The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-12-27
REPUBLIC SPECIAL.

Cambridge, Mass, Dec. 25.-Sun spots
may come and sun spots may so. but.
despite the numerous terrifying theories
advanced and partly supported during the
last half century. it is the opinion of tho
best known modern astronouiers-such
men, among many others, al Professor c.
"A. Young Of Princeton, Professor 8. p.
Langley, the well-known American au-
thority on solar, physics, or Professor f.
C. Pickering, director OF the Harvard As
Economical Observatory-that human af-
fairs go on forever without much il any
reference to them.
The group of sun spots that has recently
attracted so much general attention is
therefore, SO far as anything is definitely
known about it, a solar curiosity rather
than any visible prophet of approaching
evils.
Even as mere solar curiosities. however.
rant general attention, especially in view
of the fact that most of our present
knowledge of the sun Is product of the
last half century.
In this knowledge the sun spots, their
character, the periodicity Of their appear
ance and their relation to the earth are
all matters whose final solution depends
upon future investigation.
Meantime 1t has been shown that there
is certain degree of regularity in their
appearances and disappearance that
real or merely coincidental, between the
sun spots and our terrestrial magnetic dis
turbances, and that there is little or no
connection between their appearance on
the sun and the weather, commercial
panics, wars or other disturbances that
affect the everyday existence of average
m0rtals.
SUGGEST GREAT CHASMS.
In appearance the typical sun spots, as
seen through a powerful telescope, sug-
gest great chasms in the sun, SO large, in
deed, that our own earth could be dropped
into one of them easily and might even
get out OF sight before touching the bot
tom.
Such a hole. of course, would be mere
incident on the suns surface, as readily
sun were considered as a hollow sphere
our own planet, together with the moon,
could be placed inside of 1t without dis
turbing the distance that ordinarily sepa-
rates them. But, as a matter of fact, the
question is mooted among astronomers
whether the sun spot is an enormous
chasm, Theoretically deep, or an enor-
that absorbs the light rays and so pre-
sents to the astronomer the black and
empty appearance of a tremendous chaSm.
The theory has also been advanced that
actually elevations Of portion OF the
SUMS surface.
The cause of these spots has been like
wise the subject of many theories, no one
Of which has received sufficient belief to
be considered even approximately final.
Calico, for example, thought the sun
spots to be coulds floating above the sur
tion of its light; Lalande imagined them
to be the peaks of solar mountains pro-
jecting through the fiery envelope that
surrounds the body Of the sun; Sir WI.
In this fiery envelope-the philosophers
through which the dark body of the sun
is thus temporarily visible.
SIR JOHN HERSCHELS SUGGESTION.
Sir John Herschel suggested the idea Of
whirling storms boring great holes in this
outer covering. They have been looked
upon also as clouds produced by solar
eruptions. and as the result Of planets APP
preaching closely enough to the SUN to
affect portion Of its surface
These theories. however. are simply
theories, and the modern astronomer looks
italy modern methods Of study as the
camera and spectroscope for some more
generally convincing explanation.
From the modern point Of view the
the time of Calico. Earlier mentions of
similar phenomena are simply matters Of
visual observation before the invention of
the telescope had brought the heavenly
gins to suggest the possibility OF ever be-
coming intimately acquainted with them.
The Chinese. for example. are said to
have recorded sun spots. thus visible to
the naked eye, as long as 81 years before
the Christian era.
The Peruvians are said to have had q
knowledge of them when their country
was conquered by the Spaniards.
Historians Of the time of Chariemagno
report a spot seen on the sun for eight
consecutive days in 307: the astronomer
Kepler noticed such q spot in 1909. and
from 1910 to 1872 several astronomers be-
gan independently to observe and study
them.
These astronomers were Fabricius,
Scheiner, Calico and Hariot, and their
work marks the actual beginning OF this
branch Of the astronomical investigation.
SCHWABES OBSERVATIONS.
In 1851 Schwabe, an amateur astrono-
mer Of Dessau, Germany, published tho
results Of over LOCO observations covering
a period Of twenty-five years and reveal
ing that there is a fairly regular increase
and decrease in the number of these solar
visitors. the interval from one maximum
to the next being about eleven years. and
this result was soon after corroborated
by an examination of all preceding sun
spot records.
These maxima, however, vary greatly in
the number Of sun spots that represent
the climax Of different sun-spot periods,
and the period itself Is by no means fixed
and certain, although 1t has often been