of intension and Remission and others do not ibid. § 7. That in euery part of our habitable world all the foure Elements are found pure in small atomes but not in any great bulke pag. 142. CHAP. XVII Of Rarefaction and Condensation the two first motions of particular bodies pag. 144. § 1. The Authors intent in this and the following chapters ibid. § 2. That bodies may be rarifyed both by outward heat aud how this is performed pag. 145. § 3. Of the great effects fo Rarefaction pag. 147. § 4. The first manner of condensation by heate pag. 148. § 5. The second manner of condensation by cold pag. 149. § 6. That yce is not water rarifyed but condensed pag. 151. § 7. How wind snow and haile are made and wind by raine allayed pag. 152. § 8. How partes of the same or diuers bodies are ioyned more strongly together by condensation pag. 153. § 9. Vacuites can not be the reason why water impregnated to the full with one kind of salt will notwithstanding receiue more of an other pag. 154. § 10. The true reason of the former effect pag. 155. § 11. The reason why bodies of the same nature do ioyne more easily together then others pag. 156. CHAP. XVIII Of an other motion belonging to particular bodies called Attraction and of certaine operations termed Magicall pag. 157. § 1. What Attraction is and from whence it proceedeth ibid. § 2. The true sense of the Maxime that Nature abhorreth from vacuity pag. 158. § 3. The true reason of attraction pag. 159. § 4. Water may be brought by the force of attraction to what height soeuer pag. 160. § 5. The doctrine touching the attraction of water in syphons ibid § 6. That the syphon doth not proue water to weigh in its owne orbe pag. 161. § 7. Concerning attraction caused by fire pag. 162. § 8. Concerning attraction made by vertue of hoat bodies amulets etc. pag. 163. § 9. The naturall reason giuen for diuers operations esteemed by some to be magicall ibid. CHAP. XIX Of three other motions belonging to particular bodies Filtration Restitution and Electricall attraction pag. 166. § 1. What is Filtration and how it is effected ibid. § 2. What causeth the water in filtration to ascend pag. 167. § 3. Why the filter will not droppe vnlesse the labell hang lower then the water ibid. § 4. Of the motion of Restitution and why some bodies stand bent others not pag. 168. § 5. Why some bodies returne onely in part to their natural figure others entirely pag. 170. § 6. Concerning the nature of those bodies which do shrinke and stretch pag. 171. § 7. How great and wonderfull effects proceed from small plaine and simple principles ibid. § 8. Concerning Electricall attraction and the causes of it pag. 172. § 9. Cabeus his opinion refuted concerning the cause of Electricall motions pag. 174. CHAP. XX. Of the Loadestones generation and its particular motions pag. 175. § 1. The extreme heat of the sunne vnder the zodiake draweth a streame of ayre from each Pole into the torride zone ibid. § 2. The atomes of these two streames coming together are apt to incorporate with one an other pag. 176. § 3. By the meeting and mingling together of these streames att the Equator diuers riuolets of atomes of each Pole are continuated from one Pole to te other pag. 177. § 4. Of these atomes incorporated with some fitt matter in the bowels of the earth is made a stone pag. 179. § 5. This stone worketh by emanations ioyned with agreeing streames that meete them in the ayre and in fine it is a loadestone ibid. § 6. A methode for making experiences vpon any subiect pag. 181. § 7. The loadestones generation by atomes flowing from both Poles is confirmed by experiments obserued in the stone it selfe ibid. § 8. Experiments to proue that the loadestone worketh by emanations meeting with agreeing streames pag. 182. CHAP. XXI Positions drawne out of the former doctrine and confirmed by experimentall proofes pag. 185. .1 The operations of the loadestone are wrought by bodies and not by qualities ibid. § 2. Obiections against the former position answered pag. 186. § 3. The loadestone is imbued with his vertue from an other body ibid. § 4. The vertue of the loadestone is a double and not one simple vertue 188. § 5. The vertue of the laodestone worketh more strongly in the Poles of it then in any other part ibid. § 6. The laodestone sendeth forth its emanations spherically Which are of two kindes and each kind is strongest in that hemisphere through whose polary partes they issue out ibid. § 7. Putting two loadestones within the sphere of one an other euery part of one laodestone doth not agree with euery part of the other loadestone pag 189. § 8. Concerning the declination and other respects of a needle towardes the loadestone it toucheth ibid. § 9. The vertue of the laodestone goeth from end to end in lines almost paralelle to the axis pag. 191. § 10. The vertue of loadestone is not perfectly sphericall though the stone be such pag. 192. § 11. The intention of nature in all the operations of the loadestone is to make an vnion betwixt the attractiue and attracted bodies ibid. § 12. The maine globe of the earth is not a loadestone ibid. § 13. The laodestone is generated in all partes or climats of the earth pag. 193. § 14. The conformity betwixt the two motions of magnetike thinges and of heauy thinges ibid. CHAP. XXII A solution of certaine Problemes concerning the loadestone and a short summe of the whole doctrine touching it pag. 194. § 1. Which is the North and which the South Pole of a loadestone ibid. § 2. Whether any bodies besides magnetike ones be attractiue ibid. § 3. Whether an iron placed perpendicularly towardes the earth doth gett a magneticall vertue of pointing towardes the north or towardes the south in that end that lyeth downewardes pag. 195. § 4. Why loadestones affect iron better then one an other ibid. § 5. Gilberts reason refuted touching a capped loadestone that taketh vp more iron then one not capped and an iron impregnated that in some case draweth more strongly then the stone it selfe ibid. § 6. Galileus his opinion touching the former effects refuted pag. 196. § 7. The Authors solution to the former questions pag. 197. § 8. The reason why in the former case a lesser loadestone doth draw the interiacent iron from the greater pag. 198. § 9. Why the variation of a touched needle from the north is greater the neerer you go to the Pole pag. 199. § 10. Whether in the same part of the world a touched needle may att one time vary more from the north and att an other time lesse pag. 200. § 11. The whole doctrine of the loadestone summed vp in short pag. 201. CHAP. XXIII A description of the two sortes of liuing creatures Plantes and Animals and how they are framed in common
all the ayre in this our hemisphere is as it were strewed ouer and sowed with aboundance of northerne atomes and that some brookes of them are in station others in a motion of retrogradation backe to their owne north pole the southerne atomes which coming vpon them att the equator do not onely presse in among them wheresoeuer they can find admittance but do also go on fowardes to the north pole in seuerall files by themselues being driuen that way by the same accidentall causes which make the others retire backe seising in their way vpon the northerne ones in such manner as we described in filtration and thereby creeping along by them wheresoeuer they find them standing still and going along with them wheresoeuer they find them going backe must of necessity find passage in great quantities towardes and euen to the north pole though some partes of them will euer and anone be checked in this their iourney by the maine current preuayling ouer some accidentall one and so be carried backe againe to the aequator whose line they had crossed And this effect can not choose but be more or lesse according to the seasons of the yeare for when the sunne is in the Tropike of Capricorne the southerne atomes will flow in much more aboundance and with farre greater speede into the torride zone then the northerne atomes can by reason of the sunnes approximation to the south and his distance from the north pole since he worketh faintest where he is furthest off and therefore from the north no more emanations or atomes will be drawne but such as are most subtilised and duly prepared for that course And since onely these selected bandes do now