In the 1920's the increased incidence of lymphocytosis was explained by nutritional changes. In those years, Eigenson's second basic solar index a had two peaks, indicating the mean intensity of solar phenomena and reflecting the intensity of geoactive corpuscular radiation; one peak occurred du_~ing World War I, and the other in the period of postwar famine. The authors of the 1920's, unaware of Eigenson's index a which was dis covered in 1940, regarded the increase in lymphocytosis as a corollary of war and famine. At present there is neither war nor famine, yet the incidence and severity of relative lymphocytosis have not only exceeded that recorded in the 1920's but have continually increased in phase with the increase in the W index (sunspot number).
When correlating the fluctuations of leukocytic tests with those in solar activity we should bear in mind that fluctuations of solar indexes may be expressed by very large numbers, although there are known "ceiling" figures. The sunspot maximum recorded within the last 200 years occurred in 1957 (W= 189.9), and the minimum in 1913 (W= 1). Clearly, there cannot be variations of such wide amplitude in the blood system. Just as the temperature of the human body fluctuates within certain limits so does the incidence of functional leukopenia and lymphocytosis have a maximum and minimum. The maximum "C" of the leukocytic test was recorded in the same year as the sunspot maximum— 1957—when it reached 95.5% (M. M. Levushkina, Sochi).
The leukocytic tests of solar activity distinctly revealed the variation with time of the incidence of functional leukopenia and relative lympho cytosis. This variation appeared to be in phase with the variations of solar activity (Figure 3).
According to our data the cyclic fluctuations of the leukocyte count is independent of meteorological factors. No noticeable changes could be detected in the frequency curve of leukopenia and lymphocytosis with the change of weather from cold and rainy to hot and dry. The seasonal dynamics fully reflected the Corti effect.* From.the data collected at Sochi in 1956, leukopenia was found to be 13.8% during the winter and summer periods, and 16.8% during the spring and autumn periods. In 1957, at the same place, the incidence of leukopenia was 6.1% in winter, and 24% in spring, while leukocyte counts lower than occurred in 0.2% of the cases in winter, and in 4.5% in spring.
With the passage of the maximum solar activity, the leukocyte counts show a gradual return to normal. However, since this was the maximum of the secular cycle, low leukocyte counts might be recorded in healthy people for a few more years.
In the middle latitudes leukocyte counts lower than scarcely occurred in 1960, whereas in the Arctic regions there are still many healthy people with such counts. This biological test confirms the helio geophysical principle that the effects of cosmic radiation are increasingly more pronounced toward the poles.
Determination and analysis of the effects of solar activity on the blood profile require a fundamental knowledge of the latest heliogeophysical achievements. Several observations led us to conclude that the blood is not affected directly by the sunspots but by certain solar phenomena (designated by Chizhevskii as Z-radiation), which are associated with the appearance and development of sunspots.
An example of coincident curves is provided by the leukocytic test "B," according to the results of 14,100 tests performed in 1957 in nine sanatoria of the Sochi area. The correlation in the annual variation of the leukocytic test "A" is clearly illustrated by the findings of our associates Z.A. Sen cheshcheva and L. Ya. Krikovtsova, and is summarized in the curves of the leukocyte counts and solar activity, during the 1955-1959 period (Figure 5).
As mentioned above, a similar pattern was obtained by Glushitskaya at a tuberculosis clinic in Sochi during the 1955-1959 period. Hence, we may conclude that the blood of tuberculosis patients reacts to variations in solar activity just as the blood of healthy subjects, irrespective of the patholo gical process affecting the number of leukocytes (see Figure 2).
Considerable interest is also aroused by our observation that the curve of leukocytic tests began to rise earlier than the sunspot curve at the beginning of the current 11-year cycle. We are inclined to assume that this was caused by the enhanced activity of the excited areas* on the Sun, since the minimum of the current 11-year cycle occurred near the peak of the secular cycle. Verification of this assumption will be possible in a few years, at the time of the next 11-year minimum. In the opinion of several heliogeophysicists this phenomenon merits attention (Figure 6).