DE RE METALLICA

with

Biographical Introduction, Annotations and Appendices upon
the Development of Mining Methods, Metallurgical
Processes, Geology, Mineralogy & Mining Law
from the earliest times to the 16th Century

A. B. Stanford University, Member American Institute of Mining Engineers,
Mining and Metallurgical Society of America, Société des Ingéniéurs
Civils de France, American Institute of Civil Engineers,
Fellow Royal Geographical Society, etc., etc.

A. B. Stanford University, Member American Association for the
Advancement of Science, The National Geographical Society,
Royal Scottish Geographical Society, etc., etc.

1950

Dover Publications, Inc.

NEW YORK

The inspiration of whose teaching is no less great than his contribution to science.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

[Pg i]

here are three objectives in translation of works of this character: to give a faithful, literal translation of the author's statements; to give these in a manner which will interest the reader; and to preserve, so far as is possible, the style of the original text. The task has been doubly difficult in this work because, in using Latin, the author availed himself of a medium which had ceased to expand a thousand years before his subject had in many particulars come into being; in consequence he was in difficulties with a large number of ideas for which there were no corresponding words in the vocabulary at his command, and instead of adopting into the text his native German terms, he coined several hundred Latin expressions to answer his needs. It is upon this rock that most former attempts at translation have been wrecked. Except for a very small number, we believe we have been able to discover the intended meaning of such expressions from a study of the context, assisted by a very incomplete glossary prepared by the author himself, and by an exhaustive investigation into the literature of these subjects during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. That discovery in this particular has been only gradual and obtained after much labour, may be indicated by the fact that the entire text has been re-typewritten three times since the original, and some parts more often; and further, that the printer's proof has been thrice revised. We have found some English equivalent, more or less satisfactory, for practically all such terms, except those of weights, the varieties of veins, and a few minerals. In the matter of weights we have introduced the original Latin, because it is impossible to give true equivalents and avoid the fractions of reduction; and further, as explained in the Appendix on Weights it is impossible to say in many cases what scale the Author had in mind. The English nomenclature to be adopted has given great difficulty, for various reasons; among them, that many methods and processes described have never been practised in English-speaking mining communities, and so had no representatives in our vocabulary, and we considered the introduction of German terms undesirable; other methods and processes have become obsolete and their descriptive terms with them, yet we wished to avoid the introduction of obsolete or unusual English; but of the greatest importance of all has been the necessity to avoid rigorously such modern technical terms as would imply a greater scientific understanding than the period possessed.

Agricola's Latin, while mostly free from mediæval corruption, is somewhat tainted with German construction. Moreover some portions have not [Pg ii]the continuous flow of sustained thought which others display, but the fact that the writing of the work extended over a period of twenty years, sufficiently explains the considerable variation in style. The technical descriptions in the later books often take the form of House-that-Jack-built sentences which have had to be at least partially broken up and the subject occasionally re-introduced. Ambiguities were also sometimes found which it was necessary to carry on into the translation. Despite these criticisms we must, however, emphasize that Agricola was infinitely clearer in his style than his contemporaries upon such subjects, or for that matter than his successors in almost any language for a couple of centuries. All of the illustrations and display letters of the original have been reproduced and the type as closely approximates to the original as the printers have been able to find in a modern font.

There are no footnotes in the original text, and Mr. Hoover is responsible for them all. He has attempted in them to give not only such comment as would tend to clarify the text, but also such information as we have been able to discover with regard to the previous history of the subjects mentioned. We have confined the historical notes to the time prior to Agricola, because to have carried them down to date in the briefest manner would have demanded very much more space than could be allowed. In the examination of such technical and historical material one is appalled at the flood of mis-information with regard to ancient arts and sciences which has been let loose upon the world by the hands of non-technical translators and commentators. At an early stage we considered that we must justify any divergence of view from such authorities, but to limit the already alarming volume of this work, we later felt compelled to eliminate most of such discussion. When the half-dozen most important of the ancient works bearing upon science have been translated by those of some scientific experience, such questions will, no doubt, be properly settled.

We need make no apologies for De Re Metallica. During 180 years it was not superseded as the text-book and guide to miners and metallurgists, for until Schlüter's great work on metallurgy in 1738 it had no equal. That it passed through some ten editions in three languages at a period when the printing of such a volume was no ordinary undertaking, is in itself sufficient evidence of the importance in which it was held, and is a record that no other volume upon the same subjects has equalled since. A large proportion of the technical data given by Agricola was either entirely new, or had not been given previously with sufficient detail and explanation to have enabled a worker in these arts himself to perform the operations without further guidance. Practically the whole of it must have been given from personal experience and observation, for the scant library at his service can be appreciated from his own Preface. Considering the part which the metallic arts have played in human history, the paucity of their literature down to Agricola's time is amazing. No doubt the arts were jealously guarded by their practitioners as a sort of stock-in-trade, and it is also probable that those who had knowledge were not usually of a literary turn of mind; and, [Pg iii]on the other hand, the small army of writers prior to his time were not much interested in the description of industrial pursuits. Moreover, in those thousands of years prior to printing, the tedious and expensive transcription of manuscripts by hand was mostly applied to matters of more general interest, and therefore many writings may have been lost in consequence. In fact, such was the fate of the works of Theophrastus and Strato on these subjects.

We have prepared a short sketch of Agricola's life and times, not only to give some indication of his learning and character, but also of his considerable position in the community in which he lived. As no appreciation of Agricola's stature among the founders of science can be gained without consideration of the advance which his works display over those of his predecessors, we therefore devote some attention to the state of knowledge of these subjects at the time by giving in the Appendix a short review of the literature then extant and a summary of Agricola's other writings. To serve the bibliophile we present such data as we have been able to collect it with regard to the various editions of his works. The full titles of the works quoted in the footnotes under simply authors' names will be found in this Appendix.

We feel that it is scarcely doing Agricola justice to publish De Re Metallica only. While it is of the most general interest of all of his works, yet, from the point of view of pure science, De Natura Fossilium and De Ortu et Causis are works which deserve an equally important place. It is unfortunate that Agricola's own countrymen have not given to the world competent translations into German, as his work has too often been judged by the German translations, the infidelity of which appears in nearly every paragraph.

We do not present De Re Metallica as a work of "practical" value. The methods and processes have long since been superseded; yet surely such a milestone on the road of development of one of the two most basic of human industrial activities is more worthy of preservation than the thousands of volumes devoted to records of human destruction. To those interested in the history of their own profession we need make no apologies, except for the long delay in publication. For this we put forward the necessity of active endeavour in many directions; as this book could be but a labour of love, it has had to find the moments for its execution in night hours, weekends, and holidays, in all extending over a period of about five years. If the work serves to strengthen the traditions of one of the most important and least recognized of the world's professions we shall be amply repaid.

It is our pleasure to acknowledge our obligations to Professor H. R. Fairclough, of Stanford University, for perusal of and suggestions upon the first chapter; and to those whom we have engaged from time to time for one service or another, chiefly bibliographical work and collateral translation. We are also sensibly obligated to the printers, Messrs. Frost & Sons, for their patience and interest, and for their willingness to bend some of the canons of modern printing, to meet the demands of the 16th Century.

July 1, 1912.

The Red House,
Hornton Street, London.

[Pg v]

eorgius Agricola was born at Glauchau, in Saxony, on March 24th, 1494, and therefore entered the world when it was still upon the threshold of the Renaissance; Gutenberg's first book had been printed but forty years before; the Humanists had but begun that stimulating criticism which awoke the Reformation; Erasmus, of Rotterdam, who was subsequently to become Agricola's friend and patron, was just completing his student days. The Reformation itself was yet to come, but it was not long delayed, for Luther was born the year before Agricola, and through him Agricola's homeland became the cradle of the great movement; nor did Agricola escape being drawn into the conflict. Italy, already awake with the new classical revival, was still a busy workshop of antiquarian research, translation, study, and publication, and through her the Greek and Latin Classics were only now available for wide distribution. Students from the rest of Europe, among them at a later time Agricola himself, flocked to the Italian Universities, and on their return infected their native cities with the newly-awakened learning. At Agricola's birth Columbus had just returned from his great discovery, and it was only three years later that Vasco Da Gama rounded Cape Good Hope. Thus these two foremost explorers had only initiated that greatest period of geographical expansion in the world's history. A few dates will recall how far this exploration extended during Agricola's lifetime. Balboa first saw the Pacific in 1513; Cortes entered the City of Mexico in 1520; Magellan entered the Pacific in the same year; Pizarro penetrated into Peru in 1528; De Soto landed in Florida in 1539, and Potosi was discovered in 1546. Omitting the sporadic settlement on the St. Lawrence by Cartier in 1541, the settlement of North America did not begin for a quarter of a century after Agricola's death. Thus the revival of learning, with its train of Humanism, the Reformation, its stimulation of exploration and the re-awakening of the arts and sciences, was still in its infancy with Agricola.

We know practically nothing of Agricola's antecedents or his youth. His real name was Georg Bauer ("peasant"), and it was probably Latinized by his teachers, as was the custom of the time. His own brother, in receipts [Pg vi]preserved in the archives of the Zwickau Town Council, calls himself "Bauer," and in them refers to his brother "Agricola." He entered the University of Leipsic at the age of twenty, and after about three and one-half years' attendance there gained the degree of Baccalaureus Artium. In 1518 he became Vice-Principal of the Municipal School at Zwickau, where he taught Greek and Latin. In 1520 he became Principal, and among his assistants was Johannes Förster, better known as Luther's collaborator in the translation of the Bible. During this time our author prepared and published a small Latin Grammar[2]. In 1522 he removed to Leipsic to become a lecturer in the University under his friend, Petrus Mosellanus, at whose death in 1524 he went to Italy for the further study of Philosophy, Medicine, and the Natural Sciences. Here he remained for nearly three years, from 1524 to 1526. He visited the Universities of Bologna, Venice, and probably Padua, and at these institutions received his first inspiration to work in the sciences, for in a letter[3] from Leonardus Casibrotius to Erasmus we learn that he was engaged upon a revision of Galen. It was about this time that he made the acquaintance of Erasmus, who had settled at Basel as Editor for Froben's press.

In 1526 Agricola returned to Zwickau, and in 1527 he was chosen town physician at Joachimsthal. This little city in Bohemia is located on the eastern slope of the Erzgebirge, in the midst of the then most prolific metal-mining district of Central Europe. Thence to Freiberg is but fifty miles, and the same radius from that city would include most of the mining towns so frequently mentioned in De Re Metallica—Schneeberg, Geyer, Annaberg and Altenberg—and not far away were Marienberg, Gottesgab, and Platten. Joachimsthal was a booming mining camp, founded but eleven years before Agricola's arrival, and already having several thousand inhabitants. According to Agricola's own statement[4], he spent all the time not required for his medical duties in visiting the mines and smelters, in reading up in the Greek and Latin authors all references to mining, and in association with the most learned among the mining folk. Among these was one Lorenz Berman, whom Agricola afterward set up as the "learned miner" in his dialogue Bermannus. This book was first published by Froben at Basel in 1530, and was a sort of catechism on mineralogy, mining terms, and mining lore. The book was apparently first submitted to the great Erasmus, and the publication arranged by him, a warm letter of approval by him appearing at the beginning of the book[5]. In 1533 he published De Mensuris et Ponderibus, through Froben, this being a discussion of Roman and Greek weights and measures. At about this time he began De Re Metallica—not to be published for twenty-five years.

[Pg vii]

Agricola did not confine his interest entirely to medicine and mining, for during this period he composed a pamphlet upon the Turks, urging their extermination by the European powers. This work was no doubt inspired by the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1529. It appeared first in German in 1531, and in Latin—in which it was originally written—in 1538, and passed through many subsequent editions.

At this time, too, he became interested in the God's Gift mine at Abertham, which was discovered in 1530. Writing in 1545, he says[6]: "We, as a shareholder, through the goodness of God, have enjoyed the proceeds of this God's Gift since the very time when the mine began first to bestow such riches."

Agricola seems to have resigned his position at Joachimsthal in about 1530, and to have devoted the next two or three years to travel and study among the mines. About 1533 he became city physician of Chemnitz, in Saxony, and here he resided until his death in 1555. There is but little record of his activities during the first eight or nine years of his residence in this city. He must have been engaged upon the study of his subjects and the preparation of his books, for they came on with great rapidity soon after. He was frequently consulted on matters of mining engineering, as, for instance, we learn, from a letter written by a certain Johannes Hordeborch[7], that Duke Henry of Brunswick applied to him with regard to the method for working mines in the Upper Harz.

In 1543 he married Anna, widow of Matthias Meyner, a petty tithe official; there is some reason to believe from a letter published by Schmid,[8] that Anna was his second wife, and that he was married the first time at Joachimsthal. He seems to have had several children, for he commends his young children to the care of the Town Council during his absence at the war in 1547. In addition to these, we know that a son, Theodor, was born in 1550; a daughter, Anna, in 1552; another daughter, Irene, was buried at Chemnitz in 1555; and in 1580 his widow and three children—Anna, Valerius, and Lucretia—were still living.

In 1544 began the publication of the series of books to which Agricola owes his position. The first volume comprised five works and was finally issued in 1546; it was subsequently considerably revised, and re-issued in 1558. These works were: De Ortu et Causis Subterraneorum, in five "books," the first work on physical geology; De Natura Eorum quae Effluunt ex Terra, in four "books," on subterranean waters and gases; De Natura Fossilium, in ten "books," the first systematic mineralogy; De Veteribus et Novis Metallis, in two "books," devoted largely to the history of metals and topographical mineralogy; a new edition of Bermannus was included; and finally Rerum Metallicarum Interpretatio, a glossary of Latin and German mineralogical and metallurgical terms. Another work, De Animantibus Subterraneis, usually published with De Re Metallica, is dated 1548 in the preface. It [Pg viii]is devoted to animals which live underground, at least part of the time, but is not a very effective basis of either geologic or zoologic classification. Despite many public activities, Agricola apparently completed De Re Metallica in 1550, but did not send it to the press until 1553; nor did it appear until a year after his death in 1555. But we give further details on the preparation of this work on p. xv. During this period he found time to prepare a small medical work, De Peste, and certain historical studies, details of which appear in the Appendix. There are other works by Agricola referred to by sixteenth century writers, but so far we have not been able to find them although they may exist. Such data as we have, is given in the appendix.

As a young man, Agricola seems to have had some tendencies toward liberalism in religious matters, for while at Zwickau he composed some anti-Popish Epigrams; but after his return to Leipsic he apparently never wavered, and steadily refused to accept the Lutheran Reformation. To many even liberal scholars of the day, Luther's doctrines appeared wild and demagogic. Luther was not a scholarly man; his addresses were to the masses; his Latin was execrable. Nor did the bitter dissensions over hair-splitting theology in the Lutheran Church after Luther's death tend to increase respect for the movement among the learned. Agricola was a scholar of wide attainments, a deep-thinking, religious man, and he remained to the end a staunch Catholic, despite the general change of sentiment among his countrymen. His leanings were toward such men as his friend the humanist, Erasmus. That he had the courage of his convictions is shown in the dedication of De Natura Eorum, where he addresses to his friend, Duke Maurice, the pious advice that the dissensions of the Germans should be composed, and that the Duke should return to the bosom of the Church those who had been torn from her, and adds: "Yet I do not wish to become confused by these turbulent waters, and be led to offend anyone. It is more advisable to check my utterances." As he became older he may have become less tolerant in religious matters, for he did not seem to show as much patience in the discussion of ecclesiastical topics as he must have possessed earlier, yet he maintained to the end the respect and friendship of such great Protestants as Melanchthon, Camerarius, Fabricius, and many others.

In 1546, when he was at the age of 52, began Agricola's activity in public life, for in that year he was elected a Burgher of Chemnitz; and in the same year Duke Maurice appointed him Burgomaster—an office which he held for four terms. Before one can gain an insight into his political services, and incidentally into the character of the man, it is necessary to understand the politics of the time and his part therein, and to bear in mind always that he was a staunch Catholic under a Protestant Sovereign in a State seething with militant Protestantism.

Saxony had been divided in 1485 between the Princes Ernest and Albert, the former taking the Electoral dignity and the major portion of the Principality. Albert the Brave, the younger brother and Duke of Saxony, obtained the subordinate portion, embracing Meissen, but subject to the Elector. The Elector Ernest was succeeded in 1486 by Frederick the Wise, and under [Pg ix]his support Luther made Saxony the cradle of the Reformation. This Elector was succeeded in 1525 by his brother John, who was in turn succeeded by his son John Frederick in 1532. Of more immediate interest to this subject is the Albertian line of Saxon Dukes who ruled Meissen, for in that Principality Agricola was born and lived, and his political fortunes were associated with this branch of the Saxon House. Albert was succeeded in 1505 by his son George, "The Bearded," and he in turn by his brother Henry, the last of the Catholics, in 1539, who ruled until 1541. Henry was succeeded in 1541 by his Protestant son Maurice, who was the Patron of Agricola.

At about this time Saxony was drawn into the storms which rose from the long-standing rivalry between Francis I., King of France, and Charles V. of Spain. These two potentates came to the throne in the same year (1515), and both were candidates for Emperor of that loose Confederation known as the Holy Roman Empire. Charles was elected, and intermittent wars between these two Princes arose—first in one part of Europe, and then in another. Francis finally formed an alliance with the Schmalkalden League of German Protestant Princes, and with the Sultan of Turkey, against Charles. In 1546 Maurice of Meissen, although a Protestant, saw his best interest in a secret league with Charles against the other Protestant Princes, and proceeded (the Schmalkalden War) to invade the domains of his superior and cousin, the Elector Frederick. The Emperor Charles proved successful in this war, and Maurice was rewarded, at the Capitulation of Wittenberg in 1547, by being made Elector of Saxony in the place of his cousin. Later on, the Elector Maurice found the association with Catholic Charles unpalatable, and joined in leading the other Protestant princes in war upon him, and on the defeat of the Catholic party and the peace of Passau, Maurice became acknowledged as the champion of German national and religious freedom. He was succeeded by his brother Augustus in 1553.

Agricola was much favoured by the Saxon Electors, Maurice and Augustus. He dedicates most of his works to them, and shows much gratitude for many favours conferred upon him. Duke Maurice presented to him a house and plot in Chemnitz, and in a letter dated June 14th, 1543[9] in connection therewith, says: "... that he may enjoy his life-long a freehold house unburdened by all burgher rights and other municipal service, to be used by him and inhabited as a free dwelling, and that he may also, for the necessities of his household and of his wife and servants, brew his own beer free, and that he may likewise purvey for himself and his household foreign beer and also wine for use, and yet he shall not sell any such beer.... We have taken the said Doctor under our especial protection and care for our life-long, and he shall not be summoned before any Court of Justice, but only before us and our Councillor...."

Agricola was made Burgomaster of Chemnitz in 1546. A letter[10] from Fabricius to Meurer, dated May 19th, 1546, says that Agricola had been [Pg x]made Burgomaster by the command of the Prince. This would be Maurice, and it is all the more a tribute to the high respect with which Agricola was held, for, as said before, he was a consistent Catholic, and Maurice a Protestant Prince. In this same year the Schmalkalden War broke out, and Agricola was called to personal attendance upon the Duke Maurice in a diplomatic and advisory capacity. In 1546 also he was a member of the Diet of Freiberg, and was summoned to Council in Dresden. The next year he continued, by the Duke's command, Burgomaster at Chemnitz, although he seems to have been away upon Ducal matters most of the time. The Duke addresses[11] the Chemnitz Council in March, 1547: "We hereby make known to you that we are in urgent need of your Burgomaster, Dr. Georgius Agricola, with us. It is, therefore, our will that you should yield him up and forward him that he should with the utmost haste set forth to us here near Freiberg." He was sent on various missions from the Duke to the Emperor Charles, to King Ferdinand of Austria, and to other Princes in matters connected with the war—the fact that he was a Catholic probably entering into his appointment to such missions. Chemnitz was occupied by the troops of first one side, then the other, despite the great efforts of Agricola to have his own town specially defended. In April, 1547, the war came to an end in the Battle of Mühlberg, but Agricola was apparently not relieved of his Burgomastership until the succeeding year, for he wrote his friend Wolfgang Meurer, in April, 1548,[12] that he "was now relieved." His public duties did not end, however, for he attended the Diet of Leipzig in 1547 and in 1549, and was at the Diet at Torgau in 1550. In 1551 he was again installed as Burgomaster; and in 1553, for the fourth time, he became head of the Municipality, and during this year had again to attend the Diets at Leipzig and Dresden, representing his city. He apparently now had a short relief from public duties, for it is not until 1555, shortly before his death, that we find him again attending a Diet at Torgau.

Agricola died on November 21st, 1555. A letter[13] from his life-long friend, Fabricius, to Melanchthon, announcing this event, states: "We lost, on November 21st, that distinguished ornament of our Fatherland, Georgius Agricola, a man of eminent intellect, of culture and of judgment. He attained the age of 62. He who since the days of childhood had enjoyed robust health was carried off by a four-days' fever. He had previously suffered from no disease except inflammation of the eyes, which he brought upon himself by untiring study and insatiable reading.... I know that you loved the soul of this man, although in many of his opinions, more especially in religious and spiritual welfare, he differed in many points from our own. For he despised our Churches, and would not be with us in the Communion of the Blood of Christ. Therefore, after his death, at the command of the Prince, which was given to the Church inspectors and carried out by Tettelbach as a loyal servant, burial was refused him, and not [Pg xi]until the fourth day was he borne away to Zeitz and interred in the Cathedral.... I have always admired the genius of this man, so distinguished in our sciences and in the whole realm of Philosophy—yet I wonder at his religious views, which were compatible with reason, it is true, and were dazzling, but were by no means compatible with truth.... He would not tolerate with patience that anyone should discuss ecclesiastical matters with him." This action of the authorities in denying burial to one of their most honoured citizens, who had been ever assiduous in furthering the welfare of the community, seems strangely out of joint. Further, the Elector Augustus, although a Protestant Prince, was Agricola's warm friend, as evidenced by his letter of but a few months before (see p. xv). However, Catholics were then few in number at Chemnitz, and the feeling ran high at the time, so possibly the Prince was afraid of public disturbances. Hofmann[14] explains this occurrence in the following words:—"The feelings of Chemnitz citizens, who were almost exclusively Protestant, must certainly be taken into account. They may have raised objections to the solemn interment of a Catholic in the Protestant Cathedral Church of St. Jacob, which had, perhaps, been demanded by his relatives, and to which, according to the custom of the time, he would have been entitled as Burgomaster. The refusal to sanction the interment aroused, more especially in the Catholic world, a painful sensation."

A brass memorial plate hung in the Cathedral at Zeitz had already disappeared in 1686, nor have the cities of his birth or residence ever shown any appreciation of this man, whose work more deserves their gratitude than does that of the multitude of soldiers whose monuments decorate every village and city square. It is true that in 1822 a marble tablet was placed behind the altar in the Church of St. Jacob in Chemnitz, but even this was removed to the Historical Museum later on.

He left a modest estate, which was the subject of considerable litigation by his descendants, due to the mismanagement of the guardian. Hofmann has succeeded in tracing the descendants for two generations, down to 1609, but the line is finally lost among the multitude of other Agricolas.

To deduce Georgius Agricola's character we need not search beyond the discovery of his steadfast adherence to the religion of his fathers amid the bitter storm of Protestantism around him, and need but to remember at the same time that for twenty-five years he was entrusted with elective positions of an increasingly important character in this same community. No man could have thus held the respect of his countrymen unless he were devoid of bigotry and possessed of the highest sense of integrity, justice, humanity, and patriotism.

[Pg xii]

Agricola's education was the most thorough that his times afforded in the classics, philosophy, medicine, and sciences generally. Further, his writings disclose a most exhaustive knowledge not only of an extraordinary range of classical literature, but also of obscure manuscripts buried in the public libraries of Europe. That his general learning was held to be of a high order is amply evidenced from the correspondence of the other scholars of his time—Erasmus, Melanchthon, Meurer, Fabricius, and others.

Our more immediate concern, however, is with the advances which were due to him in the sciences of Geology, Mineralogy, and Mining Engineering. No appreciation of these attainments can be conveyed to the reader unless he has some understanding of the dearth of knowledge in these sciences prior to Agricola's time. We have in Appendix B given a brief review of the literature extant at this period on these subjects. Furthermore, no appreciation of Agricola's contribution to science can be gained without a study of De Ortu et Causis and De Natura Fossilium, for while De Re Metallica is of much more general interest, it contains but incidental reference to Geology and Mineralogy. Apart from the book of Genesis, the only attempts at fundamental explanation of natural phenomena were those of the Greek Philosophers and the Alchemists. Orthodox beliefs Agricola scarcely mentions; with the Alchemists he had no patience. There can be no doubt, however, that his views are greatly coloured by his deep classical learning. He was in fine to a certain distance a follower of Aristotle, Theophrastus, Strato, and other leaders of the Peripatetic school. For that matter, except for the muddy current which the alchemists had introduced into this already troubled stream, the whole thought of the learned world still flowed from the Greeks. Had he not, however, radically departed from the teachings of the Peripatetic school, his work would have been no contribution to the development of science. Certain of their teachings he repudiated with great vigour, and his laboured and detailed arguments in their refutation form the first battle in science over the results of observation versus inductive speculation. To use his own words: "Those things which we see with our eyes and understand by means of our senses are more clearly to be demonstrated than if learned by means of reasoning."[15] The bigoted scholasticism of his times necessitated as much care and detail in refutation of such deep-rooted beliefs, as would be demanded to-day by an attempt at a refutation of the theory of evolution, and in consequence his works are often but dry reading to any but those interested in the development of fundamental scientific theory.

In giving an appreciation of Agricola's views here and throughout the footnotes, we do not wish to convey to the reader that he was in all things free from error and from the spirit of his times, or that his theories, constructed long before the atomic theory, are of the clear-cut order which that basic hypothesis has rendered possible to later scientific speculation in these branches. His statements are sometimes much confused, but we reiterate that [Pg xiii]their clarity is as crystal to mud in comparison with those of his predecessors—and of most of his successors for over two hundred years. As an indication of his grasp of some of the wider aspects of geological phenomena we reproduce, in Appendix A, a passage from De Ortu et Causis, which we believe to be the first adequate declaration of the part played by erosion in mountain sculpture. But of all of Agricola's theoretical views those are of the greatest interest which relate to the origin of ore deposits, for in these matters he had the greatest opportunities of observation and the most experience. We have on page 108 reproduced and discussed his theory at considerable length, but we may repeat here, that in his propositions as to the circulation of ground waters, that ore channels are a subsequent creation to the contained rocks, and that they were filled by deposition from circulating solutions, he enunciated the foundations of our modern theory, and in so doing took a step in advance greater than that of any single subsequent authority. In his contention that ore channels were created by erosion of subterranean waters he was wrong, except for special cases, and it was not until two centuries later that a further step in advance was taken by the recognition by Van Oppel of the part played by fissuring in these phenomena. Nor was it until about the same time that the filling of ore channels in the main by deposition from solutions was generally accepted. While Werner, two hundred and fifty years after Agricola, is generally revered as the inspirer of the modern theory by those whose reading has taken them no farther back, we have no hesitation in asserting that of the propositions of each author, Agricola's were very much more nearly in accord with modern views. Moreover, the main result of the new ideas brought forward by Werner was to stop the march of progress for half a century, instead of speeding it forward as did those of Agricola.

