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Description

Middleton describes several instances where he observed the magnetic needle not moving at all when travelling at sea through cold and snowy areas. The needle moved again after sitting next to a fire for a quarter of an hour.

Subject: Navigation / Magnetism

Published in Philosophical Transactions as 'An observation of the magnetic needle being so affected by great cold, that it would not traverse; by Capt. Christopher Middleton, F. R. S'.

Read 20 April 1738.

Reference number
CLP/9ii/32
Earliest possible date
20 April 1738
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
2 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

Christopher Middleton

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Citation

Christopher Middleton, Paper, 'Of the magnetic needle affeced by cold' by Christopher Middleton, 20 April 1738, CLP/9ii/32, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_9ii_32/paper-of-the-magnetic-needle-affeced-by-cold-by-christopher-middleton, accessed on 12 December 2025

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  • Classified Papers

    The 'Classified Papers' of the Royal Society are papers from British and international natural philosophers and scholars categorised according to subject areas.

    Dates: 1592 - 1741

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