Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950

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Author: Agricola, Georgius
Title: De re metallica
Date: 1912/1950

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Document ID: MPIWG:HBHTW0S2
Permanent URL: http://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/MPIWG:HBHTW0S2

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Copyright: Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (unless stated otherwise)
License: CC-BY-SA (unless stated otherwise)
1
GEORGIUS AGRICOLA
DE RE METALLICA
TRANSLATED FROM THE FIRST LATIN EDITION OF 1556
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
BY
HERBERT CLARK HOOVER
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.
AND
LOU HENRY HOOVER
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
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1
TO
JOHN CASPAR BRANNER Ph.D.,
The inspiration of whose teaching is no less great than his contribution to science.
This New 1950 Edition
of DE RE METALLICA is a complete
and unchanged reprint of the transla­
tion published by The Mining Magazine,
London, in 1912. It has been made avail­
able through the kind permission of Honor­
able Herbert C. Hoover and Mr. Edgar
Rickard, Author and Publisher, respec­
tively, of the original volume.
MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT
FÜR WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE
Bibliothek
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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TRANSLATORS' PREFACE.
There are three objectives in translation of works
of this character: to give a faithful, literal trans­
lation 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 some­
what tainted with German construction. Moreover some portions have not
1the continuous flow of sustained thought which others display, but the fact
that the writing of the work extended over a period of twenty years, suffic­
iently 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 dis­
cussion. 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 Metallíca. 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 guid­
ance. Practically the whole of it must have been given from personal ex­
perience and observation, for the scant library at his service can be appreci­
ated 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,
1on 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
Metallíca 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 Fossílíum and De
Ortu et Causís 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 Metallíca 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, week­
ends, 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.
THE RED HOUSE,
HORNTON STREET, LONDON.
July 1, 1912.
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1
INTRODUCTION.
BIOGRAPHY.
Georgius 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 print­
ed but forty years before; the Humanists had but
begun that stimulating criticism which awoke the
Reformation; Erasmus, of Rotterdam, who was sub­
sequently to become Agricola's friend and patron,
was just completing his student days. The Refor­
mation itself was yet to come, but it was not long delayed, for Luther
was born the year before Agricola, and through him Agricola's home­
land 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 dis­
covered 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
1preserved 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 Artíum. 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 Grammar2. 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 letter3 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 Metallíca—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. Accord­
ing to Agricola's own statement4, 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
book5. 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.
1
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
Albertham, which was discovered in 1530. Writing in 1545, he says6:
“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 Hordeborch7, 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 Causís 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 Fossílíum, in
ten “books,” the first systematic mineralogy; De Veteribus et Novís Metallís,
in two “books,” devoted largely to the history of metals and topographical
mineralogy; a new edition of Bermannus was included; and finally Rerum
Metallícarum Interpretatio, a glossary of Latin and German mineralogical
and metallurgical terms. Another work, De Animantíbus Subterraneis,
usually published with De Re Metallica, is dated 1548 in the preface. It

1is devoted to animals which live underground, at least part of the time, but
is not a very effective basis of either geologic or zoologic classi­
fication. Despite many public activities, Agricola apparently completed
De Re Metallíca 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 re­
ferred 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 Princi­
pality. 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
1his 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 Princi­
pality 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 pro­
ceeded (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 con­
nection therewith, says: “ . . . . that he may enjoy his life-long a
freehold house unburdened by all burgher rights and other municipal ser­
vice, 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 letter10 from
Fabricius to Meurer, dated May 19th, 1546, says that Agricola had been
1made 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 addresses11
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 letter13 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

1until 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 honored 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. Hofmann14
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.
1
AGRICOLA'S INTELLECTUAL ATTAINMENTS AND
POSITION IN SCIENCE.
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 Causís and De Natura Fossílíum, for while De Re Metallíca 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 funda­
mental 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 necessi­
tated 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
1their 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 Causís, 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 founda­
tions 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 character­
istics 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 metal­
lurgy, De Re Metallíca 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.
1
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 contem­
porary 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.
1[Figure 1]
1
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 Metallíca
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 Veteríbus et Novis Metallís, 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 Metallíca, 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 letter19 from Fabricius to Meurer in
March, 1553, announces its dispatch to the printer. An interesting letter20
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 Metallícis, 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
1
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.
De Re Metallíca, Froben .. .. Basel Folio 1556. De Re Metallíca, Froben .. .. Basel Folio 1561. De Re Metallíca, Ludwig König Basel Folio 1621. De Re Metallíca, Emanuel König Basel Folio 1657.
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.
Vom Bergkwerck, Froben, Folio, 1557.
Bergwerck Buch, Sigmundi Feyrabendt, Frankfort-on-Main, folio, 1580.
Bergwerck Buch, Ludwig König, Basel, folio, 1621.
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 Metallíca 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 188124, 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 Metallíca in French.” This may
of course, be an error for the Italian edition, which appeared a little later.
There is also mention25 that a manuscript of De Re Metallica in Spanish was



