MAGNETIC CHARACTERS OF METALS, &c. 639 
Fig. 1 is that part of the apparatus in which 
the specimens to be examined are placed. It 
consists of a light cylindrical wooden rod A B, 
about twelve inches long, and suspended by a 
few parallel fibres of silk F F, from the cocoon. 
The end B is furnished with a light slip of card 
paper and two loops of horse-hair, for the purpose 
of holding the specimen; say a half-crown, for 
instance, as represented in the figure, which is 
counterbalanced at the other end of the lever by 
a sliding weight w. This part of the apparatus 
is enclosed in a rectangular box, Fig. 2, whose 
ends, top, and one of its sides, are of glass, and a 
brass tube rises from the middle of the top, in 
which hangs the silken fibres. The head of this 
tube sustains the fibres and their appendages, and 
can be turned in any horizontal direction for the 
adjustment of the lever to a parallelism with the 
sides of the box. 
The glass parts of the box are sustained by a 
light mahogany frame, with a bottom of the same 
kind of wood. The ends and sides are fixed, but 
the top, which consists of two sliding parts, can 
be removed at pleasure, for the purpose of intro- 
ducing the hands for the adjustment of the - per 
ratus within, and replaced when the specimen has 
