Johannes Langius. Epistolarum medicinalium volumen tripartitum (Paris, 1589, p. 792).
Cardinalis Cusanus (Nicolas Khrypffs, Cardinal de Cusa). Nicolai Cusani de staticis experimentis dialogus (Argentorati, 1550). The English edition, entitled The Idiot in four books, is dated London, 1650.
[9] Page 3, line 1. Page 2, line 42. Marcellus.—"Marcellus Empiricus, médecin de Théodose-le-Grand, dit que l'aimant, appelé antiphyson, attire et repousse le fer." (Klaproth, Sur l'invention de la boussole, 1834, p. 12.) The passage from Marcellus runs: "Magnetes lapis, qui antiphyson dicitur, qui ferrum trahit et abjicit, et magnetes lapis qui sanguinem emittit et ferrum ad se trahit, collo alligati aut circa caput dolori capitis medentur." (Marcellus, de Medicamentis: in the volume Medici antiqui omnes, qui latinis literis morborum genera persecuti sunt. Venet., 1547, p. 89.)
[10] Page 3, line 11. Page 3, line 9. Thomas Erastus.—The work in question is Dispvtationvm de Medicina nova Philippi Paracelsi, Pars Prima: in qua quæ de remediis svperstitiosis & Magicis curationibus ille prodidit, præcipuè examinantur à Thoma Erasto in Schola Heydebergensi, professore. (Basiliæ, 1572. Parts 2 and 3 appeared the same year, and Part 4 in 1573.)
Gilbert had no more love for Paracelsus than for Albertus Magnus or others of the magic-mongers. Indeed the few passages in Paracelsus on the magnet are sorry stuff. They will mostly be found in the seventh volume of his collected works (Opera omnia, Frankfurt, 1603). A sample may be taken from the English work publisht in London, 1650, with the title: Of the Nature of Things, Nine Books; written by Philipp Theophrastus of Hohenheim, called Paracelsvs.
"For any Loadstone that Mercury hath but touched, or which hath been smeered with Mercuriall oyle, or only put into Mercury will never draw Iron more" (p. 23).
"The life of the Loadstone is the spirit of Iron; which may bee extracted, and taken away with spirit of Wine" (p. 32).
[11] Page 3, line 13. Page 3, line 11. Encelius (or Entzelt, Christoph)
wrote a work publisht in 1551 at Frankfurt, with the title De re metallica, hoc est, de origine, varietate, et natura corporum metallicorum, lapidum, gemmarum, atque aliarum quæ ex fodinis eruuntur, rerum, ad medicine usum deservientium, libri iii. This is written in a singular medley of Latin and German. Gilbert undoubtedly took from it many of his ideas about the properties of metals. See the [note] to p. [27] on plumbum album.
[12] Page 3, line 20. Page 3, line 21. Thomas Aquinas.—The reference is to his commentaries upon the Physica of Aristotle. The passage will be found on p. 96 bis of the Giunta edition (Venet., 1539). The essential part is quoted by Gilbert himself on p. [64].