1seen 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 says26 “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.
2[Figure 2]
1 3[Figure 3]
1
GEORGII AGRICOLAE
DE RE METALLICA LIBRI XII<28> QVI-
bus Officia, Inſtrumenta, Machinæ, acomnia denique ad Metalli­
tam ſpectantia, non modo luculentiſſimè deſcribuntur, ſed & per
effigies, ſuis locis inſertas, adiunctis Latinis, Germanicis〈qué〉 appel­
lationibus ita ob oculos ponuntur, ut clarius tradi non poſſint.
BIVSDEM
DE ANIMANTIBVS SVBTERRANEIS Liber, ab Autore re­
cognitus:cum Indicibus diuerſis, quicquid in opere tractatum eſt,
pulchrè demonſtrantibus.
4[Figure 4]
BASILEAE M<28> D<28> LVI<28>
Cum Priuilegio Imperatoris in annos v.
& Galliarum Regis ad Sexennium.
1
[Empty page]
1
GEORGIVS FABRICIVS IN LI-
bros Metallicos GEORGII AGRICOL AE phi
loſophi præſtantiſſimi.
AD LECTOREM.
Siiuuat ignita cognoſcere fronte Chimæram,
Semicanem nympham, ſemibouem〈qué〉 uirum:
Sicentum capitum Titanem, tot〈qué〉 ferentem
Sublimem manibus tela cruenta Gygen:
Siiuuat Ætneum penetrare Cyclopis in antrum,
Atque alios, Vates quos peperere, metus:
Nunc placeat mecum doctos euoluere libros,
Ingenium AGRICOLAE quos dedit acre tibi.
Non hic uana tenet ſuſpenſam fabula mentem:
Sed precium, utilitas multa, legentis erit.
Quidquid terra ſinu, gremio〈qué〉 recondiditimo,
Omne tibi multis eruit ante libris:
Siue fluens ſuperas ultro nitatur in oras,
Inueniat facilem ſeu magis arte uiam.
Perpetui proprns manant de fontibus amnes,
Eſt grauis Albuneæ ſponte Mephitis odor.
Lethales ſunt ſponte ſcrobes Dicæarchidis oræ,
Et micat è media conditus ignis humo.
Plana Nariſcorum cùm tellus arſitin agro,
Ter curua nondum falce reſecta Ceres.
Nec dedit hoc damnum paſtor, riec Iuppiterigne:
Vulcani per ſeruperat ira ſolum.
Terrifico aura foras erumpens, incita motu,
Sæpefacit montes, antè ubi plana uia eſt.
Hæcabſtruſa cauis, imo〈qué〉 incognita fundo,
Cognita natura ſæpe fuere duce.
Arte hominum, in lucem ueniunt quoque multa, manu〈qué〉
Terræ multiplices effodiuntur opes.
Lydia ſicnitrum profert, Islandia ſulfur,
Acmodò Tyrrhenus mittit alumen ager.
Succina, quâ trifi do ſubit æquor Viſtula cornu,
Piſcantur Codano corpora ſerua ſinu.
Quid memorem regum precioſa inſignia gemmas,
Marmora〈qué〉 excelſis ſtructa ſub aſtra iugis?
Nil lapides, nil ſaxa moror: ſunt pulchra metalia,
Crœfetuis opibus clara, Myda〈qué〉 tuis,
Quæ〈qué〉 acer Macedo terra Creneide fodit,
Nomine permutans nomina priſca ſuo.
Atnuncnon ullis cedit GERMANIA terris,
1Terra ferax hominum, terra〈qué〉 diues opum.
Hic auri in uenis locupletibus aura refulget,
Non alio meſſis carior ulla loco.
Auricomum extulerit felix Campania ramum,
Nec fructu nobis deſiciente cadit.
Eruit argenti ſolidas hoc tempore maſſas
Foſſor, dc proprijs arma〈qué〉 miles agris.
Ignotum Graijs eſt Heſperijs〈qué〉 metallum,
Quod Biſemutum lingua paterna uocat.
Candidius nigro, ſed plumbo nigrius albo,
Noſtra quoque hoc uena diuite fundit humus.
Funditur in tormenta, corus cum imitantia fulmen,
Æs, in〈qué〉 hoſtiles ferrea maſſa domos.
Scribuntur plumbo libri: quis credidit antè
Quàm mirandam artem Teutonis ora dedit?
Nec tamen hoc alijs, aut illa petuntur ab oris,
Eruta Germano cuncta metalla ſolo.
Sed quid ego hæc repeto, monumentis tradita claris
AGRICOLAE, quæ nunc docta per ora uolant?
Hic cauſſis ortus, & formas uiribus addit,
Et quærenda quibus ſint meliora locis.
Quæ ſi mente prius legiſti candidus æqua:
Da reliquis quoque nunc tempora pauca libris.
Vtilitas ſequitur cultorem: crede, uoluptas
Non iucunda minor, rara legentis, erit.
Iudicio〈qué〉 prius ne quis malè damnet iniquo,
Quæ ſunt auctoris munera mira Dei:
Eripit ipſe ſuis primùm tela hoſtibus, in〈qué〉
Mittentis torquet ſpicula rapta caput.
Fertur equo latro, uehitur pirata triremi:
Ergo necandus equus, nec fabricanda ratis?
Viſceribus terræ lateant abſtruſa metalla,
Vti opibus neſcit quòd mala turba ſuis?
Quiſquis es, aut doctis pareto monentïbus, aut te
Inter habere bonos ne fateare locum.
Se non in prærupta metallicus abijcit audax,
Vt quondam immiſſo Curtius acer equo:
Sed prius ediſcit, quæ ſunt noſcenda perito,
Quod〈qué〉 facit, multa doctus ab arte facit.
Vt〈qué〉 gubernator ſeruat cum ſidere uentos:
Sic minimè dubijs utitur ille notis.
Iaſides nauim, currus regit arte Metiſcus:
Foſſor opus peragit nec minus arte ſuum.
Indagat uenæ ſpacium, numerum〈qué〉, modum〈qué〉,
Siue obliqua ſuum, rectaúe tendatiter.
1
Paſtor ut explorat quæ terra ſit apta colenti,
Quæ bene lanigeras, quæ malè paſcat oucs.
En terræ intentus, quid uincula linea tendit?
Fungitur officio iam Ptolemæe tuo.
Vt〈qué〉 ſuæ inuenit menſuram iura〈qué〉 uenæ,
In uarios operas diuidit ind e uiros.
Iam〈qué〉 aggreſſus opus, uiden' ut mouet omne quod obſtat,
Aſſidua ut uerſat ſtrenuus arma manu?
Ne tibi ſurdeſcant ferri tinnitibus aures,
Ad grauiora ideo conſpicienda ueni.
Inſtruit ecce ſuis nunc artibus ille minores:
Sedulitas nulli non operoſa loco.
Metiri docet hic uenæ ſpacium〈qué〉 modum〈qué〉,
Vt〈qué〉 regat poſitis ſinibus arua lapis,
Ne quis transmiſſo uiolentus limite pergens,
Non ſibi conceſſas, in ſua uertat, opes.
Hic docet inſtrumenta, quibus Piutonia regna
Tutus adit, ſaxi permeat atque uias.
Quanta (uides) ſolidas expugnet machina terras:
Machina non ullo tempore uiſa prius.
Cede nouis, nulla non inclyta laude uetuſtas,
Poſteritas meritis eſt quoque grata tuis.
Tum quia Germano ſunt hæc inuenta ſub axe,
Si quis es, inuidiæ contrahe uela tuæ.
Auſonis ora tumct bellis, terra Attica cultu,
Germanum inſractus tollit ad aſtra labor.
Nec tamen ingenio ſolet infeliciter uti,
Mite gerát Phœbi, ſeu graue Martis opus.
Tempus adeſt, ſtructis uenarum montibus, igne
Explorare, uſum quem ſibi uena ferat.
Non labor ingenio caret hic, non copia fructu,
Eſt adaperta bonæ prima feneſtra ſpei.
Ergo inſtat porrò grauiores ferre labores,
Intentas operi nec remouere manus.
Vrere ſiue locus poſcat, ſeu tundere uenas,
Siue lauare lacu præter euntis aquæ.
Seu flammis iterum modicis torrere neceſſe eſt,
Excoquere aut faſtis ignibus omne malum,
Cùm fluit æs riuis, auri argenti〈qué〉 metallum,
Spes animo foſſor uix capit ipſe ſuas.
Argentum cupidus fuluo ſecernit ab auro,
Et plumbi lentam demit utrique moram.
Separat argentum, lucri ſtudioſus, ab ære,
Seruatis, linquens deteriora, bonis.
1
Quæ ſi cuncta uelim tenui percurrere uerſu,
Ante alium reuehat Memnonis ora diem.
Poſtremus labor eſt, concretos diſcereſuccos,
Quos fert innumeris Teutona terra locis.
Quo ſal, quo nitrum, quo pacto fiat alumen,
Vſibus artiſicis cùm parat illa manus:
Necnon chalcantum, ſulfur, fluidumque bitumen,
Maſſa〈qué〉 quo uitri lenta dolanda modo.
Suſcipit hæc hominum mirandos cura labores,
Pauperiem uſqueadeo ferre famem〈qué〉 graue eſt,
Tantus amor uictum paruis extundere natis,
Et patriæ ciuem non dare uelle malum.
Nec manet in terræ foſſoris merſa latebris
Mens, ſed fert domino uota preces〈qué〉 Deo.
Munificæ expectat, ſpe plenus, munera dextræ,
Extollens animum lætus ad aſtra ſuum.
Diuitias CHRISTVS dat noticiam〈qué〉 fruendi,
Cui memori grates pectore ſemper agit.
Hoc quoque laudati quondam fecere Philippi,
Qui uirtutis habent cum pietate decus.
Huc oculos, huc flecte animum, ſuauiſſime Lector,
Auctorem〈qué〉 pia noſcito mente Deum.
AGRICOLAE hinc optans operoſo fauſta labori,
Laudibus eximij candidus eſto uiri.
Ille ſuum extollit patriæ cum nomine nomen,
Et uir in ore frequens poſteritatis erit.
Cuncta cadunt letho, ſtudij monumenta uigebunt,
Purpurei doneclumina ſolis erunt.
Miſenæ M. D. LI.
èludo illuſtri.
For completeness' sake we reproduce in the original Latin the laudation of Agricola
by his friend, Georgius Fabricius, a leading scholar of his time. It has but little intrinsic
value for it is not poetry of a very high order, and to make it acceptable English would require
certain improvements, for which only poets have license. A “free” translation of the last
few lines indicates its complimentary character:—
“He doth raise his country's fame with his own
And in the mouths of nations yet unborn
His praises shall be sung; Death comes to all
But great achievements raise a monument
Which shall endure until the sun grows cold.”
1
TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS
AND MOST MIGHTY DUKES OF
Saxony, Landgraves of Thuringia, Margraves of Meissen,
Imperial Overlords of Saxony, Burgraves of Altenberg
and Magdeburg, Counts of Brena, Lords of
Pleissnerland, To MAURICE Grand Marshall
and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire
and to his brother AUGUSTUS,1
GEORGE AGRICOLA S. D.
Most illustrious Princes, often have I considered
the metallic arts as a whole, as Moderatus Columella2
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 exten­
sive 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 agricul­
ture, 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
1mines, and the fortunes of many kings have been much amplified there­
by. 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 hus­
bandry 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 unknown7; the other “On Veins,” of which Pandulfus Anglus8 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




1he 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


1this 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 under­
stand 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
1whole 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
1a 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
1not 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 in­
struction, 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 correspond­
ingly 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 under­
stand 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.
1 5[Figure 5]
1
BOOK I.
Many persons hold the opinion that the metal indus­
tries 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, stringers1 and seams in the rocks2. Then he must be thoroughly
familiar with the many and varied species of earths, juices3, gems,
stones, marbles, rocks, metals, and compounds4. He must also have a


1complete knowledge of the method of making all underground works
Lastly, there are the various systems of assaying5 substances and o
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
1even tin and bismuth6 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 soda7,
another for alum, another for vitriol8, 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

1diseases 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 washing9, 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
1expenses 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 trouble10. 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 man11.
1
It is not my intention to detract anything from the dignity of agri­
culture, and that the profits of mining are less stable I will always and readly
admit, for the veins do in time cease to yield metals, whereas the fields bring
lorth fruits every year. But though the business of mining may be loss
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 Xenophon12 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, gens
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 com­
pensation 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 con­
sider 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 occuppa­
tion, 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
1mankind, 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:—
“And not only was the rich soil required to furnish corn and due
sustenance, but men even descended into the entrails of the earth, and
they dug up riches, those incentives to vice, which the earth had hidden
and had removed to the Stygian shades. Then destructive iron came
forth, and gold, more destructive than iron; then war came forth.”13
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:
“Works of silver and purple are of use, not for human life, but
rather for Tragedians.”14
These critics praise also this saying from Timocreon of Rhodes:
“O Unseeing Plutus, would that thou hadst never appeared in the
earth or in the sea or on the land, but that thou didst have thy habita­
tion in Tartarus and Acheron, for out of thee arise all evil things which
overtake mankind”15.
They greatly extol these lines from Phocylides:
“Gold and silver are injurious to mortals; gold is the source of
crime, the plague of life, and the ruin of all things. Would that thou
were not such an attractive scourge! because of thee arise robberies,

