October 18, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



513 



velope or photosphere. On the earth it 

 has been shown that the permeable magnetic 

 material is confined to a shell about 800 

 mUes thick ; that in consequence of this 

 the external field divides into an exflected 

 sj'stem, accounting for the location and 

 movement of the auroral belt, and an in- 

 flected sj'stem, in some way related to the 

 energy of tropical hurricanes; that the 

 lacking term needed to account for the 

 spasmodic action of storm generation over 

 our entire hemisphere is to be attributed to 

 the solar field ; that the storm tracks of the 

 United States vary in latitude and the 

 eastward drift of storms in longitude, also 

 the temperature annual means and ampli- 

 tudes with tlie solar field in the 11-year 

 period; that the storms are formed in the 

 northwest in a procession corresponding to 

 the type prevailing, and that this order is 

 inverted with the type; that the maximum 

 of extra-tropical storms of America, as 

 compared with Siberia, is due to the im- 

 pression of this variable energy upon the 

 atmosphere in North America ; that the 

 prevalence of storms and cold waves in 

 winter is due to the increased action of the 

 magnetic field at lower temperatures ; that 

 the glacial epochs may naturally be referred 

 to the long period variations of the sun as 

 respects its magnetic output ; that the ob- 

 served minute variations of terrestrial lati- 

 tudes may be plausibly ascribed to the 

 action of the stresses in the ether at the 

 surface of the earth, due to the mechanical 

 forces generated in the ether by the trans- 

 mission of I'adiant energy. 



It is evident that, besides the very practi- 

 cal results to forecasting to be expected 

 from a complete solution of the problem of 

 storm generation in this long period of 

 26.68 days, we have a large field of study 

 in the relations of magnetism and electricity. 

 If all radiant energy is accompanied by 

 vector stresses in the ether, of the minute 

 amount disclosed by the residuals, it may 



not be impossible that gravitation is an 

 ether stress generated by the atomic vibra- 

 tions of ponderable matter, spreading in 

 spherical waves through space, according 

 to the Newtonian law. The fact that the 

 sun's hemispheres exhibit the normal field 

 inverted in them respectively, bj^ which 

 a maximum in one corresponds to a mini- 

 mum in the other on the same meridian, 

 leads one to doubt that a continuous line of 

 force, as assumed in theory, passes from 

 the positive to the negative pole. At any 

 rate here is an exhibition of what a dynamic 

 magnet is actually doing, our experiments 

 heretofore having been confined to static 

 conditions. The mode of transference of 

 this magnetic energy through the etlier is 

 wholly unknown, and its solution must 

 greatly enlighten us upon several important 

 subjects. 



This research has been greatly handi- 

 capped because no magnetic observations 

 have ever been made in the northern Rocky 

 Mountain regions of the United States, 

 where the interrelation of several primary 

 phj'sical foi'ces can be most successfully 

 studied. The high altitude of this region, 

 bringing the stratum of the atmosphere in 

 which observations are made more nearly 

 into contact with the external field, and its 

 proximity to the polar magnetic cap, 

 suggest that it is the most appropriate 

 place for the establishment of a magnifi- 

 cent permanent solar-terrestrial observa- 

 tory, equipped with the best instruments 

 available, and managed by men of power 

 in scientific investigations. One such ob- 

 servatory in the Northwest and another 

 in the eastern pai"t of the United States, 

 together with some minor stations, would 

 no doubt amply repay the American people 

 for the expense of equipping and maintain- 

 ing them through the agency of the Gov- 

 ernment. 



Frank H. Bigelow. 



Washington, D. C. 