In mineralogy Agricola made the first attempt at systematic treatment of the subject. His system could not be otherwise than wrongly based, as he could scarcely see forward two or three centuries to the atomic theory and our vast fund of chemical knowledge. However, based as it is upon such properties as solubility and homogeneity, and upon external characteristics such as colour, hardness, &c., it makes a most creditable advance upon Theophrastus, Dioscorides, and Albertus Magnus—his only predecessors. He is the first to assert that bismuth and antimony are true primary metals; and to some sixty actual mineral species described previous to his time he added some twenty more, and laments that there are scores unnamed.

As to Agricola's contribution to the sciences of mining and metallurgy, De Re Metallica speaks for itself. While he describes, for the first time, scores of methods and processes, no one would contend that they were discoveries or inventions of his own. They represent the accumulation of generations of experience and knowledge; but by him they were, for the first time, to receive detailed and intelligent exposition. Until Schlüter's work nearly two centuries later, it was not excelled. There is no measure by which we may gauge the value of such a work to the men who followed in this profession during centuries, nor the benefits enjoyed by humanity through them.

[Pg xiv]

That Agricola occupied a very considerable place in the great awakening of learning will be disputed by none except by those who place the development of science in rank far below religion, politics, literature, and art. Of wider importance than the details of his achievements in the mere confines of the particular science to which he applied himself, is the fact that he was the first to found any of the natural sciences upon research and observation, as opposed to previous fruitless speculation. The wider interest of the members of the medical profession in the development of their science than that of geologists in theirs, has led to the aggrandizement of Paracelsus, a contemporary of Agricola, as the first in deductive science. Yet no comparative study of the unparalleled egotistical ravings of this half-genius, half-alchemist, with the modest sober logic and real research and observation of Agricola, can leave a moment's doubt as to the incomparably greater position which should be attributed to the latter as the pioneer in building the foundation of science by deduction from observed phenomena. Science is the base upon which is reared the civilization of to-day, and while we give daily credit to all those who toil in the superstructure, let none forget those men who laid its first foundation stones. One of the greatest of these was Georgius Agricola.

[Pg xv]

Agricola seems to have been engaged in the preparation of De Re Metallica for a period of over twenty years, for we first hear of the book in a letter from Petrus Plateanus, a schoolmaster at Joachimsthal, to the great humanist, Erasmus,[16] in September, 1529. He says: "The scientific world will be still more indebted to Agricola when he brings to light the books De Re Metallica and other matters which he has on hand." In the dedication of De Mensuris et Ponderibus (in 1533) Agricola states that he means to publish twelve books De Re Metallica, if he lives. That the appearance of this work was eagerly anticipated is evidenced by a letter from George Fabricius to Valentine Hertel:[17] "With great excitement the books De Re Metallica are being awaited. If he treats the material at hand with his usual zeal, he will win for himself glory such as no one in any of the fields of literature has attained for the last thousand years." According to the dedication of De Veteribus et Novis Metallis, Agricola in 1546 already looked forward to its early publication. The work was apparently finished in 1550, for the dedication to the Dukes Maurice and August of Saxony is dated in December of that year. The eulogistic poem by his friend, George Fabricius, is dated in 1551.

The publication was apparently long delayed by the preparation of the woodcuts; and, according to Mathesius,[18] many sketches for them were prepared by Basilius Wefring. In the preface of De Re Metallica, Agricola does not mention who prepared the sketches, but does say: "I have hired illustrators to delineate their forms, lest descriptions which are conveyed by words should either not be understood by men of our own times, or should cause difficulty to posterity." In 1553 the completed book was sent to Froben for publication, for a letter[19] from Fabricius to Meurer in March, 1553, announces its dispatch to the printer. An interesting letter[20] from the Elector Augustus to Agricola, dated January 18, 1555, reads: "Most learned, dear and faithful subject, whereas you have sent to the Press a Latin book of which the title is said to be De Rebus Metallicis, which has been praised to us and we should like to know the contents, it is our gracious command that you should get the book translated when you have the opportunity into German, and not let it be copied more than once or be printed, but keep it by you and send us a copy. If you should need a writer for this purpose, we will provide one. Thus you will fulfil our gracious behest." The German translation was prepared by Philip Bechius, a Basel University Professor of Medicine and Philosophy. It is a wretched work, by one who knew nothing of the science, and who more especially had no appreciation of the peculiar Latin terms coined by Agricola, most of which [Pg xvi]he rendered literally. It is a sad commentary on his countrymen that no correct German translation exists. The Italian translation is by Michelangelo Florio, and is by him dedicated to Elizabeth, Queen of England. The title page of the first edition is reproduced later on, and the full titles of other editions are given in the Appendix, together with the author's other works. The following are the short titles of the various editions of De Re Metallica, together with the name and place of the publisher:—

Latin Editions.

In addition to these, Leupold,[21] Schmid,[22] and others mention an octavo edition, without illustrations, Schweinfurt, 1607. We have not been able to find a copy of this edition, and are not certain of its existence. The same catalogues also mention an octavo edition of De Re Metallica, Wittenberg, 1612 or 1614, with notes by Joanne Sigfrido; but we believe this to be a confusion with Agricola's subsidiary works, which were published at this time and place, with such notes.

German Editions.

There are other editions than these, mentioned by bibliographers, but we have been unable to confirm them in any library. The most reliable of such bibliographies, that of John Ferguson,[23] gives in addition to the above; Bergwerkbuch, Basel, 1657, folio, and Schweinfurt, 1687, octavo.

Italian Edition.

L'Arte de Metalli, Froben, Basel, folio, 1563.

Other Languages.

So far as we know, De Re Metallica was never actually published in other than Latin, German, and Italian. However, a portion of the accounts of the firm of Froben were published in 1881[24], and therein is an entry under March, 1560, of a sum to one Leodigaris Grymaldo for some other work, and also for "correction of Agricola's De Re Metallica in French." This may of course, be an error for the Italian edition, which appeared a little later. There is also mention[25] that a manuscript of De Re Metallica in Spanish was [Pg xvii]seen in the library of the town of Bejar. An interesting note appears in the glossary given by Sir John Pettus in his translation of Lazarus Erckern's work on assaying. He says[26] "but I cannot enlarge my observations upon any more words, because the printer calls for what I did write of a metallick dictionary, after I first proposed the printing of Erckern, but intending within the compass of a year to publish Georgius Agricola, De Re Metallica (being fully translated) in English, and also to add a dictionary to it, I shall reserve my remaining essays (if what I have done hitherto be approved) till then, and so I proceed in the dictionary." The translation was never published and extensive inquiry in various libraries and among the family of Pettus has failed to yield any trace of the manuscript.

[Pg xix]

[Pg xxi]

AD LECTOREM.

Misenæ M. D. LI.
èludo illustri.

[Pg xxv]

ost illustrious Princes, often have I considered the metallic arts as a whole, as Moderatus Columella[2] considered the agricultural arts, just as if I had been considering the whole of the human body; and when I had perceived the various parts of the subject, like so many members of the body, I became afraid that I might die before I should understand its full extent, much less before I could immortalise it in writing. This book itself indicates the length and breadth of the subject, and the number and importance of the sciences of which at least some little knowledge is necessary to miners. Indeed, the subject of mining is a very extensive one, and one very difficult to explain; no part of it is fully dealt with by the Greek and Latin authors whose works survive; and since the art is one of the most ancient, the most necessary and the most profitable to mankind, I considered that I ought not to neglect it. Without doubt, none of the arts is older than agriculture, but that of the metals is not less ancient; in fact they are at least equal and coeval, for no mortal man ever tilled a field without implements. In truth, in all the works of agriculture, as in the other arts, implements are used which are made from metals, or which could not be made without the use of metals; for this reason the metals are of the greatest necessity to man. When an art is so poor that it lacks metals, it is not of much importance, for nothing is made without tools. Besides, of all ways whereby great wealth is acquired by good and honest means, none is more advantageous than mining; for although from fields which are well tilled (not to mention other things) we derive rich yields, yet we obtain richer products from mines; in fact, one mine is often much more beneficial to us than many fields. For this reason we learn from the history of nearly all ages that very many men have been made rich by the [Pg xxvi]mines, and the fortunes of many kings have been much amplified thereby. But I will not now speak more of these matters, because I have dealt with these subjects partly in the first book of this work, and partly in the other work entitled De Veteribus et Novis Metallis, where I have refuted the charges which have been made against metals and against miners. Now, though the art of husbandry, which I willingly rank with the art of mining, appears to be divided into many branches, yet it is not separated into so many as this art of ours, nor can I teach the principles of this as easily as Columella did of that. He had at hand many writers upon husbandry whom he could follow,—in fact, there are more than fifty Greek authors whom Marcus Varro enumerates, and more than ten Latin ones, whom Columella himself mentions. I have only one whom I can follow; that is C. Plinius Secundus,[3] and he expounds only a very few methods of digging ores and of making metals. Far from the whole of the art having been treated by any one writer, those who have written occasionally on any one or another of its branches have not even dealt completely with a single one of them. Moreover, there is a great scarcity even of these, since alone of all the Greeks, Strato of Lampsacus,[4] the successor of Theophrastus,[5] wrote a book on the subject, De Machinis Metallicis; except, perhaps a work by the poet Philo, a small part of which embraced to some degree the occupation of mining.[6] Pherecrates seems to have introduced into his comedy, which was similar in title, miners as slaves or as persons condemned to serve in the mines. Of the Latin writers, Pliny, as I have already said, has described a few methods of working. Also among the authors I must include the modern writers, whosoever they are, for no one should escape just condemnation who fails to award due recognition to persons whose writings he uses, even very slightly. Two books have been written in our tongue; the one on the assaying of mineral substances and metals, somewhat confused, whose author is unknown[7]; the other "On Veins," of which Pandulfus Anglus[8] is also said to have written, although the German book was written by Calbus of Freiberg, a well-known doctor; but neither of them accomplished the task [Pg xxvii]he had begun.[9] Recently Vannucci Biringuccio, of Sienna, a wise man experienced in many matters, wrote in vernacular Italian on the subject of the melting, separating, and alloying of metals.[10] He touched briefly on the methods of smelting certain ores, and explained more fully the methods of making certain juices; by reading his directions, I have refreshed my memory of those things which I myself saw in Italy; as for many matters on which I write, he did not touch upon them at all, or touched but lightly. This book was given me by Franciscus Badoarius, a Patrician of Venice, and a man of wisdom and of repute; this he had promised that he would do, when in the previous year he was at Marienberg, having been sent by the Venetians as an Ambassador to King Ferdinand. Beyond these books I do not find any writings on the metallic arts. For that reason, even if the book of Strato existed, from all these sources not one-half of the whole body of the science of mining could be pieced together.

Seeing that there have been so few who have written on the subject of the metals, it appears to me all the more wonderful that so many alchemists have arisen who would compound metals artificially, and who would change one into another. Hermolaus Barbarus,[11] a man of high rank and station, and distinguished in all kinds of learning, has mentioned the names of many in his writings; and I will proffer more, but only famous ones, for I will limit myself to a few. Thus Osthanes has written on χυμευτικά and there are Hermes; Chanes; Zosimus, the Alexandrian, to his sister Theosebia; Olympiodorus, also an Alexandrian; Agathodæmon; Democritus, not the one of Abdera, but some other whom I know not; Orus Chrysorichites, Pebichius, Comerius, Joannes, Apulejus, Petasius, Pelagius, Africanus, Theophilus, Synesius, Stephanus to Heracleus Cæsar, Heliodorus to Theodosius, Geber, Callides Rachaidibus, Veradianus, Rodianus, Canides, Merlin, Raymond Lully, Arnold de Villa Nova, and Augustinus Pantheus of Venice; and three women, Cleopatra, the maiden Taphnutia, and Maria the Jewess.[12] All these alchemists employ obscure language, and Johanes Aurelius Augurellus of Rimini, alone has used the language of poetry. There are many other books on [Pg xxviii]this subject, but all are difficult to follow, because the writers upon these things use strange names, which do not properly belong to the metals, and because some of them employ now one name and now another, invented by themselves, though the thing itself changes not. These masters teach their disciples that the base metals, when smelted, are broken up; also they teach the methods by which they reduce them to the primary parts and remove whatever is superfluous in them, and by supplying what is wanted make out of them the precious metals—that is, gold and silver,—all of which they carry out in a crucible. Whether they can do these things or not I cannot decide; but, seeing that so many writers assure us with all earnestness that they have reached that goal for which they aimed, it would seem that faith might be placed in them; yet also seeing that we do not read of any of them ever having become rich by this art, nor do we now see them growing rich, although so many nations everywhere have produced, and are producing, alchemists, and all of them are straining every nerve night and day to the end that they may heap a great quantity of gold and silver, I should say the matter is dubious. But although it may be due to the carelessness of the writers that they have not transmitted to us the names of the masters who acquired great wealth through this occupation, certainly it is clear that their disciples either do not understand their precepts or, if they do understand them, do not follow them; for if they do comprehend them, seeing that these disciples have been and are so numerous, they would have by to-day filled [Pg xxix]whole towns with gold and silver. Even their books proclaim their vanity, for they inscribe in them the names of Plato and Aristotle and other philosophers, in order that such high-sounding inscriptions may impose upon simple people and pass for learning. There is another class of alchemists who do not change the substance of base metals, but colour them to represent gold or silver, so that they appear to be that which they are not, and when this appearance is taken from them by the fire, as if it were a garment foreign to them, they return to their own character. These alchemists, since they deceive people, are not only held in the greatest odium, but their frauds are a capital offence. No less a fraud, warranting capital punishment, is committed by a third sort of alchemists; these throw into a crucible a small piece of gold or silver hidden in a coal, and after mixing therewith fluxes which have the power of extracting it, pretend to be making gold from orpiment, or silver from tin and like substances. But concerning the art of alchemy, if it be an art, I will speak further elsewhere. I will now return to the art of mining.

Since no authors have written of this art in its entirety, and since foreign nations and races do not understand our tongue, and, if they did understand it, would be able to learn only a small part of the art through the works of those authors whom we do possess, I have written these twelve books De Re Metallica. Of these, the first book contains the arguments which may be used against this art, and against metals and the mines, and what can be said in their favour. The second book describes the miner, and branches into [Pg xxx]a discourse on the finding of veins. The third book deals with veins and stringers, and seams in the rocks. The fourth book explains the method of delimiting veins, and also describes the functions of the mining officials. The fifth book describes the digging of ore and the surveyor's art. The sixth book describes the miners' tools and machines. The seventh book is on the assaying of ore. The eighth book lays down the rules for the work of roasting, crushing, and washing the ore. The ninth book explains the methods of smelting ores. The tenth book instructs those who are studious of the metallic arts in the work of separating silver from gold, and lead from gold and silver. The eleventh book shows the way of separating silver from copper. The twelfth book gives us rules for manufacturing salt, soda, alum, vitriol, sulphur, bitumen, and glass.

Although I have not fulfilled the task which I have undertaken, on account of the great magnitude of the subject, I have, at all events, endeavoured to fulfil it, for I have devoted much labour and care, and have even gone to some expense upon it; for with regard to the veins, tools, vessels, sluices, machines, and furnaces, I have not only described them, but have also hired illustrators to delineate their forms, lest descriptions which are conveyed by words should either not be understood by men of our own times, or should cause difficulty to posterity, in the same way as to us difficulty is often caused by many names which the Ancients (because such words were familiar to all of them) have handed down to us without any explanation.

I have omitted all those things which I have not myself seen, or have [Pg xxxi]not read or heard of from persons upon whom I can rely. That which I have neither seen, nor carefully considered after reading or hearing of, I have not written about. The same rule must be understood with regard to all my instruction, whether I enjoin things which ought to be done, or describe things which are usual, or condemn things which are done. Since the art of mining does not lend itself to elegant language, these books of mine are correspondingly lacking in refinement of style. The things dealt with in this art of metals sometimes lack names, either because they are new, or because, even if they are old, the record of the names by which they were formerly known has been lost. For this reason I have been forced by a necessity, for which I must be pardoned, to describe some of them by a number of words combined, and to distinguish others by new names,—to which latter class belong Ingestor, Discretor, Lotor, and Excoctor.[13] Other things, again, I have alluded to by old names, such as the Cisium; for when Nonius Marcellus wrote,[14] this was the name of a two-wheeled vehicle, but I have adopted it for a small vehicle which has only one wheel; and if anyone does not approve of these names, let him either find more appropriate ones for these things, or discover the words used in the writings of the Ancients.

These books, most illustrious Princes, are dedicated to you for many reasons, and, above all others, because metals have proved of the greatest value to you; for though your ancestors drew rich profits from the revenues of their vast and wealthy territories, and likewise from the taxes which were paid by the foreigners by way of toll and by the natives by way of tithes, yet they drew far richer profits from the mines. Because of the mines not a few towns have risen into eminence, such as Freiberg, Annaberg, Marienberg, Schneeberg, Geyer, and Altenberg, not to mention others. Nay, if I understand anything, greater wealth now lies hidden beneath the ground in the mountainous parts of your territory than is visible and apparent above ground. Farewell.

Chemnitz, Saxony,
December First, 1550.

[Pg 1]

any persons hold the opinion that the metal industries are fortuitous and that the occupation is one of sordid toil, and altogether a kind of business requiring not so much skill as labour. But as for myself, when I reflect carefully upon its special points one by one, it appears to be far otherwise. For a miner must have the greatest skill in his work, that he may know first of all what mountain or hill, what valley or plain, can be prospected most profitably, or what he should leave alone; moreover, he must understand the veins, stringers[1] and seams in the rocks[2]. Then he must be thoroughly familiar with the many and varied species of earths, juices[3], gems, stones, marbles, rocks, metals, and compounds[4]. He must also have a [Pg 2]complete knowledge of the method of making all underground works. Lastly, there are the various systems of assaying[5] substances and of preparing them for smelting; and here again there are many altogether diverse methods. For there is one method for gold and silver, another for copper, another for quicksilver, another for iron, another for lead, and [Pg 3]even tin and bismuth[6] are treated differently from lead. Although the evaporation of juices is an art apparently quite distinct from metallurgy, yet they ought not to be considered separately, inasmuch as these juices are also often dug out of the ground solidified, or they are produced from certain kinds of earth and stones which the miners dig up, and some of the juices are not themselves devoid of metals. Again, their treatment is not simple, since there is one method for common salt, another for soda[7], another for alum, another for vitriol[8], another for sulphur, and another for bitumen.

Furthermore, there are many arts and sciences of which a miner should not be ignorant. First there is Philosophy, that he may discern the origin, cause, and nature of subterranean things; for then he will be able to dig out the veins easily and advantageously, and to obtain more abundant results from his mining. Secondly, there is Medicine, that he may be able to look after his diggers and other workmen, that they do not meet with those [Pg 4]diseases to which they are more liable than workmen in other occupations, or if they do meet with them, that he himself may be able to heal them or may see that the doctors do so. Thirdly follows Astronomy, that he may know the divisions of the heavens and from them judge the direction of the veins. Fourthly, there is the science of Surveying that he may be able to estimate how deep a shaft should be sunk to reach the tunnel which is being driven to it, and to determine the limits and boundaries in these workings, especially in depth. Fifthly, his knowledge of Arithmetical Science should be such that he may calculate the cost to be incurred in the machinery and the working of the mine. Sixthly, his learning must comprise Architecture, that he himself may construct the various machines and timber work required underground, or that he may be able to explain the method of the construction to others. Next, he must have knowledge of Drawing, that he can draw plans of his machinery. Lastly, there is the Law, especially that dealing with metals, that he may claim his own rights, that he may undertake the duty of giving others his opinion on legal matters, that he may not take another man's property and so make trouble for himself, and that he may fulfil his obligations to others according to the law.

It is therefore necessary that those who take an interest in the methods and precepts of mining and metallurgy should read these and others of our books studiously and diligently; or on every point they should consult expert mining people, though they will discover few who are skilled in the whole art. As a rule one man understands only the methods of mining, another possesses the knowledge of washing[9], another is experienced in the art of smelting, another has a knowledge of measuring the hidden parts of the earth, another is skilful in the art of making machines, and finally, another is learned in mining law. But as for us, though we may not have perfected the whole art of the discovery and preparation of metals, at least we can be of great assistance to persons studious in its acquisition.

But let us now approach the subject we have undertaken. Since there has always been the greatest disagreement amongst men concerning metals and mining, some praising, others utterly condemning them, therefore I have decided that before imparting my instruction, I should carefully weigh the facts with a view to discovering the truth in this matter.

So I may begin with the question of utility, which is a two-fold one, for either it may be asked whether the art of mining is really profitable or not to those who are engaged in it, or whether it is useful or not to the rest of mankind. Those who think mining of no advantage to the men who follow the occupation assert, first, that scarcely one in a hundred who dig metals or other such things derive profit therefrom; and again, that miners, because they entrust their certain and well-established wealth to dubious and slippery fortune, generally deceive themselves, and as a result, impoverished by [Pg 5]expenses and losses, in the end spend the most bitter and most miserable of lives. But persons who hold these views do not perceive how much a learned and experienced miner differs from one ignorant and unskilled in the art. The latter digs out the ore without any careful discrimination, while the former first assays and proves it, and when he finds the veins either too narrow and hard, or too wide and soft, he infers therefrom that these cannot be mined profitably, and so works only the approved ones. What wonder then if we find the incompetent miner suffers loss, while the competent one is rewarded by an abundant return from his mining? The same thing applies to husbandmen. For those who cultivate land which is alike arid, heavy, and barren, and in which they sow seeds, do not make so great a harvest as those who cultivate a fertile and mellow soil and sow their grain in that. And since by far the greater number of miners are unskilled rather than skilled in the art, it follows that mining is a profitable occupation to very few men, and a source of loss to many more. Therefore the mass of miners who are quite unskilled and ignorant in the knowledge of veins not infrequently lose both time and trouble[10]. Such men are accustomed for the most part to take to mining, either when through being weighted with the fetters of large and heavy debts, they have abandoned a business, or desiring to change their occupation, have left the reaping-hook and plough; and so if at any time such a man discovers rich veins or other abounding mining produce, this occurs more by good luck than through any knowledge on his part. We learn from history that mining has brought wealth to many, for from old writings it is well known that prosperous Republics, not a few kings, and many private persons, have made fortunes through mines and their produce. This subject, by the use of many clear and illustrious examples, I have dilated upon and explained in the first Book of my work entitled "De Veteribus et Novis Metallis," from which it is evident that mining is very profitable to those who give it care and attention.

Again, those who condemn the mining industry say that it is not in the least stable, and they glorify agriculture beyond measure. But I do not see how they can say this with truth, for the silver mines at Freiberg in Meissen remain still unexhausted after 400 years, and the lead mines of Goslar after 600 years. The proof of this can be found in the monuments of history. The gold and silver mines belonging to the communities of Schemnitz and Cremnitz have been worked for 800 years, and these latter are said to be the most ancient privileges of the inhabitants. Some then say the profit from an individual mine is unstable, as if forsooth, the miner is, or ought to be dependent on only one mine, and as if many men do not bear in common their expenses in mining, or as if one experienced in his art does not dig another vein, if fortune does not amply respond to his prayers in the first case. The New Schönberg at Freiberg has remained stable beyond the memory of man[11].

[Pg 6]

It is not my intention to detract anything from the dignity of agriculture, and that the profits of mining are less stable I will always and readily admit, for the veins do in time cease to yield metals, whereas the fields bring forth fruits every year. But though the business of mining may be less reliable it is more productive, so that in reckoning up, what is wanting in stability is found to be made up by productiveness. Indeed, the yearly profit of a lead mine in comparison with the fruitfulness of the best fields, is three times or at least twice as great. How much does the profit from gold or silver mines exceed that earned from agriculture? Wherefore truly and shrewdly does Xenophon[12] write about the Athenian silver mines: "There is land of such a nature that if you sow, it does not yield crops, but if you dig, it nourishes many more than if it had borne fruit." So let the farmers have for themselves the fruitful fields and cultivate the fertile hills for the sake of their produce; but let them leave to miners the gloomy valleys and sterile mountains, that they may draw forth from these, gems and metals which can buy, not only the crops, but all things that are sold.

The critics say further that mining is a perilous occupation to pursue, because the miners are sometimes killed by the pestilential air which they breathe; sometimes their lungs rot away; sometimes the men perish by being crushed in masses of rock; sometimes, falling from the ladders into the shafts, they break their arms, legs, or necks; and it is added there is no compensation which should be thought great enough to equalize the extreme dangers to safety and life. These occurrences, I confess, are of exceeding gravity, and moreover, fraught with terror and peril, so that I should consider that the metals should not be dug up at all, if such things were to happen very frequently to the miners, or if they could not safely guard against such risks by any means. Who would not prefer to live rather than to possess all things, even the metals? For he who thus perishes possesses nothing, but relinquishes all to his heirs. But since things like this rarely happen, and only in so far as workmen are careless, they do not deter miners from carrying on their trade any more than it would deter a carpenter from his, because one of his mates has acted incautiously and lost his life by falling from a high building. I have thus answered each argument which critics are wont to put before me when they assert that mining is an undesirable occupation, because it involves expense with uncertainty of return, because it is changeable, and because it is dangerous to those engaged in it.

Now I come to those critics who say that mining is not useful to the rest of mankind because forsooth, gems, metals, and other mineral products are worthless in themselves. This admission they try to extort from us, partly by arguments and examples, partly by misrepresentations and abuse of us. First, they make use of this argument: "The earth does not conceal and remove from our eyes those things which are useful and necessary to [Pg 7]mankind, but on the contrary, like a beneficent and kindly mother she yields in large abundance from her bounty and brings into the light of day the herbs, vegetables, grains, and fruits, and the trees. The minerals on the other hand she buries far beneath in the depth of the ground; therefore, they should not be sought. But they are dug out by wicked men who, as the poets say, are the products of the Iron Age." Ovid censures their audacity in the following lines:—

Another of their arguments is this: Metals offer to men no advantages, therefore we ought not to search them out. For whereas man is composed of soul and body, neither is in want of minerals. The sweetest food of the soul is the contemplation of nature, a knowledge of the finest arts and sciences, an understanding of virtue; and if he interests his mind in excellent things, if he exercise his body, he will be satisfied with this feast of noble thoughts and knowledge, and have no desire for other things. Now although the human body may be content with necessary food and clothing, yet the fruits of the earth and the animals of different kinds supply him in wonderful abundance with food and drink, from which the body may be suitably nourished and strengthened and life prolonged to old age. Flax, wool, and the skins of many animals provide plentiful clothing low in price; while a luxurious kind, not hard to procure—that is the so called seric material, is furnished by the down of trees and the webs of the silk worm. So that the body has absolutely no need of the metals, so hidden in the depths of the earth and for the greater part very expensive. Wherefore it is said that this maxim of Euripides is approved in assemblies of learned men, and with good reason was always on the lips of Socrates:

These critics praise also this saying from Timocreon of Rhodes:

They greatly extol these lines from Phocylides:

This from Naumachius also pleases them:

On the other hand, they censure these verses of Euripides:

So in like manner these lines from Theognis:

They also blame Aristodemus, the Spartan, for these words:

And they rebuke these songs of Timocles:

Finally, they blame Menander when he wrote:

But besides this, the strongest argument of the detractors is that the fields are devastated by mining operations, for which reason formerly Italians were warned by law that no one should dig the earth for metals and so injure their very fertile fields, their vineyards, and their olive groves. Also they argue that the woods and groves are cut down, for there is need of an endless amount of wood for timbers, machines, and the smelting of metals. And when the woods and groves are felled, then are exterminated the beasts and birds, very many of which furnish a pleasant and agreeable food for man. Further, when the ores are washed, the water which has been used poisons the brooks and streams, and either destroys the fish or drives them away. Therefore the inhabitants of these regions, on account of the devastation of their fields, woods, groves, brooks and rivers, find great difficulty in procuring the necessaries of life, and by reason of the destruction of the timber they are forced to greater expense in erecting buildings. Thus it is said, it is clear to all that there is greater detriment from mining than the value of the metals which the mining produces.