1homicides, warfare, brothers are maddened against brothers, a
children against parents.”
This from Naumachius also pleases them:
“Gold and silver are but dust, like the stones that lie scattered
the pebbly beach, or on the margins of the rivers.”
On the other hand, they censure these verses of Euripides:
“Plutus is the god for wise men: all else is mere folly and at t
same time a deception in words.”
So in like manner these lines from Theognis:
“O Plutus, thou most beautiful and placid god! whilst I have th
however bad I am, I can be regarded as good.”
They also blame Aristodemus, the Spartan, for these words:
“Money makes the man; no one who is poor is either good
honoured.”
And they rebuke these songs of Timocles:
“Money is the life and soul of mortal men. He who has n
heaped up riches for himself wanders like a dead man amongst t
living.”
Finally, they blame Menander when he wrote:
“Epicharmus asserts that the gods are water, wind, fire, earth, su
and stars. But I am of opinion that the gods of any use to us are silv
and gold; for if thou wilt set these up in thy house thou mayest se
whatever thou wilt. All things will fall to thy lot; land, houses, slav
silver-work; moreover friends, judges, and witnesses. Only give free
for thus thou hast the gods to serve thee.”
But besides this, the strongest argument of the detractors is that t
fields are devastated by mining operations, for which reason forme
Italians were warned by law that no one should dig the earth for metals a
so injure their very fertile fields, their vineyards, and their olive grov
Also they argue that the woods and groves are cut down, for there is need
an endless amount of wood for timbers, machines, and the smelting of meta
And when the woods and groves are felled, then are exterminated the bea
and birds, very many of which furnish a pleasant and agreeable food for ma
Further, when the ores are washed, the water which has been used pois
the brooks and streams, and either destroys the fish or drives them awa
Therefore the inhabitants of these regions, on account of the devastation
their fields, woods, groves, brooks and rivers, find great difficulty in procur
the necessaries of life, and by reason of the destruction of the timber th
are forced to greater expense in erecting buildings. Thus it is said, it
clear to all that there is greater detriment from mining than the value
the metals which the mining produces.
So in fierce contention they clamour, showing by such examples
follow that every great man has been content with virtue, and despis
metals. They praise Bias because he esteemed the metals mer
as fortune's playthings, not as his real wealth. When his enemies h
captured his native Priene, and his fellow-citizens laden with precious thin
1had 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 remainder16. 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
1poured 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:
“This is indeed the Golden Age. The greatest rewards come from
gold; by gold love is won; by gold is faith destroyed; by gold is justice
bought; the law follows the track of gold, while modesty will soon
follow it when law is gone.”
Diphilus says:
“I consider that nothing is more powerful than gold. By it all
things are torn asunder; all things are accomplished.”
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:
“I hate gold. It has often impelled many people to many wrong
acts.”
In this country too, the poets inveigh with stinging reproaches against money
coined from gold and silver. And especially did Juvenal:
“Since the majesty of wealth is the most sacred thing among us;
although, O pernicious money, thou dost not yet inhabit a temple, nor
have we erected altars to money.”
And in another place:
“Demoralising money first introduced foreign customs, and
voluptuous wealth weakened our race with disgraceful luxury.”18
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
1which 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, some­
times 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 strong­
holds, 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 shatter­
ing 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 Per­
gamus, 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
1mined, 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
1field 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, wood­
pecker, 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 dis­
embowelled 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
1of 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 care­
fully 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. More­
over, 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 gath­
ered and saved the gold which he ordered his slaves to throw away, he might
1have 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:
“What resemblance has the Grecian Aristippus to this fellow?
He who commanded his slaves to throw away the gold in the midst of
Libya because they went too slowly, impeded by the weight of their
burden—which of these two men is the more insane?”21
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 con­
templations 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 philo­
sophers 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 neigh­
bouring peoples to bind them more closely to themselves with gifts and
favours. Finally, the Scythians, by condemning the use of gold and silver
1alone, 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:
“He breaks all law; he murders Polydorus, and obtains gold by
violence. To what wilt thou not drive mortal hearts, thou accursed
hunger for gold?”
And again, justly, he says, speaking of Pygmalion, who killed Sichaeus:
“And blinded with the love of gold, he slew him unawares with
stealthy sword.”22
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
1although 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:
“Dost thou not know the value of money; and what uses it serves?
It buys bread, vegetables, and a pint of wine.”
And again in another place:
“Wealth hoarded up is the master or slave of each possessor; it
should follow rather than lead, the ‘twisted rope.’ ”23
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.
1
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:
“Whether, sprung from Inachus of old, and thus hast lived
beneath the sun in wealth, or hast been poor and despised among men,
it matters not.”
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:
“Wine is harmful if taken with greedy lips, but if drunk in
moderation it is wholesome.”25
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
1alone 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:
“Money glistens, adorned with virtue; it supplies the means by
which thou mayest act well in whatever circumstances fate may
have in store for thee.”26
And Sappho:
“Without the love of virtue gold is a dangerous and harmful guest,
but when it is associated with virtue, it becomes the source and height
of good.”
And Callimachus:
“Riches do not make men great without virtue; neither do virtues
themselves make men great without some wealth.”
And Antiphanes:
“Now, by the gods, why is it necessary for a man to grow rich?
Why does he desire to possess much money unless that he may, as
much as possible, help his friends, and sow the seeds of a harvest of
gratitude, sweetest of the goddesses.”27
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 medi­
cines, 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 commodi­
ties. 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
1could make anything that is beautiful and perfect without using metals? Ev
if tools of iron or brass were not used, we could not make tools of wood a
stone without the help of metal. From all these examples are evident t
benefits and advantages derived from metals. We should not have ha
these at all unless the science of mining and metallurgy had been discovere
and handed down to us. Who then does not understand how highly usef
they are, nay rather, how necessary to the human race? In a word, ma
could not do without the mining industry, nor did Divine Providence wi
that he should.
Further, it has been asked whether to work in metals is honourab
employment for respectable people or whether it is not degrading an
dishonourable. We ourselves count it amongst the honourable arts. Fo
that art, the pursuit of which is unquestionably not impious, nor offensive
nor mean, we may esteem honourable. That this is the nature of th
mining profession, inasmuch as it promotes wealth by good and hones
methods, we shall show presently. With justice, therefore, we may clas
it amongst honourable employments. In the first place, the occupatio
of the miner, which I must be allowed to compare with other methods o
acquiring great wealth, is just as noble as that of agriculture; for, as th
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 accumu­
late great riches in a short time, without using any violence, fraud, o
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,
1finally, 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 pro­
prietors, 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 care­
lessness 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 magis­
trate 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
1from the owners than necessity demands. Nay, I will admit that a for
man may plaster over, or hide with a structure, a vein where it is rich i
metals. Is the wickedness of one or two to brand the many honest wit
fraud and trickery? What body is supposed to be more pious and virtuou
in the Republic than the Senate? Yet some Senators have been detecte
in peculations, and have been punished. Is this any reason that so honour
able a house should lose its good name and fame? The superintenden
cannot exact contributions from the owners without the knowledge an
permission of the Bergmeister or the deputies; for this reason decep
tion of this kind is impossible. Should the foremen be convicted o
fraud, they are beaten with rods; or of theft, they are hanged. I
is complained that some sellers and buyers of the shares in mines ar
fraudulent. I concede it. But can they deceive anyone except a stupid
careless man, unskilled in mining matters? Indeed, a wise and pruden
man, skilled in this art, if he doubts the trustworthiness of a seller o
buyer, goes at once to the mine that he may for himself examine the vei
which has been so greatly praised or disparaged, and may consider whethe
he will buy or sell the shares or not. But people say, though such an on
can be on his guard against fraud, yet a simple man and one who is easil
credulous, is deceived. But we frequently see a man who is trying to mislea
another in this way deceive himself, and deservedly become a laughing
stock for everyone; or very often the defrauder as well as the dupe i
entirely ignorant of mining. If, for instance, a vein has been found to b
abundant in ore, contrary to the idea of the would-be deceiver, then he wh
was to have been cheated gets a profit, and he who has been the deceive
loses. Nevertheless, the miners themselves rarely buy or sell shares, bu
generally they have jurati venditores28 who buy and sell at such prices as the
have been instructed to give or accept. Seeing therefore, that magistrate
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 s
with impunity, the criticism of those who wish to disparage the honesty
miners has therefore no force or weight.
In the next place, the occupation of the miner is objectionable t
nobody. For who, unless he be naturally malevolent and envious, wi
hate the man who gains wealth as it were from heaven? Or who will hat
a man who to amplify his fortune, adopts a method which is free fro
reproach? A moneylender, if he demands an excessive interest, incurs th
hatred of men. If he demands a moderate and lawful rate, so that he is n
injurious to the public generally and does not impoverish them, he fails t
become very rich from his business. Further, the gain derived from minin
is not sordid, for how can it be such, seeing that it is so great, so plentifu
and of so innocent a nature. A merchant's profits are mean and base whe
he sells counterfeit and spurious merchandise, or puts far too high a pri
on goods that he has purchased for little; for this reason the mercha
1would 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 them­
selves 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
1not 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.
1
BOOK II.
Qualities 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 Niceratus1. 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 realised,
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,
1where 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 bur­
dens 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 prefect3, 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 Croesus,
who was the owner of those mines near a deserted town between Atarnea
and Pergamum4; sometimes the mines belonged to a Republic, as, for

1instance, the prosperous silver mines in Spain which belonged to Carthage5;
sometimes they were the property of great and illustrious families, as were
the Athenian mines in Mount Laurion6.
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
1one 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 people8; but, instead, now­
adays those who are in authority administer the funds for mining in the name
of the State, not unlike private individuals.
1
Some owners prefer to buy shares9 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 over­
takes 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

1value, 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
1are 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 inhabit­
ants that valuable clay so especially beneficial to mankind10. 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
1be 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 work­
men as the masters; since on account of the high price of goods, the work­
men 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 con­
cerning 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 opera­
tions 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 col­
lected 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
1the 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 Bergmeister11 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 fragments12—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 dis­
charge 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
fluids13. 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

1other 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 worker14 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
1directions 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 hap­
pened in the case of the silver mines of Freiberg (concerning which I have
1written in Book I. of my work “De Veteribus et Novís Metallís”)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 ex­
plained 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 sub­
stance 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
1whatever 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 hoof19. 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 con­
sidered, 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

