[1]THE GLOSSARY:Gilbert's glossary is practically an apology for the introduction into the Latin language of certain new words, such as the nounsterrella,versorium, andverticitas, and the adjectival nounmagneticum, which either did not exist in classical Latin or had not the technical meaning which he now assigns to them. Histerrella, orμικÏόγη, as he explains in detail on p. 13, is a little magnetic model of the earth, but in the glossary he simply defines it asmagnes globosus. Neitherterrellanorversoriumappears in any Latin dictionary. No older writer had used either word, though Peter Peregrinus (De Magnete, Augsburg, 1558) had described experiments with globular loadstones, and pivotted magnetic needles suitable for use in a compass had been known for nearly three centuries. Yet the pivotted needle was not denominatedversorium. Blondo (De Ventis, Venice, 1546) does not use the term. Norman (The Newe Attractiue, London, 1581) speaks of the "needle or compasse," and of the "wyre." Barlowe (The Navigators Supply, London, 1597) speaks ofthe "flie," or the "wier." The termversorium(literally, theturn-about) is Gilbert's own invention. It was at once adopted into the science, and appears in the treatises of Cabeus,Philosophia Magnetica(Ferrara, 1629), and of Kircher,Magnes sive de Arte Magnetica(Coloniæ, 1643), and other writers of the seventeenth century. Curiously enough, its adoption to denote the pivotted magnetic needle led to the growth of an erroneous suggestion that the mariners' compass was known to the ancients because of the occurrence in the writings of Plautus of the termversoriam, orvorsoriam. This appears twice as the accusative case of a feminine nounversoria, orvorsoria, which was used to denote part of the gear of a ship used in tacking-about. Forcellini definesversoriaas "funiculus quo extremus veli angulus religatur"; whileversoriam capereis equivalent to "reverti," or (metaphorically) "sententiam mutare." The two passages in Plautus are:Eut.Si huc item properes, ut istuc properas, facias rectius,Huc secundus ventus nunc est; cape modo vorsoriam;Hic Favonius serenu'st, istic Auster imbricus:Hic facit tranquillitatem, iste omnes fluctus conciet.(inMercat.Act. V., sc. 2.)Charm.Stasime, fac te propere celerem recipe te ad dominum domum;. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cape vorsoriamRecipe te ad herum.(inTrinum.Act. IV., sc. 3.)The wordmagneticumis also of Gilbert's own coinage, as a noun; as an adjective it had been certainly used before, at least in its English form,magneticall, which appears on the title-page of William Borough'sDiscourse of the Variation of the Compasse(London, 1596). Gilbert does not use anywhere the nounmagnetismus,magnetism. The first use of that noun occurs in William Barlowe'sMagneticall Aduertisements(1616), in theEpistle Dedicatorie, wherein, when speaking of Dr. Gilbert, he says "vnto whom I communicated what I had obserued of my selfe, and what I had built vpon his foundation of theMagnetismeof the earth." Gilbert speaks of thevirtus magnetica, orvis magnetica; indeed, he has a rich vocabulary of terms, using, besidevirtusandvis,vires,robur,potestas,potentia,efficientia, andvigorfor that which we should now callmagnetismorthe magnetic forces. Nor does he use the verbmagnetisare, or its participle,magnetisatus: he speaks offerrum tactum, or offerrum excitatum a magnete. In spite of certain obscurities which occur in places in his work, he certainly shows a nice appreciation of words and their use, and a knowledge of style. One finds occasionally direct quotations from, and overt references to, the classic authors, as in the references to Plato and Aristotle on page1, and in the passage from the Georgics of Vergil on p.21. But here and there one finds other traces of unmistakable scholarship, as in the reference to goat's wool on p.35, or in the use, on p.210, of the wordperplacet, which occurs in the letter of Ciceroad Atticum, or in that ofcommonstrabit, occurring on p.203, and found only in Cicero, Terence and Plautus; whilst the phrase on p.3, in which Gilbert rallies the smatterers on having lost both their oil and their pains, has a delightfully classical echo.The termorbis virtutis, defined by Gilbert in the glossary, and illustrated by the cuts on pages76,77, and96, might be effectively translated bysphere of influence, ororbit within which there is sensible attraction. It has been preferred, however, to translate it literally as theorbe of virtue, ororbe of magnetick virtue. This choice has been determined by the desire to adopt such an English phrase as Gilbert would himself have used had he been writing English. T. Hood, writing in 1592 in his bookThe Vse of both the Globes, in using the wordorbe, says that the wordglobesignifies a solid body, while asphereis hollow, like two "dishes joyned by the brimme"; "The Latines properly callOrbisan Orbe"; "Moreouer the wordSphaerasignifieth that instrument made of brasen hoopes (wee call it commonly a ringed Sphere) wherewith the Astronomers deliuer unto the nouices of that Science the vnderstanding of things which they imagine in the heauen." Further, Dr. Marke Ridley in hisTreatise of Magneticall Bodies and Motions(1613), has a chapter (XIIII) "Of the distance and Orbe of the Magnets vertue," throughout which the term Orbe is retained. Sir Thomas Browne also writes of "the orb of their activities."The wordCoitio, used by Gilbert for the mutual force between magnet and iron, has been retained in its English form,coition. Gilbert evidently adopted this term after much thought. The Newtonian conception of action and reaction being necessarily equal had not dawned upon the mediæval philosophers. The termattractionhad been used in a limited sense to connote an action in which a force was conceived of as being exerted on one side only. Diogenes of Apollonia, Alexander Aphrodiseus, Democritus, and others, conceived the magnet to draw at the iron without the iron in any way contributing to that action. Saint Basil specially affirms that the magnet is not drawn by iron. On the other hand, Albertus Magnus had conceived the idea that the iron sought the magnet by a one-sided effort in which the magnet took no part. Gilbert had the wit to discern that the action was mutual, and to mark the new conception he adopted the new term, and defined it as it stands in his glossary. It is "a concourse or concordancy of both," and to emphasize his meaning he adds, "not as if there were anἑλκτικὴ δÏναμιςbut aσυνδÏομή" not a tractile power, but a running together. The adjectiveἑλκτικὴis obviously related to the verbἕλκω, I draw: but its meaning puzzled the subsequent editors of the text, for in the two Stettin editions of 1628 and 1633, the phrase appears in the respective forms ofἑλητικὴ δÏναμιςandἑλκυστικὴ δÏναμις. In Creech's English version of Lucretius (edition of 1722, p. 72a, in the footnote) is the commentary "Galen, disputing against Epicurus, uses the termἑλκεῖν, which seems likewise too violent." It may be noted that the same verb occurs in the passage from theIoof Plato quoted below. The termσυνδÏομήapplied by Gilbert to explain his termCoitiois used by Diodorus for the mutual onset of two hostile forces.A picturesque sentence from Sir Thomas Browne'sPseudodoxia Epidemica(London, 1650, p. 51) sets the matter succinctly forth. "If in two skiffs of cork, a Loadstone and Steel be placed within the orb of their activities, the one doth not move the other standing still, but both hoist sayle and steer unto each other; so that if the Loadstone attract, the Steel hath also its attraction; for in this action the Alliency is reciprocall, which jointly felt, they mutually approach and run into each others arms."The page and line references given in these notes are in all cases first to the Latin edition of 1600, and secondly to the English edition of 1900.[2]Page 1, line 28.Page 1, line 28.Plato in Ione.—The passage in theIoof Plato is in chap. v. Socrates addressing the poet Io tells him that his facility in reciting Homer is not really an art:θεία δὲ δÏναμις, á¼¥ σε κινεῖ á½¥ÏƒÏ€ÎµÏ á¼Î½ τῇ λίθῳ, ἥν Εá½Ïιπίδης μὲν Μαγνῆτιν ὠνόμασεν, οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ ἩÏάκλειαν. καὶ Î³á½°Ï á¼„Ï…Ï„Î· ἡ λίθος οὠμόνον αá½Ï„οὺς τοὺς δακτυλίους ἄγει τοὺς σιδηÏοῦς, ἀλλὰ καὶ δÏναμιν á¼Î½Ï„ίθησι τοῖς δακτυλίοις, ὤστ ἄυ δÏνασθαι ταυτὸυ τοῦτο ποιεῖν, á½…Ï€ÎµÏ á¼¡ λίθος, ἄλλους ἄγειν δακτυλίους, ὥστ' á¼Î½Î¯Î¿Î¸' á½Ïμαθὸς μακÏὸς πάνυ σιδηÏίων καὶ δακτυλίων á¼Î¾ ἀλλήλων ἤÏτηται πᾶσι δὲ τοÏτοις á¼Î¾ á¼ÎºÎµÎ¯Î½Î·Ï‚ τῆς λίθου ἡ δÏναμις ἀνήÏτηται.The idea is that as the loadstone in attracting an iron ring will make it into a magnet, which can in turn act magnetically on another ring, and this on yet another, so the inspiration of the Muse is transferred to the poet, who in turn hands on the inspiration through the reciter to the listener. After further expanding the same idea of the transference of influence, Socrates again mentions the magnet (chap. vii.):Ὄισθ' ὄυν ὅτι οá½Ï„ός á¼ÏƒÏ„ιν ὠθεατὴς τῶν δακτυλίων ὠἔσχατος, ὥν á¼Î³á½¼ ἔλεγον ὑπὸ τῆς ἩÏακλειώτιδος λίθου ἀπ' ἀλλήλων τὴν δÏναμιν λαμβάνειν, ὠδὲ μÎσος σὺ ὠῥαψωδὸς καὶ ὑποκÏιτής, ὠδὲ Ï€Ïῶτος αá½Ï„ὸς ὠποιητής; ὠδὲ θεὸς διὰ πάντων τοÏτων ἕλκει τὴν ψυχὴν ὅποι ἂν βοÏληται τῶν ἀνθÏώπων, κ.Ï„.λ.(Edition Didot of 1856, vol. i., p. 391; or Stephanus, p. 533 D).There is another reference in Plato to the magnet, namely, in theTimæus(p. 240, vol. ii., Edit. citat.). See theNoteto p.61.The reference by Euripides to the magnet occurs in the lost play of Å’neus, in a fragment preserved by Suidas. SeeFragmenta Euripidis(Ed. Didot, 1846, p. 757, or Nauck's edition, No. 567).ὡς Εá½Ïιπίδης á¼Î½ Οἰνεῖ· Ï„á½°Ï‚ βÏοτῶν γνώμας σκοπῶν, ὥστε Μαγνῆτις λίθος τὴν δόξαν ἕλκει καὶ μεθίστησιν πάλιν.[3]Page 1, line 28.Page 1, line 29. The brief passage from Aristotle'sDe Animareferring to Thales is quoted by Gilbert himself at the bottom of p.11.[4]Page 2, line 1.Page 1, line 29. The edition of 1628 inserts commas between Theophrastus and Lesbius, and between Julius and Solinus, as though these were four persons instead of two.[5]Page 2, line 8.Page 2, line 5.si allio magnes illitus fuerit, aut si adamas fuerit. An excellent version of this myth is to be found in Julius Solinus,Polyhistor, De Memorabilibus, chap. lxiv., of which the English version of 1587, by A. Golding, runs thus: "The Diamonde will not suffer the Lodestone to drawe yron unto him: or if yeLodestone haue alreadie drawne a peece of yron to it, the Diamond snatcheth and pulleth away as hys bootye whatsoever the Lodestone hath taken hold of." Saint Augustine repeats the diamond myth in hisDe Civitate Dei, lib. xxi. Baptista Porta says (p. 211 of the English version of 1658): "It is a common Opinion amongst Sea-men, That Onyons and Garlick are at odds with the Loadstone: and Steers-men, and such as tend the Mariners Card are forbid to eat Onyons or Garlick, lest they make the Index of the Poles drunk. But when I tried all these things, found them to be false: for not onely breathing and belching upon the Loadstone after eating of Garlick, did not stop its vertues: but when it was all anoynted 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 observe almost not the least difference, lest I should make void the endeavours of the Ancients.And again, When I enquired of Marines, whether it were so, that they were forbid to eat Onyons and Garlick for that reason; they said, they were old Wives fables, and things ridiculous; and that Sea-men would sooner lose their lives, then abstain from eating Onyons and Garlick."The fables respecting the antipathy of garlick and of the diamond to the operation of the magnet, although already discredited by Ruellius and by Porta, died hard. In spite of the exposure and denunciations of Gilbert—compare p.32—these tales were oft repeated during the succeeding century. In the appendix to Sir Hugh Plat'sJewel House of Art and Nature, in the edition of 1653, by D. B. Gent, it is stated there (p. 218): "The Loadstone which ... hath an admirable vertue not onely to draw Iron to it self, but also to make any Iron upon which it is rubbed to draw iron also, it is written notwithstanding, that being rubbed with the juyce of Garlick, it loseth that vertue, and cannot then draw iron, as likewise if a Diamond be layed close unto it."Pliny wrote of the alleged antipathy between diamond and goat's blood. The passage as quoted from the English version of Pliny'sNatural Historie of the World, translated by Philemon Holland (London, 1601, p. 610, chap, iv.), runs: "But I would gladly know whose invention this might be to soake the Diamond in Goats bloud, whose head devised it first, or rather by what chance was it found out and knowne? What conjecture should lead a man to make an experiment of such a singular and admirable secret, especially in a goat, the filthiest beast ... in the whole world? Certes I must ascribe both this invention and all such like to the might and beneficence together of the divine powers: neither are we to argue and reason how and why Nature hath done this or that? Sufficient is it that her will was so, and thus she would have it."