So in fierce contention they clamour, showing by such examples as follow that every great man has been content with virtue, and despised metals. They praise Bias because he esteemed the metals merely as fortune's playthings, not as his real wealth. When his enemies had captured his native Priene, and his fellow-citizens laden with precious things [Pg 9]had betaken themselves to flight, he was asked by one, why he carried away none of his goods with him, and he replied, "I carry all my possessions with me." And it is said that Socrates, having received twenty minae sent to him by Aristippus, a grateful disciple, refused them and sent them back to him by the command of his conscience. Aristippus, following his example in this matter, despised gold and regarded it as of no value. And once when he was making a journey with his slaves, and they, laden with the gold, went too slowly, he ordered them to keep only as much of it as they could carry without distress and to throw away the remainder[16]. Moreover, Anacreon of Teos, an ancient and noble poet, because he had been troubled about them for two nights, returned five talents which had been given him by Polycrates, saying that they were not worth the anxiety which he had gone through on their account. In like manner celebrated and exceedingly powerful princes have imitated the philosophers in their scorn and contempt for gold and silver. There was for example, Phocion, the Athenian, who was appointed general of the army so many times, and who, when a large sum of gold was sent to him as a gift by Alexander, King of Macedon, deemed it trifling and scorned it. And Marcus Curius ordered the gold to be carried back to the Samnites, as did also Fabricius Luscinus with regard to the silver and copper. And certain Republics have forbidden their citizens the use and employment of gold and silver by law and ordinance; the Lacedaemonians, by the decrees and ordinances of Lycurgus, used diligently to enquire among their citizens whether they possessed any of these things or not, and the possessor, when he was caught, was punished according to law and justice. The inhabitants of a town on the Tigris, called Babytace, buried their gold in the ground so that no one should use it. The Scythians condemned the use of gold and silver so that they might not become avaricious.

Further are the metals reviled; in the first place people wantonly abuse gold and silver and call them deadly and nefarious pests of the human race, because those who possess them are in the greatest peril, for those who have none lay snares for the possessors of wealth, and thus again and again the metals have been the cause of destruction and ruin. For example, Polymnestor, King of Thrace, to obtain possession of his gold, killed Polydorus, his noble guest and the son of Priam, his father-in-law, and old friend. Pygmalion, the King of Tyre, in order that he might seize treasures of gold and silver, killed his sister's husband, a priest, taking no account of either kinship or religion. For love of gold Eriphyle betrayed her husband Amphiaraus to his enemy. Likewise Lasthenes betrayed the city of Olynthus to Philip of Macedon. The daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, having been bribed with gold, admitted the Sabines into the citadel of Rome. Claudius Curio sold his country for gold to Cæsar, the Dictator. Gold, too, was the cause of the downfall of Aesculapius, the great physician, who it was believed was the son of Apollo. Similarly Marcus Crassus, through his eager desire for the gold of the Parthians, was completely overcome together with his son and eleven legions, and became the jest of his enemies; for they [Pg 10]poured liquid gold into the gaping mouth of the slain Crassus, saying: "Thou hast thirsted for gold, therefore drink gold."

But why need I cite here these many examples from history?[17] It is almost our daily experience to learn that, for the sake of obtaining gold and silver, doors are burst open, walls are pierced, wretched travellers are struck down by rapacious and cruel men born to theft, sacrilege, invasion, and robbery. We see thieves seized and strung up before us, sacrilegious persons burnt alive, the limbs of robbers broken on the wheel, wars waged for the same reason, which are not only destructive to those against whom they are waged, but to those also who carry them on. Nay, but they say that the precious metals foster all manner of vice, such as the seduction of women, adultery, and unchastity, in short, crimes of violence against the person. Therefore the Poets, when they represent Jove transformed into a golden shower and falling into the lap of Danae, merely mean that he had found for himself a safe road by the use of gold, by which he might enter the tower for the purpose of violating the maiden. Moreover, the fidelity of many men is overthrown by the love of gold and silver, judicial sentences are bought, and innumerable crimes are perpetrated. For truly, as Propertius says:

Diphilus says:

Therefore, all the noblest and best despise these riches, deservedly and with justice, and esteem them as nothing. And this is said by the old man in Plautus:

In this country too, the poets inveigh with stinging reproaches against money coined from gold and silver. And especially did Juvenal:

And in another place:

And very many vehemently praise the barter system which men used before money was devised, and which even now obtains among certain simple peoples.

And next they raise a great outcry against other metals, as iron, than [Pg 11]which they say nothing more pernicious could have been brought into the life of man. For it is employed in making swords, javelins, spears, pikes, arrows—weapons by which men are wounded, and which cause slaughter, robbery, and wars. These things so moved the wrath of Pliny that he wrote: "Iron is used not only in hand to hand fighting, but also to form the winged missiles of war, sometimes for hurling engines, sometimes for lances, sometimes even for arrows. I look upon it as the most deadly fruit of human ingenuity. For to bring Death to men more quickly we have given wings to iron and taught it to fly."[19] The spear, the arrow from the bow, or the bolt from the catapult and other engines can be driven into the body of only one man, while the iron cannon-ball fired through the air, can go through the bodies of many men, and there is no marble or stone object so hard that it cannot be shattered by the force and shock. Therefore it levels the highest towers to the ground, shatters and destroys the strongest walls. Certainly the ballistas which throw stones, the battering rams and other ancient war engines for making breaches in walls of fortresses and hurling down strongholds, seem to have little power in comparison with our present cannon. These emit horrible sounds and noises, not less than thunder, flashes of fire burst from them like the lightning, striking, crushing, and shattering buildings, belching forth flames and kindling fires even as lightning flashes. So that with more justice could it be said of the impious men of our age than of Salmoneus of ancient days, that they had snatched lightning from Jupiter and wrested it from his hands. Nay, rather there has been sent from the infernal regions to the earth this force for the destruction of men, so that Death may snatch to himself as many as possible by one stroke.

But because muskets are nowadays rarely made of iron, and the large ones never, but of a certain mixture of copper and tin, they confer more maledictions on copper and tin than on iron. In this connection too, they mention the brazen bull of Phalaris, the brazen ox of the people of Pergamus, racks in the shape of an iron dog or a horse, manacles, shackles, wedges, hooks, and red-hot plates. Cruelly racked by such instruments, people are driven to confess crimes and misdeeds which they have never committed, and innocent men are miserably tortured to death by every conceivable kind of torment.

It is claimed too, that lead is a pestilential and noxious metal, for men are punished by means of molten lead, as Horace describes in the ode addressed to the Goddess Fortune: "Cruel Necessity ever goes before thee bearing in her brazen hand the spikes and wedges, while the awful hook and molten lead are also not lacking."[20] In their desire to excite greater odium for this metal, they are not silent about the leaden balls of muskets, and they find in it the cause of wounds and death.

They contend that, inasmuch as Nature has concealed metals far within the depths of the earth, and because they are not necessary to human life, they are therefore despised and repudiated by the noblest, and should not be [Pg 12]mined, and seeing that when brought to light they have always proved the cause of very great evils, it follows that mining is not useful to mankind, but on the contrary harmful and destructive. Several good men have been so perturbed by these tragedies that they conceive an intensely bitter hatred toward metals, and they wish absolutely that metals had never been created, or being created, that no one had ever dug them out. The more I commend the singular honesty, innocence, and goodness of such men, the more anxious shall I be to remove utterly and eradicate all error from their minds and to reveal the sound view, which is that the metals are most useful to mankind.

In the first place then, those who speak ill of the metals and refuse to make use of them, do not see that they accuse and condemn as wicked the Creator Himself, when they assert that He fashioned some things vainly and without good cause, and thus they regard Him as the Author of evils, which opinion is certainly not worthy of pious and sensible men.

In the next place, the earth does not conceal metals in her depths because she does not wish that men should dig them out, but because provident and sagacious Nature has appointed for each thing its place. She generates them in the veins, stringers, and seams in the rocks, as though in special vessels and receptacles for such material. The metals cannot be produced in the other elements because the materials for their formation are wanting. For if they were generated in the air, a thing that rarely happens, they could not find a firm resting-place, but by their own force and weight would settle down on to the ground. Seeing then that metals have their proper abiding place in the bowels of the earth, who does not see that these men do not reach their conclusions by good logic?

They say, "Although metals are in the earth, each located in its own proper place where it originated, yet because they lie thus enclosed and hidden from sight, they should not be taken out." But, in refutation of these attacks, which are so annoying, I will on behalf of the metals instance the fish, which we catch, hidden and concealed though they be in the water, even in the sea. Indeed, it is far stranger that man, a terrestrial animal, should search the interior of the sea than the bowels of the earth. For as birds are born to fly freely through the air, so are fishes born to swim through the waters, while to other creatures Nature has given the earth that they might live in it, and particularly to man that he might cultivate it and draw out of its caverns metals and other mineral products. On the other hand, they say that we eat fish, but neither hunger nor thirst is dispelled by minerals, nor are they useful in clothing the body, which is another argument by which these people strive to prove that metals should not be taken out. But man without metals cannot provide those things which he needs for food and clothing. For, though the produce of the land furnishes the greatest abundance of food for the nourishment of our bodies, no labour can be carried on and completed without tools. The ground itself is turned up with ploughshares and harrows, tough stalks and the tops of the roots are broken off and dug up with a mattock, the sown seed is harrowed, the corn [Pg 13]field is hoed and weeded; the ripe grain with part of the stalk is cut down by scythes and threshed on the floor, or its ears are cut off and stored in the barn and later beaten with flails and winnowed with fans, until finally the pure grain is stored in the granary, whence it is brought forth again when occasion demands or necessity arises. Again, if we wish to procure better and more productive fruits from trees and bushes, we must resort to cultivating, pruning, and grafting, which cannot be done without tools. Even as without vessels we cannot keep or hold liquids, such as milk, honey, wine, or oil, neither could so many living things be cared for without buildings to protect them from long-continued rain and intolerable cold. Most of the rustic instruments are made of iron, as ploughshares, share-beams, mattocks, the prongs of harrows, hoes, planes, hay-forks, straw cutters, pruning shears, pruning hooks, spades, lances, forks, and weed cutters. Vessels are also made of copper or lead. Neither are wooden instruments or vessels made without iron. Wine cellars, oil-mills, stables, or any other part of a farm building could not be built without iron tools. Then if the bull, the wether, the goat, or any other domestic animal is led away from the pasture to the butcher, or if the poulterer brings from the farm a chicken, a hen, or a capon for the cook, could any of these animals be cut up and divided without axes and knives? I need say nothing here about bronze and copper pots for cooking, because for these purposes one could make use of earthen vessels, but even these in turn could not be made and fashioned by the potter without tools, for no instruments can be made out of wood alone, without the use of iron. Furthermore, hunting, fowling, and fishing supply man with food, but when the stag has been ensnared does not the hunter transfix him with his spear? As he stands or runs, does he not pierce him with an arrow? Or pierce him with a bullet? Does not the fowler in the same way kill the moor-fowl or pheasant with an arrow? Or does he not discharge into its body the ball from the musket? I will not speak of the snares and other instruments with which the woodcock, woodpecker, and other wild birds are caught, lest I pursue unseasonably and too minutely single instances. Lastly, with his fish-hook and net does not the fisherman catch the fish in the sea, in the lakes, in fish-ponds, or in rivers? But the hook is of iron, and sometimes we see lead or iron weights attached to the net. And most fish that are caught are afterward cut up and disembowelled with knives and axes. But, more than enough has been said on the matter of food.

Now I will speak of clothing, which is made out of wool, flax, feathers, hair, fur, or leather. First the sheep are sheared, then the wool is combed. Next the threads are drawn out, while later the warp is suspended in the shuttle under which passes the wool. This being struck by the comb, at length cloth is formed either from threads alone or from threads and hair. Flax, when gathered, is first pulled by hooks. Then it is dipped in water and afterward dried, beaten into tow with a heavy mallet, and carded, then drawn out into threads, and finally woven into cloth. But has the artisan or weaver of the cloth any instrument not made of iron? Can one be made [Pg 14]of wood without the aid of iron? The cloth or web must be cut into lengths for the tailor. Can this be done without knife or scissors? Can the tailor sew together any garments without a needle? Even peoples dwelling beyond the seas cannot make a covering for their bodies, fashioned of feathers, without these same implements. Neither can the furriers do without them in sewing together the pelts of any kind of animals. The shoemaker needs a knife to cut the leather, another to scrape it, and an awl to perforate it before he can make shoes. These coverings for the body are either woven or stitched. Buildings too, which protect the same body from rain, wind, cold, and heat, are not constructed without axes, saws, and augers.

But what need of more words? If we remove metals from the service of man, all methods of protecting and sustaining health and more carefully preserving the course of life are done away with. If there were no metals, men would pass a horrible and wretched existence in the midst of wild beasts; they would return to the acorns and fruits and berries of the forest. They would feed upon the herbs and roots which they plucked up with their nails. They would dig out caves in which to lie down at night, and by day they would rove in the woods and plains at random like beasts, and inasmuch as this condition is utterly unworthy of humanity, with its splendid and glorious natural endowment, will anyone be so foolish or obstinate as not to allow that metals are necessary for food and clothing and that they tend to preserve life?

Moreover, as the miners dig almost exclusively in mountains otherwise unproductive, and in valleys invested in gloom, they do either slight damage to the fields or none at all. Lastly, where woods and glades are cut down, they may be sown with grain after they have been cleared from the roots of shrubs and trees. These new fields soon produce rich crops, so that they repair the losses which the inhabitants suffer from increased cost of timber. Moreover, with the metals which are melted from the ore, birds without number, edible beasts and fish can be purchased elsewhere and brought to these mountainous regions.

I will pass to the illustrations I have mentioned. Bias of Priene, when his country was taken, carried away out of the city none of his valuables. So strong a man with such a reputation for wisdom had no need to fear personal danger from the enemy, but this in truth cannot be said of him because he hastily took to flight; the throwing away of his goods does not seem to me so great a matter, for he had lost his house, his estates, and even his country, than which nothing is more precious. Nay, I should be convinced of Bias's contempt and scorn for possessions of this kind, if before his country was captured he had bestowed them freely on relations and friends, or had distributed them to the very poor, for this he could have done freely and without question. Whereas his conduct, which the Greeks admire so greatly, was due, it would seem, to his being driven out by the enemy and stricken with fear. Socrates in truth did not despise gold, but would not accept money for his teaching. As for Aristippus of Cyrene, if he had gathered and saved the gold which he ordered his slaves to throw away, he might [Pg 15]have bought the things which he needed for the necessaries of life, and he would not, by reason of his poverty, have then been obliged to flatter the tyrant Dionysius, nor would he ever have been called by him a King's dog. For this reason Horace, speaking of Damasippus when reviling Staberus for valuing riches very highly, says:

Insane indeed is he who makes more of riches than of virtue. Insane also is he who rejects them and considers them as worth nothing, instead of using them with reason. Yet as to the gold which Aristippus on another occasion flung into the sea from a boat, this he did with a wise and prudent mind. For learning that it was a pirate boat in which he was sailing, and fearing for his life, he counted his gold and then throwing it of his own will into the sea, he groaned as if he had done it unwillingly. But afterward, when he escaped the peril, he said: "It is better that this gold itself should be lost than that I should have perished because of it." Let it be granted that some philosophers, as well as Anacreon of Teos, despised gold and silver. Anaxagoras of Clazomenae also gave up his sheep-farms and became a shepherd. Crates the Theban too, being annoyed that his estate and other kinds of wealth caused him worry, and that in his contemplations his mind was thereby distracted, resigned a property valued at ten talents, and taking a cloak and wallet, in poverty devoted all his thought and efforts to philosophy. Is it true that because these philosophers despised money, all others declined wealth in cattle? Did they refuse to cultivate lands or to dwell in houses? There were certainly many, on the other hand, who, though affluent, became famous in the pursuit of learning and in the knowledge of divine and human laws, such as Aristotle, Cicero, and Seneca. As for Phocion, he did not deem it honest to accept the gold sent to him by Alexander. For if he had consented to use it, the king as much as himself would have incurred the hatred and aversion of the Athenians, and these very people were afterward so ungrateful toward this excellent man that they compelled him to drink hemlock. For what would have been less becoming to Marcus Curius and Fabricius Luscinus than to accept gold from their enemies, who hoped that by these means those leaders could be corrupted or would become odious to their fellow citizens, their purpose being to cause dissentions among the Romans and destroy the Republic utterly. Lycurgus, however, ought to have given instructions to the Spartans as to the use of gold and silver, instead of abolishing things good in themselves. As to the Babytacenses, who does not see that they were senseless and envious? For with their gold they might have bought things of which they were in need, or even given it to neighbouring peoples to bind them more closely to themselves with gifts and favours. Finally, the Scythians, by condemning the use of gold and silver [Pg 16]alone, did not free themselves utterly from avarice, because although he is not enjoying them, one who can possess other forms of property may also become avaricious.

Now let us reply to the attacks hurled against the products of mines. In the first place, they call gold and silver the scourge of mankind because they are the cause of destruction and ruin to their possessors. But in this manner, might not anything that we possess be called a scourge to human kind,—whether it be a horse, or a garment, or anything else? For, whether one rides a splendid horse, or journeys well clad, he would give occasion to a robber to kill him. Are we then not to ride on horses, but to journey on foot, because a robber has once committed a murder in order that he may steal a horse? Or are we not to possess clothing, because a vagabond with a sword has taken a traveller's life that he may rob him of his garment? The possession of gold and silver is similar. Seeing then that men cannot conveniently do all these things, we should be on our guard against robbers, and because we cannot always protect ourselves from their hands, it is the special duty of the magistrate to seize wicked and villainous men for torture, and, if need be, for execution.

Again, the products of the mines are not themselves the cause of war. Thus, for example, when a tyrant, inflamed with passion for a woman of great beauty, makes war on the inhabitants of her city, the fault lies in the unbridled lust of the tyrant and not in the beauty of the woman. Likewise, when another man, blinded by a passion for gold and silver, makes war upon a wealthy people, we ought not to blame the metals but transfer all blame to avarice. For frenzied deeds and disgraceful actions, which are wont to weaken and dishonour natural and civil laws, originate from our own vices. Wherefore Tibullus is wrong in laying the blame for war on gold, when he says: "This is the fault of a rich man's gold; there were no wars when beech goblets were used at banquets." But Virgil, speaking of Polymnestor, says that the crime of the murderer rests on avarice:

And again, justly, he says, speaking of Pygmalion, who killed Sichaeus:

For lust and eagerness after gold and other things make men blind, and this wicked greed for money, all men in all times and places have considered dishonourable and criminal. Moreover, those who have been so addicted to avarice as to be its slaves have always been regarded as mean and sordid. Similarly, too, if by means of gold and silver and gems men can overcome the chastity of women, corrupt the honour of many people, bribe the course of justice and commit innumerable wickednesses, it is not the metals which are to be blamed, but the evil passions of men which become inflamed and ignited; or it is due to the blind and impious desires of their minds. But [Pg 17]although these attacks against gold and silver may be directed especially against money, yet inasmuch as the Poets one after another condemn it, their criticism must be met, and this can be done by one argument alone. Money is good for those who use it well; it brings loss and evil to those who use it ill. Hence, very rightly, Horace says:

And again in another place:

When ingenious and clever men considered carefully the system of barter, which ignorant men of old employed and which even to-day is used by certain uncivilised and barbarous races, it appeared to them so troublesome and laborious that they invented money. Indeed, nothing more useful could have been devised, because a small amount of gold and silver is of as great value as things cumbrous and heavy; and so peoples far distant from one another can, by the use of money, trade very easily in those things which civilised life can scarcely do without.

The curses which are uttered against iron, copper, and lead have no weight with prudent and sensible men, because if these metals were done away with, men, as their anger swelled and their fury became unbridled, would assuredly fight like wild beasts with fists, heels, nails, and teeth. They would strike each other with sticks, hit one another with stones, or dash their foes to the ground. Moreover, a man does not kill another with iron alone, but slays by means of poison, starvation, or thirst. He may seize him by the throat and strangle him; he may bury him alive in the ground; he may immerse him in water and suffocate him; he may burn or hang him; so that he can make every element a participant in the death of men. Or, finally, a man may be thrown to the wild beasts. Another may be sewn up wholly except his head in a sack, and thus be left to be devoured by worms; or he may be immersed in water until he is torn to pieces by sea-serpents. A man may be boiled in oil; he may be greased, tied with ropes, and left exposed to be stung by flies and hornets; he may be put to death by scourging with rods or beating with cudgels, or struck down by stoning, or flung from a high place. Furthermore, a man may be tortured in more ways than one without the use of metals; as when the executioner burns the groins and armpits of his victim with hot wax; or places a cloth in his mouth gradually, so that when in breathing he draws it slowly into his gullet, the executioner draws it back suddenly and violently; or the victim's hands are fastened behind his back, and he is drawn up little by little with a rope and then let down suddenly. Or similarly, he may be tied to a beam and a heavy stone fastened by a cord to his feet, or finally his limbs may be torn asunder. From these examples we see that it is not metals that are to be condemned, but our vices, such as anger, cruelty, discord, passion for power, avarice, and lust.

[Pg 18]

The question next arises, whether we ought to count metals amongst the number of good things or class them amongst the bad. The Peripatetics regarded all wealth as a good thing, and merely spoke of externals as having to do with neither the mind nor the body. Well, let riches be an external thing. And, as they said, many other things may be classed as good if it is in one's power to use them either well or ill. For good men employ them for good, and to them they are useful. The wicked use them badly, and to them they are harmful. There is a saying of Socrates, that just as wine is influenced by the cask, so the character of riches is like their possessors. The Stoics, whose custom it is to argue subtly and acutely, though they did not put wealth in the category of good things, they did not count it amongst the evil ones, but placed it in that class which they term neutral. For to them virtue alone is good, and vice alone evil. The whole of what remains is indifferent. Thus, in their conviction, it matters not whether one be in good health or seriously ill; whether one be handsome or deformed. In short:

For my part, I see no reason why anything that is in itself of use should not be placed in the class of good things. At all events, metals are a creation of Nature, and they supply many varied and necessary needs of the human race, to say nothing about their uses in adornment, which are so wonderfully blended with utility. Therefore, it is not right to degrade them from the place they hold among the good things. In truth, if there is a bad use made of them, should they on that account be rightly called evils? For of what good things can we not make an equally bad or good use? Let me give examples from both classes of what we term good. Wine, by far the best drink, if drunk in moderation, aids the digestion of food, helps to produce blood, and promotes the juices in all parts of the body. It is of use in nourishing not only the body but the mind as well, for it disperses our dark and gloomy thoughts, frees us from cares and anxiety, and restores our confidence. If drunk in excess, however, it injures and prostrates the body with serious disease. An intoxicated man keeps nothing to himself; he raves and rants, and commits many wicked and infamous acts. On this subject Theognis wrote some very clever lines, which we may render thus:

But I linger too long over extraneous matters. I must pass on to the gifts of body and mind, amongst which strength, beauty, and genius occur to me. If then a man, relying on his strength, toils hard to maintain himself and his family in an honest and respectable manner, he uses the gift aright, but if he makes a living out of murder and robbery, he uses it wrongly. Likewise, too, if a lovely woman is anxious to please her husband [Pg 19]alone she uses her beauty aright, but if she lives wantonly and is a victim of passion, she misuses her beauty. In like manner, a youth who devotes himself to learning and cultivates the liberal arts, uses his genius rightly. But he who dissembles, lies, cheats, and deceives by fraud and dishonesty, misuses his abilities. Now, the man who, because they are abused, denies that wine, strength, beauty, or genius are good things, is unjust and blasphemous towards the Most High God, Creator of the World; so he who would remove metals from the class of blessings also acts unjustly and blasphemously against Him. Very true, therefore, are the words which certain Greek poets have written, as Pindar:

And Sappho:

And Callimachus:

And Antiphanes:

Having thus refuted the arguments and contentions of adversaries, let us sum up the advantages of the metals. In the first place, they are useful to the physician, for they furnish liberally the ingredients for medicines, by which wounds and ulcers are cured, and even plagues; so that certainly if there were no other reasons why we should explore the depths of the earth, we should for the sake of medicine alone dig in the mines. Again, the metals are of use to painters, because they yield certain pigments which, when united with the painter's slip, are injured less than others by the moisture from without. Further, mining is useful to the architects, for thus is found marble, which is suitable not only for strengthening large buildings, but also for decoration. It is, moreover, helpful to those whose ambition urges them toward immortal glory, because it yields metals from which are made coins, statues, and other monuments, which, next to literary records, give men in a sense immortality. The metals are useful to merchants with very great cause, for, as I have stated elsewhere, the use of money which is made from metals is much more convenient to mankind than the old system of exchange of commodities. In short, to whom are the metals not of use? In very truth, even the works of art, elegant, embellished, elaborate, useful, are fashioned in various shapes by the artist from the metals gold, silver, brass, lead, and iron. How few artists [Pg 20]could make anything that is beautiful and perfect without using metals? Even if tools of iron or brass were not used, we could not make tools of wood and stone without the help of metal. From all these examples are evident the benefits and advantages derived from metals. We should not have had these at all unless the science of mining and metallurgy had been discovered and handed down to us. Who then does not understand how highly useful they are, nay rather, how necessary to the human race? In a word, man could not do without the mining industry, nor did Divine Providence will that he should.