1hay, 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 con­
gealed 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 neigh­
bourhood of the veins. By these signs of Nature a vein can be discovered.
There are many great contentions between miners concerning the forked
twig21, 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
1bush 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. More­
over, 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 every­
body, 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
1 6[Figure 6]
A—TWIG. B—TRENCH.
men in discovering veins. With regard to deflection of branches of trees
they say nothing and adhere to their opinion.
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 neces­
sary 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 relate22; 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
form23; moreover by his rod, which was called “Caduceus,” Mercury gave
1sleep to watchmen and awoke slumberers24. 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 indica­
tions 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 profunda25.
1
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 Joachimstal,
because part of the same belonged to Geyer; or from their products,
as the “Pleygang” from lead, or the “Bissmutisch” at Schneeberg from
bismuth26; 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.
7[Figure 7]
1
BOOK III.
Previously 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 rocks1. 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 vessels2; 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.
1
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.”
1 8[Figure 8]
A. C.—THE MOUNTAIN. B—Vena profunda.
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.”
9[Figure 9]
1
Another occupies a large extent of space in length and width; there­
fore I usually call it “vena cumulata,” for it is nothing else than an accumu­
lation of some certain kind of mineral, as I have described in the book
1entitled De Subterraneorum Ortu et Causís. 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
1width, 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
1 10[Figure 10]
A, B, C, D—THE MOUNTAIN. E, F, G, H, I, K—Vena cumulata.
accumulations is usually formed a “vena cumulata.”
1 11[Figure 11]
A—Vena profunda. B—Intervenium. C—ANOTHER vena profunda.
12[Figure 12]
A & B—Venae dilatatae. C—Intervenium. D & E—OTHER venae dilatatae.
1
The space between two veins is called an interveníum; this interval
between the veins, if it is between venae dilatatae is entirely hidden under­
ground. If, however, it lies between venae profundae then the top is plainly
in sight, and the remainder is hidden.
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,
1or 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.
1 13[Figure 13]
A—WIDE vena profunda. B—NARROW vena profunda.
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.
1 14[Figure 14]
A—THIN vena dilatata. B—THICK vena dilatata.
Venae profundae vary in direction; for some run from east to west.
15[Figure 15]
A, B, C—VEIN. D, E, F—SEAMS IN THE ROCK (Commissurae Saxorum).
1
Others, on the other hand, run from west to east.
16[Figure 16]
A, B, C—VEIN. D, E, F—Seams in the Rocks.
Others run from south to north.
17[Figure 17]
A, B, C—VEIN. D, E, F—Seams in the Rocks.
1
Others, on the contrary, run from north to south.
18[Figure 18]
A, B, C—VEIN. D, E, F—Seams in the Rocks.
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.
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 dímetíentes,
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 outer­
most 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 needle3. The needle lies directly
1over that one of the twelve lines called “diameters” on which the number
XII is inscribed at both ends.
19[Figure 19]
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
1II 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.
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 Favoníus,
which blows from the west; the latter is called by the Greeks Ζέφυρος, and
the former Ἀπηλιώτης. There is the Auster, which blows from the south;
and opposed to it is the Septentrío, from the north; the former the Greeks
called Νότος, and the latter Ἀπαρκτίας. 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 Orníthíae
or the Bird wind, which has the first place next to the Subsolanus; then
comes Caecías; 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 Εὐ̄ρος. Between the Auster (south
wind) and the Favonius (west wind) is first Altanus, to the right of the
Auster (south wind); then Líbonotus; then Afrícus, which is the middle
one of these five; after that comes Subvesperus; next Argestes, to the left
of Favoníus (west wind). All these, with the exception of Líbonotus and
Argestes, have Latin names; but Afrícus also is called by the Greeks Αίψ.
In a similar manner, between Favoníus (west wind) and Septentrio (north
wind), first to the right of Favoníus (west wind), is the Etesíae; then
Círcíus; 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.
1Again, 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
20[Figure 20]
by the Greeks Βορέας and the Latins Aquílo 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
1also 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 Favoníus (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 Favoníus; 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 instru­
ment already described so that east is to the left and west to the right.
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.
21[Figure 21]
A, B—Venae dilatatae. C—Seams in the Rocks.
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.
1 22[Figure 22]
A—STRAIGHT vena profunda. B—CURVED vena profunda [should be vena dilatata(?)].
Similarly some venae dílatatae are horizontal, some are inclined, and
some are curved.
23[Figure 23]
A—HORIZONTAL vena dilatata. B—INCLINED vena dilatata. C—CURVED vena dilatata.
1
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).
24[Figure 24]
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.
25[Figure 25]
1
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)
26[Figure 26]
Other Venae Profundae (C, D) descend the mountain or hill (A) and
extend out into the plain (B).
27[Figure 27]
1
Some veins run straight along on the plateaux, the hills, or plains.
28[Figure 28]
A—MOUNTAINOUS PLAIN. B—Vena profunda.
29[Figure 29]
A—PRINCIPAL VEIN. B—TRANSVERSE VEIN. C—VEIN CUTTING PRINCIPAL ONE
OBLIQUELY.
1
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.
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 foot walls and hanging walls.
30[Figure 30]
A—PRINCIPAL VEIN. B—VEIN WHICH CUTS A OBLIQUELY. C—PART CARRIED AWAY.
D—THAT PART WHICH HAS BEEN CARRIED FORWARD.
Sometimes venae profundae join one with another, and from two or
more outcropping veins4, 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.
1 31[Figure 31]
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 JUNCTIO
32[Figure 32]
1
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.
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.
33[Figure 33]
A, B—VEINS DIVIDING. C—THE SAME JOINING.
Whether a vein is separating from or uniting with another can be deter­
mined 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.
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.
1 34[Figure 34]
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.
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 foot­
wall and seat of the vein, that to which we turn the back is the hanging­
wall. 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.
1 35[Figure 35]
A—THE “BEGINNING” (origo). B—THE “END” (finis). C—THE “HEAD” (caput).
D—THE “TAIL” (cauda).
A vena dilatata has only a “beginning” and an “end,” and in the place
of the “head” and “tail” it has two sides.
36[Figure 36]
A—THE “BEGINNING.” B—THE “END.” C, D—THE “SIDES.”
1 37[Figure 37]
A—THE “BEGINNING.” B—THE “END.” C—THE “HEAD.” D—THE “TAIL.”
E—TRANSVERSE VEIN.
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.
Stringers (fibrae)6, which are little veins, are classified into fibrae trans­
versae, 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.
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.
1 38[Figure 38]
A, B—VEINS. C—TRANSVERSE STRINGER. D—OBLIQUE STRINGER.
E—ASSOCIATED STRINGER. F—Fibra dilatata
39[Figure 39]
A—VEIN. B—Fibra incumbens FROM THE SURFACE OF THE HANGINGWALL. C—SAME
FROM THE FOOTWALL.
1
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.
40[Figure 40]
A—SEAMS WHICH PROCEED FROM THE EAST. B—THE INVERSE.
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 con­
sist sometimes of hard materials, sometimes of soft, and sometimes of a
kind of medium between the two.
1 41[Figure 41]
A—SOLID VEIN. B—SOLID STRINGER. C—CAVERNOUS VEIN. D—CAVERNOUS
STRINGER. E—BARREN VEIN. F—BARREN STRINGER.
But to return to veins. A great number of miners consider8 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
1best 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 some­
times 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 hoz9, has made it
1plain 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 pro­
tected 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 Calbus10, 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
1mountains 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
Albertus11 in the book entitled “De Subterraneorum Ortu et Causís,” 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.
42[Figure 42]
1
BOOK IV.
The 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 affairs1.
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 adjudi­
cate 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,
1for among the Greeks, who called it an όργυιά, 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 uncíae2.
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 multi­
plied by itself makes forty-nine square fathoms.
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 multi­
plied by the number of fathoms in one of the ends, the total produced by the
1 43[Figure 43]
SHAPE OF A SQUARE MEER.
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.
44[Figure 44]
SHAPE OF A LONG MEER OR DOUBLE MEASURE.
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 Bergmeíster
bounds the owner's rights in a head-meer.
45[Figure 45]
SHAPE OF A HEAD MEER.
The area of every other meer consists of two double measures, on which­
ever 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 Bergmeíster defines the right of the owner or company over each mine.
1 46[Figure 46]
SHAPE OF A MEER.
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 Bergmeíster 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 fraction3. 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. 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.
47[Figure 47]
SHAPE 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

1usual 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 more­
over 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 Bergmeíster 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 Bergmeíster 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
1vertically; 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 Bergmeíster,
on application being made to him, grants to one owner or company a right
1over 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 dílatatae. The boundaries of the areas
1on 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
1explained 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
1out when a torrent or some other force of Nature has laid open a vena
dílatata in a valley, so that it appears either on the slope of a mountain
or hill or on a plain. Elsewhere the Bergmeíster 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.
48[Figure 48]
SHAPE OF A HEAD-MEER.
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.
49[Figure 49]
SHAPE OF EVERY OTHER MEER.
1
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 Bergmeíster 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
dílatata is found, others are found beneath it.
Finally, the Bergmeíster 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. 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.
50[Figure 50]
SHAPE OF A HEAD-MEER.
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 dílatatae, 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
Limítíbus Agrorum,”7 but also as testified to by the songs of the poets. Such
1then 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,
1according 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. 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.
51[Figure 51]
LARGE AREA.
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 owner­
ship 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 pro­
vides 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 Bergmeíster first gave the right
1often 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 parts8.
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; some­
times there are two owners, so that one has five-sixths9 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
1within 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
symposíum, that is, a drinking bout, we are accustomed to call the money which
the owners subscribe a symbolum, or a contribution10. For, just as those who
go to a banquet (symposíum) 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 four11 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, some­
times 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
11,100 Rhenish guldens, were distributed to each one hundred and twenty-eighth
share. From the Annaberg mine which is known as the Himmelich 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 thaler12.
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
shifts13, the Bergmeíster 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 Bergmeíster 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 Bergmeíster, 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 Bergmeíster, 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
1Prince's.” Thereupon the Bergmeíster 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 Bergmeíster 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 seller14 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 con­
tributions 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 con­
tribution, 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 Berg­
meister, 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 un­
changed, for if owners fail for the space of a month to pay the contribu­
tions 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 Bergmeíster, the Jurors, the Mining Clerk, and the Share
Clerk, and each of such shares is entered on the proscribed list. If, how­
1ever, 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 Bergmeíster. 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 Bergmeíster. 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 Bergmeíster 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 Bergmeíster 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 answer­
able 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 Bergmeíster 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
1as a magistrate, or bids them leave their rights in abeyance, and he deter­
mines 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 Thasos15.
Next in power to the Mining Prefect comes the Bergmeíster, 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 Bergmeíster 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
Bergmeíster 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 Bergmeíster 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
1Mining 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 college16. 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 con­
sider 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 cer­
1tain 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
1the 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 advan­
tageously. 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 Bergmeíster, and the two Jurors, in agreement
with the owners, settle the remuneration for the labourers. Enough of the
duties and occupation of the manager.
1
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 under­
mined mountain, lest the rocks from the hangingwall of the veins, not being
supported, become detached from the mass of the mountain and over­
whelm 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.
1When 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, shovelers, windlass men, carriers,
sorters, washers, and smelters, as to whose duties I will speak in the fol­
lowing 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 Bergmeíster, 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 Metallícís17.
END OF BOOK IV.
52[Figure 52]
1
BOOK V.
In 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 book1 I will
in like manner explain the principles of under­
ground 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 canales2, 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 cumu­
latae, and stringers.
1
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.
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 less3. 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.
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
1divide it obliquely; however, my discourse is now concerned mainly with
vena profunda, but most of all with the metallic material which it contains.
53[Figure 53]
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.
1Excavations of this kind were called by the Greeks κρυπται for, extending
along after the manner of a tunnel, they are entirely hidden within the
54[Figure 54]
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.
1ground. 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.
55[Figure 55]
A—SHAFT. B, C—DRIFT. D—ANOTHER SHAFT. E—TUNNEL. F—MOUTH OF TUNNEL.
1
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 inter­
secting 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 ascer­
tain 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
1again 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 drusy4 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 native5; 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
1rudis6, 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 uncíae of gold7; 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

