124 Generating Economic Cycles 



the eastern wing of the corona was directed on a 

 straight Hne to Mercury, while the western ap- 

 pendage was directed on a straight hne to Venus. 

 The coincidence was still greater. As in regard to 

 the Sun, the two planets were not exactly on the 

 same line. Mercury being a httle to the North while 

 Venus was a little to the South of the ecliptic, the 

 solar appendages have shown the same peculiarity, 

 their axes being a little inclined to each other. I 

 may say that the inclination of the axes of the 

 coronal extensions on the sides of the Sun may be 

 seen in the photographs of the eclipse. It should 

 be stated that Professor Newcomb, who observed 

 the coronal extension towards Venus says, 'I tried 

 to judge whether the western one (ray) pointed 

 towards the planet Venus then plainly visible near 

 the horizon. The direction was apparently very 

 slightly below the planet.' Professor Newcomb's 

 words seem to show that he did not make allowance 

 for refraction, which would make the planet when 

 near the horizon appear sensibly higher than its 

 true place." ^ 



The second observation supporting the hypothesis 

 that Venus is a magnetic field relates to the significance 

 of the disturbance of a comet by the proximity of 

 Venus. Here, as in the case of the solar corona, the 

 increasing knowledge of electrical forces has supplied 

 fruitful hypotheses where hitherto little progress had 



1 The Bakerian Lecture. — "On the Corona of the Sun," by Sir 

 WilHam Huggins, D. C. L., L. L. D., F. R. S. Proceedings of the Royal 

 Society of London, vol. xxxix, 1885, pp. 130, 131. 



