Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-09-25


The summer in Europe has been cold and
rainy. II was rainy and cold last year. The
scientific men are discussing the Why and whsEs-
fore of this unwelcome weather, and Emile Flam-
marion the French astronomer, thinks he has
solved tue problem.
"If il we're only in France, or in Europe, that
the summer was rainy, 'she writes, '1he question
would be purely meteorological one, and It's 60
luton would be found In some Rtmospherieal
movements. But now we hare TO deal With
fact of . very dihcrent nature. The sGv has
been covered with clouds around the whole sur
face of cur globe for more than year. The last
vpAnteF sunnsaagsy tong nsssl Eiuas ~ AsiAs -
rica and Amegsea, as well as in Europe. Such
. state OF things must have general, and, there
fore, an astronomical cause. The sun governs
our planet; IL regulates our temperature, climate
and seasons Therefore, we have to turn our at.
tention to the sun Tor the solution Of our que
ton. We find that the sun Is now In an unus-
ual condition. During the whole of last year Il
appeared to be in n state Of repose that is very
rare. At present there are spots and eruP-
tons to be seen oD4he sun. II looks like an
ocean flight undisturhed either by wind or by
storm, which Is unusual. The suns spots arc
the signs ofits activity; thcy appear simulta-
neously with the eruptions that arc seen on its
surface. At such times torrents Of white-hot by
drogen, ofmagnium steam, and of FIRE are thrown
up for several hundreds Of thousand miles. The
whole Of our globe could be- thrown up from ono
OF those apcrtures, and be melted and transformed
e h. Arnva IF Ia
eruption OF .Etna. Sometimes the suns surface
appears to be in motion, like an ocean tossed by
a storm, sometimes II is quiet as the clouds OBJ
served from above by the acronaut. But even In
the period Of repose the sun emits such an awful
heat If our globe were TO approach II il would be
instantly melted like wax.
"Now the cold and rainy summers coincide
with the unusual rcp0se Of the sun. This coinci-
dence does not seem TO be accidental, for il ap-
pears to repeat itself periodically just as the for
nation Of the sp0:s and the eruptions are period
ical. In 1870 and 1871 the number Of ,hesun's
spots was abont 800 and there were several thous-
ands OF eruptions One OF the spots have found
TO be three times as large as the diameter Of the
earth. Since then the number Of the suns spots
and cruptions has regularly decreased year by
year. The decrease goes on for seven and half
years, and then il takes three and half years to-
reach again its maximum. II is known that
1870 and 1871 were dry and warm years. The
last minimum Of the suns spots and eruptions
was 10 1866 and II s6T and those years were rainy
specially 1866. The last maximum was in
sCo and 1870, those years being dry. A pre-
vious minimum was in 1886, which was rainy
year. Apparently, then, the maximum reriod
Of the sun spot and eruptions coincides with and
causes dry aud warm years; while the minimum
means rainy and cold years. This explanation
is offered only rs a hypothesis, however, for as
yet positive mathematical proof is wanting"