1the 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
1appearance 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 rudís gold is
found sometimes in large, and sometimes in small quantities in quartz,
1schist, marble, and also in stone which easily melts in fire of the second
degree, and which is sometimes so porous that it seems completely decom­
posed. Lastly, gold is found in pyrites, though rarely in large quantities.
When considering silver ores other than native silver, those ores are
1classified as rich, of which each one hundred líbrae 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-
1coloured, 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 líbrae of it.9 Silver ore usually contains a greater quantity
1than 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 rudís silver; especially with pyrites, cadmia metallíca fossílís, galena,
stibíum, and others.
1
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 lapís judaícus,
trochítes, 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
1in 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, melantería,
sory, chalcitis, misy, and vitriol; of tin is the large pure black stones of
1which 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 melantería, 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
mines12. 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 com­
posed 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
1into 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 tool13, all of which are designated by
appropriate names, and with the same tools they hew away the hard hanging­
wall 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 weigh­
ing 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 simple14. For if a vein held in the rocks cannot be hewn
1out 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,
1overcame the hardness of the Alps by the use of vinegar and fire. 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 com­
municate it to the other bundles of wood, which easily ignite.
56[Figure 56]
A—KINDLED LOGS. B—STICKS SHAVED DOWN FAN-SHAPED. C—TUNNEL.
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
1it 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 under­
ground 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
1out 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.
1
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
57[Figure 57]
A—WALL PLATES. B—DIVIDERS. C—LONG END POSTS. D—END PLATES.
1are arranged on two different systems; for either the square ends of the
timbers, which reach from the hangingwall to the footwall, are fixed into corres­
ponding 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 hanging
wall 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. First, two dressed posts are erected
and set into the tunnel floor, which is dug out a little; these are of medium
1thickness, 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.
58[Figure 58]
A—POSTS. B—CAPS. C—SILLS. D—DOORS. E—LAGGING. F—DRAINS.
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
1for 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; under-
1neath 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 dílatata 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 venæ dilatatæ lying down; and to
1avoid 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.
Next, as to venæ cumulatæ. These are dug by a somewhat different
method, for when one of these shows some metal at the top of the ground,
first of all one shaft is sunk; then, if it is worth while, around this one many
shafts are sunk and tunnels are driven into the mountain. If a torrent or
spring has torn fragments of metal from such a vein, a tunnel is first driven
into the mountain or hill for the purpose of searching for the ore; then
when it is found, a vertical shaft is sunk in it. Since the whole mountain, or
more especially the whole hill, is undermined, seeing that the whole of it is
composed of ore, it is necessary to leave the natural pillars and arches, or the
place is timbered. But sometimes when a vein is very hard it is broken by
fire, whereby it happens that the soft pillars break up, or the timbers are
burnt away, and the mountain by its great weight sinks into itself, and then
the shaft buildings are swallowed up in the great subsidence. Therefore,
about a vena cumulata it is advisable to sink some shafts which are not sub­
ject to this kind of ruin, through which the materials that are excavated may
be carried out, not only while the pillars and underpinnings still remain whole
and solid, but also after the supports have been destroyed by fire and have
fallen. Since ore which has thus fallen must necessarily be broken by fire,
new shafts through which the smoke can escape must be sunk in the abyss.
At those places where stringers intersect, richer ore is generally obtained
from the mine; these stringers, in the case of tin mines, sometimes have in
them black stones the size of a walnut. If such a vein is found in a plain,
as not infrequently happens in the case of iron, many shafts are sunk, because
they cannot be sunk very deep. The work is carried on by this method
because the miners cannot drive a tunnel into a level plain of this kind.
There remain the stringers in which gold alone is sometimes found,
in the vicinity of rivers and streams, or in swamps. If upon the soil being
removed, many of these are found, composed of earth somewhat baked and
burnt, as may sometimes be seen in clay pits, there is some hope that gold
may be obtained from them, especially if several join together. But the
very point of junction must be pierced, and the length and width searched
for ore, and in these places very deep shafts cannot be sunk.
I have completed one part of this book, and now come to the other, in
which I will deal with the art of surveying. Miners measure the solid
1mass of the mountains in order that the owners may lay out their plans, and
that their workmen may not encroach on other people's possessions. The
surveyor either measures the interval not yet wholly dug through, which
lies between the mouth of a tunnel and a shaft to be sunk to that depth, or
between the mouth of a shaft and the tunnel to be driven to that spot which
lies under the shaft, or between both, if the tunnel is neither so long as to
reach to the shaft, nor the shaft so deep as to reach to the tunnel; and thus
on both sides work is still to be done. Or in some cases, within the tunnels
and drifts, are to be fixed the boundaries of the meers, just as the Bergmeister
has determined the boundaries of the same meers above ground.16
Each method of surveying depends on the measuring of triangles. A
small triangle should be laid out, and from it calculations must be made
regarding a larger one. Most particular care must be taken that we do not
deviate at all from a correct measuring; for if, at the beginning, we are drawn
1by carelessness into a slight error, this at the end will produce great errors.
Now these triangles are of many shapes, since shafts differ among themselves
and are not all sunk by one and the same method into the depths of the
earth, nor do the slopes of all mountains come down to the valley or plain in
the same manner. For if a shaft is vertical, there is a triangle with a right
angle, which the Greeks call ὀρθογώνιον and this, according to the
inequalities of the mountain slope, has either two equal sides or three unequal
sides. The Greeks call the former τρίγωνον ἰσοσκελές the latter σκαληνόν for
a right angle triangle cannot have three equal sides. If a shaft is inclined
and sunk in the same vein in which the tunnel is driven, a triangle is likewise
made with a right angle, and this again, according to the various inequalities
of the mountain slope, has either two equal or three unequal sides. But if
a shaft is inclined and is sunk in one vein, and a tunnel is driven in
another vein, then a triangle comes into existence which has either an obtuse
angle or all acute angles. The former the Greeks call ἀμβλυγώνιον, the latter
ὀχυγώνιον. That triangle which has an obtuse angle cannot have three
equal sides, but in accordance with the different mountain slopes has either
two equal sides or three unequal sides. That triangle which has all acute
angles in accordance with the different mountain slopes has either three equal
sides, which the Greeks call τρίγωνον ἰσόπλευρον or two equal sides or three
unequal sides.
The surveyor, as I said, employs his art when the owners of the mines
desire to know how many fathoms of the intervening ground require to be
dug; when a tunnel is being driven toward a shaft and does not yet reach
it; or when the shaft has not yet been sunk to the depth of the bottom of the
tunnel which is under it; or when neither the tunnel reaches to that point,
nor has the shaft been sunk to it. It is of importance that miners should
know how many fathoms remain from the tunnel to the shaft, or from the
shaft to the tunnel, in order to calculate the expenditure; and in order that
the owners of a metal-bearing mine may hasten the sinking of a shaft and
the excavation of the metal, before the tunnel reaches that point and the
tunnel owners excavate part of the metal by any right of their own; and on
the other hand, it is important that the owners of a tunnel may similarly
hasten their driving before a shaft can be sunk to the depth of a tunnel, so
that they may excavate the metal to which they will have a right.
The surveyor, first of all, if the beams of the shaft-house do not give him
the opportunity, sets a pair of forked posts by the sides of the shaft in such
a manner that a pole may be laid across them. Next, from the pole he lets
down into the shaft a cord with a weight attached to it. Then he stretches a
second cord, attached to the upper end of the first cord, right down along the
slope of the mountain to the bottom of the mouth of the tunnel, and fixes it to
the ground. Next, from the same pole not far from the first cord, he lets
down a third cord, similarly weighted, so that it may intersect the second
cord, which descends obliquely. Then, starting from that point where the
third cord cuts the second cord which descends obliquely to the mouth of the
tunnel, he measures the second cord upward to where it reaches the end of
1 59[Figure 59]
A—UPRIGHT FORKED POSTS. B—POLE OVER THE POSTS. C—SHAFT. D—FIRST CORD.
E—WEIGHT OF FIRST CORD. F—SECOND CORD. G—SAME FIXED GROUND. H—HEAD
OF FIRST CORD. I—MOUTH OF TUNNEL. K—THIRD CORD. L—WEIGHT OF THIRD CORD.
M—FIRST SIDE MINOR TRIANGLE. N—SECOND SIDE MINOR TRIANGLE. O—THIRD SIDE
MINOR TRIANGLE. P—THE MINOR TRIANGLE.
1the first cord, and makes a note of this first side of the minor triangle17.
Afterward, starting again from that point where the third cord intersects the
second cord, he measures the straight space which lies between that point
and the opposite point on the first cord, and in that way forms the minor
triangle, and he notes this second side of the minor triangle in the same way as
before. Then, if it is necessary, from the angle formed by the first cord and
the second side of the minor triangle, he measures upward to the end of the
first cord and also makes a note of this third side of the minor triangle. The
third side of the minor triangle, if the shaft is vertical or inclined and is sunk
on the same vein in which the tunnel is driven, will necessarily be the same
length as the third cord above the point where it intersects the second cord;
and so, as often as the first side of the minor triangle is contained in the
length of the whole cord which descends obliquely, so many times the length
of the second side of the minor triangle indicates the distance between the
mouth of the tunnel and the point to which the shaft must be sunk; and
similarly, so many times the length of the third side of the minor triangle
gives the distance between the mouth of the shaft and the bottom of the
tunnel.
When there is a level bench on the mountain slope, the surveyor first
measures across this with a measuring-rod; then at the edges of this bench
he sets up forked posts, and applies the principle of the triangle to the two
sloping parts of the mountain; and to the fathoms which are the length of
