with junctions at different temperatures would deflect a compass magnet. Seebeck believed this was due to magnetism induced by the temperature difference. Based on this result, Seebeck elaborated a table relating different metal junctions and the deflection of the compass. His main conclusion at the end of these experiments was about the influence of the metals and volcanoes on Terrestrial magnetism.

However, during the 1820s, there were at least two different explanations