Section 49

Chap. XL. The Loadjlone imparts a contrary force to the 'Njcdie,
NOw I will fpeak of the Needle touched with the Loadftone , and of the won- derful operations of it. The firft is ; That when the Iron is touched by the Northern point of the Loadftone , and equally balanced ; if you put that part to it from which it received its force , it will not endure it , but drives k from it , and draws to it the contrary and oppofite part • namely, the Southern part : the reafon whereof , I let down before. The fame falls out if you touch the Needle with the South part of the Loadftone for if you prefently put the fame to it, it will refill it, and draw to it the North point. Hence the parts that are alike, are at enmity, and reje&ed as Adverfaries ; and the parts that are unlike do agree as Friends. Whence it is apparent , that the Loadftone im- parts to the Iron a contrary force from what the end it felf is , and the Steel receives the force of that point of the Loadftone which it toucheth nor. And I prove it thus : Take two Needles r and pat them in Boats , or hang them by Threeds . that being toucried with the Loadftone, they may move freely : they are contrary one to the other , and they will joyn in the parts that were touched with contrary ends of the Loaditone, and will not endure the ends that are alike.
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Chap. XL I. Two "Hsedles touched by the Loadftone) obtain contrary Forces,
[ Will relate a Grange thing , yet not far from Reafon. If you touch two Needles with a Loadftone together , and fet them on the fame point of it ; the other parts that hang on the Loadftone, will abhor and Aie one from the other : and if yon force them together with your hands , fofoonas you let them alone, they
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L«ill prefcmly return to their poftures, and depart as far as they can firm one another. The reafon is this : That if two Needles ttLk fait to one Northern point of the Loadftone , with their points: you mult imagine , that they did re- ceive a Souihern vertuc ; and becaule they are of the fame iirniliiude, they will not endure one the other ; and becaule they arc fattened to the Loadftone, they annocgeicff being compelled by a greater force : but the oppofke points of the Needle , becaule they are both alike Northerly, they mult needs abhor one the other: and when they are free , one will part from the other. And when they are (o hanging on , if you put to them the Southern part of another Load- ttone , they will prefently let go their hold , and go as far off as they can, thac fomeiimes they arc pulled off from the Loadltone,being forced by an invifible vapor.
,
Chap. XLII.
That the force of th: Iron that draws, wtH drive off Iron by diverjity of Situation*
THat, as I faidof the Loadftone alone , is true of the Iron that is touched with its for if you put a Needle touched with a Loadftone by a Boat, fwimming in the Water, or hanged by a Threed, or turning on a point equally balanced : if yon put upon this a Needle touched with » Loadttone, it will draw it : and that part that attracted the Iron above, will put underneath , drive it away ; and the part that drives off above, will draw to it, put underneath : where you may o6l'crve,thac the pofition will work contrary operations.
Chap. XLIII.
The Needle touched by the Loadftone on one part, doth not alwayes receive Vertuc on
both parts.
T F the Needle be touched at one endby the Loadttone , it receives Venue at thac end $ and at the other end, the contrary vertuc : But that muft not be under- ftood abiolutely, but of that Needle that is of a proportionable length : for if ic be too long, the venue will not come to the other end. But would we know how far the venue is come, we muft know how far reached the Circumference of the Venue I as I faidi Therefore if the Circumference of it be a foot , the force will go a foot-long into the Needle. If we would try this : Touch a long Needle three foot long with a Loadftone at one end , if it touch the Iron at the other end , the Iron touched will not move from its place • but if you touch it a foot or two long, namely* as far as the Circumference of the Loadftoncs Venue will reach , and then, touch the Needle, it will prefently move and be drawn by ir.
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C n a Pi. XLIVv
The Needle touched in the middle by 'the Loadftone ^ fends forth its Force at
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TF the Needle be fomewhattoo long , and we rub it with the ftbae in themiddlc of it , the forces of the (tones part arc diffufed to both ends of it ; but very ob- fcurelyj for you fhall not know which is the end:but if you touch it fomething farther from the middle, the neerer part will receive the forces of the part that touched it,bcktheNorthcrlyorSouthcrly pare.
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Of the JVonden of the Loadjlone. 2 1 1
Chap. XLV. An Iron Ring touched by a Loadftone^ will receive beth Vermes.
