Saint Croix Union

The Magnet.—The magnet or loadstone is an oxide of a peculiar character, found occasionally in beds of iron ore. The colors vary in different specimens, but usually is of a dark gray hue, and has a dull metallic lustre. It was first discovered in Magnesia, Asia; hence the name magnet. It is found in considerable masses in the iron mines of Sweden and Norway, in the Isle of Elba, in different parts of Arabia, China, Siam, in the Philippine Islands, and in North America. Though commonly met with in irregularly formed masses only a few inches in diameter, yet it is found of much larger size. One carried from Moscow to London, a few years since, weighed 125 pounds, and supported more than 200 pounds of iron. Artificial magnets are so constructed as to have a greater intensity of attractive power than the natural ones. It has likewise been found that meteoric stones possess a strong magnetic virtue, resembling the loadstone of the earth.