great dexterity in the gold mines of Khashbaji. He found there a magnet
which, like its kinds, was neither dirty nor black. It was rather like the
polished iron mirror. People thought it to be an iron mirror. It weighed
9 dirhams and could draw iron twice its weight.
Galen says:
Whilst in the mine, it is more powerful than iron. Both have the
same shape, the only difference being that it can draw iron, whilst
the latter cannot draw it. They can be distinguished from each other
only through experience and keen observation.
He also writes that garlic and onion, when rubbed upon it, reduce its
potency, while, if it is kept in vinegar over long periods, its potency increases. The same applies to the blood of the goat.
The power to attract is found, besides kahruba and magnet, in other
objects as well. Thus bitumen attracts fire towards itself and hajar-izaytuni (olive-stone) draws olive oil towards itself. Hence its name.
Hajar al-klial draws vinegar and hajar al-haban (oleander-stone) draws
water out of the stomach of the patient of dropsy. All these things are
based upon hearsay only. We have not verified them.
A Jewish scholar told me that he had seen a stone in the possession
of a Jew which could draw gold. He offered him fifty dinars for the
stone, but he did not agree to part with it.
If this be so, it must have been a very precious object, since goldsmiths could easily extract gold out of heavy black sand (zaghal), whereas for the extraction of gold from gold-dust, they have to take recourse
to the magnet. This magnet is the size of a finger. When they insert it
inside the gold-dust and agitate it, the black sand slings to it. Zaghal is
the heavy black sand which occurs with gold and does not separate on
washing. Hence the use of the magnet. This fact also establishes the fact
that the stone known as 'awzsang has "ironness" (hadldiyat) in it inasmuch as this sand is its dust. As a matter of fact, the remaining black
grains also belong to the same species as the magnet separates them from
the other sand grains. This black sand is then sold to goldsmiths as it is
of use for them.
The author of the Kitab al-Nukhab says that, when oil is rubbed
upon a piece of magnet, iron feels revulsion towards it and draws back
from it. A magnet piece was brought to me from Bukhara. It had considerable gravitational force on all sides except for a point which had the
status of an angle. This had no attractive force and, on the other hand,
repulsed iron. An even more amazing fact is that of an artisan who used
to do work in my presence. He had all kinds of tools for cutting, forging
and inscribing, made from iron. There, was a sword for scraping and
rubbing kept near them. I used to keep them upon a cupola-like object.
When I brought some of them close to each other, I found a kind of
