In 1750, Mr. Canton, F.R.S., “one of the most successful experimenters
in the golden age of electricity,”[46] communicated to the Royal
Society his “Method of making Artificial Magnets without the use
of natural ones.” This he effected by using a poker and tongs to
communicate magnetism to steel bars. He derived his first hint from
observing them one evening, as he was sitting by the fire, to be nearly
in the same direction with the earth as the dipping needle. He thence
concluded that they must, from their position and the frequent blows
they receive, have acquired some magnetic virtue, which on trial he
found to be the case; and therefore he employed them to impregnate his
bars, instead of having recourse to the natural loadstone. Upon the
reading of the above paper, Canton exhibited to the Royal Society his
experiments, for which the Copley Medal was awarded to him in 1751.
Canton had, as early as 1747, turned his attention, with complete
success, to the production of powerful artificial magnets, principally
in consequence of the expense of procuring those made by Dr. Gowan
Knight, who kept his process secret. Canton for several years abstained
from communicating his method even to his most intimate friends,
lest it might be injurious to Dr. Knight, who procured considerable
pecuniary advantages by touching needles for the mariner’s compass.
At length Dr. Knight’s method of making artificial magnets was
communicated to the world by Mr. Wilson, in a paper published in the
69th volume of the _Philosophical Transactions_. He provided himself
with a large quantity of clean iron-filings, which he put into a
capacious tub about half full of clear water; he then agitated the
tub to and fro for several hours, until the filings were reduced by
attrition to an almost impalpable powder. This powder was then dried,
and formed into paste by admixture with linseed-oil. The paste was then
moulded into convenient shapes, which were exposed to a moderate heat
until they had attained a sufficient degree of hardness.
After allowing them to remain for some time in this state, Dr.
Knight gave them their magnetic virtue in any direction he pleased,
by placing them between the extreme ends of his large magazine of
artificial magnets for a second or more, as he saw occasion. By
this method the virtue they acquired was such, that when any one of
these pieces was held between two of his best ten-guinea bars, with
its poles purposely inverted, it immediately of itself turned about
to recover its natural direction, which the force of those very
powerful bars was not sufficient to counteract.
Dr. Knight’s powerful battery of magnets above mentioned is in the
possession of the Royal Society, having been presented by Dr. John
Fothergill in 1776.