The paper attempts a critical discussion of the situation pertaining to the magnetic field in a piece of magnetized iron, particularly in relation to the deflecting force which it produces on high speed charged particles passing through it. On the Lorentzian theory the magnetic induction, $B$, is the average value of the true magnetic field $H$, averaged throughout the magnetic material. In this average, regions inside the magnetic entities responsible for the polarization make contributions which determine the whole difference between $B$ and the ordinary macroscopically defined field, $h$, equal to $B-4\mathrm{}\pi I$. A study is made of the special case where the entities are rotating electrically charged spheres. If the entities are very small in volume the chance of a point electron missing all of them in its passage through a reasonably small length of the magnetized material is considerable. It appears that for such electrons as miss the entities the effective deflecting force is determined on the average by $h+2\mathrm{}\pi I$. The true average for all electrons passing through the material is determined by $B=h+4\mathrm{}\pi I$; but, that average is contributed to in appreciable amount by very few electrons which experience deflections much in excess of those determined by $B$. These considerations have important consequences in relation to the interpretation of experimental results.

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