THE SUN-SPOTS AND TPIE EARTH. 
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computed to be so large that if the earth could be 
dropped into it, it would lose itself like a marble in 
a teacup. 
WHAT HAVE THE SUN-SPOTS TO DO WITH THE 
EARTH f 
Perhaps this question concerns us more than any 
other about the sun. Do these spots affect our 
climate ? The reliable records are altogether too 
incomplete to answer this question satisfactorily. 
Observations show that there are more sun-spots 
some years than in others, and that there are periods 
of maximum and minimum sun-spots. The maximum 
periods seem to occur about every eleven years. 
Again, the number of spots of the maximum periods 
is not the same, so that every five times eleven years 
we have the greatest number. This is not fully 
determined, for the records have not been kept long 
enough. 
The records of general climate are still less com¬ 
plete and reliable. Few countries have made accu¬ 
rate observations of the weather, covering a large 
area, for more than thirty years. Conclusions are 
therefore largely based upon impressions, and all we 
can say is, that there seems to be a connection be¬ 
tween the sun-spots and our climate. 
The records of electrical conditions, kept for a 
short time only, and though still very incomplete, do 
nevertheless give us better results. There seems to 
be scarcely room for doubting that sun-spots disturb 
our electrical conditions. The earth with her life 
