Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Commercial Crises and Sun-Spots

Abstract

A SUGGESTION is made by Mr. John Kemp, in NATURE, vol. xix. p. 97, to test the relation of sun-spots to the variation in weight of the cereal grains. Probably the difficulties of giving such a test scientific precision are insurmountable. No doubt these grains do vary in weight from year to year. Of some samples of oats, of crop 1877, contributed by me to the South Kensington Museum, the pound contained 13,642 grains, while the pound of crop 1878 contained 16,870. But there are many varieties of oats, barley, and wheat in general cultivation, each producing grains differing in weight from the others. In an inquiry which I made regarding the weight of the sterling, average grains of wheat of crop 1876 from the south of England were found, in an air-dry condition, to weigh as follows: Talavera, 1.01 gr. troy; Chidham white, 76; Sherrifl's bearded, 86; Kessingland red, 92; Nursery red, .76; Trump white, .81; Red rivet, 1.00; Lammas red, .89; Hunter's white, .75. And different ears of a given variety of wheat have grains of different weight. If six or eight culms come up on one stool, the largest ears hare the heaviest grains. In general, the larger flower-cups in an ear, contain the heavier grains. Then, there is scarcely such a thing to be found as a crop of one pure variety. Any variety rapidly gets mixed with others. And, supposing that a plot were set aside for a pure variety, year after year, for a few cycles of sun-spots, the mineral conditions would be constantly varying; so that any test by the balance to compare the fruit of one year with that of another, would involve too many unappraisable elements to have a real value.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

WILSON, A. Commercial Crises and Sun-Spots. Nature 19, 196–197 (1879). https://doi.org/10.1038/019196b0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/019196b0

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing