance of the origin of spidemlcs
As Hecker remarks: ''Of the astral infiu-
ence, whichwas considered to have originated
the great mortality physicians and learned
men were as completely convinced as of the
fact +: of its reality" The fatal
error. they made, however, was
in supposing that the influence
was due to the conjunction of the planets,
instead of to the position of the planets in
their orbits. Omitting the nonsense of for.
tune telling, the reasons why people of the
present day do not believe in planetary in.
| fuence are two-fold: First, it is held to be-
token ignorance and superstition-points on
which educated people are very sensitive.
and, secondly, they can not imagine how
such objects can affect their great GLOBE I'M
consciously forgetting that our earth among
| the planets is as a marble among cannon
balls. From a lengthy study OF great teres-
trial phenomena and the movements of the
large planets can come to no other conclu-
| sion than that they are as intimately con-
nected and shall, in as few words as pos
sible. lay before your readers my re ason for
| such conclusion.
About eight years ago / spent many
months accommodating information on
cholera throughout the world, from 1916 to
| 1871. / tabulated my results, threw them
| into form of curve, aud was surprised to
find that there had occurred a grea. out
break about every IL years. and that the
outbreaks took place alternately at maxima
and miniIna 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 few. But that
| there was a connection / felt con-
the nature of effecs suggested, in paper
on the subject, which / read before the
Royal Historical society, that the cause
would probably be found in the influence of
| the planets, and in their approach to the
sun. There were minor outbreaks which
could not explsin; but 1 felt sufficient con-
fidence in my results to state (see Nature
May, 1872 that, as there had been great out
breaks in 1Sl6I7, 1882 "a, 1913 So 1865 Z, we
might confidently expect the next in
| 1888 4. left the subject Tor seven years.
Meanwhile I 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
IL 9 years, the period of Jupiter's anomalis-
tic year. and that these phenomena were al
ways least when Jupiter was nearest to the
sun. / then turned TO terrestrial magnetism
and found that the needle of the compass
which at London was moving East up TO 1880,
and West till 1916, an East ever since, fol-
lows the movements of astrong magnetic pole
which Sir James Ross found in 1880, IN
Boothia, but which has now, l hold. trav
eled West to Prince Albert Land, and has
moved at such a rate that it will complete
its revolution round the pole of the earth in
about 500 years On examining the accumu-
lated evidence In regard to the dip of the
needle, l found that the magnetic pole must
be in the atmosphere over the place where
it appears to be In the earth.
In the midst of this work little incident
occurred which induced me to write to the
register general for the number Of deaths in
England for the last 40 years, which he
kindly sent me. / Immediately found that
what suspected was true-that the number
of deaths IN England was greatest on an aver
age over the whole period, every six years.
I threw the numbers into the form of a
curve, and under it placed the curve repre-
sented by Jupiter's orbit during the same
period, and found that whenever Jupiter
was at two points equally distant from
spending to our September and March) the
deaths in England were greatest. A short
paper on the subject will appear in the next
number of the proceedings OF the Statistical
society," II this is true for England it
should be true for the death rate of the
world. On examining the curve for cholera
over the world from 1915 to 1871, which
drew out seven years ago, found that this
held good. / am at present engaged in ex-
aiming the death rate of the world for the
last 40 years as far as possible. The out
break Of plague directed my attention to
that subject. examined magnetic chart
of the world and found that the lines of no
declination Il. g., the lines which indicate
where the needle points to true North, and
therefore the lines in which the greatest
magnetic power is manlfested) are advancing
West at the average rate of about one seventh
of degree annually over the regions which
are the present epidemic-stricken quarters
of the globe-Russia. Persia, United States,
Brazil and Western China. As the magnetic
poles advance these lines advance, and the
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 magnetic conditions
we haye the same epidemic-the black death.
We know that plague devastated Europe
more or less for the next two centuries, Gull
mlnating in the great plague OF London in
} 1885, and curiously enough Just at the time
when line of defamation was advancing
] over England. 1t occurred to us that Nep
, tune might be the cause OF the movement OF
: the magnetic pole. On examining the move
. ments of the planet In its orbit, found