Further, it has been asked whether to work in metals is honourable employment for respectable people or whether it is not degrading and dishonourable. We ourselves count it amongst the honourable arts. For that art, the pursuit of which is unquestionably not impious, nor offensive, nor mean, we may esteem honourable. That this is the nature of the mining profession, inasmuch as it promotes wealth by good and honest methods, we shall show presently. With justice, therefore, we may class it amongst honourable employments. In the first place, the occupation of the miner, which I must be allowed to compare with other methods of acquiring great wealth, is just as noble as that of agriculture; for, as the farmer, sowing his seed in his fields injures no one, however profitable they may prove to him, so the miner digging for his metals, albeit he draws forth great heaps of gold or silver, hurts thereby no mortal man. Certainly these two modes of increasing wealth are in the highest degree both noble and honourable. The booty of the soldier, however, is frequently impious, because in the fury of the fighting he seizes all goods, sacred as well as profane. The most just king may have to declare war on cruel tyrants, but in the course of it wicked men cannot lose their wealth and possessions without dragging into the same calamity innocent and poor people, old men, matrons, maidens, and orphans. But the miner is able to accumulate great riches in a short time, without using any violence, fraud, or malice. That old saying is, therefore, not always true that "Every rich man is either wicked himself, or is the heir to wickedness."

Some, however, who contend against us, censure and attack miners by saying that they and their children must needs fall into penury after a short time, because they have heaped up riches by improper means. According to them nothing is truer than the saying of the poet Naevius:

"Ill gotten gains in ill fashion slip away."

The following are some of the wicked and sinful methods by which they say men obtain riches from mining. When a prospect of obtaining metals shows itself in a mine, either the ruler or magistrate drives out the rightful owners of the mines from possession, or a shrewd and cunning neighbour perhaps brings a law-suit against the old possessors in order to rob them of some part of their property. Or the mine superintendent imposes on the owners such a heavy contribution on shares, that if they cannot pay, or will not, they lose their rights of possession; while the superintendent, contrary to all that is right, seizes upon all that they have lost. Or, [Pg 21]finally, the mine foreman may conceal the vein by plastering over with clay that part where the metal abounds, or by covering it with earth, stones, stakes, or poles, in the hope that after several years the proprietors, thinking the mine exhausted, will abandon it, and the foreman can then excavate that remainder of the ore and keep it for himself. They even state that the scum of the miners exist wholly by fraud, deceit, and lying. For to speak of nothing else, but only of those deceits which are practised in buying and selling, it is said they either advertise the veins with false and imaginary praises, so that they can sell the shares in the mines at one-half more than they are worth, or on the contrary, they sometimes detract from the estimate of them so that they can buy shares for a small price. By exposing such frauds our critics suppose all good opinion of miners is lost. Now, all wealth, whether it has been gained by good or evil means, is liable by some adverse chance to vanish away. It decays and is dissipated by the fault and carelessness of the owner, since he loses it through laziness and neglect, or wastes and squanders it in luxuries, or he consumes and exhausts it in gifts, or he dissipates and throws it away in gambling:

"Just as though money sprouted up again, renewed from an exhausted coffer, and was always to be obtained from a full heap."

It is therefore not to be wondered at if miners do not keep in mind the counsel given by King Agathocles: "Unexpected fortune should be held in reverence," for by not doing so they fall into penury; and particularly when the miners are not content with moderate riches, they not rarely spend on new mines what they have accumulated from others. But no just ruler or magistrate deprives owners of their possessions; that, however, may be done by a tyrant, who may cruelly rob his subjects not only of their goods honestly obtained, but even of life itself. And yet whenever I have inquired into the complaints which are in common vogue, I always find that the owners who are abused have the best of reasons for driving the men from the mines; while those who abuse the owners have no reason to complain about them. Take the case of those who, not having paid their contributions, have lost the right of possession, or those who have been expelled by the magistrate out of another man's mine: for some wicked men, mining the small veins branching from the veins rich in metal, are wont to invade the property of another person. So the magistrate expels these men accused of wrong, and drives them from the mine. They then very frequently spread unpleasant rumours concerning this amongst the populace. Or, to take another case: when, as often happens, a dispute arises between neighbours, arbitrators appointed by the magistrate settle it, or the regular judges investigate and give judgment. Consequently, when the judgment is given, inasmuch as each party has consented to submit to it, neither side should complain of injustice; and when the controversy is adjudged, inasmuch as the decision is in accordance with the laws concerning mining, one of the parties cannot be injured by the law. I do not vigorously contest the point, that at times a mine superintendent may exact a larger contribution [Pg 22]from the owners than necessity demands. Nay, I will admit that a foreman may plaster over, or hide with a structure, a vein where it is rich in metals. Is the wickedness of one or two to brand the many honest with fraud and trickery? What body is supposed to be more pious and virtuous in the Republic than the Senate? Yet some Senators have been detected in peculations, and have been punished. Is this any reason that so honourable a house should lose its good name and fame? The superintendent cannot exact contributions from the owners without the knowledge and permission of the Bergmeister or the deputies; for this reason deception of this kind is impossible. Should the foremen be convicted of fraud, they are beaten with rods; or of theft, they are hanged. It is complained that some sellers and buyers of the shares in mines are fraudulent. I concede it. But can they deceive anyone except a stupid, careless man, unskilled in mining matters? Indeed, a wise and prudent man, skilled in this art, if he doubts the trustworthiness of a seller or buyer, goes at once to the mine that he may for himself examine the vein which has been so greatly praised or disparaged, and may consider whether he will buy or sell the shares or not. But people say, though such an one can be on his guard against fraud, yet a simple man and one who is easily credulous, is deceived. But we frequently see a man who is trying to mislead another in this way deceive himself, and deservedly become a laughing-stock for everyone; or very often the defrauder as well as the dupe is entirely ignorant of mining. If, for instance, a vein has been found to be abundant in ore, contrary to the idea of the would-be deceiver, then he who was to have been cheated gets a profit, and he who has been the deceiver loses. Nevertheless, the miners themselves rarely buy or sell shares, but generally they have jurati venditores[28] who buy and sell at such prices as they have been instructed to give or accept. Seeing therefore, that magistrates decide disputes on fair and just principles, that honest men deceive nobody, while a dishonest one cannot deceive easily, or if he does he cannot do so with impunity, the criticism of those who wish to disparage the honesty of miners has therefore no force or weight.

In the next place, the occupation of the miner is objectionable to nobody. For who, unless he be naturally malevolent and envious, will hate the man who gains wealth as it were from heaven? Or who will hate a man who to amplify his fortune, adopts a method which is free from reproach? A moneylender, if he demands an excessive interest, incurs the hatred of men. If he demands a moderate and lawful rate, so that he is not injurious to the public generally and does not impoverish them, he fails to become very rich from his business. Further, the gain derived from mining is not sordid, for how can it be such, seeing that it is so great, so plentiful, and of so innocent a nature. A merchant's profits are mean and base when he sells counterfeit and spurious merchandise, or puts far too high a price on goods that he has purchased for little; for this reason the merchant [Pg 23]would be held in no less odium amongst good men than is the usurer, did they not take account of the risk he runs to secure his merchandise. In truth, those who on this point speak abusively of mining for the sake of detracting from its merits, say that in former days men convicted of crimes and misdeeds were sentenced to the mines and were worked as slaves. But to-day the miners receive pay, and are engaged like other workmen in the common trades.

Certainly, if mining is a shameful and discreditable employment for a gentleman because slaves once worked mines, then agriculture also will not be a very creditable employment, because slaves once cultivated the fields, and even to-day do so among the Turks; nor will architecture be considered honest, because some slaves have been found skilful in that profession; nor medicine, because not a few doctors have been slaves; nor will any other worthy craft, because men captured by force of arms have practised it. Yet agriculture, architecture, and medicine are none the less counted amongst the number of honourable professions; therefore, mining ought not for this reason to be excluded from them. But suppose we grant that the hired miners have a sordid employment. We do not mean by miners only the diggers and other workmen, but also those skilled in the mining arts, and those who invest money in mines. Amongst them can be counted kings, princes, republics, and from these last the most esteemed citizens. And finally, we include amongst the overseers of mines the noble Thucydides, the historian, whom the Athenians placed in charge of the mines of Thasos.[29] And it would not be unseemly for the owners themselves to work with their own hands on the works or ore, especially if they themselves have contributed to the cost of the mines. Just as it is not undignified for great men to cultivate their own land. Otherwise the Roman Senate would not have created Dictator L. Quintius Cincinnatus, as he was at work in the fields, nor would it have summoned to the Senate House the chief men of the State from their country villas. Similarly, in our day, Maximilian Cæsar would not have enrolled Conrad in the ranks of the nobles known as Counts; Conrad was really very poor when he served in the mines of Schneeberg, and for that reason he was nicknamed the "poor man"; but [Pg 24]not many years after, he attained wealth from the mines of Fürst, which is a city in Lorraine, and took his name from "Luck."[30] Nor would King Vladislaus have restored to the Assembly of Barons, Tursius, a citizen of Cracow, who became rich through the mines in that part of the kingdom of Hungary which was formerly called Dacia.[31] Nay, not even the common worker in the mines is vile and abject. For, trained to vigilance and work by night and day, he has great powers of endurance when occasion demands, and easily sustains the fatigues and duties of a soldier, for he is accustomed to keep long vigils at night, to wield iron tools, to dig trenches, to drive tunnels, to make machines, and to carry burdens. Therefore, experts in military affairs prefer the miner, not only to a commoner from the town, but even to the rustic.

But to bring this discussion to an end, inasmuch as the chief callings are those of the moneylender, the soldier, the merchant, the farmer, and the miner, I say, inasmuch as usury is odious, while the spoil cruelly captured from the possessions of the people innocent of wrong is wicked in the sight of God and man, and inasmuch as the calling of the miner excels in honour and dignity that of the merchant trading for lucre, while it is not less noble though far more profitable than agriculture, who can fail to realize that mining is a calling of peculiar dignity? Certainly, though it is but one of ten important and excellent methods of acquiring wealth in an honourable way, a careful and diligent man can attain this result in no easier way than by mining.

END OF BOOK I.

[Pg 25]

ualities which the perfect miner should possess and the arguments which are urged for and against the arts of mining and metallurgy, as well as the people occupied in the industry, I have sufficiently discussed in the first Book. Now I have determined to give more ample information concerning the miners.

In the first place, it is indispensable that they should worship God with reverence, and that they understand the matters of which I am going to speak, and that they take good care that each individual performs his duties efficiently and diligently. It is decreed by Divine Providence that those who know what they ought to do and then take care to do it properly, for the most part meet with good fortune in all they undertake; on the other hand, misfortune overtakes the indolent and those who are careless in their work. No person indeed can, without great and sustained effort and labour, store in his mind the knowledge of every portion of the metallic arts which are involved in operating mines. If a man has the means of paying the necessary expense, he hires as many men as he needs, and sends them to the various works. Thus formerly Sosias, the Thracian, sent into the silver mines a thousand slaves whom he had hired from the Athenian Nicias, the son of Niceratus[1]. But if a man cannot afford the expenditure he chooses of the various kinds of mining that work which he himself can most easily and efficiently do. Of these kinds, the two most important are the making prospect trenches and the washing of the sands of rivers, for out of these sands are often collected gold dust, or certain black stones from which tin is smelted, or even gems are sometimes found in them; the trenching occasionally lays bare at the grass-roots veins which are found rich in metals. If therefore by skill or by luck, such sands or veins shall fall into his hands, he will be able to establish his fortune without expenditure, and from poverty rise to wealth. If on the contrary, his hopes are not realized, then he can desist from washing or digging.

When anyone, in an endeavour to increase his fortune, meets the expenditure of a mine alone, it is of great importance that he should attend to his works and personally superintend everything that he has ordered to be done. For this reason, he should either have his dwelling at the mine, [Pg 26]where he may always be in sight of the workmen and always take care that none neglect their duties, or else he should live in the neighbourhood, so that he may frequently inspect his mining works. Then he may send word by a messenger to the workmen that he is coming more frequently than he really intends to come, and so either by his arrival or by the intimation of it, he so frightens the workmen that none of them perform their duties otherwise than diligently. When he inspects the mines he should praise the diligent workmen and occasionally give them rewards, that they and the others may become more zealous in their duties; on the other hand, he should rebuke the idle and discharge some of them from the mines and substitute industrious men in their places. Indeed, the owner should frequently remain for days and nights in the mine, which, in truth, is no habitation for the idle and luxurious; it is important that the owner who is diligent in increasing his wealth, should frequently himself descend into the mine, and devote some time to the study of the nature of the veins and stringers, and should observe and consider all the methods of working, both inside and outside the mine. Nor is this all he ought to do, for sometimes he should undertake actual labour, not thereby demeaning himself, but in order to encourage his workmen by his own diligence, and to teach them their art; for that mine is well conducted in which not only the foreman, but also the owner himself, gives instruction as to what ought to be done. A certain barbarian, according to Xenophon, rightly remarked to the King of Persia that "the eye of the master feeds the horse,"[2] for the master's watchfulness in all things is of the utmost importance.

When several share together the expenditure on a mine, it is convenient and useful to elect from amongst their own number a mine captain, and also a foreman. For, since men often look after their own interests but neglect those of others, they cannot in this case take care of their own without at the same time looking after the interests of the others, neither can they neglect the interests of the others without neglecting their own. But if no man amongst them be willing or able to undertake and sustain the burdens of these offices, it will be to the common interest to place them in the hands of most diligent men. Formerly indeed, these things were looked after by the mining prefect[3], because the owners were kings, as Priam, who owned the gold mines round Abydos, or as Midas, who was the owner of those situated in Mount Bermius, or as Gyges, or as Alyattes, or as Crœsus, who was the owner of those mines near a deserted town between Atarnea and Pergamum[4]; sometimes the mines belonged to a Republic, as, for [Pg 27]instance, the prosperous silver mines in Spain which belonged to Carthage[5]; sometimes they were the property of great and illustrious families, as were the Athenian mines in Mount Laurion[6].

When a man owns mines but is ignorant of the art of mining, then it is advisable that he should share in common with others the expenses, not of one only, but of several mines. When one man alone meets the expense for a long time of a whole mine, if good fortune bestows on him a vein abundant in metals, or in other products, he becomes very wealthy; if, on the contrary, the mine is poor and barren, in time he will lose everything which he has expended on it. But the man who, in common with others, has laid out his money on several mines in a region renowned for its wealth of metals, rarely spends it in vain, for fortune usually responds to his hopes in part. For when out of twelve veins in which he has a joint interest [Pg 28]one yields an abundance of metals, it not only gives back to the owner the money he has spent, but also gives a profit besides; certainly there will be for him rich and profitable mining, if of the whole number, three, or four, or more veins should yield metal. Very similar to this is the advice which Xenophon gave to the Athenians when they wished to prospect for new veins of silver without suffering loss. "There are," he said, "ten tribes of Athenians; if, therefore, the State assigned an equal number of slaves to each tribe, and the tribes participated equally in all the new veins, undoubtedly by this method, if a rich vein of silver were found by one tribe, whatever profit were made from it would assuredly be shared by the whole number. And if two, three, or four tribes, or even half the whole number find veins, their works would then become more profitable; and it is not probable that the work of all the tribes will be disappointing."[7] Although this advice of Xenophon is full of prudence, there is no opportunity for it except in free and wealthy States; for those people who are under the authority of kings and princes, or are kept in subjection by tyranny, do not dare, without permission, to incur such expenditure; those who are endowed with little wealth and resources cannot do so on account of insufficient funds. Moreover, amongst our race it is not customary for Republics to have slaves whom they can hire out for the benefit of the people[8]; but, instead, nowadays those who are in authority administer the funds for mining in the name of the State, not unlike private individuals.

[Pg 29]

Some owners prefer to buy shares[9] in mines abounding in metals, rather than to be troubled themselves to search for the veins; these men employ an easier and less uncertain method of increasing their property. Although their hopes in the shares of one or another mine may be frustrated, the buyers of shares should not abandon the rest of the mines, for all the money expended will be recovered with interest from some other mine. They should not buy only high priced shares in those mines producing metals, nor should they buy too many in neighbouring mines where metal has not yet been found, lest, should fortune not respond, they may be exhausted by their losses and have nothing with which they may meet their expenses or buy other shares which may replace their losses. This calamity overtakes those who wish to grow suddenly rich from mines, and instead, they become very much poorer than before. So then, in the buying of shares, as in other matters, there should be a certain limit of expenditure which miners should set themselves, lest blinded by the desire for excessive wealth, they throw all their money away. Moreover, a prudent owner, before he buys shares, ought to go to the mine and carefully examine the nature of the vein, for it is very important that he should be on his guard lest fraudulent sellers of shares should deceive him. Investors in shares may perhaps become less wealthy, but they are more certain of some gain than those who mine for metals at their own expense, as they are more cautious in trusting to fortune. Neither ought miners to be altogether distrustful of fortune, as we see some are, who as soon as the shares of any mine begin to go up in [Pg 30]value, sell them, on which account they seldom obtain even moderate wealth. There are some people who wash over the dumps from exhausted and abandoned mines, and those dumps which are derived from the drains of tunnels; and others who smelt the old slags; from all of which they make an ample return.

Now a miner, before he begins to mine the veins, must consider seven things, namely:—the situation, the conditions, the water, the roads, the climate, the right of ownership, and the neighbours. There are four kinds of situations—mountain, hill, valley, and plain. Of these four, the first two are the most easily mined, because in them tunnels can be driven to drain off the water, which often makes mining operations very laborious, if it does not stop them altogether. The last two kinds of ground are more troublesome, especially because tunnels cannot be driven in such places. Nevertheless, a prudent miner considers all these four sorts of localities in the region in which he happens to be, and he searches for veins in those places where some torrent or other agency has removed and swept the soil away; yet he need not prospect everywhere, but since there is a great variety, both in mountains and in the three other kinds of localities, he always selects from them those which will give him the best chance of obtaining wealth.

In the first place, mountains differ greatly in position, some being situated in even and level plains, while others are found in broken and elevated regions, and others again seem to be piled up, one mountain upon another. The wise miner does not mine in mountains which are situated on open plains, neither does he dig in those which are placed on the summits of mountainous regions, unless by some chance the veins in those mountains have been denuded of their surface covering, and abounding in metals and other products, are exposed plainly to his notice,—for with regard to what I have already said more than once, and though I never repeat it again, I wish to emphasize this exception as to the localities which should not be selected. All districts do not possess a great number of mountains crowded together; some have but one, others two, others three, or perhaps a few more. In some places there are plains lying between them; in others the mountains are joined together or separated only by narrow valleys. The miner should not dig in those solitary mountains, dispersed through the plains and open regions, but only in those which are connected and joined with others. Then again, since mountains differ in size, some being very large, others of medium height, and others more like hills than mountains, the miner rarely digs in the largest or the smallest of them, but generally only in those of medium size. Moreover, mountains have a great variety of shapes; for with some the slopes rise gradually, while others, on the contrary, are all precipitous; in some others the slopes are gradual on one side, and on the other sides precipitous; some are drawn out in length; some are gently curved; others assume different shapes. But the miner may dig in all parts of them, except where there are precipices, and he should not neglect even these latter if metallic veins [Pg 31]are exposed before his eyes. There are just as great differences in hills as there are in mountains, yet the miner does not dig except in those situated in mountainous districts, and even very rarely in those. It is however very little to be wondered at that the hill in the Island of Lemnos was excavated, for the whole is of a reddish-yellow colour, which furnishes for the inhabitants that valuable clay so especially beneficial to mankind[10]. In like manner, other hills are excavated if chalk or other varieties of earth are exposed, but these are not prospected for.

There are likewise many varieties of valleys and plains. One kind is enclosed on the sides with its outlet and entrance open; another has either its entrance or its outlet open and the rest of it is closed in; both of these are properly called valleys. There is a third variety which is surrounded on all sides by mountains, and these are called convalles. Some valleys again, have recesses, and others have none; one is wide, another narrow; one is long, another short; yet another kind is not higher than the neighbouring plain, and others are lower than the surrounding flat country. But the miner does not dig in those surrounded on all sides by mountains, nor in those that are open, unless there be a low plain close at hand, or unless a vein of metal descending from the mountains should extend into the valley. Plains differ from one another, one being situated at low elevation, and others higher, one being level and another with a slight incline. The miner should never excavate the low-lying plain, nor one which is perfectly level, unless it be in some mountain, and rarely should he mine in the other kinds of plains.

With regard to the conditions of the locality the miner should not contemplate mining without considering whether the place be covered with trees or is bare. If it be a wooded place, he who digs there has this advantage, besides others, that there will be an abundant supply of wood for his underground timbering, his machinery, buildings, smelting, and other necessities. If there is no forest he should not mine there unless there is a river near, by which he can carry down the timber. Yet wherever there is a hope that pure gold or gems may be found, the ground can be turned up, even though there is no forest, because the gems need only to be polished and the gold to be purified. Therefore the inhabitants of hot regions obtain these substances from rough and sandy places, where sometimes there are not even shrubs, much less woods.

The miner should next consider the locality, as to whether it has a perpetual supply of running water, or whether it is always devoid of water except when a torrent supplied by rains flows down from the summits of the mountains. The place that Nature has provided with a river or stream can [Pg 32]be made serviceable for many things; for water will never be wanting and can be carried through wooden pipes to baths in dwelling-houses; it may be carried to the works, where the metals are smelted; and finally, if the conditions of the place will allow it, the water can be diverted into the tunnels, so that it may turn the underground machinery. Yet on the other hand, to convey a constant supply of water by artificial means to mines where Nature has denied it access, or to convey the ore to the stream, increases the expense greatly, in proportion to the distance the mines are away from the river.

The miner also should consider whether the roads from the neighbouring regions to the mines are good or bad, short or long. For since a region which is abundant in mining products very often yields no agricultural produce, and the necessaries of life for the workmen and others must all be imported, a bad and long road occasions much loss and trouble with porters and carriers, and this increases the cost of goods brought in, which, therefore, must be sold at high prices. This injures not so much the workmen as the masters; since on account of the high price of goods, the workmen are not content with the wages customary for their labour, nor can they be, and they ask higher pay from the owners. And if the owners refuse, the men will not work any longer in the mines but will go elsewhere. Although districts which yield metals and other mineral products are generally healthy, because, being often situated on high and lofty ground, they are fanned by every wind, yet sometimes they are unhealthy, as has been related in my other book, which is called "De Natura Eorum Quae Effluunt ex Terra." Therefore, a wise miner does not mine in such places, even if they are very productive, when he perceives unmistakable signs of pestilence. For if a man mines in an unhealthy region he may be alive one hour and dead the next.

Then, the miner should make careful and thorough investigation concerning the lord of the locality, whether he be a just and good man or a tyrant, for the latter oppresses men by force of his authority, and seizes their possessions for himself; but the former governs justly and lawfully and serves the common good. The miner should not start mining operations in a district which is oppressed by a tyrant, but should carefully consider if in the vicinity there is any other locality suitable for mining and make up his mind if the overlord there be friendly or inimical. If he be inimical the mine will be rendered unsafe through hostile attacks, in one of which all of the gold or silver, or other mineral products, laboriously collected with much cost, will be taken away from the owner and his workmen will be struck with terror; overcome by fear, they will hastily fly, to free themselves from the danger to which they are exposed. In this case, not only are the fortunes of the miner in the greatest peril but his very life is in jeopardy, for which reason he should not mine in such places.

Since several miners usually come to mine the veins in one locality, a settlement generally springs up, for the miner who began first cannot keep it exclusively for himself. The Bergmeister gives permits to some to mine [Pg 33]the superior and some the inferior parts of the veins; to some he gives the cross veins, to others the inclined veins. If the man who first starts work finds the vein to be metal-bearing or yielding other mining products, it will not be to his advantage to cease work because the neighbourhood may be evil, but he will guard and defend his rights both by arms and by the law. When the Bergmeister[11] delimits the boundaries of each owner, it is the duty of a good miner to keep within his bounds, and of a prudent one to repel encroachments of his neighbours by the help of the law. But this is enough about the neighbourhood.

The miner should try to obtain a mine, to which access is not difficult, in a mountainous region, gently sloping, wooded, healthy, safe, and not far distant from a river or stream by means of which he may convey his mining products to be washed and smelted. This indeed, is the best position. As for the others, the nearer they approximate to this position the better they are; the further removed, the worse.

Now I will discuss that kind of minerals for which it is not necessary to dig, because the force of water carries them out of the veins. Of these there are two kinds, minerals—and their fragments[12]—and juices. When there are springs at the outcrop of the veins from which, as I have already said, the above-mentioned products are emitted, the miner should consider these first, to see whether there are metals or gems mixed with the sand, or whether the waters discharged are filled with juices. In case metals or gems have settled in the pool of the spring, not only should the sand from it be washed, but also that from the streams which flow from these springs, and even from the river itself into which they again discharge. If the springs discharge water containing some juice, this also should be collected; the further such a stream has flowed from the source, the more it receives plain water and the more diluted does it become, and so much the more deficient in strength. If the stream receives no water of another kind, or scarcely any, not only the rivers, but likewise the lakes which receive these waters, are of the same nature as the springs, and serve the same uses; of this kind is the lake which the Hebrews call the Dead Sea, and which is quite full of bituminous fluids[13]. But I must return to the subject of the sands.

Springs may discharge their waters into a sea, a lake, a marsh, a river, or a stream; but the sand of the sea-shore is rarely washed, for although the water flowing down from the springs into the sea carries some metals or gems with it, yet these substances can scarcely ever be reclaimed, because they are dispersed through the immense body of waters and mixed up with [Pg 34]other sand, and scattered far and wide in different directions, or they sink down into the depths of the sea. For the same reasons, the sands of lakes can very rarely be washed successfully, even though the streams rising from the mountains pour their whole volume of water into them. The particles of metals and gems from the springs are very rarely carried into the marshes, which are generally in level and open places. Therefore, the miner, in the first place, washes the sand of the spring, then of the stream which flows from it, then finally, that of the river into which the stream discharges. It is not worth the trouble to wash the sands of a large river which is on a level plain at a distance from the mountains. Where several springs carrying metals discharge their waters into one river, there is more hope of productive results from washing. The miner does not neglect even the sands of the streams in which excavated ores have been washed.

The waters of springs taste according to the juice they contain, and they differ greatly in this respect. There are six kinds of these tastes which the worker[14] especially observes and examines; there is the salty kind, which shows that salt may be obtained by evaporation; the nitrous, which indicates soda; the aluminous kind, which indicates alum; the vitrioline, which indicates vitriol; the sulphurous kind, which indicates sulphur; and as for the bituminous juice, out of which bitumen is melted down, the colour itself proclaims it to the worker who is evaporating it. The sea-water however, is similar to that of salt springs, and may be drawn into low-lying pits, and, evaporated by the heat of the sun, changes of itself into salt; similarly the water of some salt-lakes turns to salt when dried by the heat of summer. Therefore an industrious and diligent man observes and makes use of these things and thus contributes something to the common welfare.

The strength of the sea condenses the liquid bitumen which flows into it from hidden springs, into amber and jet, as I have described already in my books "De Subterraneorum Ortu et Causis"[15]. The sea, with certain [Pg 35]directions of the wind, throws both these substances on shore, and for this reason the search for amber demands as much care as does that for coral.

