THE WEATHER CYCLE 73 



interpret them. The meteorology of India, 

 which has had its weather more carefully 

 studied than any other tropical country, affords 

 more instructive lessons. It is naturally to 

 India that meteorologists first turned for traces 

 of the effects of the sun spot cycle. Some 

 facts were found in agreement with this cycle, 

 and some of them were so striking that even 

 such cautious meteorologists as Blanford were 

 impressed by them. But India, as a whole, 

 gave no clear evidence of an IT years cycle, 

 and the few agreements were dismissed as mere 

 coincidences. Even when there were local 

 agreements with the cycle, the action was often 

 reversed. Thus, while the evidence of some 

 stations suggested that abundant sun spots 

 accompanied a high rainfall, other stations 

 showed exactly the reverse, as sun spots were 

 most numerous at the time of lowest rainfall. 

 This contradictory evidence was discouraging ; 

 and the first study of Indian rainfall records 

 gave only enough agreement with the theory 

 to tantalize, but not to convince. But during 

 the last three years Sir Norman Lockyer, in 

 conjunction with his son, Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer, 

 has found a clue to the apparent irregularities 

 of the Indian weather.^ Sir Norman Lockyer 

 was one of the first to call attention to the 

 possible connection of sun spots and the rainfall 



* Sir Norman and W. J. S. Lockyer, "On Solar Changes of 

 Temperature and Variations in Rainfall in the Region surrounding the 

 Indian Ocean,'' Proc. Royal Soc., Vol. LXVIL, 1901, pp. 409-430. 



