THE mariner's COMPASS. 573 



tongue of Surset, with the Bosnians, the Croatians, and in the Slavonic 

 dialect of the Windesor Vendes of Styria. 



The following are the various denominations of the loadstone in 

 the other languages of Europe : — 



In Spanish and Portuguese it is called iman, which is the same 

 ■word as loadstone. In the latter of these two lansruagres it also bears 

 the name of pcdra de ceoar, stone that feeds or attracts (iron). 



The term imana is likewise received in the Basque. The Basquese 

 are known to be inclined to derive all the words in the universe 

 from the supposed roots of their language ; so F. Manuel de Larra- 

 mendi does not fail to say in his dictionary, " Imana, es voz bascon- 

 gada, cut/o origen puede ser, 6 de toman, ioeman, el que da subida, y 

 ascenso, como esta piedra, que en la virtud atractiva tiene esto, y se 

 lo comunica al hierro : 6 de io, yoman, yoeman, dar con el tacto, y el 

 iman da su virtud al hierro : b de io, yoman yoeman, dur con el tacto, 

 yet ima7i da su virtud al hierro, tocandolo : o de que iman es sincope de 

 arriman, arrimanea, piedra primorosa, prodigiosa, como es el imdn 

 en sus qualidades .'' 



In modern Greek it is called fiayvy'iTjjQ, and also KaXafiira. 



In Brezonic, or corrupt dialect of Bretagne, aiman, and moentoiiich, 

 or mean-touich (touch-stone). 



In German, magnet. 



In Dutch, magneet-steen (loadstone), and zeyl-steen (stone to 

 sail by). 



In Danish, magneet. 



In Swedish, magnet and segel-sten (stone to sail by), as vtrell as 

 seger-sten (victorious stone). 



In Icelandic, leider-stein (leading-stone). 



In English, loadstone (sione that guides). 



In Irish the loadstone is called cloc iarranghtha, that is to say, the 

 stone that attracts to itself, or simply tarrangart, the drawer. 



In the Romance, or the language of the Grisons, the dialect of 

 Surselva, magnet. 



In the Cymric, or Welsh language, ehedfaen, from ehed, flight ; 

 tywysfaen, from tywys, conductor ; maen-tynu, stone that attracts. 



In Hungarian, magnet ko, loving-stone. 



In Russian, viagnit. 



It is a remarkable fact that almost all denominations of the load- 

 stone in Europe are found also, as regards signification, in the lan- 

 guages of Asia. Might we not say, indeed, that the French word 

 aimant is but a translation of thsu chy, which in Chinese is the most 

 common name for the loadstone, and signifies loving-stone, or that 

 which loves. The celebrated naturalist Li tchi tchin, who finished 

 his Pen thsao kang mote about the year 1580, says on this subject, 

 " If this stone had not a love for iron it would not make it come to 

 it." Eight centuries and a half before this author, the same obser- 

 vation was made by Tchhin thsang khi : *' The loadstone," says he, 

 " attracts iron like a tender mother who makes her children come to 

 her, and it is for this reason that it has received its name." 



The name of hiuan chy, that is to say, blackish or deep blue stone, 

 is likewise given. 



K1.APR0TU. 