march towardes the aequator their files must needes be thinner then when the sunnes being in the aequator or Tropike of Cancer wakeneth and mustereth vp all their forces And consequently the quiett partes of ayre betweene their files in which like atomes are also scattered are the greater whereby the aduenient southerne atomes haue the larger filter to clymbe vp by And the like happeneth in the other hemisphere when the sunne is in the Tropike of Cancer as who will bestow the paines to compare them will presently see Now then lett vs consider what these two streames thus incorporated must of necessity do in the surface or vpper partes of the earth First it is euident they must needes penetrate a pretty depth into the earth for so freesing persuadeth vs and much more the subtile penetration of diuers more spirituall bodies of which we haue sufficiently discoursed aboue Now lett vs conceiue that these steames do find a body of a conuenient density to incorporate themselues in in the way of density as we see that fire doth in iron and in other dense bodies and this not for an houre or two as happeneth in fire but for yeares as I haue beene told that in the extreme cold hilles in the Peake in Darbyshire happeneth to the dry atomes of cold which are permanently incorporated in water by long continuall freesing and so make a kind of chrystall In this case certainely it must come to passe that this body will become in a māner wholy of the nature of these steames which because they are drawne from the Poles that abound in cold and drynesse for others that haue not these qualities do not contribute to the intended effect the body is aptest to become a stone for so we see that cold and drought turneth the superficiall partes of the earth into stones and rockes and accordingly wheresoeuer cold and dry windes raigne powerfully all such countries are mainely rocky Now then lett vs suppose this stone to be taken out of the earth and hanged in the ayre or sett conueniently vpon some little pinne or otherwise putt in liberty so as a small impulse may easily turne it any way it will in this case certainely follow that the end of the stone which in the earth lay towardes the north pole will now in the ayre conuert it selfe in the same manner towardes the same point and the other end which lay towardes the south turne by consequence to the south I speake of these countries which lye betweene the aequator and the North in which it can not choose but that the streame going from the north to the aequator must be stronger then the opposite one Now to explicate how this is done suppose the stone hanged east and west freely in the ayre the streame which is drawne from the north pole of the earth rangeth along by it in its course to the aequator and finding in the stone the south steame which is growne innate to it very strong it must needes incorporate it selfe with it and most by those partes of the steame in the stone which are strongest which are they that come directly from the North of the stone by which I meane that part of the stone that lay northward in the earth and that still looketh to the north pole of the earth now it is in the ayre And therefore the great flood of atomes coming from the north pole of the earth will incorporate it selfe most strongly by the north end of the stone with the little flood of southerne atomes it findeth in the stone for that end serueth for the coming out of the southerne atomes and sendeth them abroad as the south end doth the northerne steame since the steames do come in att one end and do go out att the opposite end From hence we may gather that this stone will ioyne and cleaue to its attractiue whensoeuer it happeneth to be within the sphere of its actiuity Besides if by some accident it should happen that the atomes or steames which are drawne by the sunne from the Polewardes to the aequator should come stronger from some part of the earth which is on the side hand of the Pole then from the very Pole it selfe in this case the stone will turne from the Pole towardes that side Lastly whatsoeuer this stone will do towardes the Pole of the earth the very same a lesser stone of the same kind will do towardes a greater And if there be any kind of other substance that hath participation of the nature of this stone such a substance will behaue it selfe towardes this stone in the same manner as such a stone behaueth it selfe towardes the earth all the Phenomens whereof may be the more plainely obserued if the stone be cutt into the forme of the earth And thus we haue found a perfect delineation of the loadestone from its causes for there is no man so ignorant of the nature of a loadestone but he knoweth that the properties of it are to tend towardes the North to vary sometimes to ioyne with an other loadestone to draw iron vnto it and such like whose causes you see deliuered But to come to experimentall proofes and obseruations vpon the loadestone by which it will appeare that these causes are well esteemed and
of any emanations from it that being as we haue said before their readyest way to passe along and within the stone the streame doth the like to meete the aduenient streame where it is strongest and thickest which is att that narrow part of the stones end which is most prominent out And by this discourse we discouer likewise an other errour of them that imagine the loadestone hath a sphere of actiuity round about it equall on all sides that is perfectly sphericall if the stone be sphericall Which cleerely is a mistaken speculation for nature hauing so ordered all her agents that where the strength is greatest there the action must generally speaking extend it selfe furthest off and it being acknowledged that the loadestone hath greatest strength in its poles and least in the aequator it must of necessity follow that it worketh further by its poles then by its aequator And consequently it is impossible that its sphere of actiuity should be perfectly sphericall Nor doth Cabeus his experience moue vs to conceiue the loadestone hath a greater strength to retayne an iron layed vpon it by its aequator then by its poles for to iustify his assertion he should haue tried it in an iron wyre that were so short as the poles could not haue any notable operation vpon the endes of it since otherwise the force of retayning it will be attributed to the poles according to what we haue aboue deliuered and not to the aequator The eighth position is that the intention of nature in all the operations of the loadestone is to make an vnion betwixt the attractiue and the attracted bodies Which is euident out of the sticking of them together as also out of the violence wherewith iron cometh to a loadestone which when it is drawne by a powerfull one is so great that through the force of the blow hitting the stone it will rebound backe againe and then fall againe to the stone and in like manner a needle vpon a pinne if a loadestone be sett neere it turneth with so great a force towardes the pole of the stone that it goeth beyond it and coming backe againe the celerity wherewith it moueth maketh it retire it selfe too farre on the other side and so by many vndulations att the last it cometh to rest directly opposite to the pole Likewise by the declination by meanes of which the iron to the stone or the stone to the earth approacheth in such a disposition as is most conuenient to ioyne the due endes together And lastly out of the flying away of the contrary endes from one an other which clearely is to no other purpose but that the due endes may come together And in generall there is no doubt but ones going to an other is instituted by the order of nature for their coming together and for their being together which is but a perseuerance of their coming together The nineth position is that the nature of a loadestone doth not sinke deeply into the maine body of the earth as to haue the substance of its whole body be magneticall but only remayneth neere the surface of it And this is euident by the inequality in vertue of the two endes for if this magnetike vertue were the nature of the whole body both endes would be equally strong Nor would the disposition of one of the endes be different from the disposition of the other Againe there could be no variation of the tending towardes the north for the bulke