MAG 
7. Magnefium nigrum, or black ore of manganefe: 
foft, ftaining the fingers, black with hardly any luftre. 
Found commonly in the mines containing the grey ore, 
or native oxyd; maflive, inverting, or varioufly imitative. 
Colour black or dark brown, fometimes with a bluilh cart, 
and often varioufly coloured on the furface ; texture ear¬ 
thy, compart, even or flightly conchoidal; in its compo- 
fifion it refembles the latt, but contains more iron. Its 
cryflals are ufually eight-fided prifms, with their faces 
fmooth. 
8. Magnefium petracorius, perigord ftone, or com¬ 
part manganefe: hardifh, ftaining the fingers, blackifli, 
ftiining internally, becoming red when heated. Found at 
Perigord in France; foftilh, of a compart texture, and 
brownifti-black colour; when heated, it hardens and be¬ 
comes reddilh-brown, but not magnetic, and gives a red 
or violet tinge to borax. Befides manganefe, it contains 
alumine and iron. 
9. Magnefium rofeum, or red ore of manganefe : pale 
rofy red, foliated, not ftaining the fingers, eafily melting 
■with effervefcence. Found in theNagyag mines of Tran- 
fylvania. where it is the matrix of gold ; and near Kapnik 
in Hungary ; maflive, loofe, diffeminated, or imitative, 
fometimes cryftalized in rhomboidal prifms or needles ; 
texture foliated in thin incurved layers, with the fragments 
often fplintery. Colour pale rofy mixed with white; pow¬ 
der whitilh. It elfervefces with nitric and muiiatic acids, 
becomes reddilh-brown when heated torednefs, and tinges 
borax red. Contains filex ”55, oxyd of manganefe 35, 
oxyd of iron 7, and about 2 of alumine. 
MAG'NET,/. The Loadstone ; a fort of ferruginous 
,ftone, in weight and colour refembling iron ore, hard, fo 
as juft to afford fparks when ftruck with fteel, and heavy ; 
endued with divers extraordinary properties, attrartive, 
directive, inelinatory, &c. See Ferrum magnes, under the 
article Mineralogy. 
The magnet is alfo called lapis Heracleus, from Heraclea, 
•a city of Magnefia, a part of the ancient Lydia, where it 
is faid to have been firft found, and from which it is ufu¬ 
ally fuppofed to have taken its name. Though others de¬ 
rive the word from a fliepherd named Magnes, who firft dif- 
covered it with the iron of his crook on Mount Ida; or, 
as others fay, from the nails in his (hoes being attrarted, 
and his progrefs impeded, in walking over foine of this 
iron ore. 
The ancients reckoned five kinds of magnets, different 
in colour and virtue; the Ethiopic, Magnefian, Bceotic, 
Alexandrian, and Natolian. They alfo took it to be of 
two fpecies, male and female; but the chief ufe they made 
of it was in medicine; efpecially for the cure of burns,and 
defluxions in the eyes. 
Some writers of the middle ages, from a miftaken tranf- 
lation of Theophraftus, were induced to account the load- 
ltone poifonous; which the ancients were fo far from'do¬ 
ing, that they gave it inwardly. Galen afcribes a purga¬ 
tive quality to it, and recommends it in dropfies; and 
Diofcorides prefcribes it as a good medicine to evacuate 
grofs melancholic humours. It is doubtlefs poffeffed of 
the fame virtues with the other ores of iron, though in 
modern times never ufed inwardly, having been only made 
an ingredient in fome plafters. To thefe plafters very ex¬ 
traordinary virtues have been afcrihed ; fuchas that, when 
applied to wounds, they would extrart iron, or even a 
knife, from the human body. See feveral fimilar ftories 
in Kircher (De Magnete), who was too wife to give them 
any credit. The chemifts are faid to have been able to 
extrart an oil of wonderful efficacy from the magnet, and 
to have made with it feveral preparations. It has been 
laid, that the application of the artificial magnet, or of a 
rnagnetical bar, to the teeth, will effertually cure the tooth¬ 
ache, that it will eafe the pains of parturient women, that 
it will difperfe white fwellings, &c. and, on the contrary, 
that the wounds made with a knife, or other fteel inftru- 
inent, which has been previoufly rubbed with a magnet, 
Vol. XIV. No. 960. 