[6]Page 2, line 22.Page 2, line 22.Machometis sacellum.Gilbert credits Matthiolus (the well-known herbalist and commentator on Dioscorides) with producing the fable as to Mahomet's coffin being suspended in the air by a magnet. Sir Richard Burton, in his famous pilgrimage to El Medïnah in 1855, effectually disposed of this myth. The reputed sarcophagus rests simply on bricks on the floor. But it had long been known that aerial suspension, even of the lightest iron object, in the air, without contact above or below, was impossible by any magnetic agency.In Barlowe'sMagneticall Aduertisements(London, 1616, p. 45) is the following: "As for the TurkesMahomet, hanging in the ayer with his yron chest it is a most grosse untruth, and utterly impossible it is for any thing to hange in the ayer by anymagneticallpower, but that either it must touch the stone it selfe, or else some intermediate body, that hindreth it from comming to the stone (like as before I haue shewed) or else some stay below to keepe it from ascending, as some small wier that may scantly bee seene or perceived."[7]Page 2, line 26.Page 2, line 26.Arsinoes templum.—The account in Pliny of the magnetic suspension of the statue of Arsinoe in the temple built by Chinocrates is given as follows in the English version (London, 1601) of Philemon Holland (p. 515): "And here I cannot chuse but acquaint you with the singular invention of that great architect and master deviser, of Alexandria in ÆgyptDinocrates, who began to make the arched roufe of the temple ofArsinoeall of Magnet or this Loadstone, to the end, that within that temple the statue of the said princesse made of yron, might seeme to hang in the aire by nothing. But prevented he was by deathbefore hee could finish his worke, like as kingPtolomæealso, who ordained that temple to be built in the honour of the saidArsinoehis sister."There are a number of similar myths in Ausonius, Claudian, and Cassiodorus, and in the writings of later ecclesiastical historians, such as Rusinus and Prosper Aquitanus. The very meagre accounts they have left, and the scattered references to the reputed magical powers of the loadstone, suggest that there existed amongst the primitive religions of mankind amagnet-worship, of which these records are traces.[8]Page 2, line 37.Page 2, line 41.Brasevolus[orBrasavola].—The list of authorities here cited consists mostly of well-known mediæval writers onmateria medicaor on minerals: the last on the list,Hannibal Rosetius Calaber, has not been identified.The following are the references in the order named by Gilbert:Antonio Musa Brasavola.Examen omnium simplicium medicamentorum, Section 447 (Lugdun., 1537).Joannes Baptista Montanus.Metaphrasis summaria eorum quæ ad medicamentorum doctrinà attinet(Augustæ Rheticæ, 1551).Amatus Lusitanus.Amati Lusitani in Dioscoridis Anazarbei de materia medica libros quinque(Venet., 1557, p. 507).Oribasius.Oribasii Sardiani ad Eunapium libri 4 quibus ... facultates simplicium ... continentur(Venet., 1558).Aetius Amidenus.Aetii Amideni Librorum medicinalium ... libri octo nunc primum in lucem editi(Greek text, Aldine edition, Venet., 1534). A Latin edition appeared in Basel, 1535. See also histetrabiblos ex veteribus medicinæ(Basil., 1542).Avicenna (Ibn Sinâ).Canona Medicinæ(Venice, 1486), liber ii., cap. 474.Serapio Mauritanus (Yuhanná Ibn Sarapion). In hoc volumine continentur ...Ioan. Sarapionis Arabis de Simplicibus Medicinis opus præclarum et ingens ...(edited by Brunfels, Argentorati, 1531, p. 260).Hali Abbas (’Alà Ibn Al ’AbbÄs).Liber totius medicinæ necessaria cÅtinens ... quem Haly filius Abbas edidit ... et a Stephano ex arabica lingua reductus(Lugd., 1523, p. 176verso).Santes de Ardoniis (or Ardoynis).Incipit liber de venenis quem magister santes de ardoynis ... edere cepit venetiis die octauo nouÄ“bris, 1424 (Venet., 1492).Petrus Apponensis (or Petrus de Abano). The loadstone is referred to in two works by this author.(1)Conciliator differentiarum philosophorum: et precipue medicorum clarissimi viri Petri de Abano Patauini feliciter incipit(Venet., 1496, p. 72,verso, Quæstio LI.).(2)Tractatus de Venenis(Roma, 1490, cap. xi.).Marcellus (called Marcellus Empiricus).De Medicamentis, in the volumeMedici antiqui omnes(Venet., 1547, p. 89).Arnaldus (Arnaldus de Villa Nova).Incipit Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum(Venet., 1499). See alsoArnaldi Villanovani Opera omnia(Basil., 1585).Marbodeus Gallus.Marbodei Galli poetae vetustissimi de lapidibus pretiosis Enchiridion(Friburgi, 1530 [1531], p. 41).Albertus Magnus.De Mineralibus et rebus metallicis(Venet., 1542, lib. ii.,de lapidibus preciosis, p. 192). There is a reference to the loadstonealso in a work attributed falsely to Albertus, but now ascribed to Henricus de Saxonia,De virtutibus herbarum, de virtutibus lapidum, etc. (Rouen, 1500, and subsequent editions). An English version,The Secrets of Albertus Magnus of the vertues of hearbs stones and certaine beastswas publisht in London in 1617.Matthæus Silvaticus.Pandectæ Medicinæ(Lugduni, 1541, cap. 446).Hermolaus Barbarus. His work,Hermolai Barbari Patritii Veneti et Aqvileiensis patriarchæ Corollarii Libri quinque ...Venet., 1516, is an early herbal. On p. 103 are to be found descriptions oflapis gagatisandlapis magnes. The latter is mostly taken from Pliny, and mentions the alleged theamedes, and the myth of the floating statue.Camillus Leonardus.Speculum Lapidum(Venet., 1502, fol. xxxviii.). An English translation,The Mirror of Stones, appeared in London in 1750.Cornelius Agrippa.Henrici Cor. Agrippæ ab Nettesheym ... De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres(Antv., 1531). The English versionOf the Vanitie and uncertaintie of Arteswas publisht in London, 1569, and again later.Fallopius (Gabriellus).G. F. de simplicibus medicamentis purgantibus tractatus(Venet., 1566). See also hisTractatus de compositione medicamentorum(Venet., 1570).Johannes Langius.Epistolarum medicinalium volumen tripartitum(Paris, 1589, p. 792).Cardinalis Cusanus (Nicolas Khrypffs, Cardinal de Cusa).Nicolai Cusani de staticis experimentis dialogus(Argentorati, 1550). The English edition, entitledThe Idiot in four books, is dated London, 1650.[9]Page 3, line 1.Page 2, line 42.Marcellus.—"Marcellus Empiricus, médecin de Théodose-le-Grand, dit que l'aimant, appeléantiphyson, attire et repousse le fer." (Klaproth,Sur l'invention de la boussole, 1834, p. 12.) The passage from Marcellus runs: "Magnetes lapis, qui antiphyson dicitur, qui ferrum trahit et abjicit, et magnetes lapis qui sanguinem emittit et ferrum ad se trahit, collo alligati aut circa caput dolori capitis medentur." (Marcellus,de Medicamentis: in the volumeMedici antiqui omnes, qui latinis literis morborum genera persecuti sunt. Venet., 1547, p. 89.)[10]Page 3, line 11.Page 3, line 9.Thomas Erastus.—The work in question isDispvtationvm de Medicina nova Philippi Paracelsi, Pars Prima: in qua quæ de remediis svperstitiosis & Magicis curationibus ille prodidit, præcipuè examinantur à Thoma Erasto in Schola Heydebergensi, professore. (Basiliæ, 1572. Parts 2 and 3 appeared the same year, and Part 4 in 1573.)Gilbert had no more love for Paracelsus than for Albertus Magnus or others of the magic-mongers. Indeed the few passages in Paracelsus on the magnet are sorry stuff. They will mostly be found in the seventh volume of his collected works (Opera omnia, Frankfurt, 1603). A sample may be taken from the English work publisht in London, 1650, with the title:Of the Nature of Things, Nine Books; written by Philipp Theophrastus of Hohenheim, called Paracelsvs."For any Loadstone that Mercury hath but touched, or which hath been smeered with Mercuriall oyle, or only put into Mercury will never draw Iron more" (p. 23)."The life of the Loadstone is the spirit of Iron; which may bee extracted, and taken away with spirit of Wine" (p. 32).[11]Page 3, line 13.Page 3, line 11.Encelius(orEntzelt, Christoph)wrote a work publisht in 1551 at Frankfurt, with the titleDe re metallica, hoc est, de origine, varietate, et natura corporum metallicorum, lapidum, gemmarum, atque aliarum quæ ex fodinis eruuntur, rerum, ad medicine usum deservientium, libri iii. This is written in a singular medley of Latin and German. Gilbert undoubtedly took from it many of his ideas about the properties of metals. See thenoteto p.27onplumbum album.[12]Page 3, line 20.Page 3, line 21.Thomas Aquinas.—The reference is to his commentaries upon thePhysicaof Aristotle. The passage will be found on p. 96bisof the Giunta edition (Venet., 1539). The essential part is quoted by Gilbert himself on p.64.[13]Page 3, line 39.Page 3, line 45.pyxidem.—The wordpyxis, which occurs here, and in the next sentence aspyxidem nauticam, is translatedcompass. Eleven lines lower occurs the termnautica pyxidula. This latter word, literally the "little compass," certainly refers to the portable compass used at sea. Compare several passages in Book IV. where a contrasting use is made of these terms; for example, on pp.177and202. Calcagninus,De re nautica, uses the termpyxideculafor an instrument which he describes as "vitro intecta." On p.152, line9, Gilbert uses the non-classical nouncompassus, "boreale lilium compassi (quod Boream respicit)," and again on p.178, line3.[14]Page 4, line 2.Page 4, line 2.Melphitani.—The inhabitants of Amalfi in the kingdom of Naples. The claim of the discovery or invention of the mariners' compass in the year 1302 by one Joannes Goia, or Gioia, also named as Flavio Goia, has been much disputed. In Guthrie'sNew System of Modern Geography(London, 1792, p. 1036), in the Chronology, is set down for the year 1302:"The mariner's compass invented, or improved by Givia, of Naples. The flower de luce, the arms of the Duke of Anjou, then King of Naples, was placed by him at the point of the needle, in compliment to that prince."In 1808 an elaborate treatise was printed at Naples, by Flaminius Venanson with the title,De l'invention de la Boussole Nautique. Venanson, who cites many authorities, endeavours to prove that if Gioia did not discover magnetic polarity he at least invented the compass, that is to say, he pivotted the magnetic needle and placed it in a box, with a card affixed above it divided into sixteen parts bearing the names of the sixteen principal winds. He alleges in proof that the compass-card is emblazoned in the armorial bearings of the city of Amalfi. This view was combatted in the famous letter of Klaproth to Humboldt publisht in Paris in 1834. He shows that the use of the magnetized needle was known in Europe toward the end of the twelfth century; that the Chinese knew of it and used it for finding the way on land still earlier; that there is no compass-card in the arms of the city of Amalfi; but he concedes that Gioia may have improved the compass in 1302 by adding the wind-rose card. The most recent contributions to the question are a pamphlet by Signorelli,Sull' invenzione della Bussola nautica, ragionamento di Pietro Napoli Signorelli, segretario perpetuo della Società Pontaniana; letto nella seduta del 30 settembre 1860; Matteo Camera'sMemorie Storico-diplomatiche dell' antica città e ducato di Amalfi(Salerno, 1876); and Admiral Luigi Fincati's workIl Magnete, la Calamita, e la Bussola(Roma, 1878). An older mention of Gioia is to be found in Blundevile'sExercises(3rd edition, 