428 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE 



round a magnetic pole. This was not the result sought 

 by Wollaston, but it was closely related to that result. 



The strong tendency of Faraday's mind to look upon 

 the reciprocal actions of natural forces gave birth to his 

 greatest discoveries; and we, who know this, should be 

 justified in concluding that, even had Wollaston not pre- 

 ceded him, the result would have been the same. But in 

 judging Davy we ought to transport ourselves to his time, 

 and carefully exclude from our thoughts and feelings that 

 noble subsequent life, which would render simply impos- 

 sible the ascription to Faraday of anything unfair. It 

 would be unjust to Davy to put our knowledge in the 

 place of his, or to credit him with data which he could 

 not have possessed. Eumor and fact had connected the 

 name of Wollaston with these supposed interactions be- 

 tween magnets and currents. When, therefore, Faraday 

 in October published his successful experiment, without 

 any allusion to Wollaston, general, though really un- 

 grounded, criticism followed. I say ungrounded because, 

 first, Faraday's experiment was not that of Wollaston, 

 and secondly, Faraday, before he published it, had ac- 

 tually called upon Wollaston, and not finding him at 

 home, did not feel himself authorized to mention his 

 name. 



In December, Faraday published a second paper on 

 the same subject, from which, through a misapprehension, 

 the name of Wollaston was also omitted. Warburton and 

 others thereupon affirmed that Wollaston's ideas had been 

 appropriated without acknowledgment, and it is plain that 

 Wollaston himself, though cautious in his utterance, was 

 also hurt. Censure grew till it became intolerable. "I 

 hear," writes Faraday to his friend Stodart, "every day 



