128 Generating Economic Cycles 



Venus is a magnetic or an electric field. Our next 

 piece of evidence strengthens this hypothesis and at 

 the same time increases the probability of a direct 

 electro-magnetic action of Venus upon the Earth. 



In 1911 Professor Arthur Schuster published a paper 

 on "The Influence of Planets on the Formation of 

 Sun-Spots." ^ Assuming that whatever planetary in- 

 fluence might exist, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury would 

 be likely to be most efficient, he sought to discover 

 whether the formation of sunspots was in any way 

 dependent upon the position of these planets with 

 respect to the Sun. He interpreted his results in the 

 light of the theory of probability, seeking thereby to 

 elmiinate chance associations. Our interest centers in 

 this conclusion, namely, ''if we take each planet 

 separately ... it is seen that only in the case of 

 Venus do the numbers help to establish a real con- 

 nection." 2 



In the same year, 1911, F. J. M. Stratton, Assistant 

 in Astrophysics, at Cambridge Observatory, dealt with 

 the same problem in a paper "On Possible Phase-rela- 

 tions between the Planets and Sun-spot Phenomena." ^ 

 Using a slightly different method and confining his 

 study to Jupiter and Venus, he reviewed the work of 

 Professor Schuster. He reached the general conclusion 

 "that the case for planetary effects on sun-spot phenom- 

 ena is 'not proven' " (p. 26). But there was a notable 

 qualification: "A careful study of the detailed figures 

 underlying the tables in this paper leaves the author 



^ Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series A, vol. 85, 1911, 

 pp. 309-323. 

 2 Ibid., p. 317. 

 ^ Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 72, pp. 9-26, 