BUt if we rub an Iron Ring on the one fide with a Loadftone , then the part thac is touched, will receive the vertue of the part of the Loadftone that touched it ; ted the oppofite part will receive the contrary : and therefore the middle of the Iron Ring will be capable but of half the force of it , as if it were ftraight. But if we make a Pin round as a Ring ; and the part joy nted together with a joynt, be rob- bed with a Loadftone* and being rubbed, be ftrctched ftraight again, the ends fliall receive the fame vertue , be it Northern or Southern. But by degrees that force will grow feeble ; and in a fhort time become Northerly , and the other Southerly, or will receive more vertue then it firft had, may be when it was touched farther from the end. But if you would , that of thefe a Chain of Iron fhould hang in the Air, fo foon as one ring touched cn one fide with the Load- ftone, hath received force on the other fide by it , we may hang a Chain of Rings in the Air, as we may of Loadftones : lothen, if the Rings belaid in order upon* Table, that they may one touch the other , though they do notfaften , put the Loadftone to them, and not onely the firft will be drawn, but the next, and the third, that they will hang like links of Rings : and not only will it be fo, if the Loadftone touch the firft, that the reft will follow ; but if the (tone be but neer , it will do the fame without touching them.
Chap. XLVI. An Iron Plate touched in the middle , will diffnfe its forces to both ends,
l^Hit I faid of a long Needle, 1 fay alfo of an Iron Bar : for if you touch it in the middle, the Beams of it are fpread like the Beams of the Sun , or light of a Candle, from the Centre to the Circumference , and extrcam parts. But if we touch an Iron Morter , being the force is feeble , where it is touched about ihe iuperficics, fomc vertue may be be perceived ; but it is very weak in theex- t ream parts.
Chap. XLVII. How filings of Iron may receive force,
Tt? you wrap up filings of Iron in a paper, as Druggifts do,like a Pyramis • and put a Loadftone neer it, all the filings together will receive the fame force , as a long piece of Iron doth : but if you ftir the filings , and put them into an open paper, that force is loft , and confounded , and can do nothing , as if it had never been touched, by reafon of fo many different pieces.
Chap. XLVIII. Whether Gxrlickcan hinder the vertues of the Loadftone,
NOw I fhall pafs on to other properties of the Loadftone : and firft, whether the Loadftones attraction can be any ways hindred. Tltttarch faith, That Gar- lick is at great enmity with the Loadftone ; and fuch antipathy and hatred there is between thefe infenfible Creatures , that if the Loadftone be fmeered with Gar- lick, it will drive away Iron from it. Ttolomy confirms the fame , That the Load- ftone will not draw Iron , if it be anoynted with Garlic k ; as Amber will no more draw ftraws, and other light things to it, if they be firft ftceped in Oy 1. It is a com- mon Opinion amongft Sea-men , That Onyons and Garlick are at odds with the
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Loadftone : and Steers-men , and fuch as tend the Mariners Card are forbid to eat Onyons or Garlick,!eft they make the Index of the Poles drunk. But when I tried ail chefe things , I found them to be falfe : for not oncly breathing and bclchino upon che Lcadlione afr er eating of Garlick , did not flop its vermes : but when it was all anoyntcd over with the juice of Garlick, it did perform its office as well as if it had never been touched with it : and I could obferve aimolt not the Ie*3 diffe- rence , left I fhould feem tomake voidihe endeavors ot the Ancients. And again, Wtu-n I erquircd of Mariners, whether it were fo , that they were forbid to eat Onyons and Garlick for that reafon • theyfaid, They were old Wives fables, and things ridiculous ; and that Sca.men would fooner lofe their lives, then abftain from eating Onyons and Garlick.
Chap. XLIX. How a Loadftone aftonijbed may be brought t9 it [elf again,
T F a Loadftone be drunk, and do not its office, not as we faid , by being breathed on by Garlick , but rather by reafon of fome other parts of the Loadftone that had touched it , lb that the vertueof it is decayed and gone j We fhall reftore it to its former vertue, by covering it over with the filings of Iron many dayes , until, by the vapors or company of the Iron, it can perform its office as it fhould.
C H A P. L.
How to augment the Loadftone s vertue*
THere are many learned men that have attempted to augment the Loadftones venue , and that divers wayes , that having got more forces , it might lervc for very ^rean ulcs. Alexander 6\hrodilem in the beginning of his Problems , en- quires wbcicforc the Loadftone oncly draws Iron , and is fed or helped by the fi- lm?? of Iron j and the more it is fed, the better it will be : and therefore it is con- firmed by Iron. But wnenl would try that, I took a Loadftone of a certain weight, and 1 nuried it in a heap of Iron-filings, that I knew whit they weighed j and when I had left it there many months, I found my ftone to be heavier, and the Iron-filings lighter : but the difference was fo fmall, that in one pound I could finde no fenfible dec'iinarion ; the ftone being great, and the filings many : fo that I am doubtful of the truth. Parace/fuit being skilled in diftillation, tried to do it another way : For (faith he) if any man (ball quench often in Oyl of Iron, a Loadftone red hot, it will by degrees recover force , and augment fo much, that it will eafily pull a Nail forth that is faft in a Wall : which conceit pleafed me well ; and thereupon I made the ftone red hot , and quenched it often in Oyl of Iron : but it was fo far from getting more Orength,that it loft what it had : and fearing I had not done it right, I tried it often ; fo I found thefalfity of it , and I warn others of it alfo. For a Loadftone made red hot in the fire, will lofe all its vertue, as I fliall fhew after- wards.
