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The principia; or, the first principles of natural things, being new attempts toward a philosophical explanation of the elementary world / By Emanuel Swedenborg ... Translated from the Latin by the Rev. Augustus Clissold.

  • Emmanuel Swedenborg
Date:
1845-1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principia; or, the first principles of natural things, being new attempts toward a philosophical explanation of the elementary world / By Emanuel Swedenborg ... Translated from the Latin by the Rev. Augustus Clissold. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    force ! At one time the fire acting upon it, at another not acting; for the force passes unimpaired through the flame of spirit and oil, yet is expelled and destroyed by fire in the case of iron and stony bodies. EXPERIMENT LVII. Since an iron plate is divested of its magnetic forces in the fire, it remains to be ascertained whether the magnet would communicate its force to ignited iron; and whether when thus communicated it would remain in the iron. At first sight it might be thought that this experi¬ ment was superfluous ; for if in experiment 56 the fire ejected the magnetic force out of the iron, it would also now expel from it any force it had received; for the fire which exists in highly ignited iron does not differ from any other fire ; and yet how contrary are the real phenomena to such a course of reasoning! A circumstance which ought to teach experimentalists how slowly, how cautiously they should proceed in physics ; and how little we ought to confide in experiments, unless frequently repeated by the most dexterous manipulators. Indeed in this science, the adage inculcated by chemists will be found to apply. Omnem festinationem esse a diabolo ; for haste combined with abstract argument derived from one or two observations, cannot but lead con¬ stantly into error. In the year 1725, a plate highly ignited was drawn over the pole of an excellent magnet, and plunged into filings of iron ; yet it manifested no symptom of attractive force. The friction upon the magnet was repeated, but no force was communicated to the iron; after the plate had cooled, it possessed no greater power of attracting than any other plate. In the year 1727 I repeated the same experiment before numerous spectators, with another excellent but armed magnet. The same iron plate was strongly ignited : it was then drawn along over the foot or pole of an armed magnet, and then plunged into filings, when it exhibited a strong attractive power; the filings adhering on all sides like a beard; nay, even when cold, the iron retained the same degree of strength. Wondering at a result so unexpected and so contrary to the former, I repeated the experiment on the following day with a piece of iron wire. I took also a fresh quantity of filings, and carefully attending to every particular lest I should fall into any mis¬ take, I arrived nevertheless at the same result; for the iron wire, when ignited, was still impregnated with the magnetic force, and retained it even after being allowed to cool. Now what conclusion can we draw from results so opposite ? Is it that some magnets are enabled to com¬ municate their force to ignited iron, and others not ? or is it that at one
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