CH. XXXV. SPOTS ON THE SUN. 355 



five and a half years, the sun's face was comparatively smooth 

 and spotless. During the time that Schwabe was studying 

 these changes, other men in the different observatories of 

 Europe had noticed some remarkable peculiarities about the 

 magnetic needle. As long ago as 1722, a famous astronomer 

 named Graham pointed out that the magnetic needle shifts 

 from side to side a little every day as the sun passes from 

 one side to the other of the globe. The movement is so 

 small that it cannot be seen without very accurate instru- 

 ments, but it shows that the sun's course does affect the 

 magnet ; and when very careful notes began to be made in 

 different observatories, it was noticed that this daily shifting 

 was greater some years than others. In 1850 an astronomer 

 named Lamont, of Munich, pointed out that the movement 

 became greater each year for about five and a half years, and 

 then grew less during the same period ; this led Sir Edward 

 Sabine to suggest that perhaps the spots on the sun had 

 something to do with the magnetic currents, since they both 

 went through a regular cycle of changes in about eleven 

 years. 



And now comes a curious proof of the truth of this 

 theory. In September 1859, when a famous sun-gazer, 

 Mr. Carrington, was observing and measuring the spots on 

 the sun, he suddenly noticed a bright spot break out on the 

 sun's face ; and fortunately another observer, Mr. Hodgson^ 

 who was in another part of England, saw this same spot at 

 the same moment. The whole time from the appearance till 

 the disappearance did not exceed five minutes, but when 

 inquiry was made, it was found that the three magnetic 

 needles at Kew, which keep a register of their own move- 

 ments, had all been jerked strongly exactly at this time. 

 Nor was this all : the magnetic currents passing through our 