of the whole body would haue a strength so eminently greater then the prominences and disparities of hils or seas as the varieties of these would be absolutely insensible Againe if the motion of the loadestone came from the body of the earth it would be perpetually from the center and not from the poles and so there could be no declination more in one part of the earth then in an other Nor would the loadestone tend from north to south but from the center to the circumference or rather from the circumference to the center And so we may learne the difference between the loadestone and the earth in their attractiue operations to witt that the earth doth not receiue its influence from an other body nor doth its magnetike vertue depend of an other magnetike agent that impresseth it into it which neuerthelesse is the most remarkable condition of a loadestone Againe the strongest vertue of the loadestone is from pole to pole but the strongest vertue of the earth is from the center vpwardes as appeareth by fireforkes gaining a much greater magnetike strength in a short time then a loadestone in a longer Neyther can it be thence obiected that the loadestone should therefore receiue the earthes influences more strongly from the centerwardes then from the poles of the earth which by its operation and what we haue discoursed of it is certaine it doth not since the beds where loadestones lye and are formed be towardes the bottome of that part or barke of the earth which is imbued with magnetike vertue Againe this vertue which we see in a loadestone is substantiall to it whereas the like vertue is but accidentall to the earth by meanes of the sunnes drawing the northerne and souththerne exhalations to the aequator The last positioÌ„ is that the loadestone must be found ouer all the earth and in euery country And so we see it is both because iron mines are found in some measure almost in all countries and because att the least other sortes of earth as we haue declared of pottearths can not be wanting in any large extent of country which when they are baked and cooled in due positions haue this effect of the loadestone and are of the nature of it And Docteur Gilbert sheweth that the loadestone is nothing else but the oore of steele or of perfectest iron and that it is to be found of all colours and fashions and almost of all consistences So that we may easily conceiue that the emanations of the loadestone being euery where as well as the causes of grauity the two motions of magnetike thinges and of weighty thinges do both of them deriue their origine from the same source I meane from the very same emanations coming from the earth which by a diuers ordination of nature do make this effect in the loadestone and that other in weighty thinges And who knoweth but that a like sucking to this which we haue shewed in magnetike thinges passeth also in the motion of grauity In a wold grauity beareth a faire testimony in the behalfe of the magnetike foâ—ce and the loadestones working returneth no meane verdict for the causes of grauity according to what we haue deliuered of them THE TWO AND TWENTIETH CHAPTER A solution of certaine Problemes concerning the loadestone and as hort summe of the whole doctrine touching it OVt of what is said vpon this subiect we may proceed to the solution of certaine questions or problemes which
are or may be made in this matter And first of that which Doctour Gilbert disputeth against all former writers of the loadestone to witt which is the North and which the South pole of a stone Which seemeth vnto me to be only a question of the name for if by the name of north and south we vndersâ—aÌ„d that end of the stone which hath that vertue that the north or south pole of the earth haue then it is certaine that the end of the stone which looketh to the south pole of the earth is to be called the north pole of the loadestone and conrrariwise that which looketh to the north is to be called the south pole of it But if by the names of north and south pole of the stone you meane those endes of it that lye and point to the north and to the south poles of the earth then you must reckon their poles contrariwise to the former account So that the termes being once defined there will remaine no further controuersye about this point Doctor Gilbert seemeth also to haue an other controuersy with all writers to witt whether any bodies besides magneticall ones be attractiue Which he seemeth to deny all others to affirme But this also being fairely putt will peraduenture proue no controuersy for the question is eyther in common of attraction or else in particular of such an attraction as is made by the loadestone Of the first part there can be no doubt as we haue declared aboue and as is manifest betwixt gold and quickesiluer when a man holding gold in his mouth it draweth vnto it the quickesiluer that is in his body But for the attractiue to draw a body vnto it selfe not wholy but one determinate part of the body drawne vnto one determine part of the drawer is an attraction which for my part I can not exemplify in any other bodies but magneticall ones A third question is whether an iron that standeth long time vnmoued in a window or any other part of a building perpendicularly to the earth doth contract a magneticall vertue of drawing or pointing towardes the north in that end which looketh downewardes For Cabeus who wrote since Gilbert affirmeth it out of experience but eyther his experiment or his expression was defectiue For assuredly if the iron standeth so in the northerne hemisphere it will turne to the north and if in the southerne hemisphere it will turne to the south for seeing the vertue of the loadestone proceedeth from the earth and that the earth hath different tempers towardes the north and towardes the south pole as hath beene already declared the vertue which cometh out of the earth in the northerne hemisphere will giue vnto the end of the iron next it an inclination to the north pole and the earth of the southerne hemisphere will yield the contrary disposition vnto the end which is neerest it The next question is why a loadestone seemeth to loue iron better then it doth an other loadestone The answere is because iron is indifferent in all its partes to receiue the impression of a loadestone whereas an other loadestone receiueth it only in a determinate part and therefore a loadestone draweth iron more easily then it can an other loadestone because it findeth repugnance in the partes of an other loadestone vnlesse it be exactly situated in a right position Besides iron seemeth to be compared to a loadestone like as a more humide body to a dryer of the same nature and the difference of male and female sexes in animals do manifestly shew the great appetence of coniunction between moysture and drynesse when they belong to bodies of the same species An other question is that great one why a loadestone capped with steele taketh vp more iron then it would do if it were without that capping An other conclusion like vnto this is that if by a loadestone you take vp an iron and by that iron a second iron and then you pull away the second iron the first iron in some position will leaue the loadestone to sticke vnto the second iron as long as the second iron is within the sphere of the loadestones actiuity but if you remoue the second out of that sphere then the first iron remaining within it though the other be out of it will leaue the second and leape backe to the loadestone To the same purpose is this other conclusion that the greater the iron is which is entirely within the compasse of the loadestones vertue the more strongly the loadestone will be moued vnto it and the more forcibly it will sticke to it The reasons of all these three wee must giue att once for they hang all vpon one string And in my conceite neyther Gilbert nor Galileo haue hitt vpon the right As for Gilbert he thinketh that in iron there is originally the vertue of the loadestone but that it is as it were a sleepe vntill by the touch of the loadestone it be awaked and sett on worke and therefore the vertue of both ioyned together is greater then the vertue of the loadestone alone But if this were the reason the vertue of the iron would be greater in euery regard and not only in sticking or in taking vp whereas himselfe confesseth