The magnetic anomalies in Z, H, and [Formula: see text] for the long horizontal circular cylinder are shown to belong to a single mathematical family of curves for all values of strike and all values of inclination of the magnetizing field, a characteristic that was previously shown to hold for long tabular bodies, or dikes (Gay, 1963). The complete family of standard curves has been constructed and is incorporated into an interpretational scheme based on superposition with observed magnetic profiles. Comparison of cylinder anomalies with dike anomalies shows only slight differences in the two types of curves, which would be very difficult, if not impossible, to detect using interpretational methods based on a few isolated points of a profile curve, such as half‐width, distance between maximum and minimum, etc. Curve‐matching, or superposition, appears to be mandatory for reliable quantitative interpretations.