Chap. LI. That the Loadftone may lofe its Virtue*
T Frund onr , That this is the onely true way, amongft many that are fet down by Writers, by heaping Fire-coals upon the Loadftone : for once made red-hot , ic pr:reD;ly lofeth all irs vertue , and avapcr flies from it that is blewifh black, or Brirr ftone- like, (melling ftrong,as Coals do ; and when that flame and vapor ceafeth to exhale , if you tike it out of the fire, all the force of it Is breathed forth : and I always thou .hr, that that was the Soul of it, and the caufe of its attraction of iron s whenas ircnismade of Brimftone not perfeft ; as I read in Celer and other
Writers
Of the wonders of the Loadjlone. 21}
Writers that treat of Metals : which is the caufe that it runs lb fwiftly to the Load- ftone, and deiires lb much to be imbraced by it: and when that vapour is gone from the Hone, it lolem all its vertue} and then it is but a dead carcafs, and it is in vain to endeavour to revive it.
C h a p.LTI.
How the Iron touched with the Loadjlone lofeth its force*
THe fame way the Loadftone doth , the iron lofeth its force alfo : for chough it have been excellently we.l touched by the Loadftone, if you heat it red-hot in the fire, it wiil lofe its forces : and the realbn is ; becaufe chat part of the Load- ftone that deaves to the iron , lofeth its forces in the fire ; and therefore the iron deprived of that, lofeth the force auo. Wherefore in the Mariners Compafs , or in other ufes, when the iron is ftuuified by the tou.h of other things , and hath not its due forces to free it from this imperfection, we put it into the fire. Hence we finde the error of many men, who when they put the Needle into the Compafs, they firlt m^kc it red-het , and then they rub it with the Loadftone*, fuppofing ir will by that means, rake in the Loadftoncs vertue the more : but they do not onely by contraries , but they fo make void the Loadltone? venues, that it cannot do its of- fice, but thatforce is driven out of the iron by the fire ; and it \e juft as it was before it was touched with the Loadftone. Wherefore , as often as that force is driven a- way with the fire, we may touch it again, and give it the fame force.
Chap, tilt*
It is falfeyThat the Diamond doth hinder the Loadftoncs venue*
E fh;wed that ir wa a falfe report , that the Loadftone anoynted with Gar- lir k, lofeth its vermes. But it h more falfe , that it lofeth its vertue by the prefence of th«? Diamond* For, fay ibme, there is fo much difcord between the qua- lities or the Loadltone and the Diamond , and they are fo hateful one againfttheo- thcr, and lectet enemies, that it tht. Diamond be put to the- Loadftone, it prefently faiots and lofeth a'l its forces. Pltny, The Loadftone fo difagreeth with the Dia- mond , tha: if Iron be laid by it, it will not let the Loadftone draw it . and if the Lcadftone do attraffc it. it will fnatch it away a^ain fr^m ir. St. Auguftine. I will fay whn I fiave read of the Loadftone : How chat it the Di«mond be by ir , it will not draw iron ; and it it do , when it comes ncer the Diamond, it wiil let it fall, Mar- bodeu* of the Loadftone:
All Loadstones by their vertue Iron draw j "But of the Diamond it ft and s in awe: Taking the Iron from* t by Naturts Law.
I tried this often , and found it falfe ; and that there is no Truth in ir. Butthefe are many Smatterers and ignorant Fellows, that would fain reconcile the ancient Writer*, and excufe thefc lyes ; not feeing what damage they bring to th? Common* wealth ot Learning. For the new Writer, building on their ground, thinking them true, add to them, and invent, and draw other Experiments from them, that are fa lier then the Principles they infifted on. The blmde leads the blinde, and both fall into the fit. Truth muft be fearched, loved and profeffed by ill men j nor mull any mens authority, old or new, bold us from ir. But to return from whence thofe Reconcilers idUnefs drew me : I took a piece of a Loadftone to try by ; it was hardly four Grains in weight z I faftn-d the filings of iron very faft to it ; then I put the Diamond that Was three or four times biggef then them bo* h ;. but that w^uld not make t; c Load- ftone foriakc the iron : then I took off the filings of iron from the Loadftone,