  Data from three solar observatories, Learmonth, Holloman, and San Vito, are
used to study the variations in the average number of sunspots per sunspot
group. It is found that the different types of sunspot groups and the number of
sunspots in these groups have different solar cycle and cycle to cycle
variations. The varying ratio between the average number of sunspots and the
number of sunspot groups is shown to be a real feature and not a result of
changing observational instruments, observers experience, calculation schemes,
etc., and is a result of variations in the solar magnetic fields. Therefore,
the attempts to minimize the discrepancies between the sunspot number and
sunspot group series are not justified, and lead to the loss of important
information about the variability of the solar dynamo.
