THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE. t) 



which mysteriously breathes through these two bodies, and 

 has the property of thoroughly permeating them with the 

 rapidity of an arrow." The symbolical expression of " breath 

 of wind" reminds us of the equally symbolical designation of 

 soul, which in Grecian antiquity was applied by Thales, the 

 founder of the Ionian School, to both these attracting sub- 

 stances soul signifying here the inner principle of the mov- 

 ing agent.* 



As the excessive mobility of the floating Chinese needles 

 rendered it difficult to observe and note down the indications 

 which they afforded, another arrangement was adopted in 

 their place as early as the 12th century of our era, in which 

 the needle that was freely suspended in the air was attached 

 to a fine cotton or silken thread exactly in the same manner 

 as Coulomb's suspension, which was first used by William 

 Gilbert in Western Europe. By means of this more perfect 

 apparatus,! the Chinese as early as the beginning of the 12th 

 century determined the amount of the western variation, 

 which in that portion of Asia seems only to undergo very in- 

 considerable and slow changes. From its use on land,- the 

 compass was finally adapted to maritime purposes, and under 

 the dynasty of Tsin, in the 4th century of our era, Chinese 

 vessels under the guidance of the compass visited Indian ports 

 and the eastern coast of Africa. 



Fully 200 years earlier, under the reign of Marcus Aurc- 

 lius Antoninus, who is called An-tun by the writers of the 



. * Cosmos, vol. i., p. 188. Aristotle (De Anittux, L, 2) speaks only of 

 the animation of the magnet as of an opinion that originated with 

 Thales. Diogenes Laertius interprets this statement as applying also 

 distinctly to amber, for he says, " Aristotle and Hippias maintain as 

 to the doctrine enounced by Thales." . . . The sophist Hippias of 

 Elis, who flattered himself that he possessed universal knowledge, oc- 

 cupied himself with physical science and with the most ancient tradi- 

 tions of the physiological school. "The attracting breath," which, ac- 

 cording to the Chinese physicist, Kuopho, "permeates both the mag- 

 net and amber," reminds us, according to Buschmann's investigations 

 into the Mexican language, of the aztec name of the magnet tlaihio- 

 anani tctl, signifying ''the stone which attracts by its breath" (from 

 thiotlj breath, and ana. to draw or attract). 



f The remarks which Klaproth has extracted from the Penthsaoyan 

 regarding this singular apparatus are given more fully in the Mung- 

 khi-pi-than, Comptes rcndus, t. xix., p. 365. "We may here ask why, 

 in this latter treatise, as well as in a Chinese book on plants, it is 

 stated that the cypress turns toward the west, and, more generally, 

 that the magnetic needle points toward the south ? Does this imply 

 a more luxuriant development of the branches on the side nearest 

 the sun, or in consequence of the direction of the prevalent winds ? 



