Troivfo'idge — New Emission Theory of Light. 53 



We find that the negative electrons exhibit the greatest 

 penetrating and impulsive effects. They are extraordinarily 

 sensitive to a magnetic field; whereas, the positive rays are 

 comparatively insensitive and require a strong magnetic field 

 to affect them, which is in the opposite direction to that taken 

 by the cathode rays or streams of negative electrons. 



If we adopt Franklin's hypothesis of excess and deficit and 

 make the assumption that all space is filled with negative 

 electrons, which pass through matter, modifying atomic move- 

 ments, we might suppose that the positive discharge in a 

 Geissler tube is due to an effort of the electrons of space to re- 

 establish an electrical equilibrium disturbed by chemical action 

 of a battery or the motion of a dynamo. This disturbance 

 appears to be shown in more Protean ways at the cathode than 

 at the anode. The stream of negative electrons in passing 

 through the glass of the Geissler tube communicate some of 

 their energy to the atoms of the rarified gas, aiding perhaps 

 the cathode electrons in driving the atoms in both directions 

 from the perforations in the cathode, thus causing the Doppler 

 effect, and transforming their ultra-violet radiations into longer 

 wave lengths, and the diminished velocity of the wave lengths 

 of the visible spectrum. The positive column of the discharge 

 in Geissler tubes may also be regarded as the effect on the 

 atoms of the gas of the electrons, entering from outer space to 

 reestablish the electrical equilibrium, disturbed by the agency 

 which produced the electric discharge in the tube. 



But how shall we explain the effect of a magnetic field on 

 the positive rays ? The electrons of the cathode do not appear 

 to affect the canal rays, although the directions of both the 

 retrograde canal rays and the direct canal rays coincide with 

 the directions of the cathode rays from the two surfaces of the 

 cathode. Experimenters have always been careful to drive the 

 cathode rays out of the field before applying a magnetic field to 

 the positive rays. Is it not possible, however, that negative elec- 

 trons can be so entangled among the atoms of the gas that the 

 effect of a magnetic field on the motion of these atoms and the 

 effect on the electrons of the environment which come from outer 

 space, and not from the local electrical disturbance, might pro- 

 duce a deflection of the atoms in a direction opposite from that 

 taken by the cathode rays ? We appear to have an analogy in 

 magnetism and dia-magnetism. We can suppose that the mag- 

 netic metals afford a greater receptivity to the vortical motion 

 of the negative electron of space than the non-magnetic metals, 

 or that the energy of the electrons is less consumed in iron than 

 in copper. The strong magnetic effect necessary to produce 

 an apparent effect in deflecting non-magnetic metals may be 