Moreover, it is necessary that those who wash the sand or evaporate the water from the springs, should be careful to learn the nature of the locality, its roads, its salubrity, its overlord, and the neighbours, lest on account of difficulties in the conduct of their business they become either impoverished by exhaustive expenditure, or their goods and lives are imperilled. But enough about this.

The miner, after he has selected out of many places one particular spot adapted by Nature for mining, bestows much labour and attention on the veins. These have either been stripped bare of their covering by chance and thus lie exposed to our view, or lying deeply hidden and concealed they are found after close search; the latter is more usual, the former more rarely happens, and both of these occurrences must be explained. There is more than one force which can lay bare the veins unaided by the industry or toil of man; since either a torrent might strip off the surface, which happened in the case of the silver mines of Freiberg (concerning which I have [Pg 36]written in Book I. of my work "De Veteribus et Novis Metallis")[16]; or they may be exposed through the force of the wind, when it uproots and destroys the trees which have grown over the veins; or by the breaking away of the rocks; or by long-continued heavy rains tearing away the mountain; or by an earthquake; or by a lightning flash; or by a snowslide; or by the violence of the winds: "Of such a nature are the rocks hurled down from the mountains by the force of the winds aided by the ravages of time." Or the plough may uncover the veins, for Justin relates in his history that nuggets of gold had been turned up in Galicia by the plough; or this may occur through a fire in the forest, as Diodorus Siculus tells us happened in the silver mines in Spain; and that saying of Posidonius is appropriate enough: "The earth violently moved by the fires consuming the forest sends forth new products, namely, gold and silver."[17] And indeed, Lucretius has explained the same thing more fully in the following lines: "Copper and gold and iron were discovered, and at the same time weighty silver and the substance of lead, when fire had burned up vast forests on the great hills, either by a discharge of heaven's lightning, or else because, when men were waging war with one another, forest fires had carried fire among the enemy in order to strike terror to them, or because, attracted by the goodness of the soil, they wished to clear rich fields and bring the country into pasture, or else to destroy wild beasts and enrich themselves with the game; for hunting with pitfalls and with fire came into use before the practice of enclosing the wood with toils and rousing the game with dogs. Whatever the fact is, from [Pg 37]whatever cause the heat of flame had swallowed up the forests with a frightful crackling from their very roots, and had thoroughly baked the earth with fire, there would run from the boiling veins and collect into the hollows of the grounds a stream of silver and gold, as well as of copper and lead."[18] But yet the poet considers that the veins are not laid bare in the first instance so much by this kind of fire, but rather that all mining had its origin in this. And lastly, some other force may by chance disclose the veins, for a horse, if this tale can be believed, disclosed the lead veins at Goslar by a blow from his hoof[19]. By such methods as these does fortune disclose the veins to us.

But by skill we can also investigate hidden and concealed veins, by observing in the first place the bubbling waters of springs, which cannot be very far distant from the veins because the source of the water is from them; secondly, by examining the fragments of the veins which the torrents break off from the earth, for after a long time some of these fragments are again buried in the ground. Fragments of this kind lying about on the ground, if they are rubbed smooth, are a long distance from the veins, because the torrent, which broke them from the vein, polished them while it rolled them a long distance; but if they are fixed in the ground, or if they are rough, they are nearer to the veins. The soil also should be considered, for this is often the cause of veins being buried more or less deeply under the earth; in this case the fragments protrude more or less widely apart, and miners are wont to call the veins discovered in this manner "fragmenta."[20]

Further, we search for the veins by observing the hoar-frosts, which whiten all herbage except that growing over the veins, because the veins emit a warm and dry exhalation which hinders the freezing of the moisture, for which reason such plants appear rather wet than whitened by the frost. This may be observed in all cold places before the grass has grown to its full size, as in the months of April and May; or when the late crop of [Pg 38]hay, which is called the cordum, is cut with scythes in the month of September. Therefore in places where the grass has a dampness that is not congealed into frost, there is a vein beneath; also if the exhalation be excessively hot, the soil will produce only small and pale-coloured plants. Lastly, there are trees whose foliage in spring-time has a bluish or leaden tint, the upper branches more especially being tinged with black or with any other unnatural colour, the trunks cleft in two, and the branches black or discoloured. These phenomena are caused by the intensely hot and dry exhalations which do not spare even the roots, but scorching them, render the trees sickly; wherefore the wind will more frequently uproot trees of this kind than any others. Verily the veins do emit this exhalation. Therefore, in a place where there is a multitude of trees, if a long row of them at an unusual time lose their verdure and become black or discoloured, and frequently fall by the violence of the wind, beneath this spot there is a vein. Likewise along a course where a vein extends, there grows a certain herb or fungus which is absent from the adjacent space, or sometimes even from the neighbourhood of the veins. By these signs of Nature a vein can be discovered.

There are many great contentions between miners concerning the forked twig[21], for some say that it is of the greatest use in discovering veins, and others deny it. Some of those who manipulate and use the twig, first cut a fork from a hazel bush with a knife, for this bush they consider more efficacious than any other for revealing the veins, especially if the hazel [Pg 39]bush grows above a vein. Others use a different kind of twig for each metal, when they are seeking to discover the veins, for they employ hazel twigs for veins of silver; ash twigs for copper; pitch pine for lead and especially tin, and rods made of iron and steel for gold. All alike grasp the forks of the twig with their hands, clenching their fists, it being necessary that the clenched fingers should be held toward the sky in order that the twig should be raised at that end where the two branches meet. Then they wander hither and thither at random through mountainous regions. It is said that the moment they place their feet on a vein the twig immediately turns and twists, and so by its action discloses the vein; when they move their feet again and go away from that spot the twig becomes once more immobile.

The truth is, they assert, the movement of the twig is caused by the power of the veins, and sometimes this is so great that the branches of trees growing near a vein are deflected toward it. On the other hand, those who say that the twig is of no use to good and serious men, also deny that the motion is due to the power of the veins, because the twigs will not move for everybody, but only for those who employ incantations and craft. Moreover, they deny the power of a vein to draw to itself the branches of trees, but they say that the warm and dry exhalations cause these contortions. Those who advocate the use of the twig make this reply to these objections: when one of the miners or some other person holds the twig in his hands, and it is not turned by the force of a vein, this is due to some peculiarity of the individual, which hinders and impedes the power of the vein, for since the power of the vein in turning and twisting the twig may be not unlike that of a magnet attracting and drawing iron toward itself, this hidden quality of a man weakens and breaks the force, just the same as garlic weakens and overcomes the strength of a magnet. For a magnet smeared with garlic juice cannot attract iron; nor does it attract the latter when rusty. Further, concerning the handling of the twig, they warn us that we should not press the fingers together too lightly, nor clench them too firmly, for if the twig is held lightly they say that it will fall before the force of the vein can turn it; if however, it is grasped too firmly the force of the hands resists the force of the veins and counteracts it. Therefore, they consider that five things are necessary to insure that the twig shall serve its purpose: of these the first is the size of the twig, for the force of the veins cannot turn too large a stick; secondly, there is the shape of the twig, which must be forked or the vein cannot turn it; thirdly, the power of the vein which has the nature to turn it; fourthly, the manipulation of the twig; fifthly, the absence of impeding peculiarities. These advocates of the twig sum up their conclusions as follows: if the rod does not move for everybody, it is due to unskilled manipulation or to the impeding peculiarities of the man which oppose and resist the force of the veins, as we said above, and those who search for veins by means of the twig need not necessarily make incantations, but it is sufficient that they handle it suitably and are devoid of impeding power; therefore, the twig may be of use to good and serious [Pg 40]men in discovering veins. With regard to deflection of branches of trees they say nothing and adhere to their opinion.

A—Twig. B—Trench. [Pg 40] Since this matter remains in dispute and causes much dissention amongst miners, I consider it ought to be examined on its own merits. The wizards, who also make use of rings, mirrors and crystals, seek for veins with a divining rod shaped like a fork; but its shape makes no difference in the matter,—it might be straight or of some other form—for it is not the form of the twig that matters, but the wizard's incantations which it would not become me to repeat, neither do I wish to do so. The Ancients, by means of the divining rod, not only procured those things necessary for a livelihood or for luxury, but they were also able to alter the forms of things by it; as when the magicians changed the rods of the Egyptians into serpents, as the writings of the Hebrews relate[22]; and as in Homer, Minerva with a divining rod turned the aged Ulysses suddenly into a youth, and then restored him back again to old age; Circe also changed Ulysses' companions into beasts, but afterward gave them back again their human form[23]; moreover by his rod, which was called "Caduceus," Mercury gave [Pg 41]sleep to watchmen and awoke slumberers[24]. Therefore it seems that the divining rod passed to the mines from its impure origin with the magicians. Then when good men shrank with horror from the incantations and rejected them, the twig was retained by the unsophisticated common miners, and in searching for new veins some traces of these ancient usages remain.

But since truly the twigs of the miners do move, albeit they do not generally use incantations, some say this movement is caused by the power of the veins, others say that it depends on the manipulation, and still others think that the movement is due to both these causes. But, in truth, all those objects which are endowed with the power of attraction do not twist things in circles, but attract them directly to themselves; for instance, the magnet does not turn the iron, but draws it directly to itself, and amber rubbed until it is warm does not bend straws about, but simply draws them to itself. If the power of the veins were of a similar nature to that of the magnet and the amber, the twig would not so much twist as move once only, in a semi-circle, and be drawn directly to the vein, and unless the strength of the man who holds the twig were to resist and oppose the force of the vein, the twig would be brought to the ground; wherefore, since this is not the case, it must necessarily follow that the manipulation is the cause of the twig's twisting motion. It is a conspicuous fact that these cunning manipulators do not use a straight twig, but a forked one cut from a hazel bush, or from some other wood equally flexible, so that if it be held in the hands, as they are accustomed to hold it, it turns in a circle for any man wherever he stands. Nor is it strange that the twig does not turn when held by the inexperienced, because they either grasp the forks of the twig too tightly or hold them too loosely. Nevertheless, these things give rise to the faith among common miners that veins are discovered by the use of twigs, because whilst using these they do accidentally discover some; but it more often happens that they lose their labour, and although they might discover a vein, they become none the less exhausted in digging useless trenches than do the miners who prospect in an unfortunate locality. Therefore a miner, since we think he ought to be a good and serious man, should not make use of an enchanted twig, because if he is prudent and skilled in the natural signs, he understands that a forked stick is of no use to him, for as I have said before, there are the natural indications of the veins which he can see for himself without the help of twigs. So if Nature or chance should indicate a locality suitable for mining, the miner should dig his trenches there; if no vein appears he must dig numerous trenches until he discovers an outcrop of a vein.

A vena dilatata is rarely discovered by men's labour, but usually some force or other reveals it, or sometimes it is discovered by a shaft or a tunnel on a vena profunda[25].

[Pg 42]

The veins after they have been discovered, and likewise the shafts and tunnels, have names given them, either from their discoverers, as in the case at Annaberg of the vein called "Kölergang," because a charcoal burner discovered it; or from their owners, as the Geyer, in Joachimsthal, because part of the same belonged to Geyer; or from their products, as the "Pleygang" from lead, or the "Bissmutisch" at Schneeberg from bismuth[26]; or from some other circumstances, such as the rich alluvials from the torrent by which they were laid bare in the valley of Joachim. More often the first discoverers give the names either of persons, as those of German Kaiser, Apollo, Janus; or the name of an animal, as that of lion, bear, ram, or cow; or of things inanimate, as "silver chest" or "ox stalls"; or of something ridiculous, as "glutton's nightshade"; or finally, for the sake of a good omen, they call it after the Deity. In ancient times they followed the same custom and gave names to the veins, shafts and tunnels, as we read in Pliny: "It is wonderful that the shafts begun by Hannibal in Spain are still worked, their names being derived from their discoverers. One of these at the present day, called Baebelo, furnished Hannibal with three hundred pounds weight (of silver) per day."[27]

END OF BOOK II.

[Pg 43]

reviously I have given much information concerning the miners, also I have discussed the choice of localities for mining, for washing sands, and for evaporating waters; further, I described the method of searching for veins. With such matters I was occupied in the second book; now I come to the third book, which is about veins and stringers, and the seams in the rocks[1]. The term "vein" is sometimes used to indicate canales in the earth, but very often elsewhere by this name I have described that which may be put in vessels[2]; I now attach a second significance to these words, for by them I mean to designate any mineral substances which the earth keeps hidden within her own deep receptacles.

[Pg 44]

A, C—The mountain. B—Vena profunda. [Pg 45] First I will speak of the veins, which, in depth, width, and length, differ very much one from another. Those of one variety descend from the surface of the earth to its lowest depths, which on account of this characteristic, I am accustomed to call "venae profundae."

[Pg 45]

A, D—The mountain. B, C—Vena dilatata. [Pg 45] Another kind, unlike the venae profundae, neither ascend to the surface of the earth nor descend, but lying under the ground, expand over a large area; and on that account I call them "venae dilatatae."

[Pg 46]

A, B, C, D—The mountain. E, F, G, H, I, K—Vena cumulata. [Pg 49] Another occupies a large extent of space in length and width; therefore I usually call it "vena cumulata," for it is nothing else than an accumulation of some certain kind of mineral, as I have described in the book [Pg 47]entitled De Subterraneorum Ortu et Causis. It occasionally happens, though it is unusual and rare, that several accumulations of this kind are found in one place, each one or more fathoms in depth and four or five in [Pg 48]width, and one is distant from another two, three, or more fathoms. When the excavation of these accumulations begins, they at first appear in the shape of a disc; then they open out wider; finally from each of such [Pg 49]accumulations is usually formed a "vena cumulata."

[Pg 51]

A—Vena profunda. B—Intervenium. C—Another vena profunda. [Pg 50]
A & B—Vena dilatatae. C—Intervenium. D & E—Other venae dilatatae. [Pg 50] The space between two veins is called an intervenium; this interval between the veins, if it is between venae dilatatae is entirely hidden underground. If, however, it lies between venae profundae then the top is plainly in sight, and the remainder is hidden.

A—Wide vena profunda. B—Narrow vena profunda. [Pg 53] Venae profundae differ greatly one from another in width, for some of them are one fathom wide, some are two cubits, others one cubit; others again are a foot wide, and some only half a foot; all of which our miners call wide veins. Others on the contrary, are only a palm wide, others three digits, [Pg 52]or even two; these they call narrow. But in other places where there are very wide veins, the widths of a cubit, or a foot, or half a foot, are said to be narrow; at Cremnitz, for instance, there is a certain vein which measures in one place fifteen fathoms in width, in another eighteen, and in another twenty; the truth of this statement is vouched for by the inhabitants.

[Pg 53]

A—Thin vena dilatata. B—Thick vena dilatata. [Pg 54] Venae dilatatae, in truth, differ also in thickness, for some are one fathom thick, others two, or even more; some are a cubit thick, some a foot, some only half a foot; and all these are usually called thick veins. Some on the other hand, are but a palm thick, some three digits, some two, some one; these are called thin veins.

[Pg 54]

A, B, C—Vein. D, E, F—Seams in the Rock (Commissurae Saxorum). [Pg 54] Venae profundae vary in direction; for some run from east to west.

[Pg 55]

A, B, C—Vein. D, E, F—Seams in the Rocks. [Pg 55] Others, on the other hand, run from west to east.

A, B, C—Vein. D, E, F—Seams in the Rocks. [Pg 55] Others run from south to north.

[Pg 56]

A, B, C—Vein. D, E, F—Seams in the Rocks. [Pg 56] Others, on the contrary, run from north to south.

The seams in the rocks indicate to us whether a vein runs from the east or from the west. For instance, if the rock seams incline toward the westward as they descend into the earth, the vein is said to run from east to west; if they incline toward the east, the vein is said to run from west to east; in a similar manner, we determine from the rock seams whether the veins run north or south.

[Pg 57] Now miners divide each quarter of the earth into six divisions; and by this method they apportion the earth into twenty-four directions, which they divide into two parts of twelve each. The instrument which indicates these directions is thus constructed. First a circle is made; then at equal intervals on one half portion of it right through to the other, twelve straight lines called by the Greeks διάμετροι, and in the Latin dimetientes, are drawn through a central point which the Greeks call κέντρον, so that the circle is thus divided into twenty-four divisions, all being of an equal size. Then, within the circle are inscribed three other circles, the outermost of which has cross-lines dividing it into twenty-four equal parts; the space between it and the next circle contains two sets of twelve numbers, inscribed on the lines called "diameters"; while within the innermost circle it is hollowed out to contain a magnetic needle[3]. The needle lies directly [Pg 57]over that one of the twelve lines called "diameters" on which the number XII is inscribed at both ends.

When the needle which is governed by the magnet points directly from the north to the south, the number XII at its tail, which is forked, signifies the north, that number XII which is at its point indicates the south. The sign VI superior indicates the east, and VI inferior the west. Further, between each two cardinal points there are always five others which are not so important. The first two of these directions are called the prior directions; the last two are called the posterior, and the fifth direction lies immediately between the former and the latter; it is halved, and one half is attributed to one cardinal point and one half to the other. For example, between the northern number XII and the eastern number VI, are points numbered I, II, III, IV, V, of which I and [Pg 58]II are northern directions lying toward the east, IV and V are eastern directions lying toward the north, and III is assigned, half to the north and half to the east.

One who wishes to know the direction of the veins underground, places over the vein the instrument just described; and the needle, as soon as it becomes quiet, will indicate the course of the vein. That is, if the vein proceeds from VI to VI, it either runs from east to west, or from west to east; but whether it be the former or the latter, is clearly shown by the seams in the rocks. If the vein proceeds along the line which is between V and VI toward the opposite direction, it runs from between the fifth and sixth divisions of east to the west, or from between the fifth and sixth divisions of west to the east; and again, whether it is the one or the other is clearly shown by the seams in the rocks. In a similar manner we determine the other directions.

[Pg 59] Now miners reckon as many points as the sailors do in reckoning up the number of the winds. Not only is this done to-day in this country, but it was also done by the Romans who in olden times gave the winds partly Latin names and partly names borrowed from the Greeks. Any miner who pleases may therefore call the directions of the veins by the names of the winds. There are four principal winds, as there are four cardinal points: the Subsolanus, which blows from the east; and its opposite the Favonius, which blows from the west; the latter is called by the Greeks Ζέφυρος, and the former ̓Απηλιώτης. There is the Auster, which blows from the south; and opposed to it is the Septentrio, from the north; the former the Greeks called Νότος, and the latter ̓Απαρκτίας. There are also subordinate winds, to the number of twenty, as there are directions, for between each two principal winds there are always five subordinate ones. Between the Subsolanus (east wind) and the Auster (south wind) there is the Ornithiae or the Bird wind, which has the first place next to the Subsolanus; then comes Caecias; then Eurus, which lies in the midway of these five; next comes Vulturnus; and lastly, Euronotus, nearest the Auster (south wind). The Greeks have given these names to all of these, with the exception of Vulturnus, but those who do not distinguish the winds in so precise a manner say this is the same as the Greeks called Εὖρος. Between the Auster (south wind) and the Favonius (west wind) is first Altanus, to the right of the Auster (south wind); then Libonotus; then Africus, which is the middle one of these five; after that comes Subvesperus; next Argestes, to the left of Favonius (west wind). All these, with the exception of Libonotus and Argestes, have Latin names; but Africus also is called by the Greeks Λίψ. In a similar manner, between Favonius (west wind) and Septentrio (north wind), first to the right of Favonius (west wind), is the Etesiae; then Circius; then Caurus, which is in the middle of these five; then Corus; and lastly Thrascias to the left of Septentrio (north wind). To all of these, except that of Caurus, the Greeks gave the names, and those who do not distinguish the winds by so exact a plan, assert that the wind which the Greeks called Κόρος and the Latins Caurus is one and the same. [Pg 59]Again, between Septentrio (north wind) and the Subsolanus (east wind), the first to the right of Septentrio (north wind) is Gallicus; then Supernas; then Aquilo, which is the middle one of these five; next comes Boreas; and lastly Carbas, to the left of Subsolanus (east wind). Here again, those who do not consider the winds to be in so great a multitude, but say there are but twelve winds in all, or at the most fourteen, assert that the wind called by the Greeks Βορέας and the Latins Aquilo is one and the same. For our purpose it is not only useful to adopt this large number of winds, but even to double it, as the German sailors do. They always reckon that between each two there is one in the centre taken from both. By this method we [Pg 60]also are able to signify the intermediate directions by means of the names of the winds. For instance, if a vein runs from VI east to VI west, it is said to proceed from Subsolanus (east wind) to Favonius (west wind); but one which proceeds from between V and VI of the east to between V and VI west is said to proceed out of the middle of Carbas and Subsolanus to between Argestes and Favonius; the remaining directions, and their intermediates are similarly designated. The miner, on account of the natural properties of a magnet, by which the needle points to the south, must fix the instrument already described so that east is to the left and west to the right.

A, B—Venae dilatatae. C—Seams in the Rocks. [Pg 60] In a similar way to venae profundae, the venae dilatatae vary in their lateral directions, and we are able to understand from the seams in the rocks in which direction they extend into the ground. For if these incline toward the west in depth, the vein is said to extend from east to west; if on the contrary, they incline toward the east, the vein is said to go from west to east. In the same way, from the rock seams we can determine veins running south and north, or the reverse, and likewise to the subordinate directions and their intermediates.

A—Straight vena profunda. B—Curved vena profunda [should be vena dilatata(?)]. [Pg 61] Further, as regards the question of direction of a vena profunda, one runs straight from one quarter of the earth to that quarter which is opposite, while another one runs in a curve, in which case it may happen that a vein proceeding from the east does not turn to the quarter opposite, which is the west, but twists itself and turns to the south or the north.

[Pg 61]

A—Horizontal vena dilatata. B—Inclined vena dilatata. C—Curved vena dilatata. [Pg 61] Similarly some venae dilatatae are horizontal, some are inclined, and some are curved.

[Pg 62]

[Pg 62] Also the veins which we call profundae differ in the manner in which they descend into the depths of the earth; for some are vertical (A), some are inclined and sloping (B), others crooked (C).

[Pg 62] Moreover, venae profundae (B) differ much among themselves regarding the kind of locality through which they pass, for some extend along the slopes of mountains or hills (A-C) and do not descend down the sides.

[Pg 63]

[Pg 63] Other Venae Profundae (D, E, F) from the very summit of the mountain or hill descend the slope (A) to the hollow or valley (B), and they again ascend the slope or the side of the mountain or hill opposite (C).

[Pg 63] Other Venae Profundae (C, D) descend the mountain or hill (A) and extend out into the plain (B).

[Pg 64]

A—Mountainous Plain. B—Vena profunda. [Pg 64] Some veins run straight along on the plateaux, the hills, or plains.

[Pg 65]

A—Principal vein. B—Transverse vein. C—Vein cutting principal one obliquely. [Pg 64] In the next place, venae profundae differ not a little in the manner in which they intersect, since one may cross through a second transversely, or one may cross another one obliquely as if cutting it in two.

A—Principal vein. B—Vein which cuts A obliquely. C—Part carried away. D—That part which has been carried forward. [Pg 65] If a vein which cuts through another principal one obliquely be the harder of the two, it penetrates right through it, just as a wedge of beech or iron can be driven through soft wood by means of a tool. If it be softer, the principal vein either drags the soft one with it for a distance of three feet, or perhaps one, two, three, or several fathoms, or else throws it forward along the principal vein; but this latter happens very rarely. But that the vein which cuts the principal one is the same vein on both sides, is shown by its having the same character in its footwalls and hangingwalls.

A, B—Two veins descend inclined and dip toward each other. C—Junction. Likewise two veins. D—Indicates one descending vertically. E—Marks the other descending inclined, which dips toward D. F—Their junction. [Pg 66] Sometimes venae profundae join one with another, and from two or more outcropping veins[4], one is formed; or from two which do not outcrop one is made, if they are not far distant from each other, and the one dips into the other, or if each dips toward the other, and they thus join when they have descended in depth. In exactly the same way, out of three or more veins, one may be formed in depth.

[Pg 67]

[Pg 66] However, such a junction of veins sometimes disunites and in this way it happens that the vein which was the right-hand vein becomes the left; and again, the one which was on the left becomes the right.

A, B—Veins dividing. C—The same joining. [Pg 67] Furthermore, one vein may be split and divided into parts by some hard rock resembling a beak, or stringers in soft rock may sunder the vein and make two or more. These sometimes join together again and sometimes remain divided.

Whether a vein is separating from or uniting with another can be determined only from the seams in the rocks. For example, if a principal vein runs from the east to the west, the rock seams descend in depth likewise from the east toward the west, and the associated vein which joins with the principal vein, whether it runs from the south or the north, has its rock seams extending in the same way as its own, and they do not conform with the seams in the rock of the principal vein—which remain the same after the junction—unless the associated vein proceeds in the same direction as the principal vein. In that case we name the broader vein the principal one, and the narrower the associated vein. But if the principal vein splits, the rock seams which belong respectively to the parts, keep the same course when descending in depth as those of the principal vein.

A, C—Vena dilatata crossing a vena profunda. B—Vena profunda. D, E—Vena dilatata which junctions with a vena profunda. F—Vena profunda. G—Vena dilatata. H, I—Its divided parts. K—Vena profunda which divides the vena dilatata. [Pg 68] But enough of venae profundae, their junctions and divisions. Now we come to venae dilatatae. A vena dilatata may either cross a vena profunda, or join with it, or it may be cut by a vena profunda, and be divided into parts.

[Pg 68]

A—The "beginning" (origo). B—The "end" (finis). C—The "head" (caput). D—The "tail" (cauda). [Pg 69] Finally, a vena profunda has a "beginning" (origo), an "end" (finis), a "head" (caput), and a "tail" (cauda). That part whence it takes its rise is said to be its "beginning," that in which it terminates the "end." Its "head"[5] is that part which emerges into daylight; its "tail" that part which is hidden in the earth. But miners have no need to seek the "beginning" of veins, as formerly the kings of Egypt sought for the source of the Nile, but it is enough for them to discover some other part of the vein and to recognise its direction, for seldom can either the "beginning" or the "end" be found. The direction in which the head of the vein comes into the light, or the direction toward which the tail extends, is indicated by its footwall and hangingwall. The latter is said to hang, and the former to lie. The vein rests on the footwall, and the hangingwall overhangs it; thus, when we descend a shaft, the part to which we turn the face is the footwall and seat of the vein, that to which we turn the back is the hangingwall. Also in another way, the head accords with the footwall and the tail with the hangingwall, for if the footwall is toward the south, the vein extends its head into the light toward the south; and the hangingwall, because it is always opposite to the footwall, is then toward the north. Consequently the vein extends its tail toward the north if it is an inclined vena profunda. Similarly, we can determine with regard to east and west and the subordinate and their intermediate directions. A vena profunda which descends into the earth may be either vertical, inclined, or crooked; the footwall of an inclined vein is easily distinguished from the hangingwall, but it is not so with a vertical vein; and again, the footwall of a crooked vein is inverted and changed into the hangingwall, and contrariwise the hangingwall is twisted into the footwall, but very many of these crooked veins may be turned back to vertical or inclined ones.