1606, pp. 257-258). See also Crescentiodella Nautica Mediterranea, (Roma, 1607, p. 253), and Azuni,Dissertazione sull' origine della bussola nautica(Venezia, 1797).There appears to be a slip in Gilbert's reference to Andrea Doria, as he has confounded the town of Amalfi in Principato Citra with Melfi in Basilicata.One of the sources relied upon by historians for ascribing this origin of the compass is theCompendia dell' Istoria del Regno di Napoli, of Collenuccio (Venet.,MDXCI.), p. 5."Nè in questo tacerò Amalfi, picciola terra, & capo della costa di Picentia, alia quale tutti quelli, che'l mar caualcano, vfficiosamente eterno gratie debono referire, essendo prima in quella terra trovato l'vso, & l'artificio della calamita, & del bussolo, col quale i nauiganti, la stella Tramontana infallibilmente mirando, direzzano il lor corso, si come è publica fama, & gli Amalfitani si gloriano, nè senza ragione dalli piu si crede, essendo cosa certa, che gli antichi tale instromento non hebbero; nè essendo mai in tutto falso quello, che in molto tempo è da molti si diuolga."Another account is to be found in theHistoriarum sui temporis, etc., of Paulus Jovius (Florent., 1552), tom. ii., cap. 25, p. 42."Quum essem apud Philippum superuenit Ioachinus Leuantius Ligur a Lotrechio missus, qui deposceret captiuos; sed ille negauit se daturum, quando eos ad ipsum Andream Auriam ammirantem deducendos esse iudicaret. Vgonis uerò cadauer, ut illudentium Barbarorum contumeliis eriperetur, ad Amalphim urbem delatum est, in ædeque Andreæ apostoli, tumultuariis exequiis tumulatum. In hac urbe citriorum & medicorum odoratis nemoribus æquè peramÅ“na & celebri, Magnetis usum nauigantibus hodie familiarem & necessarium, adinuentum suisse incolæ asserunt."Flavius Blondus, whom Gilbert cites, gives the following reference, in which Gioia's name is not mentioned, in the section upon Campania Felix of his Italy (Blondi Flavii Forlinensis ... Italia Illustrata, Basiliæ, 1531, p. 420)."Sed fama est qua Amalphitanos audiuimus gloriari, magnetis usum, cuius adminiculo nauigantes ad arcton diriguntur, Amalphi suisse inuentum, quicquid uero habeat in ea re ueritas, certû est id noctu nauigandi auxilium priscis omnino suisse incognitum."There is a further reference to the alleged Amalphian in Caelius CalcagninusDe re nautica commentatio. (See Thesaurus Græcarum Antiquitatum, 1697, vol. xi., p. 761.) On the other hand Baptista Porta, who wrote in Naples in 1558 (Magia Naturalis) distinctly sets aside the claim as baseless.William Barlowe, inThe Navigators Supply(1597, p. A3), says: "Who was the first inuentor of this Instrument miraculous, and endued, as it were, with life, can hardly be found. The lame tale of oneFlauiusatAmelphis, in the kingdome ofNaples, for to haue deuised it, is of very slender probabilitie.Pandulph Collenutiuswriting the Neapolitane historie telleth vs, that they ofAmelphissay, it is a common opinion there, that it was first found out among them. ButPolidore Virgil, who searched most diligently for the Inuentors of things, could neuer heare of this opinion (yet himselfe being an Italian) and as he confesseth in the later ende of his third bookede inventoribus rerum, could neuer vnderstand anything concerning the first inuention of this instrument."According to Park Benjamin (Intellectual Rise in Electricity, p. 146) the use of the pivotted compass arose and spread not from Amalfi at the hands of Italians in the fourteenth century, but from Wisbuy, at the hands of the Finns, in the middle of the twelfth century.Hakewill (An Apologie or Declaration of the Power and Providence of God, London, 1673, pp. 284-285) says:"ButBlondus, who is therein followed byPancirollus, bothItalians, will not haueItalyloose the praise thereof, telling vs that about 300 yeares agoe it was found out at Malphis or Melphis, a Citty in the Kingdome ofNaplesin theProvinceofCampania, now calledTerra di Lovorador. But for the Author of it, the one names him not, and the other assures vs, he is not knowne: yetSalmuthout ofCiezus & Gomaraconfidently christens him with the name ofFlavius, and so dothDu Bartasin those excellent verses of his touching this subject."'W' are not toCeresso much bound for bread,Neither toBacchusfor his clusters red,As SigniorFlavioto thy witty tryall,For first inventing of the Sea-mans dyall,Th' vse of the needle turning in the same,Divine device, O admirable frame!'"It may well be then thatFlaviustheMelvitanwas the first inventor of guiding the ship by the turning of the needle to theNorth: but someGermanafterwards added to theCompassethe 32 points of the winde in his owne language, whence other Nations haue since borrowed it."[15]Page 4, line 14.Page 4, line 14.Paulum Venetum.—The reference is to Marco Polo. He returned in 1295 from his famous voyage to Cathay. But the oft-repeated tale that he first introduced the knowledge of the compass into Europe on his return is disposed of by several well-established facts. Klaproth (op. citat., p. 57) adduces a mention of its use in 1240 in the Eastern Mediterranean, recorded in a work written in 1242 by Bailak of Kibdjak. And the passages in the Iceland Chronicle, and in Alexander of Neckham are still earlier.[16]Page 4, line 17.Page 4, line 17.Goropius. SeeHispanica Ioannis Goropii Becani(Plantin edition, Antv., 1580), p. 29. This is a discussion of the etymologies of the names of the points of the compass: but is quite unauthoritative.[17]Page 4, line 23.Page 4, line 26.Paruaim.—Respecting this reference, Sir Philip Magnus has kindly furnisht the following note. A clue to the meaning ofParvaim, which should be written in English letters with av, not au, will be found in2 Chronicles, iii. 6. In the verse quoted the author speaks of gold as the gold of Parvaim,וְהַזָּהָב זְהַב פַּרְוָיִ×‎, andפּרוי×‎ Parvaim is taken as a gold-producing region. It is regarded by some as the same as Ophir. The word is supposed to be cognate with a Sanskrit wordpûrvasignifying "prior, anterior, oriental." There is nothing in the root indicating gold. A form similar to Parvaim, and also a proper name, is Sepharvaim, found in2 Kings, xix. 13, and inIsaiah, xxxvii. 13, and supposed to be the name of a city in Assyria.[18]Page 4, line 35.Page 4, line 41. Cabot's observation of the variation of the compass is narrated in theGeografiaof Livio Sanuto (Vinegia, 1588, lib. i., fol. 2). See also Fournier'sHydrographie, lib. xi., cap. 10.[19]Page 4, line 36.Page 4, line 42.Gonzalus Oviedus.—The reference is to Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdès.Summario de la Historia general y natural de las Indias occidentales, 1525, p. 48, where the author speaks of the crossing of "la linea del Diametro, donde las Agujas hacen ladiferencia del Nordestear, ò Noroestear, que es el parage de las Islas de los Açores."[20]Page 5, line 8.Page 5, line 11.Petri cujusdam Peregrini.—This opusculum is the famous letter of Peter Peregrinus written in 1269, of which some twenty manuscript copies exist in various libraries in Oxford, Rome, Paris, etc., and of which the oldest printed edition is that of 1558 (Augsburg). See also Libri,Histoire des Sciences Mathématiques(1838); Bertelli in Boncompagni'sBull. d. Bibliogr.T. I. and T. IV. (1868 and 1871), and Hellmann'sRara Magnetica(1898). A summary of the contents of Peregrinus's book will be found in Park Benjamin'sIntellectual Rise in Electricity(1895), pp. 164-185.[21]Page 5, line 12.Page 5, line 15.Johannes Taisner Hannonius.—Taisnier, or Taysnier, of Hainault, was a plagiarist who took most of the treatise of Peregrinus and publisht it in hisOpusculum... de Natura Magnetis(Coloniæ, 1562), of which an English translation by Richard Eden was printed by R. Jugge in 1579.[22]Page 5, line 18.Page 5, line 23.Collegium Conimbricense.—This is a reference to the commentaries on Aristotle by the Jesuits of Coimbra. The work isColegio de Coimbra da Companhia de Jesu, Cursus Conimbricensis in Octo libros Physicorum(Coloniæ, sumptibus Lazari Ratzneri, 1599). Other editions: Lugd. 1594; and Colon., 1596. The later edition of 1609, in the British Museum, has the titleCommentariorum Collegii Conimbricensis in octo libros physicorum.[23]Page 5, line 25.Page 5, line 31.Martinus Cortesius.—HisArte de Navegar(Sevilla, 1556) went through various editions in Spanish, Italian, and English. Eden's translation was publisht 1561, and again in 1609.[24]Page 5, line 26.Page 5, line 33.Bessardus.—Toussaincte de Bessard wrote a treatise,Dialogue de la Longitude(Rouen, 1574), which gives some useful notes of nautical practice, and of the French construction of the compass. Speaking of the needle he says: "Elle ne tire pas au pole du monde: ains regarde, au Pole du Zodiaque, comme il sera discoursu, cy apres" (p. 34). On p. 50 he speaks of "l'aiguille Aymantine." On p. 108 he refers to Mercator'sCarte Générale, and denies the existence of the alleged loadstone rock. On p. 15 he gives the most naïve etymologies for the terms used: thus he assigns as the derivation ofSudthe Latinsudor, because the south is hot, and as that ofOuestthat it comes fromOuandEst. "Come, qui diroit, Ou est-il? à scauoir le Soleil, qui estoit nagueres sur la terre."[25]Page 5, line 28.Page 5, line 35.Jacobus Severtius.—Jacques Severt, whose work,De Orbis Catoptrici sev mapparvm mvndi principiis descriptione ac usu libri tres(Paris, 1598), would have probably lapsed into obscurity, but being just newly publisht was mentioned by Gilbert for its follies.[26]Page 5, line 30.Page 5, line 38.Robertus Norman.—Author of the rare volumeThe Newe Attractiue, publisht in London, 1581, and several times reprinted. This work contains an account of Norman's discovery of the Dip of the magnetic needle, and of his investigation of it by means of the Dipping-needle, which he invented. He was a compassmaker of the port of London, and lived at Limehouse.[27]Page 5, line 32.Page 5, line 40.Franciscus Maurolycus.—The work to which the myth of the magnetic mountains is thus credited is,D. Francisci Abbatis Messanensis Opuscula Mathematica, etc. (Venet,MDLXXV, p. 122a). "Sed cur sagitta, vel obelus à vero Septentrione, quandoque ad dextram,quandoque ad sinistram declinat? An quia sagitta, sicut magnes (cuius est simia) non verum Septentrionem, sed insulam quandam (quam Olaus Magnus Gothus in sua geographia vocat insulam magnetum) semper ex natura inspicere cogitur?"[28]Page 5, line 35.Page 5, line 43.Olaus Magnus.