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Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica

Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica Page of 251 Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
BOOK V
85
it. His death and that of Ptolemy who ordered that the statue should be of his sister intervened. Dinocrates has been copied by the Arabs for in this same manner they have made the iron bier, in which Mohammed is said to be preserved, hang in the air in his temple in Mecca, according to certain people. Pliny also relates that this power of lodestone to attract iron was revealed to its discoverer when the iron nails of his sandals and the ferrule of his staff adhered to a lodestone when he was tending his flock. In a similar fashion it was demonstrated to our own miners who worked in the iron mine called Magnes, mentioned above, when they quit work. After a hard day's work the miners were accustomed to throw their hammers and wedges on the floor of the mine working and on the follow­ing day when they would return to work the tools were not found in the places where they had been left but on the backs of the workings where they would be suspended, having been drawn there by the strength of this mineral. The miners, ignorant of this natural phenomenon, believed it to be an indication of the approval of the Gods. After they found out that it was a vein of lodestone they would amuse themselves by hanging their tools from the ore. This same power reveals the mineral to sailors. The Moors relate that abundant lodestone is found on certain rugged shores of India and that it will draw the nails from a vessel that approaches these places and will even draw vessels loaded with iron to the shore and stop the journey. Pliny relates that the Ethiopian mineral is so strong that it will draw all other lodestone to itself. Lodestone will not attract iron that is covered with rust, impure iron or iron that has been smeared with the juice of onion or garlic.
To no less degree, diamond resists its power. If a diamond is placed next to iron a lodestone cannot draw it or if iron has been attracted to the stone as soon as a diamond is placed along side of it the iron will drop. When lodestone is removed from iron ore for a long time it loses part of its strength and to prevent this it must be covered with iron filings. There have been periods when glass workers have used this mineral because they believed that it, in itself, influenced the fluidity of the glass just as it in­fluenced iron, according to Pliny. Even doctors have used it. Dioscorides relates that when one-half dram is drunk in water sweetened with honey it will draw out a dense humor. Galen states that it has properties similar to hematite. Since it has the same color as hematite after it is burnt, the latter is sometimes sold for lodestone. Dioscorides preferred that which attracted iron with ease, had a color inclined to blue, was dense and not very heavy.
Theamedes has the opposite power to lodestone since the latter attracts iron, the former repels it. It occurs in a mountain of Ethiopia not far from the mountain where lodestone is found. If the memory of Pliny was not at fault and the source from which he copied it correct, there are two similar mountains in India near the Indus river. The nature of the one
Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica Page of 251 Book V about lodestone, hematite, geodes, hematite, selenite, lapis secularum, asbestos, mica
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