380 Dr. E. Goldstein on the Electric 



the theory that the particles at the outer end of the ray were 

 previously at the kathode, and are immediately opposed to the 

 view that the particles nearest to the kathode have already 

 passed through the place occupied by the remote ends ; that is, 

 the motion in the kathode-light must propagate itself from the 

 kathode outwards. 



Exactly correspondent are the phenomena of the rays of the 

 secondary negative pencils, and also of the rays of the sepa- 

 rate positive stratifications, when these are sufficiently expanded 

 by high exhaustion. Hence the discharge propagates itself 

 also in each separate stratification from the bounding surface 

 on the kathode side to the boundary on the side of the anode. 

 The often-mentioned phenomena of deflection are to be inter- 

 preted in a similar manner. If K (fig. 3) be the projection 

 of a plane kathode, K/ that of a thin wire, 

 s the natural direction of an electric ray 

 issuing from K, then the ray through K/ 

 takes the form «K'«'; at K7 it bends round 

 through a considerable angle, and beyond 

 K 7 follows again a straight course, which, 

 however, deviates considerably from the 

 direction s K'; i. e. the portion of the ray 

 beyond K' obeys the deviation which was 

 exerted upon the electrical particles at K'. 

 Hence the forces which produce motion 

 at any point of the ray influence also all portions of the ray 

 beyond this point, but are without influence upon the portions 

 between the first point and the kathode. This is very simply 

 explained by the hypothesis that the electrical motion in the 

 ray propagates itself from the kathode outwards (in the direc- 

 tion of the arrow). 



III. 



The velocity and direction of the discharge of a pencil of 

 electrical rays is to be distinguished, a priori, from the velo- 

 city and direction with which the tension that precedes the 

 discharge propagates itself. We are not here further con- 

 cerned with the velocity of this tension, but only with its 

 direction. I believe that the phenomena observed indicate 

 very plainly a propagation of the tension also in the direction 

 of the negative current; that is, the tensions for the separate 

 positive stratifications are developed in the same order of time 

 as that in which they follow each other in space from the 

 kathode towards the anode. I draw this conclusion from the 

 fact that the position and peculiarities of the separate com- 

 pletely formed stratifications, and in particular the position of 



