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The National Geographic Magazine 



sun is so terrible that our iron ores, gold, 

 silver, copper, and diamonds exist as 

 gases there. The rays of this heat travel 

 at the rate of 11,600,000 miles a minute 

 and reach us in eight minutes. Such 

 speed is inconceivable. The swiftest can- 

 con-ball is motionless compared with 

 such rapidity of motion. There are 

 storms on the sun compared with which 

 our Galveston hurricanes and Mont Pelee 

 eruptions are like the breathing of an in- 

 fant. Are the storms periodic ? Do 

 they follow some sequence, some law ? 



The sun is much brighter and hotter 

 at certain periods than it is at others. 

 According to Professor S. P. Langley, 

 during 1904 there was a notable decrease 

 in the amount of heat received from the 

 sun. The same report came from Italy. 

 Why the sun was so stingy we do not 

 know ; whether its generosity is periodic 

 or incidental is a riddle to us. If we did 

 understand its moods and their reaction 

 upon us, we could predict the weather 

 for a season in advance. Now, the sun 

 is the creator of all life, of all force and 

 motion on the earth except the tides. 

 Every act of it is so orderly and sys- 

 tematic that we must believe that the 



processes going on within it are also sys- 

 tematic ; that the changes we think we 

 see in it follow each other in regular 

 succession, as our spring follows win- 

 ter, but probably at much longer inter- 

 vals. Solve the order of the changes on 

 the sun, and we can predict the character 

 of the seasons. 



Strange as it may seem, the sun has 

 rarely been studied in its relation to wea- 

 ther. As a rule, astronomers have paid 

 little attention to the weather, while 

 meteorologists know little about the sun. 



Realizing that the further development 

 of our knowledge of storms and of wea- 

 ther generally depends in large measure 

 upon a better understanding of the sun 

 and its relation to the meteorology of the 

 earth. Congress recently, on the recom- 

 mendation of Secretary Wilson, gave the 

 Weather Bureau a sum of money to 

 found a meteorological solar observa- 

 tory. The constant procession of storms 

 that sweep across the United States 

 makes our country a particularly good 

 place to study the relation of sun and 

 weather. The site chosen was an un- 

 named peak in the Blue Ridge, sixty- 

 five miles from the national capital. The 



From photographs 



Freaks of Tornadoes 

 A spade driven into a tree — Straws driven into trees — A splinter driven into a 



