The compass needle is a little steel magnet balanced upon a pivot; one end of the needle, which always bears a distinguishing mark, points approximately, but not in general exactly, to the north,' the vertical plane through the direction of the needle being termed the magnetic meridian.
If, however, the permeability of the test rod differs from that of the standard, the number of lines of induction flowing in opposite directions through the two rods will differ, and the excess will flow from one yoke to the other, partly through the air, and partly along the path provided by the bent bars, deflecting the compass needle.
But a balance may still be obtained by altering the effective number of turns in the test coil, and thus increasing or decreasing the magnetizing force acting on the test rod, till the induction in the two rods is the same, a condition which is fulfilled when reversal of the current has no effect on the compass needle.
Thus in every ship the compass needle is more or less subject to deviation differing in amount and direction for every azimuth of the ship's head.
He found that a vibrating magnetic compass needle came to rest sooner when placed over a plate of copper than otherwise, and also that a plate of copper rotating under a suspended magnet tended to drag the magnet in the same direction.
