h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have 'electrum' in my head, no idea what it is but it's just popped up!

Electrum is an archaic word for amber.

Is it dinosaur fossils? They'd respond to magnets differently to other bones because of the earth's magnetic field changing between now and when they died.

>>So we're looking for something that is magnetic, and which, in the early part of the 19th century in central europe, was made into jewellery and was for a while considered more precious than your more normal jewel box fodder. <<

Correct.

Not electrum or amber.

Not dino fossils. An intriguing idea but no.

Oh Taff. How do you do it?


"they fluoresce"

Spinach?

Nope.

I'm struggling to see what is magnetic... Does the Device work by attracting (or repelling) the jewelry, or does it use another property of magnetism?

Copper?

Some other metal?

The normal properties.

>I'm struggling to see what is magnetic.<

The list *isn't* that long.


Copper?

sorry TB.

Er, no, no, I meant 'copper' in the sense of 'policeman'. Surely that wasn't klaxoned, eh?

>>The list *isn't* that long.<<

I plead ignorance

Well, ignorant or not, the only properties of magnets I know are, attracting iron and creating currents in klaxoned-metalled springs. And probably, according to certain sources, being able to communicate with the Spiritual World.

You don't mean that teh Device is used to summon Granma's Ghost who will tell us which is the most precious piece her descendants inherited, eh?

>The list isn't that long<
That's what's been bugging me all along. Is it just iron? Was there a bizarre fad? Did King Fred say "Check out my dull grey bling" and the fashion sheep followed suit?

Or some alloy which contains iron?

Is it cobalt or tungsten? And is that why tungsten has a German other name (wulfram)?

He hasn't actually said no to spinach yet...

Oh yes he has. (Missed it).

And spinach does contain a lot of iron

Yes, of course, 19th Century Prussian aristocrats had spinach among their diamonds and gold, and thieves needed magnets to recognise it in the dark

Actually, I think 108 was addressing the spinach hypothesis.

By the way, can't you detour a water stream (like from a tap) with a magnet?

Perhaps it's for finding the container the piece is in? I assume it's not all jumbled in one big box...