Z 
of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 515 
A and turneagaine. But wonderfull it is above all, that mans bloud fhould have fuch a-vertucin it, 
as to be revenged of the yronblade that fhed it; for being once embrued therein, it is givenever 
after eftfoones to ruft andcanker. | ‘ Te yogi 
Concerning the loade-ftone,and the great concord or amitie betweene yromand it, meane 
to write more amplie in the due place. Howbeit,for the prefentthus much] muftneeds fay that 
yron is the onely mettall which receiveth {trength ftom that ftone, yea,and keepeth the fame a 
Jong time, infomuch as by vertue thereof, if irbee once well touched and rubbed withall, ir is 
able to take hold of other peeces of yron: and thus otherwhiles wee may fee a number of rings 
hanging together in manner of achaine, notwithttanding they bee not linked andenclofed one 
within another.The ignorant people feeing thefe rings thus rubbed with the load {tone,& clea- 
B ving onetoanother,call it Quick-yron,Certes,any wound made by fuch a toole,are more cager 
and angriethan by another. This ftone is to be found in Biskay, {cattered here and there in final 
peeces by way of bubbation(for that is the tearm they ufe;) but itis not that true Magnet or load- 
ftone indeed,which groweth in one continued rock.And 1 wornot whether thefe be fo good for, 
glaffemakers, and ferveth their turne fo well in melting their glaffe,as the other; for no man yet 
hath made any experimentthereof. Bur fure lam, thatif one doe rub the edge, back,or bladeof 
_ a knife therewith, it doth impartan attractive vertue of yron thereunto,as well asthe right Mag- 
net. And here I cannot chufe but acquaintyou with the fingular invention of that great architec 
and matter devifer,of Alexandria in Egypt Dinocrates, who began to make the arched roufe of 
theremple of 4r/inoe all of Magnet or this Loadftone,to theend,that within thattemplethe fta~ 
C tue of the faid princefle made of yron,might feeme to hang in theaire by nothing. But prevented 
he was by death before hee could finith his worke, like as king Pfolomee alfo,who ordained that 
temple to be built in the honour of the faid 47/ivee his fifter. . fies 
butto returne againe to our yron: of a}] mines that be, the veine of this metral] is largeft,and 
fpreadeth it felfe into moft lengths every way : aswe may fec in that part of Bifcay that coafteth 
along the fea,and apon which the Ocean beateth: where there is a craggie mountaine very fteep 
and high, which ftandeth all upon a mine or veine of yrons A wonderfull thing, and in manner 
incredible,howbeit,moft true,according asI have fhewed already in my Cofinographie,as tou- 
ching the circuit of theOcean. 
D Cuar. xv. 
2S The temper of yron.The medicinable vertues thereof, as alfo of theruft of braffe 
ind yron.Of the skales that fhed and fliefromyron :andof iheliquid 
emplafire called by the Greckes Hygremplaftrum. 
Ron made once hot in the fireunleffe it be hardened with the harnmet, doth foone waft and 
corrupt.So long as it looketh butred,it is not readie for the hammer,neither woulditbeebea- 
ten before it begin to looke white inthe fire, Befineare it with vinegre and allum, it will looke 
like copper or braffe. If you be defirousto keepe any yron-worke from ruft, give ita vernifh with 
cerufic, plaftre, and tarre,incorporatall together. And thisis that compofition,which is called 
E bythe Greekes*Antipathia, And fome fay alfo, thatthere is a kind of hallowing yron that will +/,4; 0:5 
preferve it from ruft: Asalfothatthere is at thisday to bee feene the chaine of yron within the wana” 
citie called Zeugma, feated upon Euphrates, wherewith king Alexander the Great fometime 
bound and ftrengthened the bridge over the river there : the linkes whereof,as many as have ben 
repaired and made new fince; doe gatherruft, whereas the reft of the firft making, bee all free _. 
therefrom, POE rites 27 Pov WT) ania ale 
As touching the ufe of yron and fteele, in Phyficke it ferveth otherwife than for to launce 
eut and difmember withall : for take a knife or dagger and make an imaginarie circle two or 
three times with the point thereof, upon.a young child, oranelderbodie, and then goe round 
withall aboutthe partie as often, itis a fingular prefervative againftall poyfons, forceries, oren- 
F chauntments. Alfo to takeany yronnaile out of the coffin or fepulchre wherein manor wo- 
man lieth buriedsand to fticke the fame faft to the lintle or fide poft of adore,leading either in- 
to the houfe or bed-chamber where any dooth lie whois haunted with fpirits in the night, he or 
fhe fhall be delivered and fecured from {uch phantafticall illufions.. Moreover, itis faid, That if 
one be lightly pricked with the point of {word or dagger which hath been the death of aman,it 
is 
we 
