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Show Facts About Magnetic Storms. Magnetic storms are disturbances of the earth's magnetism manifested by auroral displays, excitement of the magnetic needle and interruption of telegraphic communication. They are often associated with great outbursts on the sun. It has generally been assumed as-sumed that they occur simultaneously over all the earth, but Dr. L. A. Bauei now questions the correctness of this assumption. Studying a magnetic storm avhich occurred in May, 1902 simultaneously with tha outbreak of Mont Pelee, In Martinique, he reaches the conclusion that the disturbance originated about fourteen degrees west of Martinique, and traveled eastward east-ward about seven thousand miles a minute, encircling the entire globe Examination of the records of other storms leads him to think that such disturbances usually travel eastward, but sometimes westward, at the rate of thousands of miles a minute, so that, in general, they encircle the earth in about four-minutes. |