that part of the tunnel determined by the triangles, he adds the number
of fathoms which are the width of the bench. But if sometimes the
mountain side stands up, so that a cord cannot run down from the shaft to
the mouth of the tunnel, or, on the other hand, cannot run up from the
mouth of the tunnel to the shaft, and, therefore, one cannot connect them in
a straight line, the surveyor, in order to fix an accurate triangle, measures the
mountain; and going downward he substitutes for the first part of the cord
a pole one fathom long, and for the second part a pole half a fathom
long. Going upward, on the contrary, for the first part of the cord he sub­
stitutes a pole half a fathom long, and for the next part, one a whole fathom
long; then where he requires to fix his triangle he adds a straight line to
these angles.
To make this system of measuring clear and more explicit, I will proceed
by describing each separate kind of triangle. When a shaft is vertical or
inclined, and is sunk in the same vein on which the tunnel is driven, there
is created, as I said, a triangle containing a right angle. Now if the minor
triangle has the two sides equal, which, in accordance with the numbering
used by surveyors, are the second and third sides, then the second and third
sides of the major triangle will be equal; and so also the intervening
distances will be equal which lie between the mouth of the tunnel and the
bottom of the shaft, and which lie between the mouth of the shaft and the
bottom of the tunnel. For example, if the first side of the minor triangle is
seven feet long and the second and likewise the third sides are five feet, and
1the length shown by the cord for the side of the major triangle is 101 times
seven feet, that is 117 fathoms and five feet, then the intervening space, of
course, whether the whole of it has been already driven through or has yet
to be driven, will be one hundred times five feet, which makes eighty-three
fathoms and two feet. Anyone with this example of proportions will be
able to construct the major and minor triangles in the same way as I have
done, if there be the necessary upright posts and cross-beams. When a shaft is
vertical the triangle is absolutely upright; when it is inclined and is sunk on
the same vein in which the tunnel is driven, it is inclined toward one side.
60[Figure 60]
A TRIANGLE HAVING A RIGHT ANGLE AND TWO EQUAL SIDES.
Therefore, if a tunnel has been driven into the mountain for sixty fathoms,
there remains a space of ground to be penetrated twenty-three fathoms and
two feet long; for five feet of the second side of the major triangle, which
lies above the mouth of the shaft and corresponds with the first side of the
minor triangle, must not be added. Therefore, if the shaft has been sunk
in the middle of the head meer, a tunnel sixty fathoms long will reach
to the boundary of the meer only when the tunnel has been extended a
further two fathoms and two feet; but if the shaft is located in the middle of
an ordinary meer, then the boundary will be reached when the tunnel has been
driven a further length of nine fathoms and two feet. Since a tunnel, for
every one hundred fathoms of length, rises in grade one fathom, or at all
events, ought to rise as it proceeds toward the shaft, one more fathom must
always be taken from the depth allowed to the shaft, and one added to the
length allowed to the tunnel. Proportionately, because a tunnel fifty
fathoms long is raised half a fathom, this amount must be taken from the
depth of the shaft and added to the length of the tunnel. In the same way
if a tunnel is one hundred or fifty fathoms shorter or longer, the same propor­
tion also must be taken from the depth of the one and added to the length
of the other. For this reason, in the case mentioned above, half a fathom
and a little more must be added to the distance to be driven through, so
that there remain twenty-three fathoms, five feet, two palms, one and a half
digits and a fifth of a digit; that is, if even the minutest proportions are
carried out; and surveyors do not neglect these without good cause.
Similarly, if the shaft is seventy fathoms deep, in order that it may reach to
the bottom of the tunnel, it still must be sunk a further depth of thirteen
fathoms and two feet, or rather twelve fathoms and a half, one foot, two
digits, and four-fifths of half a digit. And in this instance five feet must be
deducted from the reckoning, because these five feet complete the third side
of the minor triangle, which is above the mouth of the shaft, and from its
1depth there must be deducted half a fathom, two palms, one and a half digits
and the fifth part of half a digit. But if the tunnel has been driven to a
point where it is under the shaft, then to reach the roof of the tunnel the
shaft must still be sunk a depth of eleven fathoms, two and a half feet, one
palm, two digits, and four-fifths of half a digit.
If a minor triangle is produced of the kind having three unequal sides,
then the sides of the greater triangle cannot be equal; that is, if the first
side of the minor triangle is eight feet long, the second six feet long, and the
third five feet long, and the cord along the side of the greater triangle, not
to go too far from the example just given, is one hundred and one times
eight feet, that is, one hundred and thirty-four fathoms and four feet, the
distance which lies between the mouth of the tunnel and the bottom of the
shaft will occupy one hundred times six feet in length, that is, one hundred
fathoms. The distance between the mouth of the shaft and the bottom of the
tunnel is one hundred times five feet, that is, eighty-three fathoms and two feet.
And so, if the tunnel is eighty-five fathoms long, the remainder to be driven
into the mountain is fifteen fathoms long, and here, too, a correction in
measurement must be taken from the depth of the shaft and added to the
length of the tunnel; what this is precisely, I will pursue no further, since
everyone having a small knowledge of arithmetic can work it out. If the
shaft is sixty-seven fathoms deep, in order that it may reach the bottom of
the tunnel, the further distance required to be sunk amounts to sixteen
fathoms and two feet.
61[Figure 61]
A TRIANGLE HAVING A RIGHT ANGLE AND THREE UNEQUAL SIDES.
The surveyor employs this same method in measuring the mountain,
whether the shaft and tunnel are on one and the same vein, whether the vein
is vertical or inclined, or whether the shaft is on the principal vein and the tunnel
on a transverse vein descending vertically to the depths of the earth; in the
latter case the excavation is to be made where the transverse vein cuts the
vertical vein. If the principal vein descends on an incline and the cross-vein
descends vertically, then a minor triangle is created having one obtuse angle or
all three angles acute. If the minor triangle has one angle obtuse and the two
sides which are the second and third are equal, then the second and third
sides of the major triangle will be equal, so that if the first side of the minor
triangle is nine feet, the second, and likewise the third, will be five feet. Then
the first side of the major triangle will be one hundred and one times nine
feet, or one hundred and fifty-one and one-half fathoms, and each of the
other sides of the major triangle will be one hundred times five feet, that is,
eighty-three fathoms and two feet. But when the first shaft is inclined,
1generally speaking, it is not deep; but there are usually several, all
inclined, and one always following the other. Therefore, if a tunnel is seventy­
seven fathoms long, it will reach to the middle of the bottom of a shaft when
six fathoms and two feet further have been sunk. But if all such inclined
shafts are seventy-six fathoms deep, in order that the last one may reach
the bottom of the tunnel, a depth of seven fathoms and two feet remains to
be sunk.
62[Figure 62]
TRIANGLE HAVING AN OBTUSE ANGLE AND TWO EQUAL SIDES.
If a minor triangle is made which has an obtuse angle and three unequal
sides, then again the sides of the large triangle cannot be equal. For
example, if the first side of the minor triangle is six feet long, the second
three feet, and the third four feet, and the cord along the side of the greater
triangle one hundred and one times six feet, that is, one hundred and one
fathoms, the distance between the mouth of the tunnel and the bottom of
the last shaft will be a length one hundred times three feet, or fifty fathoms;
but the depth that lies between the mouth of the first shaft and the bottom of
the tunnel is one hundred times four feet, or sixty-six fathoms and four feet.
Therefore, if a tunnel is forty-four fathoms long, the remaining distance to
be driven is six fathoms. If the shafts are fifty-eight fathoms deep, the
newest will touch the bottom of the tunnel when eight fathoms and four
feet have been sunk.
63[Figure 63]
TRIANGLE HAVING AN OBTUSE ANGLE AND THREE UNEQUAL SIDES.
If a minor triangle is produced which has all its angles acute and its
three sides equal, then necessarily the second and third sides of the minor
triangle will be equal, and likewise the sides of the major triangle frequently
referred to will be equal. Thus if each side of the minor triangle is six feet
long, and the cord measurement for the side of the major triangle is one
hundred and one times six feet, that is, one hundred and one fathoms, then
both the distances to be dug will be one hundred fathoms. And thus if the
tunnel is ninety fathoms long, it will reach the middle of the bottom of the
last shaft when ten fathoms further have been driven. If the shafts are
1ninety-five fathoms deep, the last will reach the bottom of the tunnel when
it is sunk a further depth of five fathoms.
64[Figure 64]
A TRIANGLE HAVING ALL ITS ANGLES ACUTE AND ITS THREE SIDES EQUAL.
If a triangle is made which has all its angles acute, but only two sides
equal, namely, the first and third, then the second and third sides are not
equal; therefore the distances to be dug cannot be equal. For example, if
the first side of the minor triangle is six feet long, and the second is four feet,
and the third is six feet, and the cord measurement for the side of the major
triangle is one hundred and one times six feet, that is, one hundred and one
fathoms, then the distance between the mouth of the tunnel and the bottom of
the last shaft will be sixty-six fathoms and four feet. But the distance from the
mouth of the first shaft to the bottom of the tunnel is one hundred fathoms.
So if the tunnel is sixty fathoms long, the remaining distance to be driven
into the mountain is six fathoms and four feet. If the shaft is ninety-seven
fathoms deep, the last one will reach the bottom of the tunnel when a further
depth of three fathoms has been sunk.
65[Figure 65]
TRIANGLE HAVING ALL ITS ANGLES ACUTE AND TWO SIDES EQUAL, A, B, UNEQUAL SIDE C.
If a minor triangle is produced which has all its angles acute, but its
three sides unequal, then again the distances to be dug cannot be equal.
For example, if the first side of the minor triangle is seven feet long, the
second side is four feet, and the third side is six feet, and the cord measure­
ment for the side of the major triangle is one hundred and one times seven
feet or one hundred and seventeen fathoms and four feet, the distance
between the mouth of the tunnel and the bottom of the last shaft will be
four hundred feet or sixty-six fathoms, and the depth between the mouth of
the first shaft and the bottom of the tunnel will be one hundred fathoms.
Therefore, if a tunnel is fifty fathoms long, it will reach the middle of the
bottom of the newest shaft when it has been driven sixteen fathoms and four
feet further. But if the shafts are then ninety-two fathoms deep, the last
1shaft will reach the bottom of the tunnel when it has been sunk a further
eight fathoms.
66[Figure 66]
A TRIANGLE HAVING ALL ITS ANGLES ACUTE AND ITS THREE SIDES UNEQUAL.
This is the method of the surveyor in measuring the mountain, if the
principal vein descends inclined into the depths of the earth or the transverse
vein is vertical. But if they are both inclined, the surveyor uses the same
