26 nature's /IMracles. 



that 100,000 million million million of them 

 can be put into a cubic inch of space, have 

 their attractions satisfied by forming into 

 little molecular rings, -with their unlike poles 

 together, so that when the iron is in a natural 

 or immagnetized condition it does not attract 

 other iron. If I should take a rhig of hard- 

 ened steel and cut it into two or more pieces 

 and magnetize them, each one of the pieces 

 would be an independent magnet. If now I 

 put them together in the form of a ring they 

 will cling together by their mutual attraction 

 for each other. Before I put them together 

 into a ring each piece would attract and adhere 

 to other pieces of iron or steel. But as soon 

 ns they are put together in the ring they are 

 satisfied with their own mutual attraction, 

 and the ring as a whole will not attract other 

 pieces of iron. 



Suppose the pieces forming the ring it may 

 be only two, if you choose are as small as 

 the molecules we have described, the same 

 tiling would be true of them. Each molecular 

 ring would have its magnetic attractions satis- 

 fied and would not attract other molecules out- 

 side of its own little circle. When the iron 

 is in the neutral state it will not as a ma 

 tract another piece of iron, because the mil- 

 lions of little natural magnets of which it is 

 made up have their attractive force all turned 

 in upon themselves. 



