Of the three sets of instruments made, respectively, by Schweigger, Poggendorf and Cumming, those of Schweigger are the most elementary, and the least realistic from a practical point of view. He makes little effort to investigate the effect of any design parameters, but presents some odd conductor configurations that involve unimportant variations of the basic principle. The following extracts from his first three papers[13] contain the major references to his conception, construction, and use of his multiplier.
PAPER READ IN HALLE, SEPTEMBER 16, 1820
That a powerful voltaic pile is required for these experiments (of Oersted) I have confirmed in my physics lectures, using an electric pile that was so strong it would easily produce potassium metal the second and third day after it was built. However, I soon saw that the electromagnetic effect was related, not to the pile, but to the simple circuit, and I was thereby led to perform the experiment with much greater sensitivity. To amplify these electromagnetic phenomena of the simple circuit it seemed to me necessary to adopt a different arrangement from that initiated by Volta, in order that the electrical phenomena of his simple circuit might be raised to a higher degree.
Since a reversal of the effect occurs according to whether the connecting-wire lies over or under the needle, and likewise according to whether the wire leads from the positive or negative pole, thence I say it is an easy inference that a doubling of the effect is attainable, which is verified in practice.
I present to the Society the simple “doubling apparatus” [Verdoppelungs-Apparat], where the compass is placed between two wires passing around it. A multiplication of the effect is easily obtained when the wire is not just once but many times wound around. A single turn suffices, however, to demonstrate Oersted’s experiments, using small strips of zinc and copper dipped in ammonium-chloride solution.
Amid innumerable, rambling theorizations (such as, that “hydrogenation affects magnetism as oxidation affects galvanism,” or “sulphur, phosphorous and carbon are especially significant in magnetism, since iron in combination with any of these inflammable materials becomes a magnet-material”), Schweigger announces that he looked for the reactive force of the needle on the connecting wire in the simple Oersted experiment, and that he used his “amplifying apparatus” to look for magnetic effects from an electrostatic machine, but without success in both cases. He suggests that he will continue with many more electromagnetic experiments because “with the use of the doubling-apparatus, the needle, instead of needing for excitation a cell capable of generating sparks, approaches more closely the sensitivity of a twitching nerve.” However, “additional special experiments are required to find to what limits the amplification can be increased by the method I have created in the construction of this doubling-apparatus, using multiple turns of wire.”
Figure 3.—This wire “bow-pattern” was the first illustration Schweigger gave of his “doubling apparatus,” though he had presented a verbal description of a single-coil arrangement somewhat earlier. The purpose of the bow pattern was to show that compass needles at the centers of the two loops deflected in opposite directions. (From Journal für Chemie und Physik.)
PAPER READ IN HALLE, NOVEMBER 4, 1820
[The first half of this paper describes successful observations of the reaction-force of a magnetic needle on the connecting wire of a voltaic circuit, achieved by pivoting the connecting wire in the form of brass needles above and below the compass needle. Though the multiplier configuration of needle and wire is in fact present here, Schweigger does not mention it, evidently regarding this as a separate project. He continues.]