method, or he measures the slope of the mountain separately from the slope
of the shaft. Next, if a transverse vein in which a tunnel is driven does not
cut the principal vein in that spot where the shaft is sunk, then it is necessary
for the starting point of the survey to be in the other shaft in which the
transverse vein cuts the principal vein. But if there be no shaft on that spot
where the outcrop of the transverse vein cuts the outcrop of the principal
vein, then the surface of the ground which lies between the shafts must
be measured, or that between the shaft and the place where the outcrop of
the one vein intersects the outcrop of the other.
Some surveyors, although they use three cords, nevertheless ascertain
only the length of a tunnel by that method of measuring, and determine
the depth of a shaft by another method; that is, by the method by
which cords are re-stretched on a level part of the mountain or in
a valley, or in flat fields, and are measured again. Some, however, do
not employ this method in surveying the depth of a shaft and the
length of a tunnel, but use only two cords, a graduated hemicycle18 and a
rod half a fathom long. They suspend in the shaft one cord, fastened
from the upper pole and weighted, just as the others do. Fastened to the
upper end of this cord, they stretch another right down the slope of the mountain
to the bottom of the mouth of the tunnel and fix it to the ground. Then to
the upper part of this second cord they apply on its lower side the broad part
of a hemicycle. This consists of half a circle, the outer margin of which is
covered with wax, and within this are six semi-circular lines. From the
1waxed margin through the first semi-circular line, and reaching to the second,
there proceed straight lines converging toward the centre of the hemicycle;
these mark the middles of intervening spaces lying between other straight lines
which extend to the fourth semi-circular line. But all lines whatsoever, from
the waxed margin up to the fourth line, whether they go beyond it or not,
correspond with the graduated lines which mark the minor spaces of a rod.
Those which go beyond the fourth line correspond with the lines marking
67[Figure 67]
A—WAXED SEMICIRCLE OF THE HEMICYCLE. B—SEMICIRCULAR LINES. C—STRAIGHT
LINES. D—LINE MEASURING THE HALF. E—LINE MEASURING THE WHOLE. F—TONGUE.
1the major spaces on the rod, and those which proceed further, mark the
middle of the intervening space which lies between the others. The
straight lines, which run from the fifth to the sixth semi-circular line, show
nothing further. Nor does the line which measures the half, show anything
when it has already passed from the sixth straight line to the base of the
hemicycle. When the hemicycle is applied to the cord, if its tongue indicates
the sixth straight line which lies between the second and third semi-circular
lines, the surveyor counts on the rod six lines which separate the minor
spaces, and if the length of this portion of the rod be taken from the second
cord, as many times as the cord itself is half-fathoms long, the remaining
length of cord shows the distance the tunnel must be driven to reach under
the shaft. But if he sees that the tongue has gone so far that it marks the
sixth line between the fourth and fifth semi-circular lines, he counts six lines
which separate the major spaces on the rod; and this entire space is deducted
from the length of the second cord, as many times as the number of whole
fathoms which the cord contains; and then, in like manner, the remaining
length of cord shows us the distance the tunnel must be driven to reach
under the shaft.19
68[Figure 68]
STRETCHED CORDS: A—FIRST CORD. B—SECOND CORD. C—THIRD CORD.
D—TRIANGLE.
1
Both these surveyors, as well as the others, in the first place make use
of the haulage rope. These they measure by means of others made of linden
bark, because the latter do not stretch at all, while the former become very
slack. These cords they stretch on the surveyor's field, the first one to
represent the parts of mountain slopes which descend obliquely. Then the
second cord, which represents the length of the tunnel to be driven to reach
the shaft, they place straight, in such a direction that one end of it can touch
the lower end of the first cord; then they similarly lay the third cord straight,
and in such a direction that its upper end may touch the upper end of
the first cord, and its lower end the other extremity of the second cord, and
thus a triangle is formed. This third cord is measured by the instrument
with the index, to determine its relation to the perpendicular; and the length
of this cord shows the depth of the shaft.
Some surveyors, to make their system of measuring the depth of a shaft
more certain, use five stretched cords: the first one descending obliquely;
two, that is to say the second and third, for ascertaining the length of the
tunnel; two for the depth of the shaft; in which way they form a quadrangle
divided into two equal triangles, and this tends to greater accuracy.
69[Figure 69]
STRETCHED CORDS: A—FIRST. B—SECOND. B—THIRD. C—FOURTH. C—FIFTH.
D—QUADRANGLE.
These systems of measuring the depth of a shaft and the length of a
tunnel, are accurate when the vein and also the shaft or shafts go down to the
1tunnel vertically or inclined, in an uninterrupted cse. The same is true
when a tunnel runs straight on to a shaft. But when each of them bends
now in this, now in that direction, if they have not been completely driven
and sunk, no living man is clever enough to judge how far they are deflected
from a straight course. But if the whole of either one of the two has been ex­
cavated its full distance, then we can estimate more easily the length of one,
or the depth of the other; and so the location of the tunnel, which is below
a newly-started shaft, is determined by a method of surveying which I will
describe. First of all a tripod is fixed at the mouth of the tunnel, and likewise at
the mouth of the shaft which has been started, or at the place where the shaft will
be started. The tripod is made of three stakes fixed to the ground, a small
rectangular board being placed upon the stakes and fixed to them, and on
this is set a compass. Then from the lower tripod a weighted cord is let
down perpendicularly to the earth, close to which cord a stake is fixed in the
ground. To this stake another cord is tied and drawn straight into the tunnel
to a point as far as it can go without being bent by the hangingwall or the
footwall of the vein. Next, from the cord which hangs from the lower tripod,
a third cord likewise fixed is brought straight up the sloping side of the
mountain to the stake of the upper tripod, and fastened to it. In order that
the measuring of the depth of the shaft may be more certain, the third cord
should touch one and the same side of the cord hanging from the lower tripod
which is touched by the second cord—the one which is drawn into the tunnel.
All this having been correctly carried out, the surveyor, when at length
the cord which has been drawn straight into the tunnel is about to be bent
by the hangingwall or footwall, places a plank in the bottom of the tunnel
and on it sets the orbis, an instrument which has an indicator peculiar
to itself. This instrument, although it also has waxed circles, differs from the
other, which I have described in the third book. But by both these
instruments, as well as by a rule and a square, he determines whether the
stretched cords reach straight to the extreme end of the tunnel, or whether
they sometimes reach straight, and are sometimes bent by the footwall or
hangingwall. Each instrument is divided into parts, but the compass into
twenty-four parts, the orbis into sixteen parts; for first of all it is divided
into four principal parts, and then each of these is again divided into four.
Both have waxed circles, but the compass has seven circles, and the orbis
only five circles. These waxed circles the surveyor marks, whichever instru­
ment he uses, and by the succession of these same marks he notes any
change in the direction in which the cord extends. The orbis has an open­
ing running from its outer edge as far as the centre, into which opening he
puts an iron screw, to which he binds the second cord, and by screwing it into
the plank, fixes it so that the orbis may be immovable. He takes care
to prevent the second cord, and afterward the others which are put up,
from being pulled off the screw, by employing a heavy iron, into an opening
of which he fixes the head of the screw. In the case of the compass, since
it has no opening, he merely places it by the side of the screw. That the
instrument does not incline forward or backward, and in that way the
1measurement become a greater length than it should be, he sets upon the
instrument a standing plummet level, the tongue of which, if the instrument
is level, indicates no numbers, but the point from which the numbers start.
70[Figure 70]
COMPASS. A, B, C, D, E, F, G ARE THE SEVEN WAXED CIRCLES.
When the surveyor has carefully observed each separate angle of the
tunnel and has measured such parts as he ought to measure, then he lays
them out in the same way on the surveyor's field20 in the open air, and again
no less carefully observes each separate angle and measures them. First of
all, to each angle, according as the calculation of his triangle and his art
require it, he lays out a straight cord as a line. Then he stretches a cord at
1 71[Figure 71]
A, B, C, D, E—FIVE WAXED CIRCLES OF THE orbis.
F—OPENING OF SAME. G—SCREW. H—PERFORATED IRON.
1 72[Figure 72]
A—LINES OF THE ROD WHICH SEPARATE MINOR SPACES. B—LINES OF THE ROD WHICH SEPARATE MAJOR SPACES.
1such an angle as represents the slope of the mountain, so that its lower end
may reach the end of the straight cord; then he stretches a third cord
73[Figure 73]
A—STANDING PLUMMET LEVEL. B—TONGUE. C—LEVEL AND TONGUE.
1similarly straight and at such an angle, that with its upper end it may reach
the upper end of the second cord, and with its lower end the last end of the
first cord. The length of the third cord shows the depth of the shaft, as I
said before, and at the same time that point on the tunnel to which the shaft
will reach when it has been sunk.
If one or more shafts reach the tunnel through intermediate drifts and
shafts, the surveyor, starting from the nearest which is open to the air,
measures in a shorter time the depth of the shaft which requires to be sunk,
than if he starts from the mouth of the tunnel. First of all he measures
that space on the surface which lies between the shaft which has been sunk
and the one which requires to be sunk. Then he measures the incline of all
the shafts which it is necessary to measure, and the length of all the drifts
with which they are in any way connected to the tunnel. Lastly, he
measures part of the tunnel; and when all this is properly done, he demon­
strates the depth of the shaft and the point in the tunnel to which the shaft
will reach. But sometimes a very deep straight shaft requires to be sunk
at the same place where there is a previous inclined shaft, and to the same
depth, in order that loads may be raised and drawn straight up by machines.
Those machines on the surface are turned by horses; those inside the earth,
by the same means, and also by water-power. And so, if it becomes
necessary to sink such a shaft, the surveyor first of all fixes an iron screw
in the upper part of the old shaft, and from the screw he lets down a cord
as far as the first angle, where again he fixes a screw, and again lets down the
cord as far as the second angle; this he repeats again and again until the
cord reaches to the bottom of the shaft. Then to each angle of the cord he
applies a hemicycle, and marks the waxed semi-circle according to the lines
which the tongue indicates, and designates it by a number, in case it should be
moved; then he measures the separate parts of the cord with another cord
made of linden bark. Afterward, when he has come back out of the shaft,
he goes away and transfers the markings from the waxed semi-circle of the
hemicycle to an orbis similarly waxed. Lastly, the cords are stretched on the
