time passing longitudinally through it, the rod is slightly lengthened and twisted in a direction that depends upon the direction of the current. Moreover, if a permanent magnet be heated to a red heat, its magnetism is destroyed; for such a heat allows the molecules to freely arrange themselves without any external constraint. Also, if a permanent magnet be suspended so as to give out a musical sound when it is struck, the magnetism will be much weakened by making it thus to vibrate. In this case, as in the other, the vibrations affect every molecule, and so enable them to re-adjust themselves to the positions they held before being magnetized. The same thing happens when a bar of iron is made magnetic through the inductive action of the earth. When this bar is held in the direction of the magnetic dip, it becomes but very slightly magnetized; but, if it be so held that when it is struck with a hammer it will ring, that is, give out a musical sound, it will at once become decidedly magnetic. Evidently the earth's action tends to set the molecules of the mass in a new position, but cohesion prevents them from assuming it. When the molecules are made to vibrate, they can assume such new positions more readily. The molecules of a magnet, then, are differently arranged from those in an unmagnetized piece of iron or steel; and, for every new arrangement of the molecules of a mass of any kind, we always have some new physical property developed. The same identical substance may appear as charcoal, coke, plumbago, anthracite coal, and diamond. Hence a magnet is a machine in which other forces acting upon it are transformed in character, and re-appear as attractions and repulsions of other kinds of matter: this transformation cannot take place, and hence magnetism cannot become apparent, only upon the condition of another force acting in concert with it; and, if at any time it may seem to be acting without such external force, it is done at the expense of the heat it has absorbed, and therefore the magnet must at such time be losing temperature proportional to the work done. This I have discovered to be true by making a magnet to exert its force in front of a thermo-pile, which uniformly exhibits a cooled face under such conditions. What the particular form of the motion may be that we call magnetism, is not yet made out; but that it is some form of motion, is very evident. The following experiments may throw some light upon it. Last August Mr. Kerr read a paper before the British Association of Science, in which was detailed the following experiment: The pole of an electro-magnet was nicely polished so as to reflect light like a mirror. A beam of sunlight was permitted to fall upon it, and be reflected to a convenient place for examination. A current of electricity was sent through the coil, which of course rendered the iron magnetic; and it was noticed that the light that was reflected from the pole was circularly