Section 45

Chap, III.
That the Loadftone bath two ofpojite Poles^he North and Southend how the) may be known.
BEcaufe the effe&s of the Loadftone are many and divers , I fhall begin to diftin- guifh from the effects of it, that the Readers may receive more benefit and dire- ction. The effects of the Loadftone, are of the ftone onely, or of the iron touched with the ftone,or of them both,the iron and the ftone.The fimple erTe&s of the ftdfeg, are to draw the ftone, to refpect the Poles of the world, and fu.h like : alfotheyare rrjixt and compounded.We fay therefore fir!+, that the ftone hath two points, that ftand oppofite one to the other, be it in a great or fmall ftone,which we call the Poles : one of them is directed to the North, the other to the South : For if the ftone bi at li- berty, and hangs that ic may play, without any impediments from its weight, one part turns freely to the North,and the contrary part to the South.The way to try it is thus : Take a little piece of Cork, or Fennel- gigant, or fome other light wood, and make it like a Boat , that it may fcrve to bear up the weight of the ftone. Puc the ftone into this veflel, that it may be equi-diftant from the bottom. Pur the Boat into a veflel full of water, that it may move here and there, and find no impediment; let it fo alone,and the Boat will never reft, until the point of the ftone ftand full North, and the oppofite point full South. When the Boat ftands ftill, turn it about twice or thrice with your finger, and fo it will come again to reft, and return to the fame po- fture ; and this fhall make you more certain of the North and South Poles of it.There are many more ways to prove it , for letting it hang equally, as in the Mariners Com- pafs ; for where it can move of it felf freely,it ftill directs to the fame points: and you may do the fame if you hang it by a fmall thread. Hence we may eafily learn,
To know which Loadftone is the more perfect. Which a man may eafily do by the former trial, and find out what Loadftone is void of vertue , or moft forcible. For that Loadftone that doth fooneft bring about the Boat to the points, and having found the north Pole, ftands ftill, is certainly the moft forcible ftone.But that which fbwly works, and comes foftly about to its place, and flops oft, is more weak and feeble. Alfo we may be ceriified another way : for that which can turn about the greater piece of wood, or boat, not flowly, bur quickly, is the beft ftone. And though there be more ways to try it, yet let thefc luffice at pre- tent : we fhall fpeak of the reft in other places- Chap.
Of the wonders oftbe LoadJlone* ipj
Chap. IV.
Ti e force oj the ftone is fent by a right line fr cm North to South) through the length of it.
BUt the two point": we fpeak of, are the end of the right line, running through .tie n iddle of the tfone from North to South • if any man break the (tone, and break this line, thole ends of the divifion will rrefently be of another property and vertuc , and will be enemies one to the other : which is a great wonder : for thefe two points, when they were joined together , had the lam- force of turning to the pole ; but now being parted afunder , one wiii turn to the North, the other to the South, keeping the tame potiure and pofkion they had in the Mine where they were bred : and the fame happens in the lead bits that arc ieen in the greater! load-Hone.
For example: let the rock of Load-ftonebe ABCD, and let the line from North to South be AB : if we (hall cut r he (lone AB out of the rock, the very line AB in the rtonc will repre- feot the polar line from Nor h to South. Bu: if we break the Hone broad-wayes , e.ery little piece will keep its line. Cut the Hone AB broad- wav«,as CF,there will be twoHones ACD, and EFB: I fay, the fl ones cut through the line CD, each of them will have its poles of the world. In the Hone AGD, the North -pole will be A, the vooth G. In the (lone EFB, the N">rtn will be H, the South B; and that i> beyond all ad- miration, that the points GH whilit the (lone was but one, were but one : as being agreed together, they had the fame forces; but when the ftone is di ided, each part will hold itsvertue, and be quite contra- ry and at enmity : for G alwayes turns to the South, and H to the North, and eve- ry bir will have it" poles : and if you fit the divided Hones with boats, A and H will turn to the North, G and B to the South : and the fame will fall our, if you di- vide AG and HB into manv fmall pieces ; and if you afterwards join all thefe pieces together as they were, their mutual difcord of nature will be piefemly reconciled. Wnerefore Cardanm faid fali'e, that the Load-ftone draws where it hath but a thin coer, and more in one part then another : for it attracts onely from one cert sin point, as it had its pofttion before in the mines.
Chap. V.
V That ihepoUr line in the Loddfione is not fiablet but moveable.