—The famous Archbishop of Upsala, who wrote the history of the northern nations (Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus), of which the best edition, illustrated with many woodcuts, appeared in Rome in 1555. An English edition entitledA Compendious History of the Goths, Swedes, and Vandals, and Other Northern Nationswas printed in London in 1658; but it is much abbreviated and has none of the quaint woodcuts. The reference on p.5appears to be to the following passage on p. 409 (ed. 1555). "Demum in suppolaribus insulis magnetum montes reperiuntur, quorum fragmentis ligna fagina certo tempore applicata, in saxeam duritiem, et vim attractivam convertuntur," or the following on p. 89: "Magnetes enim in extremo Septentrionis veluti montes, unde nautica directio constat, reperiuntur: quorum etiam magnetum tam vehemens est operatio, ut certis lignis fagineis conjuncti, ea vertunt in sui duritiem, & naturam attractivam." On p. 343 is a woodcut depicting the penalties inflicted by the naval laws upon any one who should maliciously tamper with the compass or the loadstone, "qui malitiosè nauticum gnomonem, aut compassum, & præcipuè portionem magnetis, unde omnium directio dependet, falsaverit." He was to be pinned to the mast by a dagger thrust through his hand. It will be noted that the ships carried both a compass, and a piece of loadstone wherewith to stroke the needle.There is in the Basel edition of this work, 1567, a notead lectorem, on the margin of Carta 16a, as follows:"Insula 30 milliarium in longitud. & latitud. Polo arctico subjecta."Vltra quam directorium nauticum bossolo dicÅ© uires amittit: propterea quòd ilia insula plena est magnetum."This myth of the magnetic mountains, probably originating with Nicander, appears, possibly from an independent source, in the East, in China, and in the tales of the Arabian Nights.Ptolemy gives the following account in hisGeographia(lib. vii., cap. 2):ΦÎÏονται δὲ καὶ ἄλλαι συνεχεῖς δÎκα νῆσοι καλοÏμεναι Μανίολαι á¼Î½ ἄις φάσι Ï„á½° σιδήÏους ἔχοντα ἥλους πλοῖα κατÎχεσθαι, μήποτε τῆς ἩÏικλείας λίθου πεÏὶ αá½Ï„á½°Ï‚ γενομÎνης, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο á¼Ï€Î¹Î¿ÏÏοις ναυπηγεῖσθαι.Some editions omit the name of the Manioles from the passage.No two authorities agree as to the place of these alleged magnetic mountains. Some place them in the Red Sea. Fracastorio,De Sympathia et Antipathia, cap. 7 (Opera omnia, Giunta edition, 1574, p. 63), gives the following reason for the variation of the compass:"Nos igitur diligentius rem considerãtes dicimus causam, qËœperpendiculum illud ad polum vertatur, esse montes ferri, & magnetis, qui sub polo sunt, vt negociatores affirmant, quorum species per incredibilem distantiam vsque ad maria nostra propagata ad perpendiculum vsq;, vbi est magnes, consuetam attractionem facit: propter distantiam autem quum debilis sit, non moueret quidem magnetem, nisi esset in perpendiculo: quare & si non trahit vsq; ac. principium, vnde effluxit, at mouet tamẽ, & propinquiorem facit, quo potest. Quod si naues sorte vllæ propinquiores sint illis montibus, ferrum omne earÅ© cuellitur, propter quod nauigijs incolæ vtuntur clauis ligneis astrictis."In the last chapter of hisDe Sympathia, Fracastorio returns to the subjectin consequence of some doubts expressed by Giambattista Rhamnusio, seeing that the loadstones in the Island of Elba do not sensibly deflect the magnet. Fracastorio replies thus (p. 76,op. citat.):"Primum igitur vtrum sub Polo sint. Magnetis mõtes, nec ne, sub ambiguo relinquamus, scimus enim esse, qui scribãt planas magis esse eas regiones, de quo Paulus Iouius EpËœus Nucerinus Luculẽtus historiarÅ© nostri tẽporis scriptor, circa eã Sarmatiæ partem, quæ Moscouia nÅ©c dicitur, diligentẽ inquisitionem ab incolis fecit, qui ne eos etiã inueniri montes retulere, qui Rhyphei ab antiquis dicti sunt: meminimus tamẽ nos quasdam chartas vidisse earum, quas mundi mappas appellãt, in quibus sub polo montes notati erant (qui Magnetis montes inscripti fuerant). Siue igitur sint, siue non sint ij montes, nihil ad nos in præsentiarum attinet, quando per montes polo subiectos cathenam illam montium intelligimus, qui ad septentrionem spectant tanti, & tam vasti, ac Ferri & Magnetis feraces: qui, & si magis distant à nostro mari, qËœIluæ insulæ montes, potentiores tamen sunt ad mouendum perpendiculum propter abundantiam & copiã Ferri, & Magnetis. Fortasse autem, & qui in Ilua est Magnes, non multæ actionis est in ea minera: multi enim dÅ© in minera sunt, minus valent, qËœextracti, qËœspirituales species sua habeant impedimenta: signum autem parum valere in sua minera Iluæ insulæ Magnetem, qËœtam propinquus quum sit nauigijs illac prætereuntibus, perpendiculum tamen non ad se cõuertit."Aldrovandi in theMusæum Metallicum(Bonon., 1648, p. 554) gives another version of the fable:"Nonnulli, animadversa hac Magnetis natura, scripserunt naves, quibus in Calecutanam regionem navigatur, clavis ferreis non figi, ob magneticorum frequentiam scopulorum, quoniam facilè dissolverentur. Sed Garzias in Historia Aromatum id fabulosum esse tradidit: quandoquidem plures naues Calecutanæ regionis, & illius tractus, ferreis clauis iunctas obseruauit: immò addidit naues in insulis Maldiuis ligneis quidem clauis copulari, non quia à Magnete sibi metuant, sed quoniam ferri inopia laborant."According to Aldrovandi (p. 563,op. citat.) the magnetic mountains are stated by Sir John Mandeville to be in the region of Pontus.Lipenius in hisNavigatio Salomonis Ophritica illustrata(Witteb., 1660), which is a mine of curious learning, in discussing the magnetic mountains quotes the reply of Socrates to the inquirer who asked him as to what went on in the infernal regions, saying that he had never been there nor had he ever met any one who had returned thence.The loadstone rock figures in several early charts. In Nordenskiöld'sFacsimile Atlas(Stockholm, 1889) is given a copy of the Map of Johan Ruysch from an edition of Ptolemy, publisht in Rome in 1508, which shows four islands within the ice-bound Arctic regions. South of these islands and at the east of the coast of Greenland is the inscription:Hic compassus navium non tenet, nec naves quæ ferrum tenent revertere valent.To which (on p. 63) Nordenskiöld adds the comment:Sagan on magnetberg, som skulle draga till sig fartyg förande jern, är gamal.And he recalls the reference of Ptolemy to the magnetic rocks in the Manioles. A second inscription is added to Ruysch's map in the ornamental margin that borders the Arctic islands.Legere est in libro de inventione fortunati sub polo arctico rupem esse excelsam ex lapide magnete 33 miliarium germanorum ambitu.This refers to a matter recorded in Hakluyt'sPrincipall Navigations(Lond., 1589, p. 249), namely: "A Testimonie of the learned Mathematician, maister John Dee,touching the foresaid voyage of Nicholas de Linna. Anno 1360 a frier of Oxford, being a good Astronomer, went in companie with others to the most Northren islands of the world, and there leaving his company together, he travelled alone, and purposely described all the Northern islands, with the indrawing seas: and the record thereof at his return he delivered to the king of England. The name of which booke isInventio Fortunata(aliter fortunæ)qui liber incipit a gradu 54 usq. ad polum."The situation of the alleged loadstone rock is thus described by T. Blundevile in hisExercisesin the chapter entitledA plaine and full description of Peter Plancius his vniuersall Map, seruing both for sea and land, and by him lately put foorth in the yeare of our Lord, 1592.... Written in our mother tongue by M. Blundeuill, Anno Domini 1594. The passage is quoted from p. 253 of the third edition (1606):"Now betwixt the 72. and 86. degrees of North latitude he setteth downe two long Ilands extending from the West towardes the East somewhat beyond the first Meridian, and from the saide Meridian more Eastward he setteth downe other two long Ilandes ... and hee saith further that right under the North pole there is a certaine blacke and most high rocke which hath in circuite thirtie and three leagues, which is nintie and nine miles, and that the long Iland next to the Pole on the West is the best and most healthfull of all the North parts. Next to the foresaide Ilandes more Southward hee setteth downe the Ilandes of Crocklande and Groynelande, making them to haue a farre longer and more slender shape then all other mappes doe.... Moreouer at the East end of the last Ilande somewhat to the Southwarde, he placeth the Pole of the Lodestone which is called in Latine Magnes, euen as Mercator doth in his Mappe who supposing the first Meridian to passe through Saint Marie or Saint Michael, which are two of the outermost Ilandes of the Azores Eastwarde, placeth the Pole of the stone in the seuentie fiue degree of Latitude, but supposing the first Meridian to passe through the Ile Coruo, which is the furthest Ile of the Azores Westwarde, he placeth the Pole of the Lodestone in the seuentie seuen degree of Latitude."Further, in the chapter onThe Arte of Nauigationin the same work (p. 332,ed. citat.), Blundevile says:"But whereas Mercator affirmeth that there should bee a mine or great rocke of Adamant, wherunto all other lesser rockes or Needles touched with the Lodestone doe incline as to their chiefe fountaine, that opinion seemeth to mee verie straunge, for truely I rather beleeue with Robert Norman that the properties of the Stone, as well in drawing steele, as in shewing the North Pole, are secret vertues given of GOD to that stone for mans necessarie vse and behoofe, of which secrete vertues no man is able to shewe the true cause."The following is one of the inscriptions in the compartments of the great Chart of Mercator entitledAd Usum Navigantium, published in 1569:"Testatur Franciscus Diepanus peritissimus nauarchus volubiles libellas, magnetis virtute infectas recta mundi polum respicere in insulis C. Viridis, Solis, Bonauista, et Maio, cui proxime astipulantur qui in Tercera, aut S. Maria (insulæ sunt inter Açores) id fieri dicunt, pauci in earundem occidentalissima Corvi nomine id contingere opinantur. Quia vero locorum longitudinis a communi magnetis et mundi meridiano iustis de causis initium sumere oportet, plurium testimonium sequutus primum meridianum per dictas C. Viridis insulas protraxi, et quum alibi plus minusque a polo deuiantemagnete polum aliquum peculiarem esse oporteat quo magnetes ex omni mundi parte despiciant, euum hoc quo assignaui loco existere adhibita declinatione magnetis Ratisbonæ obseruata didici. Supputaui autem eius poli situm etiam respectu insulæ Corui, ut iuxta extremo primi meridiani positus extremi etiam termini, intra quos polum hunc inueniri necesse est, conspicui fierent, donec certius aliquod nauclerorum obseruatio attulerit."Not all the map-makers were as frank as Paulus Merula, the author of aCosmographia Generalis, printed by Plantin in 1605, at Leyden. For in the description of histabula universalis(op. citat.lib. iii., cap. 9) he says that he does not believe in the magnetic islands; but that he has put them into his chart lest unskilful folk should think that he had been so careless as to leave them out!In the well-known myth of Ogier the Dane, immortalized by William Morris in theEarthly Paradise(London, 1869, vol. i., p. 625), the loadstone rock is an island in the far North. But this story is not one of the Scandinavian sagas, and belongs to the Carlovingian cycle of heroic poems, of which the chief is theChanson de Roland; and Ogier le Danois is really not a Dane but anArdennois.In the Middle-High German epic of Kudrun, the adventures of the fleet of Queen Hilda when attracted by the loadstone mountain at Givers, in the North Sea, are narrated at some length. (SeeKudrun, herausgegeben und erklärt von Ernst Martin. Halle, 1872.) One stanza will serve as a sample:
[1]THE GLOSSARY:
Gilbert's glossary is practically an apology for the introduction into the Latin language of certain new words, such as the nounsterrella,versorium, andverticitas, and the adjectival nounmagneticum, which either did not exist in classical Latin or had not the technical meaning which he now assigns to them. Histerrella, orμικÏόγη, as he explains in detail on p. 13, is a little magnetic model of the earth, but in the glossary he simply defines it asmagnes globosus. Neitherterrellanorversoriumappears in any Latin dictionary. No older writer had used either word, though Peter Peregrinus (De Magnete, Augsburg, 1558) had described experiments with globular loadstones, and pivotted magnetic needles suitable for use in a compass had been known for nearly three centuries. Yet the pivotted needle was not denominatedversorium. Blondo (De Ventis, Venice, 1546) does not use the term. Norman (The Newe Attractiue, London, 1581) speaks of the "needle or compasse," and of the "wyre." Barlowe (The Navigators Supply, London, 1597) speaks ofthe "flie," or the "wier." The termversorium(literally, theturn-about) is Gilbert's own invention. It was at once adopted into the science, and appears in the treatises of Cabeus,Philosophia Magnetica(Ferrara, 1629), and of Kircher,Magnes sive de Arte Magnetica(Coloniæ, 1643), and other writers of the seventeenth century. Curiously enough, its adoption to denote the pivotted magnetic needle led to the growth of an erroneous suggestion that the mariners' compass was known to the ancients because of the occurrence in the writings of Plautus of the termversoriam, orvorsoriam. This appears twice as the accusative case of a feminine nounversoria, orvorsoria, which was used to denote part of the gear of a ship used in tacking-about. Forcellini definesversoriaas "funiculus quo extremus veli angulus religatur"; whileversoriam capereis equivalent to "reverti," or (metaphorically) "sententiam mutare." The two passages in Plautus are:
Eut.Si huc item properes, ut istuc properas, facias rectius,Huc secundus ventus nunc est; cape modo vorsoriam;Hic Favonius serenu'st, istic Auster imbricus:Hic facit tranquillitatem, iste omnes fluctus conciet.(inMercat.Act. V., sc. 2.)
