DELUSIONS CONCERNING THE LODESTONE. 2 19 



of the magnet to induce its property in another, and an- 

 other, and another iron nail, and so on indefinitely, until 

 he bethinks him of musk, which, " having a sweet savour 

 or smell itself imparteth the same to another thing, as to 

 a pair of Gloves : and those Gloves give out savour and 

 perfume a whole Chest of Cloaths," and so concludes that 

 ' ' the Vertue of the stone is distributive. ' ' Note the physi- 

 cal character of all this, when contrasted with the older 

 notions of the affection of the magnet and iron, or the 

 hunger of one for the other, or the doctrine of sympathy 

 and similitudes. 



It is necessary, in order to appreciate how singular the 

 position which Norman assumes, and how completely he 

 adopted the inductive method, to recall some of the general 

 ideas concerning the magnet which were then in vogue. 

 I mean the beliefs of the great mass of the people the 

 conceptions which infiltrated through all sorts of litera- 

 ture, and which made up the sum total of the world's 

 knowledge on the subject. 



There was not a single myth which had come down from 

 antiquity which was not in full vigor. That garlic would 

 destroy magnetism, that the lodestone had no attractive 

 power in the* presence of the diamond, that it was a useful 

 medicament when administered internally even the 

 ancient superstitions of Samothrace all were preserved 

 and implicitly accepted. They had persisted unimpaired 

 by the dialectics of the schoolmen or the physical discover- 

 ies of the philosophers; and they had become folk-lore 

 and chimney-corner gossip. A few examples will suffice: 



A magnet (it was believed) carried on the person will 

 cure cramp and gout, draw poison from wounds, prevent 

 baldness, cure headache, obtund pain and facilitate parturi- 

 tion. It will draw gold from wells, speak when sprinkled 

 on water with a voice like that of an infant, and when mixed 

 with nettle juice and serpent fat, make a man " mad and 