BUt the like wonder of nature cannot but be admired amoagft many that God narh made, and therefore I would have no man ignorant thereof. This polar h elpoktnof, is not alwayes certain in the fame place, nor doth it ftand alwayes firm ; hut changes, and qdces the contrary pofitions : but this is conftant in it,thac it alwayes runs through the middle of the ftone, like a King that hath alwayes his Court or fort in the midft of hi; Country : for confiding in the centre from whence the extream parts are as it were the circumference, itcaneafily fend its forces to all parts, and defend it fclf. But an example (hall clear this.
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Let the ftone be AECF, and let the line A C running through the length of it, be the polar line we fpeak of, wherein the force of it refides, which runs from the North to the South-pole ; I fay, if you divide the ftone in two pieces by the'line AC, that one piece may be AED, the other BCF,tf they be taken afunder, that the force of it doth not re- fide in the extream part of the line AD or BC j but being divided in the middle, the force is received in the middle of each ftone , and in the ftone AED, it will be GH, and in BCF, it will be IL: which cannot be fpoken without admiration, that in a dead ftone there ftiould be a living venue to move it felf : who is there, unlefs he try it, that will believe thefe things ? Por as the line that ftretch- eth from North to South was in the prime, fo if you divide the ftone into a thou- /and parts,that force isfentinto all thofe parts, each of them holding its own line in the middle of it ; fo if we fhalldivide the part AED into other parts, and fliall part the fmalleft of them, what part focver is parted from its confines, it will have that lame lively force tunning long-ways through the middle of it: and fo it will be,if you divide the {lone into the fmalleft fand : but the greater wonder is,thac if you join all the parts together again as they were at firft,they will all have the fame force united, and that wili retire into the middle of the ftone.
Chap. VI.
That the ferce of North and South is vigorous in the points*
BUt what is more wonderful ? Though the force retreats to the middle of the ftone,yet it doth not fend it felf forth by the middle,but by the extream parts of the ftone,and lies ftill in the middle, as if it were aflcep j but it is awake in the end, and there it comes forth : But if * man break the ftone, he (hall fee it more perfeft- ly. I (hall give an example for fuch that are curious, to fearch out the vertue of the Load-ftone. '
LettheLoad-ftonebeAB, and A the North pole, B the South; I fay that in AB the end of trie ftone, the force is greater, and in the middle of the line ILN,it is more weak and drowfie, unlefs there be any vertue un- known in the right and left fide CD: but the neerer it is to theNorth or South,the more it augmentsjbut the far- ther off it is,the more it faints. Break the ftone in C and G, wherein there lay bid a vertue «»percr^ed, but it will appear when the ftone is broken,and fnew its pro- perties, and one point will fhew forth the North, the other the South. And if thefe things feem fuperfloott?, yet are they neccflary , as the grounds of what I muft fay.
Chap. VII.
That by the touching of other ftonesy thofe joints will not change their forces.
ANd becaufe I faid that the Load-ftone doth not always hold its forces cqual,but that one ftone i« more powerful in operation then another, for fome are faint and weak;! fhall put the firft qucftion, whether by rubbing and touching the weaker ftohes with the ftronger, thofe forces will be changed, or ftay as they were ; as, if a
Load-
Of the Wonders of the Loadjlone. 195
Load-Hone is flasgifh in pointing out the pole, whether in a flronger ftone rubbed with the North point upon the North point of the weaker, can help ic at ill ; or if we fhall rub the South point of the other on the North point of this, wnether the North point rubbed on will be gone and become the Souch point, or continue in its former venue ? Where we have not reafon to direct Us, experience fhall prove it. For let a Loadftonc be of what forces and properties it may be, by rubbing it againft a Loadftone of lei's vertue, it will never lofe any thing, but continues immutable ; and being left at liberty in its boat, it will cum voluntarily to its own pole , and decline the contrary part. And though we cannot find the caufe of ir, yet it fcems not againft reafon; I fay, that inftones of the fame kind, the greater ftones have the greateft forces ; and when one Load- ftone is rubbed againft another, it will leave certain hairs, which are but the bruifed fmall parts of the ftone, that ftick like hairs, and thefc are they that lend force to i- ron and other things to attract, and to turn to the pole ; but if the ftone that is rub- bed and receives it be greater then thofe hairs, it can never be that the greater ver- tue ftiould be conquered by the lefs, alwayes the ftones being of the fame kind, fince the hairs have as it were bo proportion to the magnitude of it. And as the hairs to the ftones magnitude are infenfible,fo it is impoffiblc that they can wrcft th$ force of it to the contrary pole.