Eut.Si huc item properes, ut istuc properas, facias rectius,Huc secundus ventus nunc est; cape modo vorsoriam;Hic Favonius serenu'st, istic Auster imbricus:Hic facit tranquillitatem, iste omnes fluctus conciet.(inMercat.Act. V., sc. 2.)
Eut.Si huc item properes, ut istuc properas, facias rectius,
Huc secundus ventus nunc est; cape modo vorsoriam;
Hic Favonius serenu'st, istic Auster imbricus:
Hic facit tranquillitatem, iste omnes fluctus conciet.
(inMercat.Act. V., sc. 2.)
Charm.Stasime, fac te propere celerem recipe te ad dominum domum;. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cape vorsoriamRecipe te ad herum.(inTrinum.Act. IV., sc. 3.)
Charm.Stasime, fac te propere celerem recipe te ad dominum domum;. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cape vorsoriamRecipe te ad herum.(inTrinum.Act. IV., sc. 3.)
Charm.Stasime, fac te propere celerem recipe te ad dominum domum;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cape vorsoriam
Recipe te ad herum.
(inTrinum.Act. IV., sc. 3.)
The wordmagneticumis also of Gilbert's own coinage, as a noun; as an adjective it had been certainly used before, at least in its English form,magneticall, which appears on the title-page of William Borough'sDiscourse of the Variation of the Compasse(London, 1596). Gilbert does not use anywhere the nounmagnetismus,magnetism. The first use of that noun occurs in William Barlowe'sMagneticall Aduertisements(1616), in theEpistle Dedicatorie, wherein, when speaking of Dr. Gilbert, he says "vnto whom I communicated what I had obserued of my selfe, and what I had built vpon his foundation of theMagnetismeof the earth." Gilbert speaks of thevirtus magnetica, orvis magnetica; indeed, he has a rich vocabulary of terms, using, besidevirtusandvis,vires,robur,potestas,potentia,efficientia, andvigorfor that which we should now callmagnetismorthe magnetic forces. Nor does he use the verbmagnetisare, or its participle,magnetisatus: he speaks offerrum tactum, or offerrum excitatum a magnete. In spite of certain obscurities which occur in places in his work, he certainly shows a nice appreciation of words and their use, and a knowledge of style. One finds occasionally direct quotations from, and overt references to, the classic authors, as in the references to Plato and Aristotle on page1, and in the passage from the Georgics of Vergil on p.21. But here and there one finds other traces of unmistakable scholarship, as in the reference to goat's wool on p.35, or in the use, on p.210, of the wordperplacet, which occurs in the letter of Ciceroad Atticum, or in that ofcommonstrabit, occurring on p.203, and found only in Cicero, Terence and Plautus; whilst the phrase on p.3, in which Gilbert rallies the smatterers on having lost both their oil and their pains, has a delightfully classical echo.The termorbis virtutis, defined by Gilbert in the glossary, and illustrated by the cuts on pages76,77, and96, might be effectively translated bysphere of influence, ororbit within which there is sensible attraction. It has been preferred, however, to translate it literally as theorbe of virtue, ororbe of magnetick virtue. This choice has been determined by the desire to adopt such an English phrase as Gilbert would himself have used had he been writing English. T. Hood, writing in 1592 in his bookThe Vse of both the Globes, in using the wordorbe, says that the wordglobesignifies a solid body, while asphereis hollow, like two "dishes joyned by the brimme"; "The Latines properly callOrbisan Orbe"; "Moreouer the wordSphaerasignifieth that instrument made of brasen hoopes (wee call it commonly a ringed Sphere) wherewith the Astronomers deliuer unto the nouices of that Science the vnderstanding of things which they imagine in the heauen." Further, Dr. Marke Ridley in hisTreatise of Magneticall Bodies and Motions(1613), has a chapter (XIIII) "Of the distance and Orbe of the Magnets vertue," throughout which the term Orbe is retained. Sir Thomas Browne also writes of "the orb of their activities."
The wordCoitio, used by Gilbert for the mutual force between magnet and iron, has been retained in its English form,coition. Gilbert evidently adopted this term after much thought. The Newtonian conception of action and reaction being necessarily equal had not dawned upon the mediæval philosophers. The termattractionhad been used in a limited sense to connote an action in which a force was conceived of as being exerted on one side only. Diogenes of Apollonia, Alexander Aphrodiseus, Democritus, and others, conceived the magnet to draw at the iron without the iron in any way contributing to that action. Saint Basil specially affirms that the magnet is not drawn by iron. On the other hand, Albertus Magnus had conceived the idea that the iron sought the magnet by a one-sided effort in which the magnet took no part. Gilbert had the wit to discern that the action was mutual, and to mark the new conception he adopted the new term, and defined it as it stands in his glossary. It is "a concourse or concordancy of both," and to emphasize his meaning he adds, "not as if there were anἑλκτικὴ δÏναμιςbut aσυνδÏομή" not a tractile power, but a running together. The adjectiveἑλκτικὴis obviously related to the verbἕλκω, I draw: but its meaning puzzled the subsequent editors of the text, for in the two Stettin editions of 1628 and 1633, the phrase appears in the respective forms ofἑλητικὴ δÏναμιςandἑλκυστικὴ δÏναμις. In Creech's English version of Lucretius (edition of 1722, p. 72a, in the footnote) is the commentary "Galen, disputing against Epicurus, uses the termἑλκεῖν, which seems likewise too violent." It may be noted that the same verb occurs in the passage from theIoof Plato quoted below. The termσυνδÏομήapplied by Gilbert to explain his termCoitiois used by Diodorus for the mutual onset of two hostile forces.
A picturesque sentence from Sir Thomas Browne'sPseudodoxia Epidemica(London, 1650, p. 51) sets the matter succinctly forth. "If in two skiffs of cork, a Loadstone and Steel be placed within the orb of their activities, the one doth not move the other standing still, but both hoist sayle and steer unto each other; so that if the Loadstone attract, the Steel hath also its attraction; for in this action the Alliency is reciprocall, which jointly felt, they mutually approach and run into each others arms."The page and line references given in these notes are in all cases first to the Latin edition of 1600, and secondly to the English edition of 1900.
[2]Page 1, line 28.Page 1, line 28.Plato in Ione.—The passage in theIoof Plato is in chap. v. Socrates addressing the poet Io tells him that his facility in reciting Homer is not really an art:θεία δὲ δÏναμις, á¼¥ σε κινεῖ á½¥ÏƒÏ€ÎµÏ á¼Î½ τῇ λίθῳ, ἥν Εá½Ïιπίδης μὲν Μαγνῆτιν ὠνόμασεν, οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ ἩÏάκλειαν. καὶ Î³á½°Ï á¼„Ï…Ï„Î· ἡ λίθος οὠμόνον αá½Ï„οὺς τοὺς δακτυλίους ἄγει τοὺς σιδηÏοῦς, ἀλλὰ καὶ δÏναμιν á¼Î½Ï„ίθησι τοῖς δακτυλίοις, ὤστ ἄυ δÏνασθαι ταυτὸυ τοῦτο ποιεῖν, á½…Ï€ÎµÏ á¼¡ λίθος, ἄλλους ἄγειν δακτυλίους, ὥστ' á¼Î½Î¯Î¿Î¸' á½Ïμαθὸς μακÏὸς πάνυ σιδηÏίων καὶ δακτυλίων á¼Î¾ ἀλλήλων ἤÏτηται πᾶσι δὲ τοÏτοις á¼Î¾ á¼ÎºÎµÎ¯Î½Î·Ï‚ τῆς λίθου ἡ δÏναμις ἀνήÏτηται.The idea is that as the loadstone in attracting an iron ring will make it into a magnet, which can in turn act magnetically on another ring, and this on yet another, so the inspiration of the Muse is transferred to the poet, who in turn hands on the inspiration through the reciter to the listener. After further expanding the same idea of the transference of influence, Socrates again mentions the magnet (chap. vii.):Ὄισθ' ὄυν ὅτι οá½Ï„ός á¼ÏƒÏ„ιν ὠθεατὴς τῶν δακτυλίων ὠἔσχατος, ὥν á¼Î³á½¼ ἔλεγον ὑπὸ τῆς ἩÏακλειώτιδος λίθου ἀπ' ἀλλήλων τὴν δÏναμιν λαμβάνειν, ὠδὲ μÎσος σὺ ὠῥαψωδὸς καὶ ὑποκÏιτής, ὠδὲ Ï€Ïῶτος αá½Ï„ὸς ὠποιητής; ὠδὲ θεὸς διὰ πάντων τοÏτων ἕλκει τὴν ψυχὴν ὅποι ἂν βοÏληται τῶν ἀνθÏώπων, κ.Ï„.λ.(Edition Didot of 1856, vol. i., p. 391; or Stephanus, p. 533 D).
There is another reference in Plato to the magnet, namely, in theTimæus(p. 240, vol. ii., Edit. citat.). See theNoteto p.61.
The reference by Euripides to the magnet occurs in the lost play of Å’neus, in a fragment preserved by Suidas. SeeFragmenta Euripidis(Ed. Didot, 1846, p. 757, or Nauck's edition, No. 567).
ὡς Εá½Ïιπίδης á¼Î½ Οἰνεῖ· Ï„á½°Ï‚ βÏοτῶν γνώμας σκοπῶν, ὥστε Μαγνῆτις λίθος τὴν δόξαν ἕλκει καὶ μεθίστησιν πάλιν.
[3]Page 1, line 28.Page 1, line 29. The brief passage from Aristotle'sDe Animareferring to Thales is quoted by Gilbert himself at the bottom of p.11.
[4]Page 2, line 1.Page 1, line 29. The edition of 1628 inserts commas between Theophrastus and Lesbius, and between Julius and Solinus, as though these were four persons instead of two.
[5]Page 2, line 8.Page 2, line 5.si allio magnes illitus fuerit, aut si adamas fuerit. An excellent version of this myth is to be found in Julius Solinus,Polyhistor, De Memorabilibus, chap. lxiv., of which the English version of 1587, by A. Golding, runs thus: "The Diamonde will not suffer the Lodestone to drawe yron unto him: or if yeLodestone haue alreadie drawne a peece of yron to it, the Diamond snatcheth and pulleth away as hys bootye whatsoever the Lodestone hath taken hold of." Saint Augustine repeats the diamond myth in hisDe Civitate Dei, lib. xxi. Baptista Porta says (p. 211 of the English version of 1658): "It is a common Opinion amongst Sea-men, That Onyons and Garlick are at odds with the Loadstone: and Steers-men, and such as tend the Mariners Card are forbid to eat Onyons or Garlick, lest they make the Index of the Poles drunk. But when I tried all these things, found them to be false: for not onely breathing and belching upon the Loadstone after eating of Garlick, did not stop its vertues: but when it was all anoynted 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 observe almost not the least difference, lest I should make void the endeavours of the Ancients.And again, When I enquired of Marines, whether it were so, that they were forbid to eat Onyons and Garlick for that reason; they said, they were old Wives fables, and things ridiculous; and that Sea-men would sooner lose their lives, then abstain from eating Onyons and Garlick."
