The nature of the magnet

139. The nature of the magnet

By ascending in this way through the veins of the outer Earth, the iron fragments turn sometimes in one direction and sometimes in another.

These then form a lump of iron.

A magnet is formed when those that have retained the same orientation or have remained immobile there, impacted by another stone or some other body for many years, rise up to the mines.

This is why:

• iron has the nature of a magnet
• all magnets have iron

140. How steel is made by melting any kind of iron

The surfaces of the iron are engraved with half-channels fit for receiving virtual photons.

When lumps of iron are melted into steel, they are agitated by the force of heat and separated from heterogeneous substances.

They twist themselves here and there until they align with each other according to those half-channels.

This goes on until the halves of these channels match so well that they form complete channels.

When this happens, the virtual photons found in fire and also in other bodies flow more freely through these channels.

The virtual photons hinder the small surfaces from changing their positions as easily as before.

They are prevented from being easily disjoined by:

• the contiguity of these surfaces
• the force of gravity which presses down all the fragments

Because of the heat, the fragments themselves continue to move.

Many conspire together into the same motion.

The whole liquor compounded of them is distinguished into various drops or clots.

• All those fragments which move together make one drop.
• Each drop immediately polishes and smoothes its surface by its motion.

The encounter of other drops smoothens whatever is rough and angular to join them together as closely as possible.

141. Why is Steel very hard, rigid, and fragile?

In this way, the entire liquid divided into drops or small lumps cools rapidly and solidifies into very hard, rigid, and fragile steel, almost like glass.

It is:

• hard because its fragments closely connect to each other
• rigid because it returns to its original shape when bent. This is because:
  • the small surfaces of its fragments do not separate during this flexion
  • only the shapes of the channels change, as mentioned earlier about glass.
• fragile because the drops or lumps making it up do not adhere to each other unless bound by the contact of their surfaces
  • This contact can only occur in very few and very small places.

142. The difference between steel and other iron.

Not all lumps are equally suitable for turning into steel.

Even the best and hardest steel is usually made may only give low-quality iron if melted with unsuitable fire.

If the fragments of the lumps are so angular and brittle that they adhere to each other before their surfaces can be properly applied to each other and distinguished into drops, or if the fire is not strong enough to liquefy the liquid into drops and to contract the fragments that compose them simultaneously.

Or vice versa, if it is so strong that it disturbs the suitable position of these fragments, the result is considered not steel but softer and more flexible iron.

143. How is steel tempered?

Steel, if heated again, does not easily melt because:

• its lumps are too thick and solid to be moved intact by heat
• the fragments of each lump are too tightly packed to be easily extruded from their places.

However, it softens because all its particles are shaken by heat.

Later, if it cools slowly, it does not regain its previous hardness, rigidity, or fragility but becomes flexible like softer iron.

For, in cooling in this way, the angular and brittle fragments, which were pushed outwards from the surfaces of the lumps by the heat’s force towards their inner parts, emerge and intertwine with each other like very small hooks, connecting one lump to another.

This means that:

• these fragments are not as tightly compacted in their lumps
• the lumps are not as closely fused to each other through direct contact but rather tied together by small hooks or links.

Therefore, steel turns out to be not very hard, rigid, or fragile, but rather soft and flexible.

It does not differ from common iron, except that when steel is heated again and then quickly cooled, its previous hardness and rigidity are restored, unlike iron, at least to that extent.

This is because the fragments in steel are not far from the position most suitable for maximum hardness, and they can easily resume that position through the force of heat and retain it in the fastest cooling.

However, in iron, they have never had such a position and never regain it.

To rapidly cool hot steel, it is usually immersed in water or other cold liquids, while it is slowly cooled in oil or other greases.

In this way, the harder and more rigid, the more fragile it becomes.

For example, swords, saws, files, or other tools made from it should not always be quenched in the coldest liquids, but in temperate ones, depending on each of these tools, whether fragility is to be avoided more or less than hardness is desired.

Therefore, when it is immersed in certain liquids, it is rightly said to be tempered.

144. The difference between the channels of a magnet, steel, and iron.

There are many channels in both steel and iron suitable for receiving virtual photons.

The channels in steel are more intact and perfect.

• The extremities of the branches protruding in their spirals when once bent in one direction are not as easily bending in the opposite direction as they do in a magnet.

All these channels, not in steel or other iron as in a magnet, should be turned towards the South and the North.

This makes their openings suitable for receiving virtual photons from the South in one direction and suitable for receiving others from the North in the opposite direction.

However, the arrangement of these channels should be variable and uncertain because it is disturbed by the agitation of fire.

In the very short interval during which this agitation is stopped by cold, only as many of these channels can be turned towards the South and the North as the virtual photons coming from the Earth’s poles are seeking a path through them at that time.

These virtual photons do not correspond in number to all the channels in iron.

Therefore, all iron does receive some magnetic force from the position it had with respect to the Earth’s parts when it last cooled, or even from where it remained immobile for a long time, if it has remained immobile for a long time in the same position.

However, due to the number of channels it contains, it can still have more.