Chap. VIIT. That a ho (lift one will draw a Loadftone^ and drive it from it.
I Shall fpeak of the other operation of it, which is of its attracting and repelling. This is both admirable, and delightfome to behold with our eyes, and to confidcr ia our mind, that the part of one Loadftone ftiould fo carefully fearch out another, allure an another ftiould be fuch an enemy to it, that they are at mutual difcord, fo that put- ting their contrary ends together, the one will be fo contrary to the other, and hate as ic were the force of it, that it will turn the contrary way: namely, the North part of the one doth not indifferently draw any part of every other ftone, but a di- ftinft and certain part ; nor doth it drive every part from ir, but that part it natural- ly abhors, and cannot endure, as being contrary unto it. The North part of the one will draw the South part of the other, and drive away from it the North part of the fame ; and the South part of this is not an enemy to the North part of the other, but to the South part of ir. The fame will appear better by an example.
Let there be two ftones ACD, and EBF : in the firft ftone let A be the North pole, and the point G the South ; in the ftone EFBlet the North part be H, the South B: I fay, if yon put the South part G.of the ftone CAD, co the South part B, of the ftone EFB, it will prefently drive it from it ; and the fame will happen if you put the North pole A to the North pole G« A- gain,if you (hew the North point A to the South point H, or the South point B to the North point A, as being mutually a- grced, it will draw the part to it that is not againft it. The rea- fon of it I know ; for fince that the South part G, had formerly been faft to the North part H, when the parts are divided they alwayes feek to unite again, toprcferve the fame body, as Phi- lofophersfay. But if the SoUth point G had been faft with the South point B of another ftone, B flies off prefently, and departs fromic; or if you (hew the North point A, to the North point H, the fame will come to pafs ; for they refufeone the other, becaufe they did not fo ftand in their Mine. Here I fhall confute the error of P/*»^,andof his followers, who think that no other Load- ftone hath this vertue but the ftone of Ethiopia j but it is common to all Loadftone?, Alfo,it is a fign, faith he,of the Ethiopian ftone, becaufe that will draw another
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whole Loadftone to it. A\(o Cardanut falfly affirms that one Loadftone will not draw another ; but it will draw it, becaufe the iron is concealed in it that it had firft drank in. In brief, the poles that are unlike, will join together, by rcalon of the fimihtudeof their fubftance, and likenefs of inclination ; but the poles that are the fcme, by a contrary inclination are at enmity ; that is, the North point feeks the South point,and the South the North point; fofhall the South and North points re- y.St South and North points. Yet we mult tell you by the way,thac when we try the iiones, let them not be both great and vaft Hones, that being hindered by their weights cannot perform their office : but let one be great , and t he oiher cr both imall , that they may be mutually repulied or drawn r,n. The trial is eafie, if they be hanged by a thread, or put into their boats, or if they play equally balanced upon the needle.
Chap. IX. jlfportof the Loadftone,
r Will not pafs by a merry conceit of the Loadftone, that I have oft-times made *my friends (port with , for the good of thofe that are curious in the fearch ot the reafons of things. How in a fhort time two kinds of fands mingled, and aid on a heap, may be parted one from the other very fuddenly : for the fianders by, that cannot found the reafon of it will, think it impoflibie. f he trick is this : Pown a Loadfione into very fine fand, and put fome white land, or fome other fand together with ir, and mingle them, and make a heap of them .* for if you put a Loadftone to it, either uncovered, or covered wuh linen (that the ftanders by may notkrowit) prefently the fand of the Loadftone, as in league with it, will run like (mail hairs joined together, and will ftickfaft to the Hone • which you may brtfh tff and lay a- fide, then come again, and what is behind will run to the it one, till you have drawn it all out; and it will ctufe no little wonder, that when the Loadfione comes to the heap,the fands that were mingled fhould be parted afunder. But the more esfily to powder the Loadfione, do thus. Put the Loadftone into in iron morter, lay a blanket or fome other foft thing upon it, for it will thus yield to hand-(irokes,and prefently crumble ; if not, you mud beat hard on the bottom of the morter, and batter the peftle. Alfo the fame thing befals us in a certain fand that is brought to us cut of an iron Mine from Porchys , for it hath the colour and (Lining that iron hath ; and by the proximation of the Loadftone,it is foon parted from the other, to the admiration of thofe that are prefent. It may be this experiment was madc,be- caufe the antients report that the Loadfione will draw iron, fand, oyle, and all things.