St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1884-05-31
The Era Of Physical Connections.

At the last January session of the
Paris Academy of Sciences, Nj. Faye
gave rather startling summary of re.
cent physical commotions both on the
earth and on the sun. Among the
numerous exceptional phenomena noted
for some time, such as the frightful
volcanic explosion of krakatoa, the
immense sea waves and air waves
which have swept round the globe and
the strange celestial lights and colora-
tions, he mentioned that the month of
January in Europe resembled in tenn
perature the month of April, while sys-
tematic observations disclose singular
variations in sun spot frequency and no
less singular behavior of the magnetic
needle. During the present summer in
the southern hemisphere extraordinary
heat has been recorded, the thermome-
ter at Buenos Ayres rising in the shade
to 10l and in Queensland to 106 de-
grees. In consonance with the dis
turbed state of the earth nj. Wolf, OF
Zurich, reports two pronounced sun
spot maxima. in April and October
last, and only four day in 1888 on which
the sun was not spotted. Though these
maxima were not rs high as that of
April, 1882, and there are now indica-
tions that the suns activity is decreas-
ing, physicists will not be slow to con-
meet the terrestrial disturbances with
the solar storms. The French scientist
may now add to his list of strange phe-
nomena the late unparalleled Ohio
floods, the extraordinary Southern tor
nadoes of recent date. with the reported
death roll of several hundred persons,
and the phenomenally early and exten-
sive eiilux of Arctic ice upon the At
lantic.
1t is impossible. perhaps, to trace all
single cause. But by the theory that
the sun has for the last two years been
excessively active in radiating heat
upon the earth. as seems most likely,
all these anomalies may possibly be ac-
counted for. Since the '.red skies"
began to startle Europe last fall. sew
eral astronomers, following Mr.. Lock
yer, have been so ready to explain them
by the diffusion of Java volcanic dust.
whirled through the upper air at the
rate of two thousand miles day, that
it is to be feared some of this dust has
gotten in their eyes. These sky glows,
rs the Herald suggested on December
II and subsequently, were due largely
"to an excess of evaporation. espe-
cially from the oceans, indicating eN-
ceptional activity of the solar fires"
The exceptional evaporation from the
oceans and a consequent excess OF
aqueous vapor in the atmosphere" for
which we then argued, seem to have
been pretty well unmasked by the re.
cent extraordinary ocean cyclones and
barometric minima as well as by the
torrential rainfalls in New Zealand, in
the Gulf Stream region, in Great
Britain, in parts of Southern Europe
and in the Ohio Valley. The mere fact
that microscopists have found dust re-
sembling volcanic ash in the winter
SHOWS by no means proves that the
worldwide skv colorations were due to
this agent. The most careful observ-
ations of the phenomena by the French
scientists on the summit of the Puy dc
Dome lead NJ. Alluard evidently to
think that the light-rehecting medium
was not necessarily dust, but may have
been made up of particles of exces-
sively minute frozen water" The
English investigator, Mr.. Mattieu Will
Jams, also thinks that the suns radi-
alton has recently been exceptionally
great, and that its warming effect on
the upper atmosphere might enable it
to hold much aqueous vapor '.in the
form of liquid particles" which would
perfectly explain the red and green suns.
No competent meteorologist, so far as
we have noticed, has undertaken to
otherwise explain these meteorological
-marvels and the feast
OF wonder. out of West and East.
The practical effects of increased So
lar activity upon the earth, so far as
they can be inferred with any degree of
probability, arc not entirely simple.
THAT the magnetical and meteorolog-
ical processes of the earth are most pro-
nounced when there are most sun
spots," as Prof. Balfour Stewart con-
cludes, is safe working theory most
consonant with facts, and, if true, it in
dicates that at such times the suns ra-
diation is most intense. As the earth
may scientifically be viewed as vast
engine, of which the sun is the furnace,
the equatorial belt the boiler, and the
polar regions the condensers, Professor
Stewart forcibly suggests that one of
the first effects of increased sun heat is
an indraught of "a particularly strong
and cold polar current" This would
be induced by the expansion of the
tropical atmosphere forcing its currents
into the Arctic area. But the ultimate
effects upon the earth of increased ther-
NAL radiation from the sun must neces-
sarily be an excessive evaporation from
all water surfaces. with an excess of
moisture in all the winds reaching US
from the tropics, which cannot but
temper the coming seasons in the mid
die latitudes.
If any utilitarian application can be
made of modern solar researches the
observations of the last twelve months
now foreshadow moist but moderate
spring, rather early in point of temper
ature, though agricultural operations
may be somewhat retarded in some sec.
tions by profuse rains. Should this
prove to be the general character of the
spring the summer of 1884 would open
without the drawbacks to vegetation OF
very chilly spells and incipient droughts,
and we might hope for . moro fruitful
season than that of 1883. To anticipate
long reign of halcyon weather would
IA a Jc1,-;ra Iroavn R,,& ~u;<k %h.