by William Gilbert

“ I think him [i.e., Gilbert] moreover worthy of extraordinary applause for the many new and true Observations that he made, to the disgrace of so many fabulous Authours, that write not only what they do not know, but whatever they hear spoken by the foolish vulgar, never seeking to assure themselves of the same by experience, perhaps, because they are unwilling to diminish the bulk of their Books. ”

“ Let the iron be the best steel, smoothed, shining, and even. A loadstone with such an appliance, which before only bore four ounces of iron, will now raise twelve. But the greatest force of a combining or rather united nature is seen when two loadstones, armed with iron caps, are so joined by their concurrent (commonly called contrary) ends, that they mutually * attract and raise one another. In this way a weight of twenty ounces is raised, when either stone unarmed would only allure four ounces of iron. Iron unites to an armed loadstone more firmly than to a loadstone ”