18 
Baron Schwabe, who for forty years never allowed a possible day 
to pass without a record of the number of spots visible on the 
sun. 
The dark spots of the solar surface are invariably accom- 
panied by facule, which generally present the appearance of long 
white streaks of matter of a brightness exceeding that of the 
surrounding photosphere. So far as our observations have been 
studied, the distribution of facule is identical with that of the 
spots, though extending to much wider limits N. and 8., owing 
to their peculiar tendency to spread. Facule have occasionally 
been seen even in the region of the poles, appearing by them- 
selves without any accompanying spot of the ordinary type, but 
the nature of these isolated jets differs from that of facule of the 
ordinary kind. In general, facule are more easily observed at 
the limbs of the sun, owing to the contrast which they offer 
to these apparently darker portions of the disc. They are not, 
however, confined to the limbs, as under favourable circumstances 
they can be traced far into the central regions, and a ring of 
bright facule always surrounds the penumbra of a spot, even at 
the centre of the sun. 
The subject of the connection between spots and facule 
remains up to the present time still undecided. Nevertheless, 
the observations made at Stonyhurst do not seem to bear out 
the hitherto generally accepted opinion that facule precede the 
birth of a solar spot. The order of their appearance is as 
follows. Around a nascent spot they are very closely packed ; 
they spread out as the umbra and penumbra increase in size, 
and still more so when the spot begins to diminish and decay, 
and oftentimes remain visible for more than a month after the 
spot has wholly vanished. Frequently a new outburst of spots 
will take place in the region of this facule, giving rise to the 
notion that facule precede the birth of spots, while in reality 
it is only the remains of old spots which have disappeared. 
Facule are the glowing embers of an old storm, and not the first 
flickerings of a new one. Examples of this replacing of spots by 
facule are universal among the Stonyhurst drawings. 
Before passing on to the discussion of the mottled surface 
of the sun, we may call attention to some of the more remarkable 
solar outbursts of spots and facule during the period 1882-4. 
The great spot of April, 1882, was observed from April 12th to 
the 25th, and in May from the 10th to the 22nd. Its area on 
April 20th was 2,080 millionths of the sun’s visible hemisphere, 
or about 2,8193 millions of square miles. The November spot 
of the same year, the greatest recorded since 1870, was followed 
from its birth as a few black dots in October, through its 
maximum in November, and finally in December. The whole 
progress of this spot was marked by magnetic storms and dis- 
