May SP, 1896.] 



SGIENGE. 



809 



influence the terrestrial field by direct action as 

 magnets."* 



The coronal field is referred by Prof. Bigelow 

 to the action of the sun as a great magnet ; at 

 least, while convincing himself of its existence 

 in his earlier papers, he assumes it to be due 

 to this action ; but after reaching this conviction ' 

 he appears to think it no longer necessary for 

 the field to have a physical cause. 



"The solar magnetic field represents a type of radi- 

 ant energy, probably circular or spiral rotation of the 

 ether -which surrounds the sun on all sides, but of 

 variable strength in certain solar longitudes. In 

 other -words, the earth passes through a series of hot- 

 ter and cooler regions as the sun tnrns on its axis. 

 One day is the equivalent of about 10,000,000 miles. 

 Since the form of energy is magnetic, "which, of 

 course, means a special form of ether motion, this en- 

 ergy approaching the earth, itself a magnetic body 

 capable of conducting the lines of force better in some 

 directions than in others, is concentrated or focussed 

 in the magnetic ovals surrounding the magnetic and 

 geographical poles. The form of the regions of con- 

 centration came out fully in my study of the equa- 

 torial radiant field. Thus the atmosphere around the 

 polar regions is intermittently heated or cooled, ac- 

 cording as more or less of this polar energy falls upon 

 it, the temperature being a direct function of the radi- 

 ant energy, "t 



The idea that vortex motion of the ether con- 

 stitutes magnetic field is, as yet, mere specula- 

 tive theoryj intensely interesting, coming from 

 such masters as Lord Kelvin and Clerk Max- 

 ■well; supremely foolish, coming from one who, 

 for example, uses the word ' spiral ' in speaking 

 of it, or from one who thinks a magnetic field 

 to be a stream of energy ! 



"As already described, besides the coronal field 

 perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic near the 

 earth, there is another field, in the plane of the eclip- 

 tic, called the radiant field, agreeing -with the direc- 

 tion of the ether energy of light and heat emitted 

 from the sun. It originates in the electric discharges 

 between the atoms of the photosphere, is electro-mag- 

 uetic, is propagated -with the velocity of light, and in 

 the atmosphere of the earth and in the earth itself 

 undergoes a complex series of transformations of en- 

 ergy, by -which the short, rapid waves are lengthened 



* Bulletin No. 2, U. S. Weather Bureau, pp. 7-8. 

 t Astron. and Astro-Phys., 13, p. 37. 

 X Compare Prof. Oliver Lodge, London Electrician, 

 Jan. 18, 1895, p. 332. 



or destroyed, the work thus used up appearing in 

 transformations of physical phenomena. ' ' * 



' ' The finally constructed field surrounding the 

 earth is exceedingly complex, and a description of it 

 here is quite impossible, though some of the leading 

 features of it may be mentioned. The fundamental 

 law of the entry and departure of the forces from the 

 earth conforms to the tangent law of magnetic re- 

 fraction, the index being about 1.25. In the northern 

 hemisphere the field (Radiant Field) points towards 

 the sun, in the southern away from the sun, so that 

 the earth is in a magnetic couple, the radiant field 

 showing a jjotential fall from the sun outwards. The 

 plane of symmetrj' of the field is not on the meridian 

 of the sun, but is thrown westward by the rotation 

 of the earth, through an angle of about 23° in the 

 northern and 15° in the southern hemisphere. The 

 field shows a series of five parts, gradually changing 

 within their areas, but discontinuous as to each 

 other. These are the polar field, the north mid- 

 latitude field, the equatorial field, the south midlati- 

 tude field, and the south polar field. The polar field 

 is three or four times as strong as the others, in 

 which the forces concentrate in two polar points and 

 act along the meridians ; the northern field' iioints 

 across the meridians, the discontinuity being along 

 the belt of the auroral maximum of frequency; the 

 equatorial field points north or south, and the south- 

 ern field across the meridians, away from the sun. 

 The strength of the radiant field is about 0.000135 c. 

 g. s., being a little greater than the coronal field. A 

 complete discussion of the numerous physical prob- 

 lems arising from these facts cannot now be attempted, 

 but great light is thrown upon many of the observed 

 Ijhysical phenomena that have been perplexing to 

 scientific research. It seems especially to confirm in 

 a marked degree the theory of Maxwell regarding 

 the electro-magnetic constitution of the radiant ether 

 waves. "t "The surprising identification of mag- 

 netic and light action of the radiations of the sun in 

 direction will be recognized as harmonizing with the 

 conclusions arrived at by Maxwell and Hertz in their 

 investigations. ' ' % 



Now, the magnetic field in light and heat 

 waves is at right angles to the ray and is re- 

 versed in direction millions of millions of times 

 per second! It is to be noticed that Prof. Bige- 



* Eeport for 1891-92, of Chief of Weather Bureau, p. 

 254. 



t Eeport for 1891-92, of the Chief of the Weather 

 Bureau, pp. 524-525. 



X This is verbatim quotation. The reference has 

 been lost among the mass of the writer's notes, and 

 cannot be recovered with reasonable labor. 



