48o On the Knowledge of the Ancients 



" having thereby become warmed, attradts to 

 •' itfelf ftraws and dried leaves, in the fame man- 

 " ner as the magnet does iron." He afcribes 

 the fame properties to the lapis lyncurius. Soli- 

 nus*, Prifcianj-, and, I believe, many other 

 writers have noticed the fame quality of that 

 ftone. 



But the attraftive power which eleftricity 

 imparts to bodies, is not the only property of 

 that fluid that was known to the ancients. 

 They were acquainted with the effefts of the 

 eledtric fhock ; and have minutely defcribed the 

 fenfations occafioned thereby, upon the human 

 body. I do not however mean to infinuate, that 

 they apprehended any connexion to fubfi ft between 

 the attradive power juft fpoken of, and that 

 which I am about to mention. It is now proved, 

 beyond a doubt, that the benumbing power, which 

 is found in the torpedo, and feveral other fifties, is, 



* Lapidi ifti ad fuccinum color eft pariter fpirltu attra- 

 hit propinquaniia. Solin. cap. II. 



f Paleas rapiunt traftu frondefque caducas. Prifc. in 

 Periegefi. 



In iiyria quoque foeminas verticillos inde facere & vo- 

 care harpaga, quia folia & paleas veftiumque fimbreas ad fe 

 rapiat. Plin. XXXVII. 3. 



The word by which amber was known among the Arabs 

 (karabe) is faid by Avicenna to be of Perfian origin, and 

 to fignify its power of attradling ftraws. Salm. De homo- 

 nym, hyles latricas. 



in 