that a capped stone draweth no further then a naked stone nor hardly so farre Besides it would continue its vertue out of the sphere of actiuity of the loadestone which it doth not Againe seeing that if you compare them seuerally the vertue of the loadestone is greater then the vertue of the iron why should not the middle iron sticke closer to the stone then to the further iron which must of necessity haue lesse vertue Galileo yieldeth the cause of this effect that when an iron toucheth an iron there are more partes which touch one an other then when a loadestone toucheth the iron both because the loadestone hath generally much impurity in it and therefore diuers partes of it haue no vertue whereas iron by being melted hath all its partes pure and secondly because iron can be smoothed and polisked more then a loadestone can be and therefore its superficies toucheth in a manner with all its partes whereas diuers partes of the stones superficies can not touch by reason of its ruggednesse And he confirmeth his opinion by experience for if you putt the head of a needle to a barestone and the point of it to an iron and then plucke away the iron the needle will leaue the iron and sticke to the stone but if you turne the needle the other way it will leaue the stone and sticke to the iron Out of which he inferreth that it is the multitude of partes which causeth the close and strong sticking And it seemeth he found the same in the capping of his loadestones for he vsed flatt irons for that purpose which by their whole plane did take vp other irons whereas Gilbert capped his with coÌ„uexe irons which not applying
discouered vnto vs and that out of the variety of these tempers the influence of the earthy partes may be diuers in respect of one certaine place it is not impossible but that such variation may be especially in England which Iland lying open to the north by a great and vast ocean may receiue more particularly then other places the speciall influences and variation of the weather that happen in those northeasterne countries from whence this influence cometh vnto vs. If therefore there should be any course of weather whose periode were a hundred yeares for example or more or lesse and so might easily passe vnmarked this variation might grow out of such a course But in so obscure a thing we haue already hazarded to guesse too much And vpon the whole matter of the loadestone it serueth our turne if we haue proued as we conceiue we haue done fully that its motions which appeare so admirable do not proceed from an occult quality but that the causes of them may be reduced vnto locall motion and that all they may be performed by such corporeall instruments and meanes though peraduenture more intricately disposed as all other effects are among bodies Whose ordering and disposing and particular progresse there is no reason to despaire of finding out would but men carefully apply themselues to that worke vpon solide principles and with diligent experiences But because this matter hath beene very long and scatteringly diffused in many seuerall branches peraduenture it will not be displeasing to the Reader to see the whole nature of the loadestone summed vp in short Lett him then cast his eyes vpon one effect of it that is very easy to be tryed and is acknowledged by all writers though we haue not as yet mentioned it And it is that a knife drawne from the pole of a loadestone towardes the aequator if you hold the point towardes the pole it gaineth a respect to one of the poles but contrawise if the point of the knife be held towardes the aequator and be thrust the same way it was drawne before that is towardes the aequator it gaineth a respect towardes the contrary pole It is euident out of this experience that the vertue of the loadestone is communicated by way of streames and that in it there are two contrary streames for otherwise the motion of the knife this wâ—y or that way could not change the efficacity of the same partes of the loadestone It is likewise euident that these contrary streames do come from the conrrary endes of the loadestone As also that the vertues of them both are in euery part of the stone Likewise that one loadestone must of necessity turne certaine partes of it selfe to certaine partes of an other loadestone nay that it must goe and ioyne to it according to the lawes of attraction which we haue aboue deliuered and consequently that they must turne their disagreeing partes away from one an other and so one loadestone seeme to fly from an other if they be so applyed that their disagreeing partes be kept still next to one an other for in this case the disagreeing and the agreeing partes of the same loadestone being in the same straight line one loadestone seeking to draw his agreeing part neere to that part of the other loadestone which agreeth with him must of necessity turne away his disagreeing partes to giue way vnto his agreeing part to approach neerer And thus you see that the flying from one an other of two endes of two loadestones which are both of the same denomination as for example the two south endes or the two north endes doth not proceed from a pretended antipathy between those two endes but from the attraction of the agreeing endes Furthermore the earth hauing to a loadestone the nature of a loadestone it followeth that a loadestone must necessarily turne it selfe to the poles of the earth by the same lawes And consequently must tend to the north must vary from the north must incline towardes the center and must be affected with all such accidents as we haue deduced of the loadestone And lastly seeing that iron is to a loadestone a fitt matter for it to impresse its nature in and easily retaineth that magnetike vertue the same effects that follow betweeÌ„ two loadestones must necessarily follow between a loadestone and a peece of iron fittly proportionated in their degrees excepting some litle particularities which proceed out of the naturalnesse of the magnetike vertue to a loadestone more then to iron And thus you see the nature of the loadestone summed vp in grosse the particular ioyntes and causes whereof you may find treated att large in the maine discourse Wherein we haue gouerned our selues chiefely by the experiences that are recorded by Gilbert and Cabeus to whom we remitt our reader for a more ample declaration of particulars THE THREE AND TWENTIETH CHAPTER A description of the two sortes of liuing creatures Plants and Animals and how they are framed in common to performe vitall motion HItherto we haue endeauoured to follow by a continuall thridde all such effects as we haue mett with among bodies and to trace theÌ„ in all their windinges and to driue them vp to their very roote and originall source for the nature of our subiect hauing beene yet very common hath not exceeded the compasse and power of our search and enquiry to descend vnto the chiefe circumstances and particulars belonging vnto it And indeede many of the conueyances whereby the operations we haue discoursed of are performed be so secret and abstruse as they that looke into them with lesse heedefullnesse and iudgment then such a matter requireth are too apt to impute them to mysterious causes aboue the reach of humane nature to compreheÌ„d and to calumniate them of being wrought by occult and specifike qualities whereof no more reason could be giuen then if the effects were infused by Angelicall handes without assistance of inferiour bodies which vseth to be the last refuge of ignorant men who not knowing what to say and yet presuming to say something do fall often vpon such expressioÌ„s as neyther themselues nor their hearers vnderstand and that if they be well scanned do imply contradictions Therefore we deemed it a kind of necessity to straine ourselues to prosecute most of such effects euen to their notionall connexions with rarity and density And the rather because it hath not been our lucke yet to meet with any that hath had the like designe or hath done any considerable matter to ease our paines Which can not but make the readers iourney somewhat tedious vnto him to follow all our stepps by reason of the ruggednesse and vntrodenesse of the pathes we haue walked in But now the effects we shall hence forward meedle withall do grow so particular and do swarme into such a vast multitude of seuerall little ioyntes and wreathy labyrinthes of nature as were impossible in so summary a treatise as we intend to deliuer
