1 860.] Magnetic Force on the Electric Discharge. 1 73 



that of a steady glow, through which, however, intermittent lumin- 

 ous gushes took place, each of which presented the stratified 

 appearance. 



11. On exciting the magnet between whose poles the receiver was 

 placed, the steady glow curved up or down according to the polarity 

 of the magnet, and resolved itself into a series of effulgent transverse 

 bars of ligiit. These appeared to travel from the positive wire along 

 the surface of the jar. The deflected luminous current was finally 

 extinguished by the action of the magnet. 



12. When the circuit of the magnet wa.s made and immediately 

 interrupted, the appearance of the discharge was extremely singular. 

 At first the strata rushed from the positive electrode along the upper 

 surface of the jar, then stopped, and appeared to return upon their 

 former track, and pass successively with a deliberate motion into the 

 positive electrode. They were perfectly detached from each other ; 

 and their successive engulphments at the positive electrode were so 

 slow as to be capable of being counted aloud with the greatest ease. 

 This deliberate retreat of the strata towards the positive pole was due, 

 no doubt, to the gradual subsidence of the power of the magnet. 

 Artificial means might probably be devised to render the recession of 

 the discharge still slower. 1'he rise of power in the magnet was also 

 beautifully indicated by the deportment of the current. 



After the current had been once quenched, as long as the magnet 

 remained excited, no discharge passed : but on breaking the magnet 

 circuit, the luminous glow reappeared. Not only then is there an 

 action of the magnet upon the particles transported by an electric 

 current, but the above experiment indicates that there is an action of 

 the magnet upon the electrodes themselves, which actually prevents 

 the escape of their particles. The influence of the magnet upon 

 the electrode would thus appear to be prior to the passage of the 

 current. 



13. The discharge of the battery was finally sent through a tube, 

 whose platinum wires were terminated by two small balls of carbon : 

 a glow was first produced.; but on heating a portion of the tube con- 

 taining a stick of caustic potash, the positive ball sent out a luminous 

 protrusion, which subsequently detached itself from the ball ; the tube 

 becoming instantly afterwards filled with the most brilliant strata. 

 There can be no doubt that the superior effulgence of the bands 

 obtained with this tube is due to the character of its electrodes : the 

 han^s are the transported matter of these electrodes. May not this be 

 the case with other electrodes ? There appears to be no uniform flow 

 in nature ; we cannot get either air or water through an orifice in a 

 uniform stream ; the friction against the orifice is overcome by starts, 

 and the jet issues in pulsations. Let a lighted candle be quickly 

 passed through the air ; ^the flame will break itself into a beaded line 

 in virtue of a similar intermittent action, and it may be made to sing, 

 so regular are the pulses produced by*its passage. Analogy might 

 lead us to suppose that the electricity overcomes the resistance at the 



