Book I chapter 4

Chap. iiii.
Which pole of the stone is the Boreal: & how it is distinguished¹ from the austral.

O ne pole of the earth turns toward the constellation² of the Cynosure³, and constantly regards a fixed⁴ point in the heaven (except so far as it changes by the fixed stars being shifted in longitude⁵, which motion we recognize as existing in the earth, as we shall hereafter prove): While the other pole turns to the opposite face of heaven, unknown to the ancients, now visible on long voyages, and adorned⁶ with multitudinous stars: In the same way the loadstone has the property and power of directing itself North and South (the earth herself consenting and contributing force thereto) according to the conformation of nature, which arranges the movements of the stone towards its native situation. Which thing is proved thus: Place a magnetick stone (after finding the poles) in a round wooden vessel⁷, a Bowl or dish, at the same time place it together with the vessel (like a sailor in a skiff) upon water in some large vessel or cistern⁸, so that it may be able to float freely in the middle, nor touch the edge of it, and where the air is not disturbed by winds, which would thwart⁹ the natural movement of the stone. Hereupon the stone placed as it were in a ship, in the middle of the surface of the still and unruffled water, will at once put itself in motion along with the vessel that carries it, and revolve¹⁰ circularly, until its austral pole points to the north, and its boreal pole to the south. For it reverts¹¹ from the contrary position to the poles: and although by the first too-vehement impulse it over-passes the poles; yet after returning again and again, it rests at length at the poles, or at the meridian¹² (unless because of local reasons it is diverted some little from those points, or from the meridional line, by some sort of variation66, the cause of which we will hereafter state). However often you move it away from its place, so often by virtue¹³ of nature's noble dower does it seek again those sure and determined¹⁴ goals; and this is so, not only if the poles have been disposed in the vessel evenly with the plane of the horizon, but also in the case of one pole, whether austral or boreal, being raised in the vessel ten, or twenty, or thirty, or fifty or eighty degrees, above the plane of the horizon, or lowered beneath it: Still you shall see the boreal part of the stone seek the south, and the austral part seek the north; So much so that if the pole of the stone shall be only one degree distant from the Zenith and highest point of the heaven, in the case of a spherical¹⁵ stone, the whole stone revolves¹⁶ until the pole occupies its own site; though not in the absolutely direct line, it will yet tend toward those parts, and come to rest in the meridian of the directive action. With a like impulse too it is borne if the austral pole have been raised toward the upper quarters, the same as if the Boreal had been exalted¹⁷ above the Horizon. But it is always to be noted¹⁸ that, though there are various kinds of unlikeness in the stones, and one loadstone may far surpass another in virtue and efficiency; yet all hold to the same limits, and are borne toward the same points. Further it is to be remembered that all who before our time wrote of the poles of the stone, and all the craftsmen¹⁹ and navigators, have been very greatly in error in considering the part of the stone which tended to the north as the north pole of the stone, and that which verged²⁰ toward the south, the south pole, which we shall hereafter prove to be false. So badly hitherto hath the whole magnetick philosophy been cultivated, even as to its foundation principles.

1 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

2 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

3 cynosure   

n.焦点

参考例句：

• Let faith be your cynosure to walk by.让信仰成为你生活中的灯塔。
• The princess,dressed head to foot in gold,was the cynosure of all eyes.公主全身上下披金戴银，是众目注视的焦点。

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 longitude   

n.经线，经度

参考例句：

• The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
• He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度，然后在航海图上做了个标记。

6 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

7 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

8 cistern   

n.贮水池

参考例句：

• The cistern is empty but soon fills again.蓄水池里现在没水，但不久就会储满水的。
• The lavatory cistern overflowed.厕所水箱的水溢出来了

9 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

10 revolve   

vi.(使)旋转；循环出现

参考例句：

• The planets revolve around the sun.行星绕着太阳运转。
• The wheels began to revolve slowly.车轮开始慢慢转动。

11 reverts   

恢复( revert的第三人称单数 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还

参考例句：

• The mind reverts to the earliest days of colonial history. 我们回想到早期的殖民地历史。
• Macau reverts to Chinese sovereignty at midnight on December19. 澳门主权于十二月十九日零时回归中国。

12 meridian   

adj.子午线的；全盛期的

参考例句：

• All places on the same meridian have the same longitude.在同一子午线上的地方都有相同的经度。
• He is now at the meridian of his intellectual power.他现在正值智力全盛期。

13 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

14 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

15 spherical   

adj.球形的；球面的

参考例句：

• The Earth is a nearly spherical planet.地球是一个近似球体的行星。
• Many engineers shy away from spherical projection methods.许多工程师对球面投影法有畏难情绪。

16 revolves   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 )；细想

参考例句：

• The earth revolves both round the sun and on its own axis. 地球既公转又自转。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，轮子在轴上旋转。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 exalted   

adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的

参考例句：

• Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
• He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。

18 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

19 craftsmen   

n. 技工

参考例句：

• rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
• The craftsmen have ensured faithful reproduction of the original painting. 工匠保证要复制一幅最接近原作的画。

20 verged   

接近，逼近（verge的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The situation verged on disaster. 形势接近于灾难的边缘。
• Her silly talk verged on nonsense. 她的蠢话近乎胡说八道。