Miscellaneous Intelligence. 273 



will treat of the aurora and some results of the meteorological 

 observations made. The amount of material available will be 

 obvious from the fact that in 1902 and 1903 magnetic register- 

 ings were available from twenty-five observatories, scattered over 

 the world, including the four Norwegian stations on Iceland, 

 Spitsbergen, Novaja Semlja, and Finmark. Certain well-marked 

 magnetic storms in 1882-3 have also been treated from the 

 observations in the reports of the International Polar Expedition. 

 The author in 1896 advanced the theory that magnetic disturb- 

 ances on the earth, as well as the aurora borealis, are due to cor- 

 puscular rays emitted by the sun ; and the observations recorded 

 have been treated with a view to show their relation to this 

 theory. He says : "The magnetic storms, for instance, have been 

 studied in such a manner, that on the one hand we have formed 

 from our observation-material a field of force which gives as 

 complete a representation as possible of the perturbing forces 

 existing on the earth at the times under consideration. On the 

 other hand, by experimental investigations with a little magnetic 

 terrella in a large discharge-tube, and by mathematical analysis, 

 we have endeavoured to prove that a current of electric corpuscles 

 from the sun w T ould give rise to precipitation upon the earth, the 

 magnetic effect of which agrees well with the magnetic field of 

 force that w r as found by the observations on the earth." 



He adds : " The disintegration theory, which has proved of the 

 greatest value in the explanation of the radio-active phenomena, 

 may possibly also afford sufficient explanation as to the origin of 

 the sun's heat. The energy of the corpuscular precipitation that 

 takes place in the polar regions during magnetic storms seems, 

 indeed, to indicate a disintegration process in the sun of such 

 magnitude, that it may possibly clear up this most important 

 question in solar physics." 



He believes that future results in this line will serve to solve 

 the questions as to the origin of terrestrial magnetism and that of 

 the sun's heat. Professor Stormer has carried on the mathe- 

 matical investigations in connection with the author's theory, 

 which are intended to make clear the movement of electric cor- 

 puscles from sun to earth. These will be published in a special 

 part of the present work. 



The author considers it to be beyond doubt that the powerful 

 magnetic storms in the northern regions are due to the action of 

 electric currents above the earth near the auroral zone. The 

 attempt has been made in the case of some of the storms to cal- 

 culate the strength of horizontal currents that would cause them, 

 supposing that they acted magnetically as galvanic currents. In 

 the case of the greater storms, current strengths of from 500,000 

 to 1,000,000 amperes or even more have been obtained. He has 

 calculated also that according as to whether the currents are due to 

 cathode or to /3-rays, the energy for 1,000,000 amperes would be 

 19*6 X 10 6 or 535 X 10 6 horse-power. Further considerations lead 

 to an estimate of 10 13 horse-power for the energy of the rays 