[Pg 69]

A—The "beginning." B—The "end." C, D—The "sides." [Pg 69] A vena dilatata has only a "beginning" and an "end," and in the place of the "head" and "tail" it has two sides.

[Pg 70]

A—The "beginning." B—The "end." C—The "head." D—The "tail." E—Transverse vein. [Pg 70] A vena cumulata has a "beginning," an "end," a "head," and a "tail," just as a vena profunda. Moreover, a vena cumulata, and likewise a vena dilatata, are often cut through by a transverse vena profunda.

A, B—Veins. C—Transverse stringer. D—Oblique stringer. E—Associated stringer. F—Fibra dilatata. [Pg 71] Stringers (fibrae)[6], which are little veins, are classified into fibrae transversae, fibrae obliquae which cut the vein obliquely, fibrae sociae, fibrae dilatatae, and fibrae incumbentes. The fibra transversa crosses the vein; the fibra obliqua crosses the vein obliquely; the fibra socia joins with the vein itself; the fibra dilatata, like the vena dilatata, penetrates through it; but the fibra dilatata, as well as the fibra profunda, is usually found associated with a vein.

A—Vein. B—Fibra incumbens from the surface of the hangingwall. C—Same from the footwall. [Pg 71] The fibra incumbens does not descend as deeply into the earth as the other stringers, but lies on the vein, as it were, from the surface to the hangingwall or footwall, from which it is named Subdialis.[7]

In truth, as to direction, junctions, and divisions, the stringers are not different from the veins.

[Pg 72]

A—Seams which proceed from the east. B—The inverse. [Pg 72] Lastly, the seams, which are the very finest stringers (fibrae), divide the rock, and occur sometimes frequently, sometimes rarely. From whatever direction the vein comes, its seams always turn their heads toward the light in the same direction. But, while the seams usually run from one point of the compass to another immediately opposite it, as for instance, from east to west, if hard stringers divert them, it may happen that these very seams, which before were running from east to west, then contrariwise proceed from west to east, and the direction of the rocks is thus inverted. In such a case, the direction of the veins is judged, not by the direction of the seams which occur rarely, but by those which constantly recur.

A—Solid vein. B—Solid stringer. C—Cavernous vein. D—Cavernous stringer. E—Barren vein. F—Barren stringer. [Pg 73] Both veins or stringers may be solid or drusy, or barren of minerals, or pervious to water. Solid veins contain no water and very little air. The drusy veins rarely contain water; they often contain air. Those which are barren of minerals often carry water. Solid veins and stringers consist sometimes of hard materials, sometimes of soft, and sometimes of a kind of medium between the two.

[Pg 73]

But to return to veins. A great number of miners consider[8] that the best veins in depth are those which run from the VI or VII direction of the east to the VI or VII direction of the west, through a mountain slope which inclines to the north; and whose hangingwalls are in the south, and whose footwalls are in the north, and which have their heads rising to the north, as explained before, always like the footwall, and finally, whose rock seams turn their heads to the east. And the veins which are the next [Pg 74]best are those which, on the contrary, extend from the VI or VII direction of the west to the VI or VII direction of the east, through the slope of a mountain which similarly inclines to the north, whose hangingwalls are also in the south, whose footwalls are in the north, and whose heads rise toward the north; and lastly, whose rock seams raise their heads toward the west. In the third place, they recommend those veins which extend from XII north to XII south, through the slope of a mountain which faces east; whose hangingwalls are in the west, whose footwalls are in the east; whose heads rise toward the east; and whose rock seams raise their heads toward the north. Therefore they devote all their energies to those veins, and give very little or nothing to those whose heads, or the heads of whose rock seams rise toward the south or west. For although they say these veins sometimes show bright specks of pure metal adhering to the stones, or they come upon lumps of metal, yet these are so few and far between that despite them it is not worth the trouble to excavate such veins; and miners who persevere in digging in the hope of coming upon a quantity of metal, always lose their time and trouble. And they say that from veins of this kind, since the sun's rays draw out the metallic material, very little metal is gained. But in this matter the actual experience of the miners who thus judge of the veins does not always agree with their opinions, nor is their reasoning sound; since indeed the veins which run from east to west through the slope of a mountain which inclines to the south, whose heads rise likewise to the south, are not less charged with metals, than those to which miners are wont to accord the first place in productiveness; as in recent years has been proved by the St. Lorentz vein at Abertham, which our countrymen call Gottsgaab, for they have dug out of it a large quantity of pure silver; and lately a vein in Annaberg, called by the name of Himmelsch hoz[9], has made it [Pg 75]plain by the production of much silver that veins which extend from the north to the south, with their heads rising toward the west, are no less rich in metals than those whose heads rise toward the east.

It may be denied that the heat of the sun draws the metallic material out of these veins; for though it draws up vapours from the surface of the ground, the rays of the sun do not penetrate right down to the depths; because the air of a tunnel which is covered and enveloped by solid earth to the depth of only two fathoms is cold in summer, for the intermediate earth holds in check the force of the sun. Having observed this fact, the inhabitants and dwellers of very hot regions lie down by day in caves which protect them from the excessive ardour of the sun. Therefore it is unlikely that the sun draws out from within the earth the metallic bodies. Indeed, it cannot even dry the moisture of many places abounding in veins, because they are protected and shaded by the trees. Furthermore, certain miners, out of all the different kinds of metallic veins, choose those which I have described, and others, on the contrary, reject copper mines which are of this sort, so that there seems to be no reason in this. For what can be the reason if the sun draws no copper from copper veins, that it draws silver from silver veins, and gold from gold veins?

Moreover, some miners, of whose number was Calbus[10], distinguish between the gold-bearing rivers and streams. A river, they say, or a stream, is most productive of fine and coarse grains of gold when it comes from the east and flows to the west, and when it washes against the foot of mountains which are situated in the north, and when it has a level plain toward the south or west. In the second place, they esteem a river or a stream which flows in the opposite course from the west toward the east, and which has the mountains to the north and the level plain to the south. In the third place, they esteem the river or the stream which flows from the north to the south and washes the base of the mountains which are situated in the east. But they say that the river or stream is least productive of gold which flows in a contrary direction from the south to the north, and washes the base of [Pg 76]mountains which are situated in the west. Lastly, of the streams or rivers which flow from the rising sun toward the setting sun, or which flow from the northern parts to the southern parts, they favour those which approach the nearest to the lauded ones, and say they are more productive of gold, and the further they depart from them the less productive they are. Such are the opinions held about rivers and streams. Now, since gold is not generated in the rivers and streams, as we have maintained against Albertus[11] in the book entitled "De Subterraneorum Ortu et Causis," Book V, but is torn away from the veins and stringers and settled in the sands of torrents and water-courses, in whatever direction the rivers or streams flow, therefore it is reasonable to expect to find gold therein; which is not opposed by experience. Nevertheless, we do not deny that gold is generated in veins and stringers which lie under the beds of rivers or streams, as in other places.

END OF BOOK III.

[Pg 77]

he third book has explained the various and manifold varieties of veins and stringers. This fourth book will deal with mining areas and the method of delimiting them, and will then pass on to the officials who are connected with mining affairs[1].

Now the miner, if the vein he has uncovered is to his liking, first of all goes to the Bergmeister to request to be granted a right to mine, this official's special function and office being to adjudicate in respect of the mines. And so to the first man who has discovered the vein the Bergmeister awards the head meer, and to others the remaining meers, in the order in which each makes his application. The size of a meer is measured by fathoms, which for miners are reckoned at six feet each. The length, in fact, is that of a man's extended arms and hands measured across his chest; but different peoples assign to it different lengths, [Pg 78]for among the Greeks, who called it an ὀργυιά, it was six feet, among the Romans five feet. So this measure which is used by miners seems to have come down to the Germans in accordance with the Greek mode of reckoning. A miner's foot approaches very nearly to the length of a Greek foot, for it exceeds it by only three-quarters of a Greek digit, but like that of the Romans it is divided into twelve unciae[2].

Shape of a Square Meer. [Pg 79] Now square fathoms are reckoned in units of one, two, three, or more "measures", and a "measure" is seven fathoms each way. Mining meers are for the most part either square or elongated; in square meers all the sides are of equal length, therefore the numbers of fathoms on the two sides multiplied together produce the total in square fathoms. Thus, if the shape of a "measure" is seven fathoms on every side, this number multiplied by itself makes forty-nine square fathoms.

Shape of a Long Meer or Double Measure. [Pg 79] The sides of a long meer are of equal length, and similarly its ends are equal; therefore, if the number of fathoms in one of the long sides be multiplied by the number of fathoms in one of the ends, the total produced by the [Pg 79]multiplication is the total number of square fathoms in the long meer. For example, the double measure is fourteen fathoms long and seven broad, which two numbers multiplied together make ninety-eight square fathoms.

Shape of a Head Meer. [Pg 79] Since meers vary in shape according to the different varieties of veins it is necessary for me to go more into detail concerning them and their measurements. If the vein is a vena profunda, the head meer is composed of three double measures, therefore it is forty-two fathoms in length and seven in width, which numbers multiplied together give two hundred and ninety-four square fathoms, and by these limits the Bergmeister bounds the owner's rights in a head-meer.

Shape of a Meer. [Pg 80] The area of every other meer consists of two double measures, on whichever side of the head meer it lies, or whatever its number in order may be, that is to say, whether next to the head meer, or second, third, or any later number. Therefore, it is twenty-eight fathoms long and seven wide, so multiplying the length by the width we get one hundred and ninety-six square fathoms, which is the extent of the meer, and by these boundaries the Bergmeister defines the right of the owner or company over each mine.

[Pg 80]

Now we call that part of the vein which is first discovered and mined, the head-meer, because all the other meers run from it, just as the nerves from the head. The Bergmeister begins his measurements from it, and the reason why he apportions a larger area to the head-meer than to the others, is that he may give a suitable reward to the one who first found the vein and may encourage others to search for veins. Since meers often reach to a torrent, or river, or stream, if the last meer cannot be completed it is called a fraction[3]. If it is the size of a double measure, the Bergmeister grants the right of mining it to him who makes the first application, but if it is the size of a single measure or a little over, he divides it between the nearest meers on either side of it. It is the custom among miners that the first meer beyond a stream on that part of the vein on the opposite side is a new head-meer, and they call it the "opposite,"[4] while the other meers beyond are only ordinary meers.
Shape of an ancient Head-Meer. [Pg 80] Formerly every head-meer was composed of three double measures and one single one, that is, it was forty-nine fathoms long and seven wide, and so if we multiply these two together we have three hundred and forty-three square fathoms, which total gives us the area of an ancient head-meer.

Every ancient meer was formed of a single measure, that is to say, it was seven fathoms in length and width, and was therefore square. In memory of which miners even now call the width of every meer which is located on a vena profunda a "square"[5]. The following was formerly the [Pg 81]usual method of delimiting a vein: as soon as the miner found metal, he gave information to the Bergmeister and the tithe-gatherer, who either proceeded personally from the town to the mountains, or sent thither men of good repute, at least two in number, to inspect the metal-bearing vein. Thereupon, if they thought it of sufficient importance to survey, the Bergmeister again having gone forth on an appointed day, thus questioned him who first found the vein, concerning the vein and the diggings: "Which is your vein?" "Which digging carried metal?" Then the discoverer, pointing his finger to his vein and diggings, indicated them, and next the Bergmeister ordered him to approach the windlass and place two fingers of his right hand upon his head, and swear this oath in a clear voice: "I swear by God and all the Saints, and I call them all to witness, that this is my vein; and moreover if it is not mine, may neither this my head nor these my hands henceforth perform their functions." Then the Bergmeister, having started from the centre of the windlass, proceeded to measure the vein with a cord, and to give the measured portion to the discoverer,—in the first instance a half and then three full measures; afterward one to the King or Prince, another to his Consort, a third to the Master of the Horse, a fourth to the Cup-bearer, a fifth to the Groom of the Chamber, a sixth to himself. Then, starting from the other side of the windlass, he proceeded to measure the vein in a similar manner. Thus the discoverer of the vein obtained the head-meer, that is, seven single measures; but the King or Ruler, his Consort, the leading dignitaries, and lastly, the Bergmeister, obtained two measures each, or two ancient meers. This is the reason there are to be found at Freiberg in Meissen so many shafts with so many intercommunications on a single vein—which are to a great extent destroyed by age. If, however, the Bergmeister had already fixed the boundaries of the meers on one side of the shaft for the benefit of some other discoverer, then for those dignitaries I have just mentioned, as many meers as he was unable to award on that side he duplicated on the other. But if on both sides of the shaft he had already defined the boundaries of meers, he proceeded to measure out only that part of the vein which remained free, and thus it sometimes happened that some of those persons I have mentioned obtained no meer at all. To-day, though that old-established custom is observed, the method of allotting the vein and granting title has been changed. As I have explained above, the head-meer consists of three double measures, and each other meer of two measures, and the Bergmeister grants one each of the meers to him who makes the first application. The King or Prince, since all metal is taxed, is himself content with that, which is usually one-tenth.

Of the width of every meer, whether old or new, one-half lies on the footwall side of a vena profunda and one half on the hangingwall side. If the vein descends vertically into the earth, the boundaries similarly descend [Pg 82]vertically; but if the vein inclines, the boundaries likewise will be inclined. The owner always holds the mining right for the width of the meer, however far the vein descends into the depth of the earth.[6] Further, the Bergmeister, on application being made to him, grants to one owner or company a right [Pg 83]over not only the head meer, or another meer, but also the head meer and the next meer or two adjoining meers. So much for the shape of meers and their dimensions in the case of a vena profunda.

I now come to the case of venae dilatatae. The boundaries of the areas [Pg 84]on such veins are not all measured by one method. For in some places the Bergmeister gives them shapes similar to the shapes of the meers on venae profundae, in which case the head-meer is composed of three double measures, and the area of every other mine of two measures, as I have [Pg 85]explained more fully above. In this case, however, he measures the meers with a cord, not only forward and backward from the ends of the head-meer, as he is wont to do in the case where the owner of a vena profunda has a meer granted him, but also from the sides. In this way meers are marked [Pg 86]out when a torrent or some other force of Nature has laid open a vena dilatata in a valley, so that it appears either on the slope of a mountain or hill or on a plain.
Shape of a Head-Meer. [Pg 86] Elsewhere the Bergmeister doubles the width of the head-meer and it is made fourteen fathoms wide, while the width of each of the other meers remains single, that is seven fathoms, but the length is not defined by boundaries. In some places the head-meer consists of three double measures, but has a width of fourteen fathoms and a length of twenty-one.

Shape of every other Meer. [Pg 86] In the same way, every other meer is composed of two measures, doubled in the same fashion, so that it is fourteen fathoms in width and of the same length.

[Pg 87]

Elsewhere every meer, whether a head-meer or other meer, comprises forty-two fathoms in width and as many in length.

In other places the Bergmeister gives the owner or company all of some locality defined by rivers or little valleys as boundaries. But the boundaries of every such area of whatsoever shape it be, descend vertically into the earth; so the owner of that area has a right over that part of any vena dilatata which lies beneath the first one, just as the owner of the meer on a vena profunda has a right over so great a part of all other venae profundae as lies within the boundaries of his meer; for just as wherever one vena profunda is found, another is found not far away, so wherever one vena dilatata is found, others are found beneath it.

Finally, the Bergmeister divides vena cumulata areas in different ways, for in some localities the head-meer is composed of three measures, doubled in such a way that it is fourteen fathoms wide and twenty-one long; and every other meer consists of two measures doubled, and is square, that is, fourteen fathoms wide and as many long.
Shape of a Head-Meer. [Pg 87]In some places the head-meer is composed of three single measures, and its width is seven fathoms and its length twenty-one, which two numbers multiplied together make one hundred and forty-seven square fathoms.

Each other meer consists of one double measure. In some places the head-meer is given the shape of a double measure, and every other meer that of a single measure. Lastly, in other places the owner or a company is given a right over some complete specified locality bounded by little streams, valleys, or other limits. Furthermore, all meers on venae cumulatae, as in the case of dilatatae, descend vertically into the depths of the earth, and each meer has the boundaries so determined as to prevent disputes arising between the owners of neighbouring mines.

The boundary marks in use among miners formerly consisted only of stones, and from this their name was derived, for now the marks of a boundary are called "boundary stones." To-day a row of posts, made either of oak or pine, and strengthened at the top with iron rings to prevent them from being damaged, is fixed beside the boundary stones to make them more conspicuous. By this method in former times the boundaries of the fields were marked by stones or posts, not only as written of in the book "De Limitibus Agrorum,"[7] but also as testified to by the songs of the poets. Such [Pg 88]then is the shape of the meers, varying in accordance with the different kinds of veins.

Now tunnels are of two sorts, one kind having no right of property, the other kind having some limited right. For when a miner in some particular locality is unable to open a vein on account of a great quantity of water, he runs a wide ditch, open at the top and three feet deep, starting on the slope and running up to the place where the vein is found. Through it the water flows off, so that the place is made dry and fit for digging. But if it is not sufficiently dried by this open ditch, or if a shaft which he has now for the first time begun to sink is suffering from overmuch water, he goes to the Bergmeister and asks that official to give him the right for a tunnel. Having obtained leave, he drives the tunnel, and into its drains all the water is diverted, so that the place or shaft is made fit for digging. If it is not seven fathoms from the surface of the earth to the bottom of this kind of tunnel, the owner possesses no rights except this one: namely, that the owners of the mines, from whose leases the owner of the tunnel extracts gold or silver, themselves pay him the sum he expends within their meer in driving the tunnel through it.

To a depth or height of three and a half fathoms above and below the mouth of the tunnel, no one is allowed to begin another tunnel. The reason for this is that this kind of a tunnel is liable to be changed into the other kind which has a complete right of property, when it drains the meers to a depth of seven fathoms, or to ten, according as the old custom in each place acquires the force of law. In such case this second kind of tunnel has the following right; in the first place, whatever metal the owner, or company owning it, finds in any meer through which it is driven, all belongs to the tunnel owner within a height or depth of one and a quarter fathoms. In the years which are not long passed, the owner of a tunnel possessed all the metal which a miner standing at the bottom of the tunnel touched with a bar, whose handle did not exceed the customary length; but nowadays a certain prescribed height and width is allowed to the owner of the tunnel, lest the owners of the mines be damaged, if the length of the bar be longer than usual. Further, every metal-yielding mine which is drained and supplied with ventilation by a tunnel, is taxed in the proportion of one-ninth for the benefit of the owner of the tunnel. But if several tunnels of this kind are driven through one mining area which is yielding metals, and all drain it and supply it with ventilation, then of the metal which is dug out from above the bottom of each tunnel, one-ninth is given to the owner of that tunnel; of that which is dug out below the bottom of each tunnel, one-ninth is in each case given to the owner of the tunnel which follows next in order below. But if the lower tunnel does not yet drain the shaft of that meer nor supply it with ventilation, then of the metal which is dug out below the bottom of the higher tunnel, one-ninth part is given to the owner of such upper tunnel. Moreover, no one tunnel deprives another of its right to one-ninth part, unless it be a lower one, from the bottom of which to the bottom of the one above must not be less than seven or ten fathoms, [Pg 89]according as the king or prince has decreed. Further, of all the money which the owner of the tunnel has spent on his tunnel while driving it through a meer, the owner of that meer pays one-fourth part. If he does not do so he is not allowed to make use of the drains.

Finally, with regard to whatever veins are discovered by the owner at whose expense the tunnel is driven, the right of which has not been already awarded to anyone, on the application of such owner the Bergmeister grants him a right of a head-meer, or of a head-meer together with the next meer. Ancient custom gives the right for a tunnel to be driven in any direction for an unlimited length. Further, to-day he who commences a tunnel is given, on his application, not only the right over the tunnel, but even the head and sometimes the next meer also. In former days the owner of the tunnel obtained only so much ground as an arrow shot from the bow might cover, and he was allowed to pasture cattle therein. In a case where the shafts of several meers on some vein could not be worked on account of the great quantity of water, ancient custom also allowed the Bergmeister to grant the right of a large meer to anyone who would drive a tunnel. When, however, he had driven a tunnel as far as the old shafts and had found metal, he used to return to the Bergmeister and request him to bound and mark off the extent of his right to a meer.
Large Area. [Pg 89] Thereupon, the Bergmeister, together with a certain number of citizens of the town—in whose place Jurors have now succeeded—used to proceed to the mountain and mark off with boundary stones a large meer, which consisted of seven double measures, that is to say, it was ninety-eight fathoms long and seven wide, which two numbers multiplied together make six hundred and eighty-six square fathoms.

But each of these early customs has been changed, and we now employ the new method.

I have spoken of tunnels; I will now speak about the division of ownership in mines and tunnels. One owner is allowed to possess and to work one, two, three, or more whole meers, or similarly one or more separate tunnels, provided he conforms to the decrees of the laws relating to metals, and to the orders of the Bergmeister. And because he alone provides the expenditure of money on the mines, if they yield metal he alone obtains the product from them. But when large and frequent expenditures are necessary in mining, he to whom the Bergmeister first gave the right [Pg 90]often admits others to share with him, and they join with him in forming a company, and they each lay out a part of the expense and share with him the profit or loss of the mine. But the title of the mines or tunnels remains undivided, although for the purpose of dividing the expense and profit it may be said each mine or tunnel is divided into parts[8].

This division is made in various ways. A mine, and the same thing must be understood with regard to a tunnel, may be divided into two halves, that is into two similar portions, by which method two owners spend an equal amount on it and draw an equal profit from it, for each possesses one half. Sometimes it is divided into four shares, by which compact four persons can be owners, so that each possesses one-fourth, or also two persons, so that one possesses three-fourths, and the other only one-fourth; or three owners, so that the first has two-fourths, and the second and third one-fourth each. Sometimes it is divided into eight shares, by which plan there may be eight owners, so that each is possessor of one-eighth; sometimes there are two owners, so that one has five-sixths[9] together with one twenty-fourth, and the other one-eighth; or there may be three owners, in which one has three-quarters and the second and third each one-eighth; or it may be divided so that one owner has seven-twelfths, together with one twenty-fourth, a second owner has one-quarter, and a third owner has one-eighth; or so that the first has one-half, the second one-third and one twenty-fourth, and the third one-eighth; or so that the first has one-half, as before, and the second and third each one-quarter; or so that the first and second each have one-third and one twenty-fourth, and the third one-quarter; and in the same way the divisions may be adjusted in all the other proportions. The different ways of dividing the shares originate from the different proportions of ownership. Sometimes a mine is divided into sixteen parts, each of which is a twenty-fourth and a forty-eighth; or it may be divided into thirty-two parts, each of which is a forty-eighth and half a seventy-second and a two hundred and eighty-eighth; or into sixty-four parts of which each share is one seventy-second and one five hundred and seventy-sixth; or finally, into one hundred and twenty-eight parts, any one of which is half a seventy-second and half of one five hundred and seventy-sixth.

Now an iron mine either remains undivided or is divided into two, four, or occasionally more shares, which depends on the excellence of the veins. But a lead, bismuth, or tin mine, and likewise one of copper or even quicksilver, is also divided into eight shares, or into sixteen or thirty-two, and less commonly into sixty-four. The number of the divisions of the silver mines at Freiberg in Meissen did not formerly progress beyond this; but [Pg 91]within the memory of our fathers, miners have divided a silver mine, and similarly the tunnel at Schneeberg, first of all into one hundred and twenty-eight shares, of which one hundred and twenty-six are the property of private owners in the mines or tunnels, one belongs to the State and one to the Church; while in Joachimsthal only one hundred and twenty-two shares of the mines or tunnels are the property of private owners, four are proprietary shares, and the State and Church each have one in the same way. To these there has lately been added in some places one share for the most needy of the population, which makes one hundred and twenty-nine shares. It is only the private owners of mines who pay contributions. A proprietary holder, though he holds as many as four shares such as I have described, does not pay contributions, but gratuitiously supplies the owners of the mines with sufficient wood from his forests for timbering, machinery, buildings, and smelting; nor do those belonging to the State, Church, and the poor pay contributions, but the proceeds are used to build or repair public works and sacred buildings, and to support the most needy with the profits which they draw from the mines. Furthermore, in our State, the one hundred and twenty-eighth share has begun to be divided into two, four, or eight parts, or even into three, six, twelve, or smaller parts. This is done when one mine is created out of two, for then the owner who formerly possessed one-half becomes owner of one-fourth; he who possessed one-fourth, of one-eighth; he who possessed one-third, of one-sixth; he who possessed one-sixth, of one-twelfth. Since our countrymen call a mine a symposium, that is, a drinking bout, we are accustomed to call the money which the owners subscribe a symbolum, or a contribution[10]. For, just as those who go to a banquet (symposium) give contributions (symbola), so those who purpose making large profits from mining are accustomed to contribute toward the expenditure. However, the manager of the mine assesses the contributions of the owners annually, or for the most part quarterly, and as often he renders an account of receipts and expenses. At Freiberg in Meissen the old practice was for the manager to exact a contribution from the owners every week, and every week to distribute among them the profits of the mines, but this practice during almost the last fifteen years has been so far changed that contribution and distribution are made four[11] times each year. Large or small contributions are imposed according to the number of workmen which the mine or tunnel requires; as a result, those who possess many shares provide many contributions. Four times a year the owners contribute to the cost, and four times during the year the profits of the mines are distributed among them; these are sometimes large, sometimes small, according as there is more or less gold or silver or other metal dug out. Indeed, from the St. George mine in Schneeberg the miners extracted so much silver in a quarter of a year that silver cakes, which were worth [Pg 92]1,100 Rhenish guldens, were distributed to each one hundred and twenty-eighth share. From the Annaberg mine which is known as the Himmelisch Höz, they had a dole of eight hundred thaler; from a mine in Joachimsthal which is named the Sternen, three hundred thaler; from the head mine at Abertham, which is called St. Lorentz, two hundred and twenty-five thaler[12]. The more shares of which any individual is owner the more profits he takes.

