54 DR. FARADAY'S EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES IN ELECTRICITY. 



appear to be accurately represented by the magnetic curves, and closely related to, 

 if not identical with, magnetic forces. 



1109. There can be no doubt that the current in one part of a wire can act by in- 

 duction upon other parts of the same wire which are lateral to the first, i. e. in the 

 same section, or in the parts which are more or less oblique to it (1112.), just as it 

 can act in producing a current in a neighbouring wire. It is this which gives the 

 appearance of the current acting upon itself: but all the experiments and all analogy 

 tend to show that the elements (if I may so say) of the currents do not act upon them- 

 selves, and so cause the effect in question, but produce it by exciting currents in con- 

 ducting matter which is lateral to them. 



1110. It is possible that some of the expressions I have used may seem to imply, 

 that the inductive action is essentially the action of one current upon another, or of 

 one element of a current upon another element of the same current. To avoid any 

 such conclusion I must explain more distinctly my meaning. If an endless wire be 

 taken, we have the means of generating a current in it which shall run round the 

 circuit without adding any electricity to what was previously in the wire. As far as 

 we can judge, the electricity which appears as a current is the same as that which 

 before was quiescent in the wire ; and though we cannot as yet point out the essential 

 condition of difference of the electricity at such times, we can easily recognise the two 

 states. Now when a current acts by induction upon conducting matter lateral to it, 

 it probably acts upon the electricity in that conducting matter whether it be in the 

 form of a current or quiescent, in the one case increasing or diminishing the current 

 according to its direction, in the other producing a current, and the amount of the 

 inductive action is probably the same in both cases. Hence, to say that the action 

 of induction depended upon the mutual relation of two or more currents, would, ac- 

 cording to the restricted sense in which the term current is understood at present 

 (283. 517. 667.), be an error. 



1111. Several of the effects, as, for instances, those with helices (1066.), with accord- 

 ing or counter currents (1097. 1098.), and those on the production of lateral cur- 

 rents (1090.), appeared to indicate that a current could produce an effect of induction 

 in a neighbouring wire more readily than in its own carrying wire, in which case it 

 might be expected that some variation of result would be produced if a bundle of 

 wires were used as a conductor instead of a single wire. In consequence the follow- 

 ing experiments were made. A copper wire one twenty-third of an inch in diameter 

 was cut into lengths of five feet each, and six of these being laid side by side in one 

 bundle, had their opposite extremities soldered to two terminal pieces of copper. 

 This arrangement could be used as a discharging wire, but the general current could 

 be divided into six parallel streams, which might be brought close together, or, by 

 the separation of the wires, be taken more or less out of each other's influence. A 

 somewhat brighter spark was, I think, obtained on breaking contact when the six 

 wires were close together than when held asunder. 



