142  Prof.  W.  Weber  on  Electricity  in  relation  to 
place  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  which  actually  does  occur. 
But  even  if  all  the  electricity  in  such  a  conductor  existed  in  the 
form  of  Amperian  molecular  currents  before  the  action  of  the 
segregating  force  began,  there  must  have  been  amongst  these 
molecular  currents  some  which  could  not  persist  under  the 
action  of  the  segregating  force  (one  particle  continuing  to  re- 
volve in  a  closed  orbit  round  the  other),  and  were  accordingly 
broken  up,  the  two  particles  separating  more  and  more  from 
each  other  until  they  arrived  at  the  boundary  of  the  conductor. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  force  of  segregation,  the  positive  and 
negative  particles  of  the  broken  molecular  currents  could  remain 
at  rest  only  when  distributed  in  a  particular  way  on  the  surface 
of  the  conductor ;  but  when  the  force  of  segregation  ceased  to 
act,  they  would  enter  into  motion  again  until  they  had  again 
united  themselves  two  by  two  into  Amperian  molecular  currents. 
19.  Electrical  Currents  in  Conductors. 
If  all  the  electricity  in  conductors  were  contained  in  them 
(before  a  segregating  force  began  to  act)  in  the  state  of  aggrega- 
tion corresponding  to  Amperian  molecular  currents,  which, 
however,  were  incapable  of  persisting  under  the  action  of  a 
segregating  force,  but  were  broken  up,  so  that  the  two  dissimilar 
electrical  particles,  which  were  revolving  about  each  other, 
separated  further  and  further  from  each  other,  until  their  paths 
finally  approached  asymptotically  the  direction  of  the  segregating 
force,  dissimilar  electrical  particles  derived  from  different 
molecular  currents  would  encounter  each  other  before  they  could 
reach  the  boundaries  of  the  conductor,  and  would  form  with 
each  other  new  molecular  currents.  These  newly  formed  mo- 
lecular currents  would  then  in  their  turn  be  broken  up,  and  the 
particles  constituting  them  would  again  separate  further  and 
further  from  each  other  in  paths  asymptotically  approaching  the 
direction  of  the  segregating  force,  and  so  on. 
Thus  there  would  arise  a  current  of  electricity  in  the  conduc- 
tor in  the  direction  of  the  segregating  force.  If  the  conductor 
had  the  shape  of  a  uniform  ring,  and  if  the  segregating  force 
had  the  same  intensity  in  every  separate  element  of  length  of 
the  ring  and  acted  in  the  direction  of  the  element,  a  constant 
circular  current  would  be  produced  in  the  ring,  and  the  laws  of 
motion  of  electrical  particles  under  the  action  of  a  force  of 
electrical  segregation,  developed  in  the  previous  section,  would 
form  the  basis  of  the  theory  of  these  constant  electrical  currents 
in  closed  conductors. 
Here  it  is  evident  that,  during  the  existence  of  this  current, 
work  would  be  done  by  each  particle,  since  it  moves  forward 
under  the  action  of  the  segregating  force  in  the  direction  of  this 
