SUN-POWER AND GROWTH. 77 



SUN-POWER AND GROWTH. 



By JULIUS STINDE. 



WE know that our planet retains the position which it occu- 

 pies in the solar system through the force of gravitation ; 

 we know, furthermore, that all organic life on our earth depends 

 upon the warmth and the light which it receives from the sun ; 

 but of the intimate relation which exists between organic life and 

 the changes taking place on the sun we are in comparative igno- 

 rance, notwithstanding investigation has brought to light a num- 

 ber of important facts. 



That the growth of plants in our zone stands in intimate rela- 

 tion to a rise in the temjterature of the earth is well known ; but 

 the fact that a force varying in intensity and influencing the 

 growth of the human organism proceeds from the sun is a discov- 

 ery as novel as it is interesting. Some phenomena, possibly refer- 

 able to a property of this kind, were observed during an experi- 

 mental investigation of the diet furnished to the inmates of the 

 Royal Deaf -Mute Asylum at Copenhagen. 



When, some years ago, a change of diet was proposed for the 

 inmates of this institution, the director, the Rev. R. Malling- 

 Hansen, thought it desirable to obtain a clear idea of and some 

 definite data concerning the thriving of the children under the 

 system then practiced, by which the results and the value of the 

 new system of nourishment proposed could later on be accurately 

 determined. The conscientiousness of the superintendent and 

 pastor of the asylum would not permit the permanent substitution 

 of a new system of diet without first possessing some facts by which 

 its advantages or disadvantages would be plainly pointed out. 



For this purpose the children were daily weighed and meas- 

 ured in groups, in which manner the total weight of the pupils 

 was quickly and accurately ascertained. The technical details as 

 well as full statistics on the subject will be found in Rev. Malling- 

 Hansen's work, " Periodicity in the Weight of Children and in the 

 Heat of the Sun " (Copenhagen, V. Trydes). These weighings pre- 

 sent some very interesting facts. 



(Until then it had been supposed that the growth of a number 

 of children (of different ages) averaged the same throughout the 

 year, and that the increase in weight as well as in height of a 

 greater number of children might be registered by a straight line 

 slanting upward. The annotations of the weighings and measure- 

 ments of the Royal Deaf -Mute Asylum at Copenhagen proved, 

 however, that the universally accepted biological theorem is 

 wrong, for the weight-lines of about seventy children had no even 

 gradation but showed great changes during the year. During 



