The important influence exerted by the Sun’s body, as a mass, upon
Terrestrial Magnetism, is confirmed by Sabine in the ingenious
observation, that the period at which the intensity of the magnetic
force is greatest, and the direction of the needle most near to the
vertical line, falls in both hemispheres between the months of October
and February; that is to say, precisely at the time when the earth is
nearest to the sun, and moves in its orbit with the greatest velocity.