I will now explain how the owners may lose or obtain the right over a mine, or a tunnel, or a share. Formerly, if anyone was able to prove by witnesses that the owners had failed to send miners for three continuous shifts[13], the Bergmeister deprived them of their right over the mine, and gave the right over it to the informer, if he desired it. But although miners preserve this custom to-day, still mining share owners who have paid their contributions do not lose their right over their mines against their will. Formerly, if water which had not been drawn off from the higher shaft of some mine percolated through a vein or stringer into the shaft of another mine and impeded their work, then the owners of the mine which suffered the damage went to the Bergmeister and complained of the loss, and he sent to the shafts two Jurors. If they found that matters were as claimed, the right over the mine which caused the injury was given to the owners who suffered the injury. But this custom in certain places has been changed, for the Bergmeister, if he finds this condition of things proved in the case of two shafts, orders the owners of the shaft which causes the injury to contribute part of the expense to the owners of the shaft which receives the injury; if they fail to do so, he then deprives them of their right over their mine; on the other hand, if the owners send men to the workings to dig and draw off the water from the shafts, they keep their right over their mine. Formerly owners used to obtain a right over any tunnel, firstly, if in its bottom they made drains and cleansed them of mud and sand so that the water might flow out without any hindrance, and restored those drains which had been damaged; secondly, if they provided shafts or openings to supply the miners with air, and restored those which had fallen in; and finally, if three miners were employed continuously in driving the tunnel. But the principal reason for losing the title to a tunnel was that for a period of eight days no miner was employed upon it; therefore, when anyone was able to prove by witnesses that the owners of a tunnel had not done these things, he brought his accusation before the Bergmeister, who, after going out from the town to the tunnel and inspecting the drains and the ventilating machines and everything else, and finding the charge to be true, placed the witness under oath, and asked him: "Whose tunnel is this at the present time?" The witness would reply: "The King's" or "The [Pg 93]Prince's." Thereupon the Bergmeister gave the right over the tunnel to the first applicant. This was the severe rule under which the owners at one time lost their rights over a tunnel; but its severity is now considerably mitigated, for the owners do not now forthwith lose their right over a tunnel through not having cleaned out the drains and restored the shafts or ventilation holes which have suffered damage; but the Bergmeister orders the tunnel manager to do it, and if he does not obey, the authorities fine the tunnel. Also it is sufficient for one miner to be engaged in driving the tunnel. Moreover, if the owner of a tunnel sets boundaries at a fixed spot in the rocks and stops driving the tunnel, he may obtain a right over it so far as he has gone, provided the drains are cleaned out and ventilation holes are kept in repair. But any other owner is allowed to start from the established mark and drive the tunnel further, if he pays the former owners of the tunnel as much money every three months as the Bergmeister decides ought to be paid.

There remain for discussion, the shares in the mines and tunnels. Formerly if anybody conveyed these shares to anyone else, and the latter had once paid his contribution, the seller[14] was bound to stand by his bargain, and this custom to-day has the force of law. But if the seller denied that the contribution had been paid, while the buyer of the shares declared that he could prove by witnesses that he had paid his contribution to the other proprietors, and a case arose for trial, then the evidence of the other proprietors carried more weight than the oath of the seller. To-day the buyer of the shares proves that he has paid his contribution by a document which the mine or tunnel manager always gives each one; if the buyer has contributed no money there is no obligation on the seller to keep his bargain. Formerly, as I have said above, the proprietors used to contribute money weekly, but now contributions are paid four times each year. To-day, if for the space of a month anyone does not take proceedings against the seller of the shares for the contribution, the right of taking proceedings is lost. But when the Clerk has already entered on the register the shares which had been conveyed or bought, none of the owners loses his right over the share unless the money is not contributed which the manager of the mine or tunnel has demanded from the owner or his agent. Formerly, if on the application of the manager the owner or his agent did not pay, the matter was referred to the Bergmeister, who ordered the owner or his agent to make his contribution; then if he failed to contribute for three successive weeks, the Bergmeister gave the right to his shares to the first applicant. To-day this custom is unchanged, for if owners fail for the space of a month to pay the contributions which the manager of the mine has imposed on them, on a stated day their names are proclaimed aloud and struck off the list of owners, in the presence of the Bergmeister, the Jurors, the Mining Clerk, and the Share Clerk, and each of such shares is entered on the proscribed list. If, however, [Pg 94]on the third, or at latest the fourth day, they pay their contributions to the manager of the mine or tunnel, and pay the money which is due from them to the Share Clerk, he removes their shares from the proscribed list. They are not thereupon restored to their former position unless the other owners consent; in which respect the custom now in use differs from the old practice, for to-day if the owners of shares constituting anything over half the mine consent to the restoration of those who have been proscribed, the others are obliged to consent whether they wish to or not. Formerly, unless such restoration had been sanctioned by the approval of the owners of one hundred shares, those who had been proscribed were not restored to their former position.

The procedure in suits relating to shares was formerly as follows: he who instituted a suit and took legal proceedings against another in respect of the shares, used to make a formal charge against the accused possessor before the Bergmeister. This was done either at his house or in some public place or at the mines, once each day for three days if the shares belonged to an old mine, and three times in eight days if they belonged to a head-meer. But if he could not find the possessor of the shares in these places, it was valid and effectual to make the accusation against him at the house of the Bergmeister. When, however, he made the charge for the third time, he used to bring with him a notary, whom the Bergmeister would interrogate: "Have I earned the fee?" and who would respond: "You have earned it"; thereupon the Bergmeister would give the right over the shares to him who made the accusation, and the accuser in turn would pay down the customary fee to the Bergmeister. After these proceedings, if the man whom the Bergmeister had deprived of his shares dwelt in the city, one of the proprietors of the mine or of the head-mine was sent to him to acquaint him with the facts, but if he dwelt elsewhere proclamation was made in some public place, or at the mine, openly and in a loud voice in the hearing of numbers of miners. Nowadays a date is defined for the one who is answerable for the debt of shares or money, and information is given the accused by an official if he is near at hand, or if he is absent, a letter is sent him; nor is the right over his shares taken from anyone for the space of one and a half months. So much for these matters.

Now, before I deal with the methods which must be employed in working, I will speak of the duties of the Mining Prefect, the Bergmeister, the Jurors, the Mining Clerk, the Share Clerk, the manager of the mine or tunnel, the foreman of the mine or tunnel, and the workmen.

To the Mining Prefect, whom the King or Prince appoints as his deputy, all men of all races, ages, and rank, give obedience and submission. He governs and regulates everything at his discretion, ordering those things which are useful and advantageous in mining operations, and prohibiting those which are to the contrary. He levies penalties and punishes offenders; he arranges disputes which the Bergmeister has been unable to settle, and if even he cannot arrange them, he allows the owners who are at variance over some point to proceed to litigation; he even lays down the law, gives orders [Pg 95]as a magistrate, or bids them leave their rights in abeyance, and he determines the pay of persons who hold any post or office. He is present in person when the mine managers present their quarterly accounts of profits and expenses, and generally represents the King or Prince and upholds his dignity. The Athenians in this way set Thucydides, the famous historian, over the mines of Thasos[15].

Next in power to the Mining Prefect comes the Bergmeister, since he has jurisdiction over all who are connected with mines, with a few exceptions, which are the Tithe Gatherer, the Cashier, the Silver Refiner, the Master of the Mint, and the Coiners themselves. Fraudulent, negligent, or dissolute men he either throws into prison, or deprives of promotion, or fines; of these fines, part is given as a tribute to those in power. When the mine owners have a dispute over boundaries he arbitrates it; or if he cannot settle the dispute, he pronounces judgment jointly with the Jurors; from them, however, an appeal lies to the Mining Prefect. He transcribes his decrees in a book and sets up the records in public. It is also his duty to grant the right over the mines to those who apply, and to confirm their rights; he also must measure the mines, and fix their boundaries, and see that the mine workings are not allowed to become dangerous. Some of these duties he observes on fixed days; for on Wednesday in the presence of the Jurors he confirms the rights over the mines which he has granted, settles disputes about boundaries, and pronounces judgments. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, he rides up to the mines, and dismounting at some of them explains what is required to be done, or considers the boundaries which are under controversy. On Saturday all the mine managers and mine foremen render an account of the money which they have spent on the mines during the preceding week, and the Mining Clerk transcribes this account into the register of expenses. Formerly, for one Principality there was one Bergmeister, who used to create all the judges and exercise jurisdiction and control over them; for every mine had its own judge, just as to-day each locality has a Bergmeister in his place, the name alone being changed. To this ancient Bergmeister, who used to dwell at Freiberg in Meissen, disputes were referred; hence right up to the present time the one at Freiberg still has the power of pronouncing judgment when mine owners who are engaged in disputes among themselves appeal to him. The old Bergmeister could try everything which was presented to him in any mine whatsoever; whereas the judge could only try the things which were done in his own district, in the same way that every modern Bergmeister can.

To each Bergmeister is attached a clerk, who writes out a schedule signifying to the applicant for a right over a mine, the day and hour on which the right is granted, the name of the applicant, and the location of the mine. He also affixes at the entrance to the mine, quarterly, at the appointed time, a sheet of paper on which is shown how much contribution must be paid to the manager of the mine. These notices are prepared jointly with the [Pg 96]Mining Clerk, and in common they receive the fee rendered by the foremen of the separate mines.

I now come to the Jurors, who are men experienced in mining matters and of good repute. Their number is greater or less as there are few or more mines; thus if there are ten mines there will be five pairs of Jurors, like a decemviral college[16]. Into however many divisions the total number of mines has been divided, so many divisions has the body of Jurors; each pair of Jurors usually visits some of the mines whose administration is under their supervision on every day that workmen are employed; it is usually so arranged that they visit all the mines in the space of fourteen days. They inspect and consider all details, and deliberate and consult with the mine foreman on matters relating to the underground workings, machinery, timbering, and everything else. They also jointly with the mine foreman from time to time make the price per fathom to the workmen for mining the ore, fixing it at a high or low price, according to whether the rock is hard or soft; if, however, the contractors find that an unforeseen and unexpected hardness occurs, and for that reason have difficulty and delay in carrying out their work, the Jurors allow them something in excess of the price fixed; while if there is a softness by reason of water, and the work is done more easily and quickly, they deduct something from the price. Further, if the Jurors discover manifest negligence or fraud on the part of any foreman or workman, they first admonish or reprimand him as to his duties and obligations, and if he does not become more diligent and improve, the matter is reported to the Bergmeister, who by right of his authority deprives such persons of their functions and office, or, if they have committed a crime, throws them into prison. Lastly, because the Jurors have been given to the Bergmeister as councillors and advisors, in their absence he does not confirm the right over any mine, nor measure the mines, nor fix their boundaries, nor settle disputes about boundaries, nor pronounce judgment, nor, finally, does he without them listen to any account of profits and expenditure.

Now the Mining Clerk enters each mine in his books, the new mines in one book, the old mines which have been re-opened in another. This is done in the following way: first is written the name of the man who has applied for the right over the mine, then the day and hour on which he made his application, then the vein and the locality in which it is situated, next the conditions on which the right has been given, and lastly, the day on which the Bergmeister confirmed it. A document containing all these particulars is also given to the person whose right over a mine has been confirmed. The Mining Clerk also sets down in another book the names of the owners of each mine over which the right has been confirmed; in another any intermission of work permitted to any person for certain [Pg 97]reasons by the Bergmeister; in another the money which one mine supplies to another for drawing off water or making machinery; and in another the decisions of the Bergmeister and the Jurors, and the disputes settled by them as honorary arbitrators. All these matters he enters in the books on Wednesday of every week; if holidays fall on that day he does it on the following Thursday. Every Saturday he enters in another book the total expenses of the preceding week, the account of which the mine manager has rendered; but the total quarterly expenses of each mine manager, he enters in a special book at his own convenience. He enters similarly in another book a list of owners who have been proscribed. Lastly, that no one may be able to bring a charge of falsification against him, all these books are enclosed in a chest with two locks, the key of one of which is kept by the Mining Clerk, and of the other by the Bergmeister.

The Share Clerk enters in a book the owners of each mine whom the first finder of the vein names to him, and from time to time replaces the names of the sellers with those of the buyers of the shares. It sometimes happens that twenty or more owners come into the possession of some particular share. Unless, however, the seller is present, or has sent a letter to the Mining Clerk with his seal, or better still with the seal of the Mayor of the town where he dwells, his name is not replaced by that of anyone else; for if the Share Clerk is not sufficiently cautious, the law requires him to restore the late owner wholly to his former position. He writes out a fresh document, and in this way gives proof of possession. Four times a year, when the accounts of the quarterly expenditure are rendered, he names the new proprietors to the manager of each mine, that the manager may know from whom he should demand contributions and among whom to distribute the profits of the mines. For this work the mine manager pays the Clerk a fixed fee.

I will now speak of the duties of the mine manager. In the case of the owners of every mine which is not yielding metal, the manager announces to the proprietors their contributions in a document which is affixed to the doors of the town hall, such contributions being large or small, according as the Bergmeister and two Jurors determine. If anyone fails to pay these contributions for the space of a month, the manager removes their names from the list of owners, and makes their shares the common property of the other proprietors. And so, whomsoever the mine manager names as not having paid his contribution, that same man the Mining Clerk designates in writing, and so also does the Share Clerk. Of the contribution, the mine manager applies part to the payment of the foreman and workmen, and lays by a part to purchase at the lowest price the necessary things for the mine, such as iron tools, nails, firewood, planks, buckets, drawing-ropes, or grease. But in the case of a mine which is yielding metal, the Tithe-gatherer pays the mine manager week by week as much money as suffices to discharge the workmen's wages and to provide the necessary implements for mining. The mine manager of each mine also, in the presence of its foreman, on Saturday in each week renders an account of his expenses to [Pg 98]the Bergmeister and the Jurors, he renders an account of his receipts, whether the money has been contributed by the owners or taken from the Tithe-gatherer; and of his quarterly expenditure in the same way to them and to the Mining Prefect and to the Mining Clerk, four times a year at the appointed time; for just as there are four seasons of the year, namely, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, so there are fourfold accounts of profits and expenses. In the beginning of the first month of each quarter an account is rendered of the money which the manager has spent on the mine during the previous quarter, then of the profit which he has taken from it during the same period; for example, the account which is rendered at the beginning of spring is an account of all the profits and expenses of each separate week of winter, which have been entered by the Mining Clerk in the book of accounts. If the manager has spent the money of the proprietors advantageously in the mine and has faithfully looked after it, everyone praises him as a diligent and honest man; if through ignorance in these matters he has caused loss, he is generally deprived of his office; if by his carelessness and negligence the owners have suffered loss, the Bergmeister compels him to make good the loss; and finally, if he has been guilty of fraud or theft, he is punished with fine, prison, or death. Further, it is the business of the manager to see that the foreman of the mine is present at the beginning and end of the shifts, that he digs the ore in an advantageous manner, and makes the required timbering, machines, and drains. The manager also makes the deductions from the pay of the workmen whom the foreman has noted as negligent. Next, if the mine is rich in metal, the manager must see that its ore-house is closed on those days on which no work is performed; and if it is a rich vein of gold or silver, he sees that the miners promptly transfer the output from the shaft or tunnel into a chest or into the strong room next to the house where the foreman dwells, that no opportunity for theft may be given to dishonest persons. This duty he shares in common with the foreman, but the one which follows is peculiarly his own. When ore is smelted he is present in person, and watches that the smelting is performed carefully and advantageously. If from it gold or silver is melted out, when it is melted in the cupellation furnace he enters the weight of it in his books and carries it to the Tithe-gatherer, who similarly writes a note of its weight in his books; it is then conveyed to the refiner. When it has been brought back, both the Tithe-gatherer and manager again enter its weight in their books. Why again? Because he looks after the goods of the owners just as if they were his own. Now the laws which relate to mining permit a manager to have charge of more than one mine, but in the case of mines yielding gold or silver, to have charge of only two. If, however, several mines following the head-mine begin to produce metal, he remains in charge of these others until he is freed from the duty of looking after them by the Bergmeister. Last of all, the manager, the Bergmeister, and the two Jurors, in agreement with the owners, settle the remuneration for the labourers. Enough of the duties and occupation of the manager.

[Pg 99]

I will now leave the manager, and discuss him who controls the workmen of the mine, who is therefore called the foreman, although some call him the watchman. It is he who distributes the work among the labourers, and sees diligently that each faithfully and usefully performs his duties. He also discharges workmen on account of incompetence, or negligence, and supplies others in their places if the two Jurors and manager give their consent. He must be skilful in working wood, that he may timber shafts, place posts, and make underground structures capable of supporting an undermined mountain, lest the rocks from the hangingwall of the veins, not being supported, become detached from the mass of the mountain and overwhelm the workmen with destruction. He must be able to make and lay out the drains in the tunnels, into which the water from the veins, stringers, and seams in the rocks may collect, that it may be properly guided and can flow away. Further, he must be able to recognize veins and stringers, so as to sink shafts to the best advantage, and must be able to discern one kind of material which is mined from another, or to train his subordinates that they may separate the materials correctly. He must also be well acquainted with all methods of washing, so as to teach the washers how the metalliferous earth or sand is washed. He supplies the miners with iron tools when they are about to start to work in the mines, and apportions a certain weight of oil for their lamps, and trains them to dig to the best advantage, and sees that they work faithfully. When their shift is finished, he takes back the oil which has been left. On account of his numerous and important duties and labours, only one mine is entrusted to one foreman, nay, rather sometimes two or three foremen are set over one mine.

Since I have mentioned the shifts, I will briefly explain how these are carried on. The twenty-four hours of a day and night are divided into three shifts, and each shift consists of seven hours. The three remaining hours are intermediate between the shifts, and form an interval during which the workmen enter and leave the mines. The first shift begins at the fourth hour in the morning and lasts till the eleventh hour; the second begins at the twelfth and is finished at the seventh; these two are day shifts in the morning and afternoon. The third is the night shift, and commences at the eighth hour in the evening and finishes at the third in the morning. The Bergmeister does not allow this third shift to be imposed upon the workmen unless necessity demands it. In that case, whether they draw water from the shafts or mine the ore, they keep their vigil by the night lamps, and to prevent themselves falling asleep from the late hours or from fatigue, they lighten their long and arduous labours by singing, which is neither wholly untrained nor unpleasing. In some places one miner is not allowed to undertake two shifts in succession, because it often happens that he either falls asleep in the mine, overcome by exhaustion from too much labour, or arrives too late for his shift, or leaves sooner than he ought. Elsewhere he is allowed to do so, because he cannot subsist on the pay of one shift, especially if provisions grow dearer. The Bergmeister does not, however, forbid an extraordinary shift when he concedes only one ordinary shift. [Pg 100]When it is time to go to work the sound of a great bell, which the foreigners call a "campana," gives the workmen warning, and when this is heard they run hither and thither through the streets toward the mines. Similarly, the same sound of the bell warns the foreman that a shift has just been finished; therefore as soon as he hears it, he stamps on the woodwork of the shaft and signals the workmen to come out. Thereupon, the nearest as soon as they hear the signal, strike the rocks with their hammers, and the sound reaches those who are furthest away. Moreover, the lamps show that the shift has come to an end when the oil becomes almost consumed and fails them. The labourers do not work on Saturdays, but buy those things which are necessary to life, nor do they usually work on Sundays or annual festivals, but on these occasions devote the shift to holy things. However, the workmen do not rest and do nothing if necessity demands their labour; for sometimes a rush of water compels them to work, sometimes an impending fall, sometimes something else, and at such times it is not considered irreligious to work on holidays. Moreover, all workmen of this class are strong and used to toil from birth.

The chief kinds of workmen are miners, shovellers, windlass men, carriers, sorters, washers, and smelters, as to whose duties I will speak in the following books, in their proper place. At present it is enough to add this one fact, that if the workmen have been reported by the foreman for negligence, the Bergmeister, or even the foreman himself, jointly with the manager, dismisses them from their work on Saturday, or deprives them of part of their pay; or if for fraud, throws them into prison. However, the owners of works in which the metals are smelted, and the master of the smelter, look after their own men. As to the government and duties of miners, I have now said enough; I will explain them more fully in another work entitled De Jure et Legibus Metallicis[17].

END OF BOOK IV.

[Pg 101]

n the last book I have explained the methods of delimiting the meers along each kind of vein, and the duties of mine officials. In this book[1] I will in like manner explain the principles of underground mining and the art of surveying. First then, I will proceed to deal with those matters which pertain to the former heading, since both the subject and methodical arrangement require it. And so I will describe first of all the digging of shafts, tunnels, and drifts on venae profundae; next I will discuss the good indications shown by canales[2], by the materials which are dug out, and by the rocks; then I will speak of the tools by which veins and rocks are broken down and excavated; the method by which fire shatters the hard veins; and further, of the machines with which water is drawn from the shafts and air is forced into deep shafts and long tunnels, for digging is impeded by the inrush of the former or the failure of the latter; next I will deal with the two kinds of shafts, and with the making of them and of tunnels; and finally, I will describe the method of mining venae dilatatae, venae cumulatae, and stringers.

[Pg 102]

Now when a miner discovers a vena profunda he begins sinking a shaft and above it sets up a windlass, and builds a shed over the shaft to prevent the rain from falling in, lest the men who turn the windlass be numbed by the cold or troubled by the rain. The windlass men also place their barrows in it, and the miners store their iron tools and other implements therein. Next to the shaft-house another house is built, where the mine foreman and the other workmen dwell, and in which are stored the ore and other things which are dug out. Although some persons build only one house, yet because sometimes boys and other living things fall into the shafts, most miners deliberately place one house apart from the other, or at least separate them by a wall.

Three vertical shafts, of which the first, A, does not reach the tunnel; the second, B, reaches the tunnel; to the third, C, the tunnel has not yet been driven. D—Tunnel. [Pg 103]
Three inclined shafts, of which A does not yet reach the tunnel; B reaches the tunnel; to the third, C, the tunnel has not yet been driven. D—Tunnel. [Pg 104] Now a shaft is dug, usually two fathoms long, two-thirds of a fathom wide, and thirteen fathoms deep; but for the purpose of connecting with a tunnel which has already been driven in a hill, a shaft may be sunk to a depth of only eight fathoms, at other times to fourteen, more or less[3]. A shaft may be made vertical or inclined, according as the vein which the miners follow in the course of digging is vertical or inclined. A tunnel is a subterranean ditch driven lengthwise, and is nearly twice as high as it is broad, and wide enough that workmen and others may be able to pass and carry their loads. It is usually one and a quarter fathoms high, while its width is about three and three-quarters feet. Usually two workmen are required to drive it, one of whom digs out the upper and the other the lower part, and the one goes forward, while the other follows closely after. Each sits upon small boards fixed securely from the footwall to the hangingwall, or if the vein is a soft one, sometimes on a wedge-shaped plank fixed on to the vein itself. Miners sink more inclined shafts than vertical, and some of each kind do not reach to tunnels, while some connect with them. But as for some shafts, though they have already been sunk to the required depth, the tunnel which is to pierce the mountain may not yet have been driven far enough to connect with them.

A—Shaft. B, C—Drift. D—Another shaft. E—Tunnel. F—Mouth of tunnel. [Pg 105] It is advantageous if a shaft connects with a tunnel, for then the miners and other workmen carry on more easily the work they have undertaken; but if the shaft is not so deep, it is usual to drift from one or both sides of it. From these openings the owner or foreman becomes acquainted with the veins and stringers that unite with the principal vein, or cut across it, or [Pg 103]divide it obliquely; however, my discourse is now concerned mainly with vena profunda, but most of all with the metallic material which it contains. [Pg 104]Excavations of this kind were called by the Greeks κρυπται for, extending along after the manner of a tunnel, they are entirely hidden within the [Pg 105]ground. This kind of an opening, however, differs from a tunnel in that it is dark throughout its length, whereas a tunnel has a mouth open to daylight.

[Pg 106]

I have spoken of shafts, tunnels, and drifts. I will now speak of the indications given by the canales, by the materials which are dug out, and by the rocks. These indications, as also many others which I will explain, are to a great extent identical in venae dilatatae and venae cumulatae with venae profundae.

When a stringer junctions with a main vein and causes a swelling, a shaft should be sunk at the junction. But when we find the stringer intersecting the main vein crosswise or obliquely, if it descends vertically down to the depths of the earth, a second shaft should be sunk to the point where the stringer cuts the main vein; but if the stringer cuts it obliquely the shaft should be two or three fathoms back, in order that the junction may be pierced lower down. At such junctions lies the best hope of finding the ore for the sake of which we explore the ground, and if ore has already been found, it is usually found in much greater abundance at that spot. Again, if several stringers descend into the earth, the miner, in order to pierce through the point of contact, should sink the shaft in the midst of these stringers, or else calculate on the most prominent one.

Since an inclined vein often lies near a vertical vein, it is advisable to sink a shaft at the spot where a stringer or cross-vein cuts them both; or where a vena dilatata or a stringer dilatata passes through, for minerals are usually found there. In the same way we have a good prospect of finding metal at the point where an inclined vein joins a vertical one; this is why miners cross-cut the hangingwall or footwall of a main vein, and in these openings seek for a vein which may junction with the principal vein a few fathoms below. Nay, further, these same miners, if no stringer or cross-vein intersects the main vein so that they can follow it in their workings, even cross-cut through the solid rock of the hangingwall or footwall. These cross-cuts are likewise called "κρυπταί," whether the beginning of the opening which has to be undertaken is made from a tunnel or from a drift. Miners have some hope when only a cross vein cuts a main vein. Further, if a vein which cuts the main vein obliquely does not appear anywhere beyond it, it is advisable to dig into that side of the main vein toward which the oblique vein inclines, whether the right or left side, that we may ascertain if the main vein has absorbed it; if after cross-cutting six fathoms it is not found, it is advisable to dig on the other side of the main vein, that we may know for certain whether it has carried it forward. The owners of a main vein can often dig no less profitably on that side where the vein which cuts the main vein again appears, than where it first cuts it; the owners of the intersecting vein, when that is found again, recover their title, which had in a measure been lost.

The common miners look favourably upon the stringers which come from the north and join the main vein; on the other hand, they look unfavourably upon those which come from the south, and say that these do much harm to the main vein, while the former improve it. But I think that miners should not neglect either of them: as I showed in Book III, experience does not confirm those who hold this opinion about veins, so now [Pg 107]again I could furnish examples of each kind of stringers rejected by the common miners which have proved good, but I know this could be of little or no benefit to posterity.

If the miners find no stringers or veins in the hangingwall or footwall of the main vein, and if they do not find much ore, it is not worth while to undertake the labour of sinking another shaft. Nor ought a shaft to be sunk where a vein is divided into two or three parts, unless the indications are satisfactory that those parts may be united and joined together a little later. Further, it is a bad indication for a vein rich in mineral to bend and turn hither and thither, for unless it goes down again into the ground vertically or inclined, as it first began, it produces no more metal; and even though it does go down again, it often continues barren. Stringers which in their outcrops bear metals, often disappoint miners, no metal being found in depth. Further, inverted seams in the rocks are counted among the bad indications.

The miners hew out the whole of solid veins when they show clear evidence of being of good quality; similarly they hew out the drusy[4] veins, especially if the cavities are plainly seen to have formerly borne metal, or if the cavities are few and small. They do not dig barren veins through which water flows, if there are no metallic particles showing; occasionally, however, they dig even barren veins which are free from water, because of the pyrites which is devoid of all metal, or because of a fine black soft substance which is like wool. They dig stringers which are rich in metal, or sometimes, for the purpose of searching for the vein, those that are devoid of ore which lie near the hangingwall or footwall of the main vein. This then, generally speaking, is the mode of dealing with stringers and veins.

Let us now consider the metallic material which is found in the canales of venae profundae, venae dilatatae, and venae cumulatae, being in all these either cohesive and continuous, or scattered and dispersed among them, or swelling out in bellying shapes, or found in veins or stringers which originate from the main vein and ramify like branches; but these latter veins and stringers are very short, for after a little space they do not appear again. If we come across a small quantity of metallic material it is an indication; but if a large quantity, it is not an "indication," but the very thing for which we explore the earth. As soon as a miner who searches for veins discovers pure metal or minerals, or rich metallic material, or a great abundance of material which is poor in metal, let him sink a shaft on the spot without any delay. If the material appears more abundant or of better quality on the one side, he will incline his digging in that direction.

