GIAN FRANCESCO SAGREDO. 343 



and possessing men whose attainments placed them far in 

 advance of all other European scholars, it would have been 

 indeed strange if the announcement of such discoveries as 

 those of Gilbert had failed to arouse the liveliest interest. 

 Nor did the acute minds of the Italians long delay the sep- 

 aration of the wheat from the chaff, for they quickly saw 

 that Gilbert's recognition of the magnetic property of the 

 earth, and the experiments underlying this discovery, were 

 of far greater scientific importance than his notions as to 

 the structure of the heavens. 



Gilbert's treatise must have reached Italy with remark- 

 able celerity for those days. In his letter, dated February 

 1 3th (presumably), 1602, which Barlow publishes, he speaks 

 of being in direct epistolary communication with Sagredo, 

 and says "that he hath conferred with divers learned men 

 in Venice and with the readers of Padua, and reporteth a 

 wonderful liking of my book." This was the verdict 

 which Gilbert wanted the praise of the men the extent 

 of whose learning he knew and whose ability he honored. 

 Beside this, the contemptuous silence of his own country- 

 men became a matter of indifference. 



The name of Gian Francesco Sagredo has been rendered 

 immortal by Galileo, who adopts it as that of one of the 

 participators in his famous Dialogues. Nor was this dis- 

 tinction solely due to the fact that Sagredo, perhaps be- 

 yond all others, was the beloved disciple, as well as the 

 ardent adherent and benefactor, of the great philosopher. 

 He was a Venetian patrician, endowed with an ample for- 

 tune, which he spent profusely upon his collections of 

 apparatus and curiosities. He had already studied the 

 magnet and knew all that Fracastorio and Cardan had 

 written concerning it. He was in immediate touch with 

 Fra Paolo Sarpi, as well as with Galileo the former the 

 greatest representative of u the learned men of Venice," 

 the latter a "reader of Padua." 



In the fall of 1602, Sarpi is said to have written to 

 Galileo referring directly to Gilbert's discoveries, and 



