ELECTRIC OSCILLATIONS AND ELECTRIC WAVES. 247 



Fig. 178. 



B towards A. Consider the opposite rotation of like ether cells 

 at / and /', and consider a chain of geared cells passing from 

 / to /' around the end of AB. The current through AB 

 may flow for an indefinite time and therefore the opposite rota- 

 tion of the positive ether cells 

 at / and/' may continue in- P( 



definitely, but this continued 

 opposite rotation at / and p' 

 cannot be accommodated by 

 an ever-increasing distortion 

 of the elastic gear teeth of 

 the ether cells along the chain 

 of geared cells which pass 

 around the end of AB. A slip must take place between ad- 

 jacent cells at some point along this chain. Therefore the line 

 of flow of the current AB (line of slip of gear cells] must form a 

 closed circuit which ctits across every possible chain of geared cells 

 extending from p to p' . 



When a current flows along a path which does not form a closed 

 circuit, then an increasing ether distortion (electric field) is pro- 

 duced around the end portions of the path as explained in Art. 

 142. 



140. Flow of energy in the neighborhood of a wire carrying an 

 electric current, (a) Simplest case, zvhen no electric charge resides 

 on the surface of the wire. Let AB, Fig. 1 79, be a portion of a 

 long wire through which an electric current is flowing. If there 



Fig. 1 79. 