The fables respecting the antipathy of garlick and of the diamond to the operation of the magnet, although already discredited by Ruellius and by Porta, died hard. In spite of the exposure and denunciations of Gilbert—compare p.32—these tales were oft repeated during the succeeding century. In the appendix to Sir Hugh Plat'sJewel House of Art and Nature, in the edition of 1653, by D. B. Gent, it is stated there (p. 218): "The Loadstone which ... hath an admirable vertue not onely to draw Iron to it self, but also to make any Iron upon which it is rubbed to draw iron also, it is written notwithstanding, that being rubbed with the juyce of Garlick, it loseth that vertue, and cannot then draw iron, as likewise if a Diamond be layed close unto it."
Pliny wrote of the alleged antipathy between diamond and goat's blood. The passage as quoted from the English version of Pliny'sNatural Historie of the World, translated by Philemon Holland (London, 1601, p. 610, chap, iv.), runs: "But I would gladly know whose invention this might be to soake the Diamond in Goats bloud, whose head devised it first, or rather by what chance was it found out and knowne? What conjecture should lead a man to make an experiment of such a singular and admirable secret, especially in a goat, the filthiest beast ... in the whole world? Certes I must ascribe both this invention and all such like to the might and beneficence together of the divine powers: neither are we to argue and reason how and why Nature hath done this or that? Sufficient is it that her will was so, and thus she would have it."
[6]Page 2, line 22.Page 2, line 22.Machometis sacellum.Gilbert credits Matthiolus (the well-known herbalist and commentator on Dioscorides) with producing the fable as to Mahomet's coffin being suspended in the air by a magnet. Sir Richard Burton, in his famous pilgrimage to El Medïnah in 1855, effectually disposed of this myth. The reputed sarcophagus rests simply on bricks on the floor. But it had long been known that aerial suspension, even of the lightest iron object, in the air, without contact above or below, was impossible by any magnetic agency.
In Barlowe'sMagneticall Aduertisements(London, 1616, p. 45) is the following: "As for the TurkesMahomet, hanging in the ayer with his yron chest it is a most grosse untruth, and utterly impossible it is for any thing to hange in the ayer by anymagneticallpower, but that either it must touch the stone it selfe, or else some intermediate body, that hindreth it from comming to the stone (like as before I haue shewed) or else some stay below to keepe it from ascending, as some small wier that may scantly bee seene or perceived."
[7]Page 2, line 26.Page 2, line 26.Arsinoes templum.—The account in Pliny of the magnetic suspension of the statue of Arsinoe in the temple built by Chinocrates is given as follows in the English version (London, 1601) of Philemon Holland (p. 515): "And here I cannot chuse but acquaint you with the singular invention of that great architect and master deviser, of Alexandria in ÆgyptDinocrates, who began to make the arched roufe of the temple ofArsinoeall of Magnet or this Loadstone, to the end, that within that temple the statue of the said princesse made of yron, might seeme to hang in the aire by nothing. But prevented he was by deathbefore hee could finish his worke, like as kingPtolomæealso, who ordained that temple to be built in the honour of the saidArsinoehis sister."
There are a number of similar myths in Ausonius, Claudian, and Cassiodorus, and in the writings of later ecclesiastical historians, such as Rusinus and Prosper Aquitanus. The very meagre accounts they have left, and the scattered references to the reputed magical powers of the loadstone, suggest that there existed amongst the primitive religions of mankind amagnet-worship, of which these records are traces.
[8]Page 2, line 37.Page 2, line 41.Brasevolus[orBrasavola].—The list of authorities here cited consists mostly of well-known mediæval writers onmateria medicaor on minerals: the last on the list,Hannibal Rosetius Calaber, has not been identified.
The following are the references in the order named by Gilbert:
Antonio Musa Brasavola.Examen omnium simplicium medicamentorum, Section 447 (Lugdun., 1537).
Joannes Baptista Montanus.Metaphrasis summaria eorum quæ ad medicamentorum doctrinà attinet(Augustæ Rheticæ, 1551).
Amatus Lusitanus.Amati Lusitani in Dioscoridis Anazarbei de materia medica libros quinque(Venet., 1557, p. 507).
Oribasius.Oribasii Sardiani ad Eunapium libri 4 quibus ... facultates simplicium ... continentur(Venet., 1558).
Aetius Amidenus.Aetii Amideni Librorum medicinalium ... libri octo nunc primum in lucem editi(Greek text, Aldine edition, Venet., 1534). A Latin edition appeared in Basel, 1535. See also histetrabiblos ex veteribus medicinæ(Basil., 1542).
Avicenna (Ibn Sinâ).Canona Medicinæ(Venice, 1486), liber ii., cap. 474.
Serapio Mauritanus (Yuhanná Ibn Sarapion). In hoc volumine continentur ...Ioan. Sarapionis Arabis de Simplicibus Medicinis opus præclarum et ingens ...(edited by Brunfels, Argentorati, 1531, p. 260).
Hali Abbas (’Alà Ibn Al ’AbbÄs).Liber totius medicinæ necessaria cÅtinens ... quem Haly filius Abbas edidit ... et a Stephano ex arabica lingua reductus(Lugd., 1523, p. 176verso).
Santes de Ardoniis (or Ardoynis).Incipit liber de venenis quem magister santes de ardoynis ... edere cepit venetiis die octauo nouēbris, 1424 (Venet., 1492).
Petrus Apponensis (or Petrus de Abano). The loadstone is referred to in two works by this author.
(1)Conciliator differentiarum philosophorum: et precipue medicorum clarissimi viri Petri de Abano Patauini feliciter incipit(Venet., 1496, p. 72,verso, Quæstio LI.).
(2)Tractatus de Venenis(Roma, 1490, cap. xi.).
Marcellus (called Marcellus Empiricus).De Medicamentis, in the volumeMedici antiqui omnes(Venet., 1547, p. 89).
Arnaldus (Arnaldus de Villa Nova).Incipit Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum(Venet., 1499). See alsoArnaldi Villanovani Opera omnia(Basil., 1585).
Marbodeus Gallus.Marbodei Galli poetae vetustissimi de lapidibus pretiosis Enchiridion(Friburgi, 1530 [1531], p. 41).
Albertus Magnus.De Mineralibus et rebus metallicis(Venet., 1542, lib. ii.,de lapidibus preciosis, p. 192). There is a reference to the loadstonealso in a work attributed falsely to Albertus, but now ascribed to Henricus de Saxonia,De virtutibus herbarum, de virtutibus lapidum, etc. (Rouen, 1500, and subsequent editions). An English version,The Secrets of Albertus Magnus of the vertues of hearbs stones and certaine beastswas publisht in London in 1617.
Matthæus Silvaticus.Pandectæ Medicinæ(Lugduni, 1541, cap. 446).
Hermolaus Barbarus. His work,Hermolai Barbari Patritii Veneti et Aqvileiensis patriarchæ Corollarii Libri quinque ...Venet., 1516, is an early herbal. On p. 103 are to be found descriptions oflapis gagatisandlapis magnes. The latter is mostly taken from Pliny, and mentions the alleged theamedes, and the myth of the floating statue.
Camillus Leonardus.Speculum Lapidum(Venet., 1502, fol. xxxviii.). An English translation,The Mirror of Stones, appeared in London in 1750.
Cornelius Agrippa.Henrici Cor. Agrippæ ab Nettesheym ... De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres(Antv., 1531). The English versionOf the Vanitie and uncertaintie of Arteswas publisht in London, 1569, and again later.
Fallopius (Gabriellus).G. F. de simplicibus medicamentis purgantibus tractatus(Venet., 1566). See also hisTractatus de compositione medicamentorum(Venet., 1570).
Johannes Langius.Epistolarum medicinalium volumen tripartitum(Paris, 1589, p. 792).
Cardinalis Cusanus (Nicolas Khrypffs, Cardinal de Cusa).Nicolai Cusani de staticis experimentis dialogus(Argentorati, 1550). The English edition, entitledThe Idiot in four books, is dated London, 1650.
[9]Page 3, line 1.Page 2, line 42.Marcellus.—"Marcellus Empiricus, médecin de Théodose-le-Grand, dit que l'aimant, appeléantiphyson, attire et repousse le fer." (Klaproth,Sur l'invention de la boussole, 1834, p. 12.) The passage from Marcellus runs: "Magnetes lapis, qui antiphyson dicitur, qui ferrum trahit et abjicit, et magnetes lapis qui sanguinem emittit et ferrum ad se trahit, collo alligati aut circa caput dolori capitis medentur." (Marcellus,de Medicamentis: in the volumeMedici antiqui omnes, qui latinis literis morborum genera persecuti sunt. Venet., 1547, p. 89.)
[10]Page 3, line 11.Page 3, line 9.Thomas Erastus.—The work in question isDispvtationvm de Medicina nova Philippi Paracelsi, Pars Prima: in qua quæ de remediis svperstitiosis & Magicis curationibus ille prodidit, præcipuè examinantur à Thoma Erasto in Schola Heydebergensi, professore. (Basiliæ, 1572. Parts 2 and 3 appeared the same year, and Part 4 in 1573.)
Gilbert had no more love for Paracelsus than for Albertus Magnus or others of the magic-mongers. Indeed the few passages in Paracelsus on the magnet are sorry stuff. They will mostly be found in the seventh volume of his collected works (Opera omnia, Frankfurt, 1603). A sample may be taken from the English work publisht in London, 1650, with the title:Of the Nature of Things, Nine Books; written by Philipp Theophrastus of Hohenheim, called Paracelsvs.
"For any Loadstone that Mercury hath but touched, or which hath been smeered with Mercuriall oyle, or only put into Mercury will never draw Iron more" (p. 23).
"The life of the Loadstone is the spirit of Iron; which may bee extracted, and taken away with spirit of Wine" (p. 32).
[11]Page 3, line 13.Page 3, line 11.Encelius(orEntzelt, Christoph)wrote a work publisht in 1551 at Frankfurt, with the titleDe re metallica, hoc est, de origine, varietate, et natura corporum metallicorum, lapidum, gemmarum, atque aliarum quæ ex fodinis eruuntur, rerum, ad medicine usum deservientium, libri iii. This is written in a singular medley of Latin and German. Gilbert undoubtedly took from it many of his ideas about the properties of metals. See thenoteto p.27onplumbum album.
[12]Page 3, line 20.Page 3, line 21.Thomas Aquinas.—The reference is to his commentaries upon thePhysicaof Aristotle. The passage will be found on p. 96bisof the Giunta edition (Venet., 1539). The essential part is quoted by Gilbert himself on p.64.
[13]Page 3, line 39.Page 3, line 45.pyxidem.—The wordpyxis, which occurs here, and in the next sentence aspyxidem nauticam, is translatedcompass. Eleven lines lower occurs the termnautica pyxidula. This latter word, literally the "little compass," certainly refers to the portable compass used at sea. Compare several passages in Book IV. where a contrasting use is made of these terms; for example, on pp.177and202. Calcagninus,De re nautica, uses the termpyxideculafor an instrument which he describes as "vitro intecta." On p.152, line9, Gilbert uses the non-classical nouncompassus, "boreale lilium compassi (quod Boream respicit)," and again on p.178, line3.
[14]Page 4, line 2.Page 4, line 2.Melphitani.—The inhabitants of Amalfi in the kingdom of Naples. The claim of the discovery or invention of the mariners' compass in the year 1302 by one Joannes Goia, or Gioia, also named as Flavio Goia, has been much disputed. In Guthrie'sNew System of Modern Geography(London, 1792, p. 1036), in the Chronology, is set down for the year 1302:
"The mariner's compass invented, or improved by Givia, of Naples. The flower de luce, the arms of the Duke of Anjou, then King of Naples, was placed by him at the point of the needle, in compliment to that prince."
