Page:On the Magnet - Gilbert (1900 translation of 1600 work).djvu/172

 is acquired by the needle. A and B are two loadstones attracting one another, according to nature, at their dissimilar ends; C, the point of a needle touched by both at once, is not excited (even if those loadstones be connected according to nature), if they are equal; but if they are not equal, virtue is acquired from the stronger. When a needle is being excited by a loadstone, begin in the middle, and draw the needle toward its end; at the end let the application be continued with a very gentle rubbing around the end for some time; that is to say, for one or two minutes; do not repeat the motion from the middle to the end (as is frequently done) for in this way the verticity is injured. Some delay is desirable, for although the power is imparted instantly, and the iron excited, yet from the vicinity of the loadstone and a suitable delay, a more steady verticity arises, and one that is more firmly durable in the iron. Although an armed stone raises a greater weight of iron than an unarmed one, yet a needle is not more strongly excited by an armed stone than by an unarmed one. Let there be two iron wires of the same length, wrought from the same wire; let one be excited by an armed end, the other by an unarmed end; it is manifest that the same needles have a beginning of motion or a sensible inclination at equal distances from the same armed and unarmed loadstone; this is ascertained by measuring with a longish reed. But objects which are more powerfully excited move more quickly; those which are less powerfully excited, more feebly, and not unless brought rather close; the experiment is made on water with equal corks.