|
170 NATURAL HISTORY OF GEMS.
more of a metallic, steely lustre) the more powerful the Magnet.
It
is a singular omission on the part of Theophrastus that he should make
no mention of this mineral, though described by his master Aristotle
accurately enough ; his Magnetis would appear to be some
Talcose rock from his notice (41): "Some stones admit of being sawn,
others of being carved, or turned in the lathe like the stone Magnetis, which
holds a high rank for its beauty, and is by many much admired on
account of its resemblance to silver, though it really has no affinity
to that metal."
The
singular nature of the Loadstone excited the wonder of the ancient
naturalists. Pliny exclaims, " What is more inert than the rigidity of
a stone ? Yet lo ! Nature hath given it feeling and hands. What more
contumacious than the hardness of Iron ? She hath bestowed upon it both
feet and complaisance : it is attracted by the Loadstone ; and that
metal, the subduer of all things, runs to meet something or other that
is bodyless (inane), and when it comes near leaps towards it, is held
by it, and clasps it in its embraces. Hence is it termed Sideritis ;
and by others, for the same reason, Heraclios, or the stone of
Hercules." Claudian has an elegant poem (translated at the end of this
article) upon a shrine, containing a statue of Venus made of Loadstone,
and another of Mars in iron. When the festival of their marriage was
celebrated these statues were brought near, and by mutual attraction
appeared to fly into each other's arms. There can be no doubt the poet
is describing what he had himself witnessed.
Dinochares
(or Timochares) the architect had, according to Pliny (xxxiv. 42),
commenced vaulting over the temple of Arsinoe, at Alexandria, with
blocks of Loadstone, with the idea that her statue, to be made of iron,
would thus remain suspended in mid-air. This tradition was in all
|
||
|
|
||