with his vertue from an other body 4 The vertue of the loadestone is a double and not one simple vertue 5 The vettue of the loadestone worketh more strongly in the poles of it then in any other part 6 The loadestone sendeth forth its emanations spherically Which are of two kindes and each kind is strongest in that hemisphere through whose polary partes they issue out 7 Putting two loadestones within the sphere of one an other euery part of one loadestone doth not agree with euery part of the other loadestone 8 CoÌ„cerning the declination and other respects of a needle towardes the loadestone is toucheth 9 The vertue of the loadestone goeth from end to end in lines almost parallele to the axis 10 The vertue of the loadestone is not perfectly sphericall though the stone be such 11 The intention of nature in all the operations of the loadestone is to make an vnion betwixt the attractiue and attracted bodies 12 The maine globe of the earth is not a loadestone 13 The loadestone is generated in all partes or climats of the earth 14 The conformity betwixt the two motioÌ„s of magnetike thinges and of heauy thinges 1 Which is the North and which the South Pole of a loadestone 2 Whether any bodies besides magnetike ones be attractiue 3 Whether an iron placed â—erpeÌ„dicularly towardes the earth doth gett a magneticall vertue of pointing towardes the north or towardes the south in that end that lyeth downewardes 4 Why loadestones affect iron better then one an other 5 Gilberts reason refuted touching a capped loadestone that taketh vp more iron then one not capped and an iron impregnated that in some case draweth more strongly then the stone it selfe 6 Galileus his opinion touching the former effects refuted 7 The Authors solution to the former questions 8 The reasoÌ„ why in the former case a lesser loadestone doth draw the interiacent iroÌ„ froÌ„ the greater 9 Why the variation of a touched needle froÌ„ the north is greater the neerer you go to the Pole 10 Whether in the same part of the world a touched needle may att one time vary more froÌ„ the north and att an other time lesse 11 The whole doctrine of the loadestone summed vp in short 1 The connexion of the following Chapters with the precedent ones 2 Concerning seuerall coÌ„positions of mixed bodies 3 Two sortes of liuing creatures 4 An engine to expresse the first sort of liuing creatures 5 An other engine by which may be expressed the second sort of liuing creatures 6 The two former engines and some other comparisons applyed to expresse the two seuerall sortes of liuing creatures 7 How plantes are framed 8 How sensitiue creatures are formed 1 The opinion that the seede containeth formally euery part of the parent 2 The former opinion reiected 3 The Authors opinion of this question 4 Their opinion refuted who hold that euery thing containeth formally all thinges 5 The Authors opinion concerning the generation of Animals declared and confirmed 6 That one substance is changed into an other 7 Concerning the hatching of chickens and the generation of other Animals 8 From whence it happeneth that the deficiences or excrescences of the parents body are often seene in their children 9 The difference between the Authors opinion and the former one 10 That the hart is imbued with the generall specifike vertues of the whole body whereby is confirmed the doctrine of the two former paragraphes 11 That the hart is the first part generated in a liuing creature 1 That the figure of an Animal is produced by ordinarie secoÌ„â— causes as well as any other corporeall effect 2 That the seuerall figures of bodies proceed from a defect in one of the three dimensions caused by the concurraÌ„ce of accidentall causes 3 The former doctrine is confirmed by seuerall instances 4 The same doctrine applyed to Plants 5 The same doctrine declared in leafes of trees 6 The same applyed to the bodies of Animals 7 In what sense the Author doth admitt of Vis formatrix 1 Fromwhence doth proceed the primary motion and growth in Plantes 2 Monsieur des Cartes his opinion touching the motion of the hart 3 The former opinion reiected 4 The Authors opinion concerning the motion of the hart 5 The motion of the hart dependeth originally of its fibers irrigated by bloud 6 An obiection answered against the former doctrine 7 The circulatioÌ„ of the bloud and other effects that follow the motion of the hart 8 Of Nutrition 9 Of Augmentation 10 Of death and sicknesse 1 The coÌ„nexion of the subsequent chapters with the precedent 2 Of the senses and sensible qualities in generall And of the end for which they serue 3 Of the sense of touching and that both it and its qualities are bodies 4 Of the tast and its qualities that they are bodies 5 That the smell and its qualities are reall bodies 6 Of the conformity betwixt the two senses of smelling and tasting 7 The reasoÌ„ why the sense of smelling is not so perfect in man as in beastes with a wonderfull historie of a man who could wind a sent as well aâ— any beast 1 Of the sense of hearing and that sound is purely motioÌ„ 2 Of diuers artes belonging to the sense of hearing all which confirme that sound is nothing but motion 3 The same is confirmed by the effects caused by great noises 4 That solide bodies may conueye the motion of the ayre or sound to the organe of hearing 5 Where the motion is interrupted there is no sound 6 That not only the motion of the ayre but all other motions coming to our eares make sounds 7 How one sense may supply the want of an other 8 Of one who could discerne souÌ„ds of words with his eyes 9 Diuers reasons to proue sound to be nothing els but a motioÌ„ of some reall body 1 That Colours are nothing but light mingled with darknesse or the disposition off a bodies superficies apt to reflect light so mingled 2 CoÌ„cerning the disposition of those bodies which produce white or blacke coulours 3 The former doctrine coÌ„firmed by Aristotâ—les authority reason and experience 4 How the diuersity of coulours doe follow out of various degrees of rarity and density 5 Why some bodies are Diaphanous others opacous 6 The former doctrine of coulours coÌ„firmed by the generation of white and Blacke in bodies 1 Apparitions of coulours through a prisme or triaÌ„gular glasse are of two sortes 2 The seuerall parts of the obiect make seuerall angles at their entrance into the prisme 3 The reason why some times the same obiect appeareth throwgh the prisme in two places and in one place more liuely in the other place more dimmes 4 The reason of the various colours that appeare in looking throwgh a prisme 5 The reasonÌ„ why the prisme in one position may make the colours appeare quite contrary to what
can not doubt but that this floud of atomes streaming from the pole of the earth must needes passe through that stone with more speed and vigour then they can do any other way And as we see in the running of water that if it meeteth with any lower cranies then the wide channell it streameth in it will turne out of its straight way to glide along there where it findeth an easier and more decliue bed to tumble in so these atomes will infallibly deturne themselues from their direct course to passe through such a stone as farre as their greater conueniency leadeth them And what we haue said of these atomes which from the Poles do range through the vast sea of ayre to the aequator is likewise to be applyed vnto those atomes which issue out of the stone so that we may conclude that if they meete with any helpe which may conuey them on with more speede and vigour then whiles they streame directly forwardes they will likewise deturne them selues from directly forwardes to take that course And if the stone it selfe be hanged so nicely that a lesse force is able to turne it about then is requisite to turne awâ—y out of its course the continued streame of atomes which issueth from the stone in this case the stone it selfe must needes turne towardes that streame which clymbing and filtring it selfe along the stones streame draweth it out of its course in such sort as the nose of a weathercocke butteth it selfe into the wind Now then it being knowne that the strongest streame cometh directly from the north in the great earth and that