M A G log 
are mortal. It IS hardly neceflary to add, that none of 
thefe pretended medicinal or poifonous qualities in the 
magnet are warranted by authentic farts; and, as magnetifm 
does not aft’ert the Fmell, the tafte, or any other fenfe of 
the body, it is improbable, to the greateft degree, that it 
fltould have any effect upon animal bodies. For, though 
there are, without doubt, particles of iron in almoft every 
part of an animal body, yet thefe particles are fo fubdi- 
vided and calcined, and bear fo fmall a proportion to the 
other elements, that, in a natural ftate, the magnet has no 
artion upon them; hence we may deduce the folly of ani¬ 
mal magnetifm, metallic trartors, See. as to which, fee the 
article Juggling, vol. xi. p.493-500.—The following is 
extracted fromtheMonthly Magazine for Feb. 1810. The 
reader will affign to it what degree of credit lie thinks fit. 
“ Henry Hinde Pelly, efq. of Upton, Effex, a gentleman 
advanced in years, and who ufed to be laid up annually 
for three or four months with a violent fit of the gout, 
having read in fome old book that a loadftone worn next 
the (kin was a fure prefervative againft that excruciating 
difeale, and knowing that fome of the fineft and rnoft pow¬ 
erful magnets are found in Golconda, employed an agent 
in India to procure him one from that province. This 
ftone, chipped into a convenient lliape, he conftantly wears 
fewed in a little flannel cafe, fufpended from a black rib¬ 
bon round his neck next liis fkin. It is about two inches 
long, an inch and a half broad, and two-tenths of an inch 
thick ; and its magnetic virtue is very great. It much re¬ 
fembles a piece of flate, inch as lchool-boys learn to ci¬ 
pher on. Mr. Pelly fays that he now and then has fome 
flight twitches, which only ferve to remind him of the ter¬ 
rible paroxyfms to which he once was fubjert. He hap¬ 
pened one day to omit hanging this amulet about his neck ; 
another and another day parted ; and, as feveral years had 
elapfed without a fit, he began to think that the magnet 
had altered his fyftem, and rendered him intangible by 
gout. One night however he awoke in torment; he called 
for his fafeguard, and threw it about his neck ; he efcaped 
with a flight attack, and has never fince been without his 
piece of loadftone, which he wears night and day, and en¬ 
joys perfert freedom from all the pains inflirted by his old 
enemy.” 
The mod diflinguifliing properties of the magnet, whe¬ 
ther natural or artificial, are, that it attrarts iron, and other 
ferruginous fubltances, thus ferving the purpofes of the 
chemiftin difeovering or feparating fmall particles of iron 
mixed with other matters; and that it points towards the 
poles of the world; that it is endued in certain cafes with 
attrartive and repelling powers; and in other circumftances, 
alfo dips or inclines to a point beneath the horizon, di- 
rertly under the pole ; and that it communicates thefe pro¬ 
perties, by proper methods, to iron, fteel, and other fer¬ 
ruginous fubftances. See the article Magnetism. 
MAGNET'IC, or Magnet'ical, adj. [from magnet.J 
Relating to the magnet.—Water is nineteen times lighter, 
and by confequence nineteen times rarer, than gold ; and 
gold is fo rare, as very readily, and without the leaft op- 
pofition, to tranflnit the magnetic effluvia, and eafily to ad¬ 
mit quickfilver into its pores, and to let water pafs through 
it. Newton's Optics. —Having powers correfpondent to thole 
of the magnet.—The magnet arts upon iron through all 
denle bodies not magnetic, nor red hot, without any dimi¬ 
nution of its virtue; as through gold, iilver, lead, glafs, 
water. Newton's Optics. —Attrartive; having the power to 
draw things diftant.—The moon is rnagnetical of heat, as 
the fun is of cold and moifture. Bacon's Natural Hijtory, 
They, as they move tow’rds his all-cheating lamp, 
Turn fwift their various motions, or are turn’d 
By his magnetic beam. Milton, 
Magnetic is once ufed by Milton for magnet j- 
Draw out with credulous defire, and lead 
At will the manlielt, refoluteft, bread. 
As the magnetic hardeft iron draws. Milton. 
F f MAG'NETISM 