In 1808 an elaborate treatise was printed at Naples, by Flaminius Venanson with the title,De l'invention de la Boussole Nautique. Venanson, who cites many authorities, endeavours to prove that if Gioia did not discover magnetic polarity he at least invented the compass, that is to say, he pivotted the magnetic needle and placed it in a box, with a card affixed above it divided into sixteen parts bearing the names of the sixteen principal winds. He alleges in proof that the compass-card is emblazoned in the armorial bearings of the city of Amalfi. This view was combatted in the famous letter of Klaproth to Humboldt publisht in Paris in 1834. He shows that the use of the magnetized needle was known in Europe toward the end of the twelfth century; that the Chinese knew of it and used it for finding the way on land still earlier; that there is no compass-card in the arms of the city of Amalfi; but he concedes that Gioia may have improved the compass in 1302 by adding the wind-rose card. The most recent contributions to the question are a pamphlet by Signorelli,Sull' invenzione della Bussola nautica, ragionamento di Pietro Napoli Signorelli, segretario perpetuo della Società Pontaniana; letto nella seduta del 30 settembre 1860; Matteo Camera'sMemorie Storico-diplomatiche dell' antica città e ducato di Amalfi(Salerno, 1876); and Admiral Luigi Fincati's workIl Magnete, la Calamita, e la Bussola(Roma, 1878). An older mention of Gioia is to be found in Blundevile'sExercises(3rd edition, 1606, pp. 257-258). See also Crescentiodella Nautica Mediterranea, (Roma, 1607, p. 253), and Azuni,Dissertazione sull' origine della bussola nautica(Venezia, 1797).
There appears to be a slip in Gilbert's reference to Andrea Doria, as he has confounded the town of Amalfi in Principato Citra with Melfi in Basilicata.
One of the sources relied upon by historians for ascribing this origin of the compass is theCompendia dell' Istoria del Regno di Napoli, of Collenuccio (Venet.,MDXCI.), p. 5.
"Nè in questo tacerò Amalfi, picciola terra, & capo della costa di Picentia, alia quale tutti quelli, che'l mar caualcano, vfficiosamente eterno gratie debono referire, essendo prima in quella terra trovato l'vso, & l'artificio della calamita, & del bussolo, col quale i nauiganti, la stella Tramontana infallibilmente mirando, direzzano il lor corso, si come è publica fama, & gli Amalfitani si gloriano, nè senza ragione dalli piu si crede, essendo cosa certa, che gli antichi tale instromento non hebbero; nè essendo mai in tutto falso quello, che in molto tempo è da molti si diuolga."
Another account is to be found in theHistoriarum sui temporis, etc., of Paulus Jovius (Florent., 1552), tom. ii., cap. 25, p. 42.
"Quum essem apud Philippum superuenit Ioachinus Leuantius Ligur a Lotrechio missus, qui deposceret captiuos; sed ille negauit se daturum, quando eos ad ipsum Andream Auriam ammirantem deducendos esse iudicaret. Vgonis uerò cadauer, ut illudentium Barbarorum contumeliis eriperetur, ad Amalphim urbem delatum est, in ædeque Andreæ apostoli, tumultuariis exequiis tumulatum. In hac urbe citriorum & medicorum odoratis nemoribus æquè peramœna & celebri, Magnetis usum nauigantibus hodie familiarem & necessarium, adinuentum suisse incolæ asserunt."
Flavius Blondus, whom Gilbert cites, gives the following reference, in which Gioia's name is not mentioned, in the section upon Campania Felix of his Italy (Blondi Flavii Forlinensis ... Italia Illustrata, Basiliæ, 1531, p. 420).
"Sed fama est qua Amalphitanos audiuimus gloriari, magnetis usum, cuius adminiculo nauigantes ad arcton diriguntur, Amalphi suisse inuentum, quicquid uero habeat in ea re ueritas, certû est id noctu nauigandi auxilium priscis omnino suisse incognitum."
There is a further reference to the alleged Amalphian in Caelius CalcagninusDe re nautica commentatio. (See Thesaurus Græcarum Antiquitatum, 1697, vol. xi., p. 761.) On the other hand Baptista Porta, who wrote in Naples in 1558 (Magia Naturalis) distinctly sets aside the claim as baseless.
William Barlowe, inThe Navigators Supply(1597, p. A3), says: "Who was the first inuentor of this Instrument miraculous, and endued, as it were, with life, can hardly be found. The lame tale of oneFlauiusatAmelphis, in the kingdome ofNaples, for to haue deuised it, is of very slender probabilitie.Pandulph Collenutiuswriting the Neapolitane historie telleth vs, that they ofAmelphissay, it is a common opinion there, that it was first found out among them. ButPolidore Virgil, who searched most diligently for the Inuentors of things, could neuer heare of this opinion (yet himselfe being an Italian) and as he confesseth in the later ende of his third bookede inventoribus rerum, could neuer vnderstand anything concerning the first inuention of this instrument."
According to Park Benjamin (Intellectual Rise in Electricity, p. 146) the use of the pivotted compass arose and spread not from Amalfi at the hands of Italians in the fourteenth century, but from Wisbuy, at the hands of the Finns, in the middle of the twelfth century.
Hakewill (An Apologie or Declaration of the Power and Providence of God, London, 1673, pp. 284-285) says:
"ButBlondus, who is therein followed byPancirollus, bothItalians, will not haueItalyloose the praise thereof, telling vs that about 300 yeares agoe it was found out at Malphis or Melphis, a Citty in the Kingdome ofNaplesin theProvinceofCampania, now calledTerra di Lovorador. But for the Author of it, the one names him not, and the other assures vs, he is not knowne: yetSalmuthout ofCiezus & Gomaraconfidently christens him with the name ofFlavius, and so dothDu Bartasin those excellent verses of his touching this subject.
"'W' are not toCeresso much bound for bread,Neither toBacchusfor his clusters red,As SigniorFlavioto thy witty tryall,For first inventing of the Sea-mans dyall,Th' vse of the needle turning in the same,Divine device, O admirable frame!'
"'W' are not toCeresso much bound for bread,Neither toBacchusfor his clusters red,As SigniorFlavioto thy witty tryall,For first inventing of the Sea-mans dyall,Th' vse of the needle turning in the same,Divine device, O admirable frame!'
"'W' are not toCeresso much bound for bread,
Neither toBacchusfor his clusters red,
As SigniorFlavioto thy witty tryall,
For first inventing of the Sea-mans dyall,
Th' vse of the needle turning in the same,
Divine device, O admirable frame!'
"It may well be then thatFlaviustheMelvitanwas the first inventor of guiding the ship by the turning of the needle to theNorth: but someGermanafterwards added to theCompassethe 32 points of the winde in his owne language, whence other Nations haue since borrowed it."
[15]Page 4, line 14.Page 4, line 14.Paulum Venetum.—The reference is to Marco Polo. He returned in 1295 from his famous voyage to Cathay. But the oft-repeated tale that he first introduced the knowledge of the compass into Europe on his return is disposed of by several well-established facts. Klaproth (op. citat., p. 57) adduces a mention of its use in 1240 in the Eastern Mediterranean, recorded in a work written in 1242 by Bailak of Kibdjak. And the passages in the Iceland Chronicle, and in Alexander of Neckham are still earlier.
[16]Page 4, line 17.Page 4, line 17.Goropius. SeeHispanica Ioannis Goropii Becani(Plantin edition, Antv., 1580), p. 29. This is a discussion of the etymologies of the names of the points of the compass: but is quite unauthoritative.
[17]Page 4, line 23.Page 4, line 26.Paruaim.—Respecting this reference, Sir Philip Magnus has kindly furnisht the following note. A clue to the meaning ofParvaim, which should be written in English letters with av, not au, will be found in2 Chronicles, iii. 6. In the verse quoted the author speaks of gold as the gold of Parvaim,וְהַזָּהָב זְהַב פַּרְוָיִ×‎, andפּרוי×‎ Parvaim is taken as a gold-producing region. It is regarded by some as the same as Ophir. The word is supposed to be cognate with a Sanskrit wordpûrvasignifying "prior, anterior, oriental." There is nothing in the root indicating gold. A form similar to Parvaim, and also a proper name, is Sepharvaim, found in2 Kings, xix. 13, and inIsaiah, xxxvii. 13, and supposed to be the name of a city in Assyria.
[18]Page 4, line 35.Page 4, line 41. Cabot's observation of the variation of the compass is narrated in theGeografiaof Livio Sanuto (Vinegia, 1588, lib. i., fol. 2). See also Fournier'sHydrographie, lib. xi., cap. 10.
[19]Page 4, line 36.Page 4, line 42.Gonzalus Oviedus.—The reference is to Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdès.Summario de la Historia general y natural de las Indias occidentales, 1525, p. 48, where the author speaks of the crossing of "la linea del Diametro, donde las Agujas hacen ladiferencia del Nordestear, ò Noroestear, que es el parage de las Islas de los Açores."
[20]Page 5, line 8.Page 5, line 11.Petri cujusdam Peregrini.—This opusculum is the famous letter of Peter Peregrinus written in 1269, of which some twenty manuscript copies exist in various libraries in Oxford, Rome, Paris, etc., and of which the oldest printed edition is that of 1558 (Augsburg). See also Libri,Histoire des Sciences Mathématiques(1838); Bertelli in Boncompagni'sBull. d. Bibliogr.T. I. and T. IV. (1868 and 1871), and Hellmann'sRara Magnetica(1898). A summary of the contents of Peregrinus's book will be found in Park Benjamin'sIntellectual Rise in Electricity(1895), pp. 164-185.
[21]Page 5, line 12.Page 5, line 15.Johannes Taisner Hannonius.—Taisnier, or Taysnier, of Hainault, was a plagiarist who took most of the treatise of Peregrinus and publisht it in hisOpusculum... de Natura Magnetis(Coloniæ, 1562), of which an English translation by Richard Eden was printed by R. Jugge in 1579.
[22]Page 5, line 18.Page 5, line 23.Collegium Conimbricense.—This is a reference to the commentaries on Aristotle by the Jesuits of Coimbra. The work isColegio de Coimbra da Companhia de Jesu, Cursus Conimbricensis in Octo libros Physicorum(Coloniæ, sumptibus Lazari Ratzneri, 1599). Other editions: Lugd. 1594; and Colon., 1596. The later edition of 1609, in the British Museum, has the titleCommentariorum Collegii Conimbricensis in octo libros physicorum.
[23]Page 5, line 25.Page 5, line 31.Martinus Cortesius.—HisArte de Navegar(Sevilla, 1556) went through various editions in Spanish, Italian, and English. Eden's translation was publisht 1561, and again in 1609.
[24]Page 5, line 26.Page 5, line 33.Bessardus.—Toussaincte de Bessard wrote a treatise,Dialogue de la Longitude(Rouen, 1574), which gives some useful notes of nautical practice, and of the French construction of the compass. Speaking of the needle he says: "Elle ne tire pas au pole du monde: ains regarde, au Pole du Zodiaque, comme il sera discoursu, cy apres" (p. 34). On p. 50 he speaks of "l'aiguille Aymantine." On p. 108 he refers to Mercator'sCarte Générale, and denies the existence of the alleged loadstone rock. On p. 15 he gives the most naïve etymologies for the terms used: thus he assigns as the derivation ofSudthe Latinsudor, because the south is hot, and as that ofOuestthat it comes fromOuandEst. "Come, qui diroit, Ou est-il? à scauoir le Soleil, qui estoit nagueres sur la terre."
[25]Page 5, line 28.Page 5, line 35.Jacobus Severtius.—Jacques Severt, whose work,De Orbis Catoptrici sev mapparvm mvndi principiis descriptione ac usu libri tres(Paris, 1598), would have probably lapsed into obscurity, but being just newly publisht was mentioned by Gilbert for its follies.
[26]Page 5, line 30.Page 5, line 38.Robertus Norman.—Author of the rare volumeThe Newe Attractiue, publisht in London, 1581, and several times reprinted. This work contains an account of Norman's discovery of the Dip of the magnetic needle, and of his investigation of it by means of the Dipping-needle, which he invented. He was a compassmaker of the port of London, and lived at Limehouse.
[27]Page 5, line 32.Page 5, line 40.Franciscus Maurolycus.—The work to which the myth of the magnetic mountains is thus credited is,D. Francisci Abbatis Messanensis Opuscula Mathematica, etc. (Venet,MDLXXV, p. 122a). "Sed cur sagitta, vel obelus à vero Septentrione, quandoque ad dextram,quandoque ad sinistram declinat? An quia sagitta, sicut magnes (cuius est simia) non verum Septentrionem, sed insulam quandam (quam Olaus Magnus Gothus in sua geographia vocat insulam magnetum) semper ex natura inspicere cogitur?"