the souththerne streame of the Terrella or loadestone proportioned duely by nature to incorporate with the north streame of the earth issueth out of the north end of the stone it followeth plainely that when a loadestone is situated att liberty its north end must necessarily turne towardes the north pole of the world And it will likewise follow that whensoeuer such a stone meeteth with an other of the same nature and kind they must comport themselues to one an other in like sort that is if both of them be free and equall they must turne themselues to or from one an other according as they are situated in respect of one an other So that if their axes be parallele and the south pole of the one and the north of the other do looke the same way then they will send proportionate and agreeing streames to one an other from their whole bodies that will readily mingle and incorporate with one an other without turning out of their way or seeking any shorter course or changing their respects to one another But if the poles of the same denomination do looke the same way and the loadestone do not lye in such sort as to haue their axes parallele but that they encline to one an other then they will worke themselues about vntill they grow by their opposite poles into a straight line for the same reason as we haue shewed of a loadestone turning to the pole of the earth But if onely one of the loadestones be free and the other be fixed and that they lye inclined as in the former case then the free stone will worke himselfe vntill his pole be opposite to that part of the fixed stone from whence the streame which agreeth with him issueth strongest for that streame is to the free loadestone as the northerne streame of the earth is to a loadestone compared vnto the earth But withall we must take notice that in this our discourse we abstract from other accidents and particularly from the influence of the earthes streames into the loadestones which will cause great variety in these cases if they lye not due north and south when they beginne to worke And as loadestones and other magnetike bodies do thus of necessity turne to one an other when they are both free and if one of them be fastened the other turneth to it so likewise if they be free to progressiue motion they must by a like necessity and for the same reason come together and ioyne themselues to one an other And if only one of them be free that must remoue it selfe to the other for the same vertue that maketh them turne which is the strength of the steame will likewise in due circumstances make them come together by reason that the steames which clymbe vp one an other by the way of filtration and do thereby turne the bodies of the stones vpon their centers when they are only free to turne must likewise draw the whole bodies of the stones entirely out of their places and make them ioyne when such a totall motion of the body is an effect that requireth no more force then the force of conueying vigorously the streames of both the Magnetike bodies into one an other that is when there is no such impediment standing in the way of the Magnetike bodies motion but that the celerity of the atomes motion mingling with one an other is able to ouercome it for then it must needes do so and the magnetike body by naturall coherence vnto the steame of atomes in which it is inuolued followeth the course of the steame in such sort as in the example we haue heretofore vpon an other occasion giuen of an eggeshell filled with deaw the sunnebeames conuerting the deaw into smoake and raising vp that smoake or steame the eggeshell is likewise raised vp for company with the steame that issueth from it And for the same reason it is that the loadestone draweth iron for iron being of a nature apt to receiue and harbour the steames of a loadestone it becometh a weake loadestone and worketh towardes a loadestone in such sort as a weaker loadestone would do and so moueth towardes a loadestone by the meanes we haue now described And that this conformity between iron and the loadestone is the true reason of the loadestones drawing of iron is cleare out of this that a loadestone will take vp a greater weight of pure iron then it will of impure or drossy iron or of iron and some other mettall ioyned together and that it will draw further through a slender long iron then in the free open ayre all which are manifest signes that iron cooperateth with the force which the loadestone grafteth in it And the reason why iron cometh to a loadestone more efficaciously then an other loadestone doth is because loadestones generally are more impure then iron is as being a kind of oore or mine of iron and haue other extraneous and heterogeneall natures mixed with them whereas iron receiueth the loadestones operation in its whole substance THE ONE AND TWENTIETH CHAPTER Positions drawne out of the former doctrine and confirmed by experimentall proofes THe first position is that the working of the loadestone being throughout according to the tenour of the operation of bodies may be done by bodies and consequently is not done by occult or secret qualities Which is euident out
it a permanent vertue by which it worketh like a weake loadestone The second is that as it maketh the iron worke towardes the lesser loadestone by its permanent vertue so also it accompanyeth the steame that goeth from the iron towardes the little loadestone with its owne steame which goeth the same way so that both these steames do in company clymbe vp the steame of the little loadestone which meeteth them and that steame clymbeth vp the enlarged one of both theirs together The third effect which the greater loadestone worketh is that it maketh the steame of the little loadestone become stronger by augmenting its innate vertue in some degree Now then the going of the iron to eyther of the loadestones must follow the greater and quicker coniunction of the two meeting steames and not the greatnesse of one alone So that if the coniunction of the two steames between the iron and the little loadestone be greater and quicker then the coniunction of the two steames which meete between the greater loadestone and the iron the iron must sticke to the lesser loadestone And this must happen more often then otherwise for the steame which goeth from the iron to the greater loadestone will for the most part be lesse then the steame which goeth from the lesser loadestone to the iron And though the other steame be neuer so great yet it can not draw more then according to the proportion of its Antagonists coming from the iron Wherefore seeing the two steames betwixt the iron and the little loadestone are more proportionable to one an other and the steame coming out of the little loadestone is notably greater then the steame going from the iron to the greater loadestone the coniunction must be made for the most part to the little loadestone And if this discourse doth not hold in the former part of the Probleme betwixt a second iron and a loadestone it is supplyed by the former reason which we gaue for that particular purpose The third case dependeth also of this solution for the bigger an iron is so many more partes it hath to sucke vp the influence of the loadestone and consequently doth it thereby the more greedily and therefore the loadestone must be carried to it more violently and when they are ioyned sticke more strongly The sixt question is why the variations of the needle from the true north in the northerne hemisphere are greater the neerer you go to the Pole and lesser the neerer you approach to the Aequator The reason whereof is plaine in our doctrine for considering that the magnetike vertue of the earth streameth from the north towardes the aequator it followeth of necessity that if there be two streames of magnetike fluours issuing from the north one of them precisely from the pole and the other from a part of the earth neere the pole and that the streame coming from the point by side the pole be but a little the stronger of the two there will appeare very little differencies in their seuerall operations after they haue had a long space to mingle their emanations together which thereby do ioyne and grow as it were into one streame Whereas the neerer you come to the pole the more you will find them seuered and each of them working by its owne