occupied by the plates, the distance between the coils was equal to the radius of either. The mean value of the magnetic force over the length l was determined in the following way: a narrow coil C whose length was l, connected with a ballistic galvanometer, was placed between the coils; the plane of the windings of C was parallel to the planes of the coils; the cross section of the coil was a rectangle 5 cm. by 1 cm. A given current was sent through the outer coils and the kick α of the galvanometer observed when this current was reversed. The coil C was then placed at the centre of two very large coils, so as to be in a field of uniform magnetic force: the current through the large coils was reversed and the kick β of the galvanometer again observed; by comparing α and β we can get the mean value of the magnetic force over a length l; this was found to be
60×ι,
where ι is the current flowing through the coils.
A series of experiments was made to see if the electrostatic deflexion was proportional to the electric intensity between the plates; this was found to be the case. In the following experiments the current through the coils was adjusted so that the electrostatic deflexion was the same as the magnetic:-
| Gas. | θ. | H. | F. | l. | m/e. | v. |
| Air..................... | 8/110 | 5.5 | 1.5×1010 | 5 | 1.3×10-7 | 2.8×109 |
| Air..................... | 9.5/110 | 5.4 | 1.5×1010 | 5 | 1.1×10-7 | 2.8×109 |
| Air..................... | 13/110 | 6.6 | 1.5×1010 | 5 | 1.2×10-7 | 2.3×109 |
| Hydrogen.......... | 9/110 | 6.3 | 1.5×1010 | 5 | 1.5×10-7 | 2.5×109 |
| Carbonic acid... | 11/110 | 6.9 | 1.5×1010 | 5 | 1.5×10-7 | 2.2×109 |
| Air..................... | 6/110 | 5 | 1.8×1010 | 5 | 1.3×10-7 | 3.6×109 |
| Air..................... | 7/110 | 3.6 | 1×1010 | 5 | 1.1×10-7 | 2.8×109 |
The cathode in the first five experiments was aluminium, in the last two experiments it was made of platinum; in the last experiment Sir William Crookes's method of getting rid of the mercury vapour by inserting tubes of pounded sulphur, sulphur iodide, and copper filings between the bulb and the pump was adopted. In the calculation of m/e and v no allowance has been made for the magnetic force due to the coil in
