Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-11-25

the scintillations and ceassIess twinklings OF
the TO us) little stars that bedeCk the upf4th-
| omaoe armament, forever found floating over
our superstitious and egotistical heads, show
ing how the Laws of nature have distributed
her sights Of grandeur and beauty.
In the torrid and temperate zones the
pleasing, attractive and changing scenes
of nature are principally shown upon the
earth in her carpet of green, studded with
fruits, grains, grasses and other farinaCeous
foods for man aud beast. On the other baud,
when we reach the forever frozen frigid zones
We find silence reigns almost supreme, and
covers earth, bay and sea with mountains
of frozen water. The only sight left to cheer
andawe one, withits unbounded magnificeGce,
is the undesccibabls auroral display that
dances high in the heavens, while the sur,
when nearly over our heads in summer, ap.
pears to the cheerful resident of that frigid
region as a large ball of molten gold, fl eating
along the horizon, and for months not visible.
In that most inhospitable region elsctric or
suroral lights shine for days and nights, and
lends its ever changing scenes of color, shape
and size to cheer the silent scenes of nature
where the sun was not seen TO rise. This
knowledge teaches us TO believe that the su.
rors must be electricity, for it affects very
much the magnetic needle. Professor Loomis,
in speaking of the
LEs
Says: 1.-The aurora is ordinarily accou-
panied by considerable disturbance of the
magnetic needle. and the effect increases
with the briiliancy and the extent of tie au-
rors. Auroral beams cause disturbance Of
the needle, particularly when the beams
themselves are Ia active motion. Aurorai
waves or flashes, particularly if they extend
to the zenith, cause a violent agitation Of the
needle, consisting of an irregular oscillation
on each side of its mean position. These ex-
traordiuary reflections of the needle prevail
almost simultaneously over large portion of
the globe, even where the aurora itself Is not
visible. During the great suroral display of
September 2. 1883, the disturbances of the
magnetic needle were very remarkable
throughout North America Europe and
Northern Asia, as well as in New Holland
At Toronto the detection OF the needle
changed g 45' in half an hour. The inclina-
ton was observed to change 2 49, when the
needle passed beyond the limits of the scale,
30 that lite entire range was unknown. At
several observations in Europe still more re-.
narkable disturbances were recorded.
The secular inequality in the frequency of
auroras indicates the influence of distant CO.
l2stial bodies upon the electricity of our glore.
The periods of auroras observe laws which
are similar to those of two other phenomena,
viz the mean diurnal variation of the msg-
neLlc neeuIS, anu bls freq aepcy or DIack spots
upon she suns surface.
THE magnetic needle has a small diurnal
variation, the north end moving little to the
east in the morning, and toward the west
about the middle of the day. The mean
daily change OF the needle not only varies
with the locality, but also varies from one
year to another at the same locality, and
these variations present very decided ap-
pesranCe Of psTioOiCity. At Prague the mean
=, V-al,7 =, Al
minutes, from which time the range dimiu-
ished steadily to 1914 when it was only 6
minutes, from which time it increased to
1913, when it amounted 20 II mirutes, the IL
tervai from one maximum TO another beiog
little more than ten years. Observations
made at other places, and extending back
nearly century, indicate maximum in the
range OF the magnetic needle every ten or
eleven years, but the successive maxima
are not equal to esch other. They exhibit
variations which indicate periodicity, the
greatest values occurring st intervals of from
fifty to sixty years.
" The relative frequency of the solar spots
exhibits similar periodicity, and the maxi
mum number of spots corresponds with the
maximum value of the magnetic variation.
These three phenomena, the solar spots, the
mean daily range of the magnetic needle, and
the frequency of auroras exhibit two distinct
years, the other period of from fifty-eight
to sixty years. The first of these periods
corresponds TO one revolution of Jupiter, and
the other period corresponds to five revolu.
tiens of Jupiter, or two of Saturn, and we can
scarcely doubt that the above. mentioned
phenomena depend upon the movement of
these pla1 cts ObservatiDns have also indi-
Gated subordinate fluctuations, which are
probably due to the action of Venus. We
do not know hnpv the r,Io
tuence upon the suns surface, but we NAV
suppose that there are circulating round the
sun powerful electric currents, which NAV
possibly be the source of the suns light
THESE currents may act upon the planets.
developing in them electric currents and the
currents circulating round the planets NAV
react upon the solar currents, with force
varying with their distances and rels-
tive position, exhibiting periods CORE.
spending to the times Of revolutions
Of the. planets. These disturbances
OF the solar currents may be one cause of the
solar spots, and an unusual disturbance of the
solar currents may cause disturbance of she
currents OF the earth's surface, giving rise TO
unusual displays of the aurora.
CIRCULATION OF ELECTRICITY ABOUT THE
EARTH.
The vspor which rises from the ocean in all
latitudes, but most abundantly in the eoua.
torlal regions OF the earth, carries into the
upper regions of the atmosphere a consider.
able quantity of positive electricity, while the
negative electricity remains in the earth.
This positive electricity, after rising nearly
vertically with the ascending currents of the
atmosphere, would be conveyed toward either
pole by the upper currents of the atmosnbere
The earth and the the rarifed air of the
upper atmosphere may. be regarded as form
ing the Two conducting plates of condenser,
which are separated by an insulated stratum
VIZ: the lower portion of the attnosnhere
The two opposite electricities must then he
condensed by their mutual influence. esps.
ciaiiy IN the Polar regions, where they sp.
proach nearest together, and whenever their
tension reaches certain limit there will be
1lscharges from one conductor to the other.
Waen the air is bumid (moist) it be-
comes a partial conductor, aud CONVEYS
portion OF the electricity of the
atmosphere to the earth. On account of tn
low conducting power OF the air. the neutral
izAtinu of the opposite electricities would NOT
b. effected instansaneously, but by successive
discharges, more or less continuously, aud va
riaole IN intensity. These discharges ,houId
frequently occur simultaneously at the two
poles, since the electric tension of the earth
should be nearly the same at each pole. Toe
geographIcal distribution of auroras depends
chiehy upon tie relative intensity Of the
eaA VI magnetism In dinefent latltndas. Ac-
cording to experiments with artificial mag
nets, the electric light tends 20 form a ring
around the pole, and at some distance from
iS' The electric light should, therefore, re
most noticeable in the neighborhood of the
esfsa-s magnetic pole, but o. directly over
l., AuFoTss are, accordingly, most abundant
along certain zJ1e which follows nearly
rnagnstia parallel, being sveIy where nearly AZ
night angles TO the magnetic meridian OF tie
place.