Gold, silver, copper, and quicksilver are often found native[5]; less often iron and bismuth; almost never tin and lead. Nevertheless tin-stone is not far removed from the pure white tin which is melted out of them, and galena, from which lead is obtained, differs little from that metal itself.

Now we may classify gold ores. Next after native gold, we come to the [Pg 108]rudis[6], of yellowish green, yellow, purple, black, or outside red and inside gold colour. These must be reckoned as the richest ores, because the gold exceeds the stone or earth in weight. Next come all gold ores of which each one hundred librae contains more than three unciae of gold[7]; for although but a small proportion of gold is found in the earth or stone, yet it equals in value other metals of greater weight.[8] All other gold ores are considered poor, because [Pg 109]the earth or stone too far outweighs the gold. A vein which contains a larger proportion of silver than of gold is rarely found to be a rich one. Earth, whether it be dry or wet, rarely abounds in gold; but in dry earth there is more often found a greater quantity of gold, especially if it has the [Pg 110]appearance of having been melted in a furnace, and if it is not lacking in scales resembling mica. The solidified juices, azure, chrysocolla, orpiment, and realgar, also frequently contain gold. Likewise native or rudis gold is found sometimes in large, and sometimes in small quantities in quartz, [Pg 111]schist, marble, and also in stone which easily melts in fire of the second degree, and which is sometimes so porous that it seems completely decomposed. Lastly, gold is found in pyrites, though rarely in large quantities.

When considering silver ores other than native silver, those ores are [Pg 112]classified as rich, of which each one hundred librae contains more than three librae of silver. This quality comprises rudis silver, whether silver glance or ruby silver, or whether white, or black, or grey, or purple, or yellow, or liver-coloured, [Pg 113]or any other. Sometimes quartz, schist, or marble is of this quality also, if much native or rudis silver adheres to it. But that ore is considered of poor quality if three librae of silver at the utmost are found in each one hundred librae of it[9]. Silver ore usually contains a greater quantity [Pg 114]than this, because Nature bestows quantity in place of quality; such ore is mixed with all kinds of earth and stone compounds, except the various kinds of rudis silver; especially with pyrites, cadmia metallica fossilis, galena, stibium, and others.

[Pg 115]

As regards other kinds of metal, although some rich ores are found, still, unless the veins contain a large quantity of ore, it is very rarely worth while to dig them. The Indians and some other races do search for gems in veins hidden deep in the earth, but more often they are noticed from their clearness, or rather their brilliancy, when metals are mined. When they outcrop, we follow veins of marble by mining in the same way as is done with rock or building-stones when we come upon them. But gems, properly so called, though they sometimes have veins of their own, are still for the most part found in mines and rock quarries, as the lodestone in iron mines, the emery in silver mines, the lapis judaicus, trochites, and the like in stone quarries where the diggers, at the bidding of the owners, usually collect them from the seams in the rocks.[10] Nor does the miner neglect the digging of "extraordinary earths,"[11] whether they are found [Pg 116]in gold mines, silver mines, or other mines; nor do other miners neglect them if they are found in stone quarries, or in their own veins; their value is usually indicated by their taste. Nor, lastly, does the miner fail to give attention to the solidified juices which are found in metallic veins, as well as in their own veins, from which he collects and gathers them. But I will say no more on these matters, because I have explained more fully all the metals and mineral substances in the books "De Natura Fossilium."

But I will return to the indications. If we come upon earth which is like lute, in which there are particles of any sort of metal, native or rudis, the best possible indication of a vein is given to miners, for the metallic material from which the particles have become detached is necessarily close by. But if this kind of earth is found absolutely devoid of all metallic material, but fatty, and of white, green, blue, and similar colours, they must not abandon the work that has been started. Miners have other indications in the veins and stringers, which I have described already, and in the rocks, about which I will speak a little later. If the miner comes across other dry earths which contain native or rudis metal, that is a good indication; if he comes across yellow, red, black, or some other "extraordinary" earth, though it is devoid of mineral, it is not a bad indication. Chrysocolla, or azure, or verdigris, or orpiment, or realgar, when they are found, are counted among the good indications. Further, where underground springs throw up metal we ought to continue the digging we have begun, for this points to the particles having been detached from the main mass like a fragment from a body. In the same way the thin scales of any metal adhering to stone or rock are counted among the good indications. Next, if the veins which are composed partly of quartz, partly of clayey or dry earth, descend one and all into the depths of the earth together, with their stringers, there is good hope of metal being found; but if the stringers afterward do not appear, or little metallic material is met with, the digging should not be given up until there is nothing remaining. Dark or black or horn or liver-coloured quartz is usually a good sign; white is sometimes good, sometimes no sign at all. But calc-spar, showing itself in a vena profunda, if it disappears a little lower down is not a good indication; for it did not belong to the vein proper, but to some stringer. Those kinds of stone which easily melt in fire, especially if they are translucent (fluorspar?), must be counted among the medium indications, for if other good indications are present they are good, but if no good indications are present, they give no useful significance. In the same way we ought to form our judgment with regard to gems. Veins which at the hangingwall and footwall have horn-coloured quartz or marble, but in the middle clayey earth, give some hope; likewise those give hope in which the hangingwall or footwall shows iron-rust coloured earth, and in the middle greasy and sticky earth; also there is hope for those which have at the hanging or footwall that kind of earth which we call "soldiers' earth," and in the middle black earth or earth which looks as if burnt. The special indication of gold is orpiment; of silver is bismuth and stibium; of copper is verdigris, melanteria, sory, chalcitis, misy, and vitriol; of tin is the large pure black stones of [Pg 117]which the tin itself is made, and a material they dig up resembling litharge; of iron, iron rust. Gold and copper are equally indicated by chrysocolla and azure; silver and lead, by the lead. But, though miners rightly call bismuth "the roof of silver," and though copper pyrites is the common parent of vitriol and melanteria, still these sometimes have their own peculiar minerals, just as have orpiment and stibium.

Now, just as certain vein materials give miners a favourable indication, so also do the rocks through which the canales of the veins wind their way, for sand discovered in a mine is reckoned among the good indications, especially if it is very fine. In the same way schist, when it is of a bluish or blackish colour, and also limestone, of whatever colour it may be, is a good sign for a silver vein. There is a rock of another kind that is a good sign; in it are scattered tiny black stones from which tin is smelted; especially when the whole space between the veins is composed of this kind of rock. Very often indeed, this good kind of rock in conjunction with valuable stringers contains within its folds the canales of mineral bearing veins: if it descends vertically into the earth, the benefit belongs to that mine in which it is seen first of all; if inclined, it benefits the other neighbouring mines[12]. As a result the miner who is not ignorant of geometry can calculate from the other mines the depth at which the canales of a vein bearing rich metal will wind its way through the rock into his mine. So much for these matters.

I now come to the mode of working, which is varied and complex, for in some places they dig crumbling ore, in others hard ore, in others a harder ore, and in others the hardest kind of ore. In the same way, in some places the hangingwall rock is soft and fragile, in others hard, in others harder, and in still others of the hardest sort. I call that ore "crumbling" which is composed of earth, and of soft solidified juices; that ore "hard" which is composed of metallic minerals and moderately hard stones, such as for the most part are those which easily melt in a fire of the first and second orders, like lead and similar materials. I call that ore "harder" when with those I have already mentioned are combined various sorts of quartz, or stones which easily melt in fire of the third degree, or pyrites, or cadmia, or very hard marble. I call that ore hardest, which is composed throughout the whole vein of these hard stones and compounds. The hanging or footwalls of a vein are hard, when composed of rock in which there are few stringers or seams; harder, in which they are fewer; hardest, in which they are fewest or none at all. When these are absent, the rock is quite devoid of water which softens it. But the hardest rock of the hanging or footwall, however, is seldom as hard as the harder class of ore.

Miners dig out crumbling ore with the pick alone. When the metal has not yet shown itself, they do not discriminate between the hangingwall and the veins; when it has once been found, they work with the utmost care. For first of all they tear away the hangingwall rock separately from the vein, afterward with a pick they dislodge the crumbling vein from the footwall [Pg 118]into a dish placed underneath to prevent any of the metal from falling to the ground. They break a hard vein loose from the footwall by blows with a hammer upon the first kind of iron tool[13], all of which are designated by appropriate names, and with the same tools they hew away the hard hangingwall rock. They hew out the hangingwall rock in advance more frequently, the rock of the footwall more rarely; and indeed, when the rock of the footwall resists iron tools, the rock of the hangingwall certainly cannot be broken unless it is allowable to shatter it by fire. With regard to the harder veins which are tractable to iron tools, and likewise with regard to the harder and hardest kind of hangingwall rock, they generally attack them with more powerful iron tools, in fact, with the fourth kind of iron tool, which are called by their appropriate names; but if these are not ready to hand, they use two or three iron tools of the first kind together. As for the hardest kind of metal-bearing vein, which in a measure resists iron tools, if the owners of the neighbouring mines give them permission, they break it with fires. But if these owners refuse them permission, then first of all they hew out the rock of the hangingwall, or of the footwall if it be less hard; then they place timbers set in hitches in the hanging or footwall, a little above the vein, and from the front and upper part, where the vein is seen to be seamed with small cracks, they drive into one of the little cracks one of the iron tools which I have mentioned; then in each fracture they place four thin iron blocks, and in order to hold them more firmly, if necessary, they place as many thin iron plates back to back; next they place thinner iron plates between each two iron blocks, and strike and drive them by turns with hammers, whereby the vein rings with a shrill sound; and the moment when it begins to be detached from the hangingwall or footwall rock, a tearing sound is heard. As soon as this grows distinct the miners hastily flee away; then a great crash is heard as the vein is broken and torn, and falls down. By this method they throw down a portion of a vein weighing a hundred pounds more or less. But if the miners by any other method hew the hardest kind of vein which is rich in metal, there remain certain cone-shaped portions which can be cut out afterward only with difficulty. As for this knob of hard ore, if it is devoid of metal, or if they are not allowed to apply fire to it, they proceed round it by digging to the right or left, because it cannot be broken into by iron wedges without great expense. Meantime, while the workmen are carrying out the task they have undertaken, the depths of the earth often resound with sweet singing, whereby they lighten a toil which is of the severest kind and full of the greatest dangers.

As I have just said, fire shatters the hardest rocks, but the method of its application is not simple[14]. For if a vein held in the rocks cannot be hewn [Pg 119]out because of the hardness or other difficulty, and the drift or tunnel is low, a heap of dried logs is placed against the rock and fired; if the drift or tunnel is high, two heaps are necessary, of which one is placed above the other, and both burn until the fire has consumed them. This force does not generally soften a large portion of the vein, but only some of the surface. When the rock in the hanging or footwall can be worked by the iron tools and the vein is so hard that it is not tractable to the same tools, then the walls are hollowed out; if this be in the end of the drift or tunnel or above or below, the vein is then broken by fire, but not by the same method; for if the hollow is wide, as many logs are piled into it as possible, but if narrow, only a few. By the one method the greater fire separates the vein more completely from the footwall or sometimes from the hangingwall, and by the other, the smaller fire breaks away less of the vein from the rock, because in that case the fire is confined and kept in check by portions of the rock which surround the wood held in such a narrow excavation. Further, if the excavation is low, only one pile of logs is placed in it, if high, there are two, one placed above the other, by which plan the lower bundle being kindled sets alight the upper one; and the fire being driven by the draught into the vein, separates it from the rock which, however hard it may be, often becomes so softened as to be the most easily breakable of all. Applying this principle, Hannibal, the Carthaginian General, imitating the Spanish miners, [Pg 120]overcame the hardness of the Alps by the use of vinegar and fire.
A—Kindled logs. B—Sticks shaved down fan-shaped. C—Tunnel. [Pg 120] Even if a vein is a very wide one, as tin veins usually are, miners excavate into the small streaks, and into those hollows they put dry wood and place amongst them at frequent intervals sticks, all sides of which are shaved down fan-shaped, which easily take light, and when once they have taken fire communicate it to the other bundles of wood, which easily ignite.

While the heated veins and rock are giving forth a foetid vapour and the shafts or tunnels are emitting fumes, the miners and other workmen do not go down in the mines lest the stench affect their health or actually kill them, as I will explain in greater detail when I come to speak of the evils which affect miners. The Bergmeister, in order to prevent workmen from being suffocated, gives no one permission to break veins or rock by fire in shafts or tunnels where it is possible for the poisonous vapour and smoke to permeate the veins or stringers and pass through into the neighbouring mines, which have no hard veins or rock. As for that part of a vein or the surface of the rock which the fire has separated from the remaining mass, if it is overhead, the miners dislodge it with a crowbar, or if it still has some degree of hardness, they thrust a smaller crowbar into the cracks and so break it down, but if [Pg 121]it is on the sides they break it with hammers. Thus broken off, the rock tumbles down; or if it still remains, they break it off with picks. Rock and earth on the one hand, and metal and ore on the other, are filled into buckets separately and drawn up to the open air or to the nearest tunnel. If the shaft is not deep, the buckets are drawn up by a machine turned by men; if it is deep, they are drawn by machines turned by horses.

It often happens that a rush of water or sometimes stagnant air hinders the mining; for this reason miners pay the greatest attention to these matters, just as much as to digging, or they should do so. The water of the veins and stringers and especially of vacant workings, must be drained out through the shafts and tunnels. Air, indeed, becomes stagnant both in tunnels and in shafts; in a deep shaft, if it be by itself, this occurs if it is neither reached by a tunnel nor connected by a drift with another shaft; this occurs in a tunnel if it has been driven too far into a mountain and no shaft has yet been sunk deep enough to meet it; in neither case can the air move or circulate. For this reason the vapours become heavy and resemble mist, and they smell of mouldiness, like a vault or some underground chamber which has been completely closed for many years. This suffices to prevent miners from continuing their work for long in these places, even if the mine is full of silver or gold, or if they do continue, they cannot breathe freely and they have headaches; this more often happens if they work in these places in great numbers, and bring many lamps, which then supply them with a feeble light, because the foul air from both lamps and men make the vapours still more heavy.

A small quantity of water is drawn from the shafts by machines of different kinds which men turn or work. If so great a quantity has flowed into one shaft as greatly to impede mining, another shaft is sunk some fathoms distant from the first, and thus in one of them work and labour are carried on without hindrance, and the water is drained into the other, which is sunk lower than the level of the water in the first one; then by these machines or by those worked by horses, the water is drawn up into the drain and flows out of the shaft-house or the mouth of the nearest tunnel. But when into the shaft of one mine, which is sunk more deeply, there flows all the water of all the neighbouring mines, not only from that vein in which the shaft is sunk, but also from other veins, then it becomes necessary for a large sump to be made to collect the water; from this sump the water is drained by machines which draw it through pipes, or by ox-hides, about which I will say more in the next book. The water which pours into the tunnels from the veins and stringers and seams in the rocks is carried away in the drains.

Air is driven into the extremities of deep shafts and long tunnels by powerful blowing machines, as I will explain in the following book, which will deal with these machines also. The outer air flows spontaneously into the caverns of the earth, and when it can pass through them comes out again. This, however, comes about in different ways, for in spring and summer it flows into the deeper shafts, traverses the tunnels or drifts, and finds its way [Pg 122]out of the shallower shafts; similarly at the same season it pours into the lowest tunnel and, meeting a shaft in its course, turns aside to a higher tunnel and passes out therefrom; but in autumn and winter, on the other hand, it enters the upper tunnel or shaft and comes out at the deeper ones. This change in the flow of air currents occurs in temperate regions at the beginning of spring and the end of autumn, but in cold regions at the end of spring and the beginning of autumn. But at each period, before the air regularly assumes its own accustomed course, generally for a space of fourteen days it undergoes frequent variations, now blowing into an upper shaft or tunnel, now into a lower one. But enough of this, let us now proceed to what remains.

There are two kinds of shafts, one of the depth already described, of which kind there are usually several in one mine; especially if the mine is entered by a tunnel and is metal-bearing. For when the first tunnel is connected with the first shaft, two new shafts are sunk; or if the inrush of water hinders sinking, sometimes three are sunk; so that one may take the place of a sump and the work of sinking which has been begun may be continued by means of the remaining two shafts; the same is done in the case of the second tunnel and the third, or even the fourth, if so many are driven into a mountain. The second kind of shaft is very deep, sometimes as much as sixty, eighty, or one hundred fathoms. These shafts continue vertically toward the depths of the earth, and by means of a hauling-rope the broken rock and metalliferous ores are drawn out of the mine; for which reason miners call them vertical shafts. Over these shafts are erected machines by which water is extracted; when they are above ground the machines are usually worked by horses, but when they are in tunnels, other kinds are used which are turned by water-power. Such are the shafts which are sunk when a vein is rich in metal.

Now shafts, of whatever kind they may be, are supported in various ways. If the vein is hard, and also the hanging and footwall rock, the shaft does not require much timbering, but timbers are placed at intervals, one end of each of which is fixed in a hitch cut into the rock of the hangingwall and the other fixed into a hitch cut in the footwall. To these timbers are fixed small timbers along the footwall, to which are fastened the lagging and ladders. The lagging is also fixed to the timbers, both to those which screen off the shaft on the ends from the vein, and to those which screen off the rest of the shaft from that part in which the ladders are placed. The lagging on the sides of the shaft confine the vein, so as to prevent fragments of it which have become loosened by water from dropping into the shaft and terrifying, or injuring, or knocking off the miners and other workmen who are going up or down the ladders from one part of the mine to another. For the same reason, the lagging between the ladders and the haulage-way on the other hand, confine and shut off from the ladders the fragments of rock which fall from the buckets or baskets while they are being drawn up; moreover, they make the arduous and difficult descent and ascent to appear less terrible, and in fact to be less dangerous.

[Pg 123]

A—Wall plates. B—Dividers. C—Long end posts. D—End plates. [Pg 123] If a vein is soft and the rock of the hanging and footwalls is weak, a closer structure is necessary; for this purpose timbers are joined together, in rectangular shapes and placed one after the other without a break. These [Pg 124]are arranged on two different systems; for either the square ends of the timbers, which reach from the hangingwall to the footwall, are fixed into corresponding square holes in the timbers which lie along the hanging or footwall, or the upper part of the end of one and the lower part of the end of the other are cut out and one laid on the other. The great weight of these joined timbers is sustained by stout beams placed at intervals, which are deeply set into hitches in the footwall and hangingwall, but are inclined. In order that these joined timbers may remain stationary, wooden wedges or poles cut from trees are driven in between the timbers and the vein and the hangingwall and the footwall; and the space which remains empty is filled with loose dirt. If the hanging and footwall rock is sometimes hard and sometimes soft, and the vein likewise, solid joined timbers are not used, but timbers are placed at intervals; and where the rock is soft and the vein crumbling, carpenters put in lagging between them and the wall rocks, and behind these they fill with loose dirt; by this means they fill up the void.

When a very deep shaft, whether vertical or inclined, is supported by joined timbers, then, since they are sometimes of bad material and a fall is threatened, for the sake of greater firmness three or four pairs of strong end posts are placed between these, one pair on the hangingwall side, the other on the footwall side. To prevent them from falling out of position and to make them firm and substantial, they are supported by frequent end plates, and in order that these may be more securely fixed they are mortised into the posts. Further, in whatever way the shaft may be timbered, dividers are placed upon the wall plates, and to these is fixed lagging, and this marks off and separates the ladder-way from the remaining part of the shaft. If a vertical shaft is a very deep one, planks are laid upon the timbers by the side of the ladders and fixed on to the timbers, in order that the men who are going up or down may sit or stand upon them and rest when they are tired. To prevent danger to the shovellers from rocks which, after being drawn up from so deep a shaft fall down again, a little above the bottom of the shaft small rough sticks are placed close together on the timbers, in such a way as to cover the whole space of the shaft except the ladder-way. A hole, however, is left in this structure near the footwall, which is kept open so that there may be one opening to the shaft from the bottom, that the buckets full of the materials which have been dug out may be drawn from the shaft through it by machines, and may be returned to the same place again empty; and so the shovellers and other workmen, as it were hiding beneath this structure, remain perfectly safe in the shaft.

In mines on one vein there are driven one, two, or sometimes three or more tunnels, always one above the other. If the vein is solid and hard, and likewise the hanging and footwall rock, no part of the tunnel needs support, beyond that which is required at the mouth, because at that spot there is not yet solid rock; if the vein is soft, and the hanging and footwall rock are likewise soft, the tunnel requires frequent strong timbering, which is provided in the following way.
A—Posts. B—Caps. C—Sills. D—Doors. E—Lagging. F—Drains. [Pg 125] First, two dressed posts are erected and set into the tunnel floor, which is dug out a little; these are of medium [Pg 125]thickness, and high enough that their ends, which are cut square, almost touch the top of the tunnel; then upon them is placed a smaller dressed cap, which is mortised into the heads of the posts; at the bottom, other small timbers, whose ends are similarly squared, are mortised into the posts. At each interval of one and a half fathoms, one of these sets is erected; each one of these the miners call a "little doorway," because it opens a certain amount of passage way; and indeed, when necessity requires it, doors are fixed to the timbers of each little doorway so that it can be closed. Then lagging of planks or of poles is placed upon the caps lengthwise, so as to reach from one set of timbers to another, and is laid along the sides, in case some portion of the body of the mountain may fall, and by its bulk impede passage or crush persons coming in or out. Moreover, to make the timbers remain stationary, wooden pegs are driven between them and the sides of the tunnel. Lastly, if rock or earth are carried out in wheelbarrows, planks joined together are laid upon the sills; if the rock is hauled out in trucks, then two timbers three-quarters of a foot thick and wide are laid on the sills, and, where they join, these are usually hollowed out so that in the hollow, as in a road, the iron pin of the truck may be pushed along; indeed, because of this pin in the groove, the truck does not leave the worn track to the left or right. Beneath the sills are the drains through which the water flows away.

Miners timber drifts in the same way as tunnels. These do not, however, require sill-pieces, or drains; for the broken rock is not hauled very far, nor does the water have far to flow. If the vein above is metal-bearing, as it sometimes is [Pg 126]for a distance of several fathoms, then from the upper part of tunnels or even drifts that have already been driven, other drifts are driven again and again until that part of the vein is reached which does not yield metal. The timbering of these openings is done as follows: stulls are set at intervals into hitches in the hanging and footwall, and upon them smooth poles are laid continuously; and that they may be able to bear the weight, the stulls are generally a foot and a half thick. After the ore has been taken out and the mining of the vein is being done elsewhere, the rock then broken, especially if it cannot be taken away without great difficulty, is thrown into these openings among the timber, and the carriers of the ore are saved toil, and the owners save half the expense. This then, generally speaking, is the method by which everything relating to the timbering of shafts, tunnels, and drifts is carried out.

All that I have hitherto written is in part peculiar to venae profundae, and in part common to all kinds of veins; of what follows, part is specially applicable to venae dilatatae, part to venae cumulatae. But first I will describe how venae dilatatae should be mined. Where torrents, rivers, or streams have by inundations washed away part of the slope of a mountain or a hill, and have disclosed a vena dilatata, a tunnel should be driven first straight and narrow, and then wider, for nearly all the vein should be hewn away; and when this tunnel has been driven further, a shaft which supplies air should be sunk in the mountain or hill, and through it from time to time the ore, earth, and rock can be drawn up at less expense than if they be drawn out through the very great length of the tunnel; and even in those places to which the tunnel does not yet reach, miners dig shafts in order to open a vena dilatata which they conjecture must lie beneath the soil. In this way, when the upper layers are removed, they dig through rock sometimes of one kind and colour, sometimes of one kind but different colours, sometimes of different kinds but of one colour, and, lastly, of different kinds and different colours. The thickness of rock, both of each single stratum and of all combined, is uncertain, for the whole of the strata are in some places twenty fathoms deep, in others more than fifty; individual strata are in some places half a foot thick; in others, one, two, or more feet; in others, one, two, three, or more fathoms. For example, in those districts which lie at the foot of the Harz mountains, there are many different coloured strata, covering a copper vena dilatata. When the soil has been stripped, first of all is disclosed a stratum which is red, but of a dull shade and of a thickness of twenty, thirty, or five and thirty fathoms. Then there is another stratum, also red, but of a light shade, which has usually a thickness of about two fathoms. Beneath this is a stratum of ash-coloured clay nearly a fathom thick, which, although it is not metalliferous, is reckoned a vein. Then follows a third stratum, which is ashy, and about three fathoms thick. Beneath this lies a vein of ashes to the thickness of five fathoms, and these ashes are mixed with rock of the same colour. Joined to the last, and underneath, comes a stratum, the fourth in number, dark in colour and a foot thick. Under this comes the fifth stratum, of a pale or yellowish colour, two feet thick; underneath [Pg 127]which is the sixth stratum, likewise dark, but rough and three feet thick. Afterward occurs the seventh stratum, likewise of dark colour, but still darker than the last, and two feet thick. This is followed by an eighth stratum, ashy, rough, and a foot thick. This kind, as also the others, is sometimes distinguished by stringers of the stone which easily melts in fire of the second order. Beneath this is another ashy rock, light in weight, and five feet thick. Next to this comes a lighter ash-coloured one, a foot thick; beneath this lies the eleventh stratum, which is dark and very much like the seventh, and two feet thick. Below the last is a twelfth stratum of a whitish colour and soft, also two feet thick; the weight of this rests on a thirteenth stratum, ashy and one foot thick, whose weight is in turn supported by a fourteenth stratum, which is blackish and half a foot thick. There follows this, another stratum of black colour, likewise half a foot thick, which is again followed by a sixteenth stratum still blacker in colour, whose thickness is also the same. Beneath this, and last of all, lies the cupriferous stratum, black coloured and schistose, in which there sometimes glitter scales of gold-coloured pyrites in the very thin sheets, which, as I said elsewhere, often take the forms of various living things.[15]

The miners mine out a vena dilatata laterally and longitudinally by driving a low tunnel in it, and if the nature of the work and place permit, they sink also a shaft in order to discover whether there is a second vein beneath the first one; for sometimes beneath it there are two, three, or more similar metal-bearing veins, and these are excavated in the same way laterally and longitudinally. They generally mine venae dilatatae lying down; and to [Pg 128]avoid wearing away their clothes and injuring their left shoulders they usually bind on themselves small wooden cradles. For this reason, this particular class of miners, in order to use their iron tools, are obliged to bend their necks to the left, not infrequently having them twisted. Now these veins also sometimes divide, and where these parts re-unite, ore of a richer and a better quality is generally found; the same thing occurs where the stringers, of which they are not altogether devoid, join with them, or cut them crosswise, or divide them obliquely. To prevent a mountain or hill, which has in this way been undermined, from subsiding by its weight, either some natural pillars and arches are left, on which the pressure rests as on a foundation, or timbering is done for support. Moreover, the materials which are dug out and which are devoid of metal are removed in bowls, and are thrown back, thus once more filling the caverns.