line or axis of
MAGNE-CRYSTALLIC force (being the resultant of the action of all the
molecules) tends to place itself parallel, or as a tangent, to the
magnetic curve, or line of magnetic force, passing through the place
where the crystal is situated.' The magne-crystallic force, moreover,
appears to him 'to be clearly distinguished from the magnetic or
diamagnetic forces, in that it causes neither approach nor recession,
consisting not in attraction or repulsion, but in giving a certain
determinate position to the mass under its influence.' And then he goes
on 'very carefully to examine and prove the conclusion that there was no
connection of the force with attractive or repulsive influences.' With
the most refined ingenuity he shows that, under certain circumstances,
the magne-crystallic force can cause the centre of gravity of a highly
magnetic body to retreat from the poles, and the centre of gravity of a
highly diamagnetic body to approach them. His experiments root his mind
more and more firmly in the conclusion that 'neither attraction nor
repulsion causes the set, or governs the final position' of the crystal
in the magnetic field. That the force which does so is therefore
'distinct in its character and effects from the magnetic and diamagnetic
forms of force. On the other hand,' he continues, 'it has a most
manifest relation to the crystalline structure of bismuth and other
bodies, and therefore to the power by which their molecules are able to
build up the crystalline masses.'

And here follows one of those expressions which characterize the
conceptions of Faraday in regard to force generally:--'It appears to me
impossible to conceive of the results in any other way than by a mutual
reaction of the magnetic force, and the force of the particles of the
crystals upon each other.' He proves that the action of the force,
though thus molecular, is an action at a distance; he shows that a
bismuth crystal can cause a freely suspended magnetic needle to set
parallel to its magne-crystallic axis. Few living men are aware of the
difficulty of obtaining results like this, or of the delicacy necessary
to their attainment. 'But though it thus takes up the character of
a force acting at a distance, still it is due to that power of the
particles which makes them cohere in regular order and gives the mass
its crystalline aggregation, which we call at other times the
attraction of aggregation, and so often speak of as acting