Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXXIV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF METALS., CHAP. 42.

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CHAP. 42.—THE METAL CALLED LIVE IRON.

We shall speak of the loadstone in its proper place,¹ and of the sympathy which it has with iron. This is the only metal that acquires the properties of that stone, retaining them for a length of time, and attracting other iron, so that we may sometimes see a whole chain formed of these rings. The lower classes, in their ignorance, call this "live iron," and the wounds that are made by it are much more severe. This mineral is also found in Cantabria, not in continuous strata, like the genuine loadstone, but in scattered fragments, which they call "bullationes."² I do not know whether this species of ore is proper also for the fusion of glass,³ as no one has hitherto tried it; but it certainly imparts the same property as the magnet to iron. The architect Timochares⁴ began to erect a vaulted roof of loadstone, in the Temple of Arsinoë,⁵ at Alexandria, in order that the iron statue of that princess might have the appearance of hanging suspended in the air:⁶ his death, however, and that of King Ptolemæus, who had ordered this monument to be erected in honour of his sister, prevented the completion of the project.

1 B. xxxvi. c. 25.

2 Properly "bubbles," or "beads."

3 See B. xxxvi. c. 66. In the account of the loadstone referred to above, he informs us that this mineral was employed in the formation of glass.—B. Beckmann is of opinion that Manganese is here alluded to. See Vol. II. p. 237.

4 Another reading is "Dinochares," or "Dinocrates," for an account of whom, see B. v. c. 11, and B. vii. c. 38.

5 Wife and sister of Ptolemy Philadelphus. See B. vi. c. 33, and B. xxxvi. c. 14.

6 Some accounts state that the statue was to be of brass, and the head of iron. It is said that the same thing was attempted with respect to the statue of Mahomet, in his tomb at Medina.—B.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 42.—THE METAL CALLED LIVE IRON.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 42.—THE METAL CALLED LIVE IRON.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.