vertue And very neere the point which causeth the variation each streame worketh singly by it selfe and therefore here the point of variation must be master and will carry the needle strongly vnto his course from the due north if his streame be neuer so little more efficacious then the other Againe a line drawne from a point of the earth wyde of the pole to a point of the meridian neere the aequator maketh a lesse angle then a line drawne from the same point of the earth to a point of the same meridian neerer the pole wherefore the variation being esteemed by the quantities of the said angles it must needes be greater neere the pole then neere the aequator though the cause be the same But because it may happen that in the partes neere the aequator the variation may proceed from some piece of land not much more northerly then where the needle is but that beareth rather easterly or westerly from it and yet Gilberts assertion goeth vniuersally when he sayth the variations in southerne regions are lesse then in northerne ones we must examine what may be the reason thereof And presently the generation of the loadestone sheweth it plainely for seeing the nature of the loadestone proceedeth out of this that the sunne worketh more vpon the torride zone then vpon the poles and that his too strong operation is contrary to the loadestone as being of the nature of fire it followeth euidently that the landes of the torride zone can not be so magneticall generally speaking as the polar landes are and by consequence that a lesser land neere the pole will haue a greater effect then a larger continent neere the aequator and likewise a land further off towardes the pole will worke more strongly then a neerer land which lyeth towardes the aequator The seuenth question is whether in the same part of the world a touched needle may att one time vary more from the true north point and att an other time lesse In which Gilbert was resolute for the negatiue part but our latter Mathematiciens are of an other mind Three experiences were made neere London in three diuers yeares The two first 42 yeares distant from one an other and the third 12 yeares distant from the second And by them it is found that in the space of 54 yeares he loadestone hath att London diminished his variation from the north the quantity of 7 degrees and more But so that in the latter yeares the diminution hath sensibly gone faster then in the former These obseruations peraduenture are but little credited by strangers but we who know the worth of the men that made them can not mistrust any notable errour in them for they were very able mathematicians and they made their obseruations with very greate exactnesse and there were seuerall iuditious wittnesses att the making of them as may be seene in Mr. Gillebrand his print concerning this subiect And diuers other particular persons do confirme the same whose creditt though each single might peraduenture be slighted yet all in body make a great accession We must therefore cast about to find what may be the cause of an effect so paradoxe to the rest of the doctrine of the loadestone for seeing that no one place can stand otherwise to the north of the earth att one time then att an other how is it possible that the needle should receiue any new variation since all variation proceedeth out of the inequality of the earth But when we consider that this effect proceedeth not out of the maine body of the earth but only out of the barke of it and that its barke may haue diuers tempers not as yet
of this that a greater loadestone hath more effect then a lesser and that if you cutt away part of a loadestone part of his vertue is likewise taken from him and if the partes be ioyned againe the whole becometh as strong as it was before Againe if a loadestone touch a longer iron it giueth it lesse force then if it touch a shorter iron nay the vertue in any part is sensibly lesser according as it is further from the touched part Againe the longer an iron is in touching the greater vertue it getteth and the more constant And both an iron and a loadestone may loose their vertue by long lying out of their due order and situation eyther to the earth or to an other loadestone Besides if a loadestone do touch a long iron in the middle of it he diffuseth his vertue equally towardes both endes and if it be a round plate he diffuseth his vertue equally to all sides And lastly the vertue of a loadestone as also of an iron touched is lost by burning it in the fire All which symptomes agreeing exactly with the rules of bodies do make it vndenyable that the vertue of the loadestone is a reall and solide body Against this position Cabeus obiecteth that little atomes would not be able to penetrate all sortes of bodies as we see the vertue of the loadestone doth And vrgeth that although they should be allowed to do so yet they could not be imagined to penetrate thicke and solide bodies so soddainely as they would do thinne ones and would certainely shew then some signe of facility or difficulty of passing in the interposition and in the taking away of bodies putt betweene the loadestone and the body it worketh vpon Secondly he obiecteth that atomes being little bodies they can not moue in an instant as the working of the loadestone seemeth to do And lastly that the loadestone by such aboundance of continuall euaporations would quickely be consumed To the first we answere that atomes whose nature it is to pierce iron can not reasonably be suspected of inability to penetrate any other body and that atomes can penetrate iron is euident in the melting of it by fire And indeed this obiection cometh now too late after we haue so largely declared the diuisibility of quantity and the subtility of nature in reducing all thinges into extreme small partes for this difficulty hath no other auow then the tardity of our imaginations in subtilising sufficiently the quantitatiue partes that issue out of the loadestone As for any tardity that may be expected by the interposition of a thicke or dense body there is no appearance of such since we see light passe through thicke glasses without giuing any signe of meeting with the least opposition in its passage as we haue aboue declared att large and magneticall emanations haue the aduantage of light in this that they are not obliged to straight lines as light is Lastly as for loadestones spending of themselues by still venting their emanations odoriferous bodies furnish vs with a full answere to that obiection for they do continue many yeares palpably spending of themselues and yet keepe their odour in vigour whereas a loadestone if it be layed in a wrong position will not continue halfe so long The reason of the duration of both which maketh the matter manifest and taketh away all difficulty which is that as in a roote of a vegetable there is a power to change the aduenient iuice into its nature so is there in such like thinges as these a power to change the ambient ayre into their owne substance as euident experience sheweth in the Hermetike salt as some moderne writers call it which is found to be rapayred and encreased in its weight by lying in the ayre and the like happeneth to saltpeter And in our present subiect experience informeth vs that a loadestone will grow stronger by lying in due position eyther to the earth or to a stronger loadestone whereby it may be better impregnated and as it were feed it selfe with the emanatiōs issuing out of them into it Our next position is that this vertue cometh to a magnetike body from an other body as the nature of bodies is to require a being moued that they may moue And this is euident in iron which by the touch or by standing in due position neere the loadestone gaineth the power of the loadestone Againe if a smith in beating his iron into a rodde do obserue to lay it north and south it getteth a direction to the north by the very beating of it Likewise if an iron rodde be made red hoat in the fire and be kept there a good while together and when it is taken out be layed to coole iust north and south it will acquire the same direction towardes the north And this is true not only of iron but also of all other sortes of bodies whatsoeuer that endure such ignition particularly of pottearthes which if they be moulded in a long forme and when they are taken out