However grand, however widely
accepted, however useful its conclusions, none is so sure that it
cannot be called into question by a newly discovered fact. In
the domain of the world's knowledge there is no infallibility."
After Prof. Gilbert had finished his experiments, Mr. Volz tried
some of his own along the same line. He found upon trial that
the meteorites in his possession were non-magnetic, or,
practically so. If these, being pieces of the larger meteorite
which was buried in the hole, were non-magnetic, all of it must
be non-magnetic, which would account for the failure of the
needle to act or manifest any magnetic attraction in the greater
test.
Mr. Volz also made another interesting discovery in this same
connection. All over the meteorite zone are scattered about
small pieces of iron which he calls "iron shale." It is
analogous to the true meteorite, but is "burnt" or "dead." He
regards these bits of iron as dead sparks from a celestial forge,
which fell from the meteorite as it blazed through the heavens.
In experimenting with the stuff he found that it was not only
highly magnetic, but also possessed polarity in a marked degree;
and was entirely different from the true meteorite. Here was a
curiosity, indeed; a small, insignificant and unattractive stone
possessed of strong magnetic polarity, a property of electricity
that is as mysterious and incomprehensible as is electricity
itself.
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