PLANETS AND TEE WEATHER.

Patea Mail, 23 October 1880, Page 3

PLANETS AND TEE WEATHER.

A scientific writer in Providence Journal , America, says :—Jupiter rolls on towards perihelion and opposition with constantly increasing speed. The near approach of this great planet to the sim has been accompanied by an unusual elemental warfare which may be taken to substantiate the theory that the close proximity of the planets to the sun has a highly disturbing influence upon the central luminary. Earthcpiakes, numerous and destructive, have borne witness to the internal commotion going on in the unknown depths beneath the earth’s slender crust ; a whirlwind and waterspout, such as was never never known in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, has spent its force on a New England peninsula; floods, c} 7 cloncs, and tornadoes have been of almost daily occurrence, as reported on weather records ; a wave of intense heat has been followed by a cold snap, when fires were comfortable, frost lay on the lowlands of Massachusetts, snow fell on the Catskills, and ice and snow chilled the blood of the pleasure-seekers on Mount Washington. It is a comforting assurance to know that Jupiter will be safely beyond bis perihelion before the other planets roach this important point in their orbits. Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune ail touch their perihelion soon. Neptune passes the height of her perihelion in 1881; Uranus May 7, 1882, and Saturn in August 1885, giv’iig promise of a respite before they take their turn in pulling with one accord upon the sun. Among noteworthy events during the month, the first in importance will be the continued study of elemental disturbances in terrestrial territories, in connection with sun spots and the grand pull which mighty Jupiter is exerting upon the great centre of life and light. It will

be well also to remember that his mass greatly exceeds that of all the other planets combined, and the difference between his jquatorial aud polar diameter is 5,000 miles, or more than half of the whole diameter of the globe.