of the kilne be layed as we sayd of the iron to coole north and south will haue the same effect wrought in them And iron though it hath not beene heated but only hath cōtinued long vnmoued in the same situation of north and south in a building yet it will haue the same effect So as it can not be denyed but that this vertue cometh vnto iron frō other bodies whereof one must be a secret influēce from the north And this is confirmed by a loadestones loosing its vertue as we said before by lying a long time vnduly disposed eyther towardes the earth or towardes a stronger loadestone whereby insteed of the former it gaineth a new vertue according to that situation And this happeneth not only in the vertue which is resident and permanent in a loadestone or a touched iron but likewise in the actuall motion or operation of them As may be experienced first in this that the same loadestone or touched irō in the south hemisphere of the world hath its operatiō strongest att that end of it which tendeth to the north and in the north hemisphere att the end which tēdeth to the south each pole communicating a vigour proportionable to its owne strēgth in the climate where it is receiued Secondly in this that an iron ioyned to a loadestone or within the sphere of the loadestones working will take vp an other piece of iron greater then the loadestone of it selfe can hold and as soone as the holding iron is remoued out of the sphere of the loadestones actiuity it presently letteth fall the iron it formerly held vp and this is so true that a lesser loadestone may be placed in such sort within the sphere of a greater loadestones operation as to take away a piece of iron from the greater loadestone and this in vertue of the same greater loadestone from which it plucketh it for but remoue the lesser out of the sphere of the greater
and then it can no longer do it So that it is euident that in these cases the very actuall operation of the lesser loadestone or of the iron proceedeth from the actuall influence of the greater loadestone vpon and into them And hence we may vnderstand that whensoeuer a Magnetike body doth worke it hath an excitation from without which doth make it issue out and send its streames abroad in such sort as it is the nature of all bodies to do and as we haue giuen examples of the like done by heate when we discoursed of Rarefaction But to explicate this point more clearely by entering more particularly into it if a magnetike body lyeth north and south it is easy and obuious to conceiue that the streames coming from north and south of the world and passing through the stone must needes excitate the vertue which is in it and carry a streame of it along with them that way they goe But if it lyeth East and West then the steames of north and south of the earth streaming along by the two Poles of the stone are sucked in by them much more weakely yet neuerthelesse sufficiently to giue an excitation to the innate steames which are in the body of the stone to make them moue on in their ordinarie course The third position is that the vertue of the loadestone is a double and not one simple vertue Which is manifest in an iron touched by a loadestone for if you touch it only with one pole of the stone it will not be so strong and full of the magnetike vertue as if you touch one end of it with one pole and the other end of it with the other pole of the stone Againe if you touch both endes of an iron with the same pole of the stone the iron gaineth its vertue att that end which was last touched and changeth its vertue from end to end as often as it is rubbed att contrary endes Againe one end of the loadestone or of iron touched will haue more force on the one side of the aequator and the other end on the other side of it Againe the variation on the one side of the aequator and the variation on the other side of it haue different lawes according to the different endes of the loadestone or of the needle which looketh to those Poles Wherefore it is euident that there is a double vertue in the loadestone the one more powerfull att the one end of it the other more powerfull att the other end Yet these two vertues are found in euery sensible part of the stone for cutting it att eyther end the vertue att the contrary end is also diminished And the whole loadestone that is left hath both the same vertues in proportion to its biggnesse Besides cutt the loadestone how you will still the two poles remaine in that line which lay vnder the meridian when it was in the earth And the like is of the touched iron whose vertue still lyeth along the line which goeth straight according to the line of the axis from the point where it was touched and att the opposite end constituteth the contrary pole The fourth position is that though the vertue of the loadestone be in the whole body neuerthelesse its vertue is more seene in the poles then in any other partes For by experience it is found that a loadestone of equall bulke worketh better and more efficaciously if it be in a long forme then if it be in any other And from the middle line betwixt the two poles there cometh no vertue if an iron be touched there but any part towardes the pole the neerer it is to the pole the greater vertue it imparteth Lastly the declination teacheth vs the same which is so much the stronger by how much it is neerer the pole The fift position is that in the loadestone there are emanations which do issue not only att the poles and about them but also spherically round about the whole body and in an orbe from all partes of the superficies of it in such sort as happeneth in all other bodies whatsoeuer And that these sphericall emanations are of two kindes proportionable to the two polar emanations And that the greatest force of each sort of them is in that hemisphere where the pole is att which they make their chiefe issue The reason of the first part of this position is because no particular body can be exempt from the lawes of all bodies and we haue aboue declared that euery physicall body must of necessity haue an orbe of fluours or a sphere of actiuity about it The reason of the second part is that seeing these fluours do proceed out of the very substance and nature of the loadestone they can not choose but be found of both sortes in euery part how little soeuer it be where the nature of the loadestone resideth The reason of the third part is that because the polar emanations do tend wholy towardes the poles each of them to their proper pole it followeth that in euery hemisphere both those which come from the contrary hemisphere and those which are bred in the hemisphere they go out att are all assembled in that hemisphere and therefore of necessity it must be stronger in that kind of fluours then the opposite end is All which appeareth true in experience for if a long iron toucheth any part of that hemisphere of a loadestone which tendeth to the north it gaineth att that end a vertue of tending likewise to the north and the same will be if an iron but hang close ouer it And this may be confirmed by a like experience of an iron barre in respect of the earth which hāging downewardes in any part of our hemisphere is imbued with the like inclination of drawing towardes the north The sixt position is that although euery part of one loadestone do in it selfe agree with euery part of an other loadestone that is if each of these partes were diuided from their wholes and each of them made a whole by it selfe they might be so ioyned together as they would agree neuerthelesse when the partes are in their two wholes they do not all of them agree together but of two loadestones only the poles of the one do agree with the whole body of the other that is each pole with any part of the contrary hemisphere of the other loadestone The reason of this is because the fluours which issue out of the stones are in certaine different degrees in seuerall partes of the entire loadestones whereby it happeneth that one loadestone can worke by a determinate part of it selfe most powerfully vpon the other if some determinate part of that other do lye next vnto it and not so well if any other part lyeth towardes it And accordingly experience sheweth that if you putt the pole of a loadestone towardes the middle of a needle that is touched att the point the middle part of the neddle