The. Solar Activity, 1833-1900. 



289 



If these figures in the last column be utilised as ordinates and the 

 time element as abscissae, the curve in fig. 2 (curve B) is produced. The 

 peculiarity of this curve is that we have a very rapid rise to a maximum 

 in 1843, and slow fall to the minimum in 1867. This is followed 



Fig. 1. 



by a similar rapid rise to the next maximum in 1879 and a gradual 

 fall as far as observations at present indicate. 



The curve thus indicates that there is some law at work which 

 introduces a secular variation by retarding the sunspot maxima in 

 relation to the preceding minima. 



