74 NOMOS. 



which the magnet will move under these circum- 

 stances, for move it must in order to gain the equi- 

 librium of attraction ? Under these circumstances, 

 we answer, it will move somewhere towards the left. 

 This is evident, and will appear to be so by glancing 

 for an instant at the diagram. But what, we ask 

 again, will be the precise direction of the motion? 

 Will it be in a line which is at right angles to the 

 line which connects the magnet and the conductor, 

 to the line, that is to say, which is the radius vector 

 while the magnet continues to move around the con- 

 ductor ; or will it be in a line which is directed at 

 an angle which is more or less than a right angle ? 

 The answer is not at all doubtful. The motion 

 cannot be directed in a line which is inclined away 

 from the conductor at an angle of more than a right 

 angle ; it cannot be directed at the right angle ; but 

 it must be directed in a line inclining towards the 

 conductor at an angle of less than a right angle. 

 This must needs be, if the intensification and neu- 

 tralization of attraction resulting from the reaction of 

 the current belonging to the conductor and magnet 

 are equal ; and that this is so will appear in the 

 diagram, for the line of preponderating attraction, as 

 is shown by the curves a a a, b b b, is a line which 

 inclines towards the conductor at an angle which is 

 less than a right angle. Or, if we consider the 

 motion of the magnet in relation to a circle passing 

 through the magnet and carried around the con- 

 ductor as a centre, the motion must be, not in the 

 tangent to the circle, but in the chord. Instead of 

 being tangential, or in the line a b, the motion must 



