MAGNETISM AND ELECTRICITY. 



67. The Lodestone. 



There are two kinds of material which have the 

 power of pulling bits of iron to them without first touch- 

 ing the iron. These are called magnets. There are 

 natural magnets and magnets which have been made by 

 man. The illustration shows a 

 "piece of natural magnet which 

 has attracted iron filings to its 

 two ends. Natural magnets are 

 black stones and were first found near Magnesia in Asia 

 Minor. A natural magnet is called a lodestone. The 

 word "lodestone" means leading stone, for if a piece of 

 lodestone is hung up by a fine thread, one end will point 

 nearly north, and thus the lodestone will direct or lead 

 us. The ends of the lodestone where the iron filings are 

 the thickest, are called its poles. The poles are named 

 north and south because one will point north and the 

 other will point south. The poles of a magnet attract 

 iron with greater force than any other part of the mag- 

 net. Lodestones are not important and are interesting 

 only because they were the first magnets which were dis- 

 covered by man, and their mysterious power has never 

 been fully understood. 