[28]Page 5, line 35.Page 5, line 43.Olaus Magnus.—The famous Archbishop of Upsala, who wrote the history of the northern nations (Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus), of which the best edition, illustrated with many woodcuts, appeared in Rome in 1555. An English edition entitledA Compendious History of the Goths, Swedes, and Vandals, and Other Northern Nationswas printed in London in 1658; but it is much abbreviated and has none of the quaint woodcuts. The reference on p.5appears to be to the following passage on p. 409 (ed. 1555). "Demum in suppolaribus insulis magnetum montes reperiuntur, quorum fragmentis ligna fagina certo tempore applicata, in saxeam duritiem, et vim attractivam convertuntur," or the following on p. 89: "Magnetes enim in extremo Septentrionis veluti montes, unde nautica directio constat, reperiuntur: quorum etiam magnetum tam vehemens est operatio, ut certis lignis fagineis conjuncti, ea vertunt in sui duritiem, & naturam attractivam." On p. 343 is a woodcut depicting the penalties inflicted by the naval laws upon any one who should maliciously tamper with the compass or the loadstone, "qui malitiosè nauticum gnomonem, aut compassum, & præcipuè portionem magnetis, unde omnium directio dependet, falsaverit." He was to be pinned to the mast by a dagger thrust through his hand. It will be noted that the ships carried both a compass, and a piece of loadstone wherewith to stroke the needle.
There is in the Basel edition of this work, 1567, a notead lectorem, on the margin of Carta 16a, as follows:
"Insula 30 milliarium in longitud. & latitud. Polo arctico subjecta.
"Vltra quam directorium nauticum bossolo dicũ uires amittit: propterea quòd ilia insula plena est magnetum."
This myth of the magnetic mountains, probably originating with Nicander, appears, possibly from an independent source, in the East, in China, and in the tales of the Arabian Nights.
Ptolemy gives the following account in hisGeographia(lib. vii., cap. 2):
ΦÎÏονται δὲ καὶ ἄλλαι συνεχεῖς δÎκα νῆσοι καλοÏμεναι Μανίολαι á¼Î½ ἄις φάσι Ï„á½° σιδήÏους ἔχοντα ἥλους πλοῖα κατÎχεσθαι, μήποτε τῆς ἩÏικλείας λίθου πεÏὶ αá½Ï„á½°Ï‚ γενομÎνης, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο á¼Ï€Î¹Î¿ÏÏοις ναυπηγεῖσθαι.Some editions omit the name of the Manioles from the passage.
No two authorities agree as to the place of these alleged magnetic mountains. Some place them in the Red Sea. Fracastorio,De Sympathia et Antipathia, cap. 7 (Opera omnia, Giunta edition, 1574, p. 63), gives the following reason for the variation of the compass:
"Nos igitur diligentius rem considerãtes dicimus causam, q˜perpendiculum illud ad polum vertatur, esse montes ferri, & magnetis, qui sub polo sunt, vt negociatores affirmant, quorum species per incredibilem distantiam vsque ad maria nostra propagata ad perpendiculum vsq;, vbi est magnes, consuetam attractionem facit: propter distantiam autem quum debilis sit, non moueret quidem magnetem, nisi esset in perpendiculo: quare & si non trahit vsq; ac. principium, vnde effluxit, at mouet tamẽ, & propinquiorem facit, quo potest. Quod si naues sorte vllæ propinquiores sint illis montibus, ferrum omne earũ cuellitur, propter quod nauigijs incolæ vtuntur clauis ligneis astrictis."
In the last chapter of hisDe Sympathia, Fracastorio returns to the subjectin consequence of some doubts expressed by Giambattista Rhamnusio, seeing that the loadstones in the Island of Elba do not sensibly deflect the magnet. Fracastorio replies thus (p. 76,op. citat.):
"Primum igitur vtrum sub Polo sint. Magnetis mõtes, nec ne, sub ambiguo relinquamus, scimus enim esse, qui scribãt planas magis esse eas regiones, de quo Paulus Iouius Ep˜us Nucerinus Luculẽtus historiarũ nostri tẽporis scriptor, circa eã Sarmatiæ partem, quæ Moscouia nũc dicitur, diligentẽ inquisitionem ab incolis fecit, qui ne eos etiã inueniri montes retulere, qui Rhyphei ab antiquis dicti sunt: meminimus tamẽ nos quasdam chartas vidisse earum, quas mundi mappas appellãt, in quibus sub polo montes notati erant (qui Magnetis montes inscripti fuerant). Siue igitur sint, siue non sint ij montes, nihil ad nos in præsentiarum attinet, quando per montes polo subiectos cathenam illam montium intelligimus, qui ad septentrionem spectant tanti, & tam vasti, ac Ferri & Magnetis feraces: qui, & si magis distant à nostro mari, q˜Iluæ insulæ montes, potentiores tamen sunt ad mouendum perpendiculum propter abundantiam & copiã Ferri, & Magnetis. Fortasse autem, & qui in Ilua est Magnes, non multæ actionis est in ea minera: multi enim dũ in minera sunt, minus valent, q˜extracti, q˜spirituales species sua habeant impedimenta: signum autem parum valere in sua minera Iluæ insulæ Magnetem, q˜tam propinquus quum sit nauigijs illac prætereuntibus, perpendiculum tamen non ad se cõuertit."
Aldrovandi in theMusæum Metallicum(Bonon., 1648, p. 554) gives another version of the fable:
"Nonnulli, animadversa hac Magnetis natura, scripserunt naves, quibus in Calecutanam regionem navigatur, clavis ferreis non figi, ob magneticorum frequentiam scopulorum, quoniam facilè dissolverentur. Sed Garzias in Historia Aromatum id fabulosum esse tradidit: quandoquidem plures naues Calecutanæ regionis, & illius tractus, ferreis clauis iunctas obseruauit: immò addidit naues in insulis Maldiuis ligneis quidem clauis copulari, non quia à Magnete sibi metuant, sed quoniam ferri inopia laborant."
According to Aldrovandi (p. 563,op. citat.) the magnetic mountains are stated by Sir John Mandeville to be in the region of Pontus.
Lipenius in hisNavigatio Salomonis Ophritica illustrata(Witteb., 1660), which is a mine of curious learning, in discussing the magnetic mountains quotes the reply of Socrates to the inquirer who asked him as to what went on in the infernal regions, saying that he had never been there nor had he ever met any one who had returned thence.
The loadstone rock figures in several early charts. In Nordenskiöld'sFacsimile Atlas(Stockholm, 1889) is given a copy of the Map of Johan Ruysch from an edition of Ptolemy, publisht in Rome in 1508, which shows four islands within the ice-bound Arctic regions. South of these islands and at the east of the coast of Greenland is the inscription:Hic compassus navium non tenet, nec naves quæ ferrum tenent revertere valent.To which (on p. 63) Nordenskiöld adds the comment:Sagan on magnetberg, som skulle draga till sig fartyg förande jern, är gamal.And he recalls the reference of Ptolemy to the magnetic rocks in the Manioles. A second inscription is added to Ruysch's map in the ornamental margin that borders the Arctic islands.Legere est in libro de inventione fortunati sub polo arctico rupem esse excelsam ex lapide magnete 33 miliarium germanorum ambitu.This refers to a matter recorded in Hakluyt'sPrincipall Navigations(Lond., 1589, p. 249), namely: "A Testimonie of the learned Mathematician, maister John Dee,touching the foresaid voyage of Nicholas de Linna. Anno 1360 a frier of Oxford, being a good Astronomer, went in companie with others to the most Northren islands of the world, and there leaving his company together, he travelled alone, and purposely described all the Northern islands, with the indrawing seas: and the record thereof at his return he delivered to the king of England. The name of which booke isInventio Fortunata(aliter fortunæ)qui liber incipit a gradu 54 usq. ad polum."
The situation of the alleged loadstone rock is thus described by T. Blundevile in hisExercisesin the chapter entitledA plaine and full description of Peter Plancius his vniuersall Map, seruing both for sea and land, and by him lately put foorth in the yeare of our Lord, 1592.... Written in our mother tongue by M. Blundeuill, Anno Domini 1594. The passage is quoted from p. 253 of the third edition (1606):
"Now betwixt the 72. and 86. degrees of North latitude he setteth downe two long Ilands extending from the West towardes the East somewhat beyond the first Meridian, and from the saide Meridian more Eastward he setteth downe other two long Ilandes ... and hee saith further that right under the North pole there is a certaine blacke and most high rocke which hath in circuite thirtie and three leagues, which is nintie and nine miles, and that the long Iland next to the Pole on the West is the best and most healthfull of all the North parts. Next to the foresaide Ilandes more Southward hee setteth downe the Ilandes of Crocklande and Groynelande, making them to haue a farre longer and more slender shape then all other mappes doe.... Moreouer at the East end of the last Ilande somewhat to the Southwarde, he placeth the Pole of the Lodestone which is called in Latine Magnes, euen as Mercator doth in his Mappe who supposing the first Meridian to passe through Saint Marie or Saint Michael, which are two of the outermost Ilandes of the Azores Eastwarde, placeth the Pole of the stone in the seuentie fiue degree of Latitude, but supposing the first Meridian to passe through the Ile Coruo, which is the furthest Ile of the Azores Westwarde, he placeth the Pole of the Lodestone in the seuentie seuen degree of Latitude."
Further, in the chapter onThe Arte of Nauigationin the same work (p. 332,ed. citat.), Blundevile says:
"But whereas Mercator affirmeth that there should bee a mine or great rocke of Adamant, wherunto all other lesser rockes or Needles touched with the Lodestone doe incline as to their chiefe fountaine, that opinion seemeth to mee verie straunge, for truely I rather beleeue with Robert Norman that the properties of the Stone, as well in drawing steele, as in shewing the North Pole, are secret vertues given of GOD to that stone for mans necessarie vse and behoofe, of which secrete vertues no man is able to shewe the true cause."
The following is one of the inscriptions in the compartments of the great Chart of Mercator entitledAd Usum Navigantium, published in 1569:
"Testatur Franciscus Diepanus peritissimus nauarchus volubiles libellas, magnetis virtute infectas recta mundi polum respicere in insulis C. Viridis, Solis, Bonauista, et Maio, cui proxime astipulantur qui in Tercera, aut S. Maria (insulæ sunt inter Açores) id fieri dicunt, pauci in earundem occidentalissima Corvi nomine id contingere opinantur. Quia vero locorum longitudinis a communi magnetis et mundi meridiano iustis de causis initium sumere oportet, plurium testimonium sequutus primum meridianum per dictas C. Viridis insulas protraxi, et quum alibi plus minusque a polo deuiantemagnete polum aliquum peculiarem esse oporteat quo magnetes ex omni mundi parte despiciant, euum hoc quo assignaui loco existere adhibita declinatione magnetis Ratisbonæ obseruata didici. Supputaui autem eius poli situm etiam respectu insulæ Corui, ut iuxta extremo primi meridiani positus extremi etiam termini, intra quos polum hunc inueniri necesse est, conspicui fierent, donec certius aliquod nauclerorum obseruatio attulerit."
Not all the map-makers were as frank as Paulus Merula, the author of aCosmographia Generalis, printed by Plantin in 1605, at Leyden. For in the description of histabula universalis(op. citat.lib. iii., cap. 9) he says that he does not believe in the magnetic islands; but that he has put them into his chart lest unskilful folk should think that he had been so careless as to leave them out!
In the well-known myth of Ogier the Dane, immortalized by William Morris in theEarthly Paradise(London, 1869, vol. i., p. 625), the loadstone rock is an island in the far North. But this story is not one of the Scandinavian sagas, and belongs to the Carlovingian cycle of heroic poems, of which the chief is theChanson de Roland; and Ogier le Danois is really not a Dane but anArdennois.
In the Middle-High German epic of Kudrun, the adventures of the fleet of Queen Hilda when attracted by the loadstone mountain at Givers, in the North Sea, are narrated at some length. (SeeKudrun, herausgegeben und erklärt von Ernst Martin. Halle, 1872.) One stanza will serve as a sample: