For this purpose a device known as a “commutator” is provided. The commutator is made up of a number of segments, as shown at _A_, in Fig. 237, which are connected to the armature winding. On the commutator, rest sliding contacts, or brushes, which bear on the segments and are joined to an external circuit, making a continuous path through which current may flow. As the commutator revolves, the different segments come under the brushes, so that the relative position of the armature wires between the brushes is dependent on the position of the brushes. The armature wires which connect the brushes are those sustaining the desired definite position to the field magnets, so that the currents from the armature at all times flow properly into the external circuit, although individual armature wires carry currents first in one direction and then in the other direction, depending on the character of the pole in front of which they may be moving. [Illustration: FIG. 237.] On two-pole machines there are two brush-holders, each containing one or more brushes. On the four-pole machine there may be either two or four brush-holders, and on a six-pole machine, either two, four, or six brush-holders. A single path of the current through the commutator and armature winding is shown by the arrows on Fig. 237. The brushes _B_ and _C_ are placed on the top side of the commutator to make them more accessible, and this shows a peculiar but simple armature winding. For the sake of simplicity, the batteries _I_ and _J_, of Fig. 236, are not used on common forms of generators or motors, but the current that flows from the armature through the commutator is made to flow through the electro-magnets either in whole or in part. If all of the armature current flows around the electro-magnets or fields of the machine, it is a “series” machine; if only a part of the current is used in this way, it is a “shunt” machine; that is, some of the current is “shunted” through the fields. Sometimes both the shunt and series windings are used, and in that case the machine is called a “compound wound” machine. Such a machine has a large wire through which the main current passes, and a fine wire through which the shunted current flows. Fig. 237 shows how the commutator and the fields are connected, and how the current flows from the wires in the armature through the commutator in a series machine. If the current delivered by a dynamo does not flow in the desired direction, it can be reversed by shifting the wires in the binding posts or by throwing a switch. If the motor does not revolve in the desired direction, it can be made to do so by reversing the connections to the armature or field-coils; so that, without knowing which way a current of electricity is to be generated, any practical man can make a motor revolve in a proper direction by simply changing its connections.