CHAP. 42.—THE METAL CALLED LIVE IRON.
We shall speak of the loadstone in its proper place, [Note] 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." [Note] I do not know whether this species of ore is
proper also for the fusion of glass, [Note] as no one has hitherto tried
it; but it certainly imparts the same property as the magnet
to iron. The architect Timochares [Note] began to erect a vaulted roof
of loadstone, in the Temple of Arsinoë, [Note] at Alexandria, in order
that the iron statue of that princess might have the appearance
of hanging suspended in the air: [Note] 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.