surveyor's field, and he measures the angles, as the system of measuring by
triangles requires, and ascertains which part of the footwall and which
part of the hangingwall rock must be cut away in order that the shaft may
descend straight. But if the surveyor is required to show the owners of the
mine, the spot in a drift or a tunnel in which a shaft needs to be raised
from the bottom upward, that it should cut through more quickly, he
begins measuring from the bottom of the drift or tunnel, at a point
beyond the spot at which the bottom of the shaft will arrive, when it has been
sunk. When he has measured the part of the drift or tunnel up to the first
shaft which connects with an upper drift, he measures the incline of this
shaft by applying a hemicycle or orbis to the cord. Then in a like manner
he measures the upper drift and the incline shaft which is sunk therein
toward which a raise is being dug, then again all the cords are stretched in
the surveyor's field, the last cord in such a way that it reaches the first, and
then he measures them. From this measurement is known in what part
1of the drift or tunnel the raise should be made, and how many fathoms of
vein remain to be broken through in order that the shaft may be connected.
I have described the first reason for surveying; I will now describe
another. When one vein comes near another, and their owners are different
persons who have late come into possession, whether they drive a tunnel
or a drift, or sink a shaft, they may encroach, or seem to encroach, without
any lawful right, upon the boundaries of the older owners, for which reason
the latter very often seek redress, or take legal proceedings. The surveyor
either himself settles the dispute between the owners, or by his art gives
evidence to the judges for making their decision, that one shall not encroach
on the mine of the other. Thus, first of all he measures the mines of each
party with a basket rope and cords of linden bark; and having applied to the
cords an orbis or a compass, he notes the directions in which they extend.
Then he stretches the cords on the surveyor's field; and starting from that
point whose owners are in possession of the old meer toward the other,
whether it is in the hanging or footwall of the vein, he stretches a cross­
cord in a straight line, according to the sixth division of the compass,
that is, at a right angle to the vein, for a distance of three and a
half fathoms, and assigns to the older owners that which belongs to
them. But if both ends of one vein are being dug out in two tunnels, or
drifts from opposite directions, the surveyor first of all considers the lower
tunnel or drift and afterward the upper one, and judges how much each of
them has risen little by little. On each side strong men take in their hands
a stretched cord and hold it so that there is no point where it is not strained
tight; on each side the surveyor supports the cord with a rod half a fathom
long, and stays the rod at the end with a short stick as often as he thinks
it necessary. But some fasten cords to the rods to make them steadier.
The surveyor attaches a suspended plummet level to the middle of the cord to
enable him to calculate more accurately on both sides, and from this he ascer­
tains whether one tunnel has risen more than another, or in like manner one
drift more than another. Afterward he measures the incline of the shafts
on both sides, so that he can estimate their position on each side. Then he
easily sees how many fathoms remain in the space which must be broken
through. But the grade of each tunnel, as I said, should rise one fathom in
the distance of one hundred fathoms.
The Swiss surveyors, when they wish to measure tunnels driven into
the highest mountains, also use a rod half a fathom long, but composed of
three parts, which screw together, so that they may be shortened. They
use a cord made of linden bark to which are fastened slips of paper showing
the number of fathoms. They also employ an instrument peculiar to them,
which has a needle; but in place of the waxed circles they carry in their
hands a chart on which they inscribe the readings of the instrument. The
instrument is placed on the back part of the rod so that the tongue, and the
extended cord which runs through the three holes in the tongue, demonstrates
the direction, and they note the number of fathoms. The tongue shows
whether the cord inclines forward or backward. The tongue does not hang,
1as in the case of the suspended plummet level, but is fixed to the instrument in
a half-lying position. They measure the tunnels for the purpose of knowing
how many fathoms they have been increased in elevation; how many fathoms
the lower is distant from the upper one; how many fathoms of interval is
74[Figure 74]
INDICATOR OF A SUSPENDED PLUMMET LEVEL.
1not yet pierced between the miners who on opposite sides are digging on
the same vein, or cross-stringers, or two veins which are approaching one
another.
But I return to our mines. If the surveyor desires to fix the boundaries
of the meer within the tunnels or drifts, and mark to them with a sign cut in the
rock, in the same way that the Bergmeíster has marked these boundaries
above ground, he first of all ascertains, by measuring in the manner
which I have explained above, which part of the tunnel or drift lies
beneath the surface boundary mark, stretching the cords along the drifts to
a point beyond that spot in the rock where he judges the mark should be
cut. Then, after the same cords have been laid out on the surveyor's field,
he starts from that upper cord at a point which shows the boundary mark,
and stretches another cross-cord straight downward according to the sixth
75[Figure 75]
A—NEEDLE OF THE INSTRUMENT. B—ITS TONGUE. C, D, E—HOLES IN THE TONGUE.
1division of the compass—that is at a right angle. Then that part
of the lowest cord which lies beyond the part to which the cross-cord
runs being removed, it shows at what point the boundary mark should
be cut into the rock of the tunnel or drift. The cutting is made in the
presence of the two Jurors and the manager and the foreman of each
mine. For as the Bergmeíster in the presence of these same persons sets
the boundary stones on the surface, so the surveyor cuts in the rock a sign
which for this reason is called the boundary rock. If he fixes the boundary
mark of a meer in which a shaft has recently begun to be sunk on a vein,
first of all he measures and notes the incline of that shaft by the com­
pass or by another way with the applied cords; then he measures all
the drifts up to that one in whose rock the boundary mark has to
be cut. Of these drifts he measures each angle; then the cords, being
laid out on the surveyor's field, in a similar way he stretches a cross­
cord, as I said, and cuts the sign on the rock. But if the underground
boundary rock has to be cut in a drift which lies beneath the first drift, the
surveyor starts from the mark in the first drift, notes the different angles,
one by one, takes his measurements, and in the lower drift stretches a cord
beyond that place where he judges the mark ought to be cut; and then,
as I said before, lays out the cords on the surveyor's field. Even if a vein
runs differently in the lower drift from the upper one, in which the first
boundary mark has been cut in the rock, still, in the lower drift the mark
must be cut in the rock vertically beneath. For if he cuts the lower mark
obliquely from the upper one some part of the possession of one mine is
taken away to its detriment, and given to the other. Moreover, if it
happens that the underground boundary mark requires to be cut in an
angle, the surveyor, starting from that angle, measures one fathom toward
the front of the mine and another fathom toward the back, and from these
measurements forms a triangle, and dividing its middle by a cross-cord,
makes his cutting for the boundary mark.
Lastly, the surveyor sometimes, in order to make more certain, finds the
boundary of the meers in those places where many old boundary marks
are cut in the rock. Then, starting from a stake fixed on the surface,
he first of all measures to the nearest mine; then he measures one shaft
after another; then he fixes a stake on the surveyors' field, and making
a beginning from it stretches the same cords in the same way and measures
them, and again fixes in the ground a stake which for him will signify the end
of his measuring. Afterward he again measures underground from that
spot at which he left off, as many shafts and drifts as he can remember. Then
he returns to the surveyor's field, and starting again from the second stake,
makes his measurements; and he does this as far as the drift in which the
boundary mark must be cut in the rock. Finally, commencing from the
stake first fixed in the ground, he stretches a cross-cord in a straight line to
the last stake, and this shows the length of the lowest drift. The point
where they touch, he judges to be the place where the underground boundary
mark should be cut.
END OF BOOK V.
1
BOOK VI.
Digging of veins I have written of, and the timbering
of shafts, tunnels, drifts, and other excavations,
and the art of surveying. I will now speak first of
all, of the iron tools with which veins and rocks are
broken, then of the buckets into which the lumps
of earth, rock, metal, and other excavated materials
are thrown, in order that they may be drawn, con­
veyed, or carried out. Also, I will speak of the
water vessels and drains, then of the machines of
different kinds,1 and lastly of the maladies of miners. And while all these
matters are being described accurately, many methods of work will be
explained.
There are certain iron tools which the miners designate by names of their
own, and besides these, there are wedges, iron blocks, iron plates, hammers,
crowbars, pikes, picks, hoes, and shovels. Of those which are especially
referred to as “iron tools” there are four varieties, which are different
from one another in length or thickness, but not in shape, for the
upper end of all of them is broad and square, so that it can be struck by the
1hammer. The lower end is pointed so as to split the hard rocks and veins
with its point. All of these have eyes except the fourth. The first,
which is in daily use among miners, is three-quarters of a foot long, a digit
and a half wide, and a digit thick. The second is of the same width as the
first, and the same thickness, but one and one half feet long, and is used to
shatter the hardest veins in such a way that they crack open. The third
is the same length as the second, but is a little wider and thicker; with
this one they dig the bottoms of those shafts which slowly accumulate water.
The fourth is nearly three palms and one digit long, two digits thick, and in
the upper end it is three digits wide, in the middle it is one palm wide, and
at the lower end it is pointed like the others; with this they cut out the
harder veins. The eye in the first tool is one palm distant from the upper
end, in the second and third it is seven digits distant; each swells out
around the eye on both sides, and into it they fit a wooden handle, which
they hold with one hand, while they strike the iron tool with a hammer, after
placing it against the rock. These tools are made larger or smaller as
necessary. The smiths, as far as possible, sharpen again all that become dull.
76[Figure 76]
A—FIRST “IRON TOOL.” B—SECOND. C—THIRD. D—FOURTH.2 E—WEDGE. F—IRON
BLOCK. G—IRON PLATE. H—WOODEN HANDLE. I—HANDLE INSERTED IN FIRST TOOL.
A wedge is usually three palms and two digits long and six digits wide;
at the upper end, for a distance of a palm, it is three digits thick, and
beyond that point it becomes thinner by degrees, until finally it is quite
sharp.
1
The iron block is six digits in length and width; at the upper end it is
two digits thick, and at the bottom a digit and a half. The iron plate is
the same length and width as the iron block, but it is very thin. All of these,
as I explained in the last book, are used when the hardest kind of veins are
hewn out. Wedges, locks, and plates, are likewise made larger or smaller.
77[Figure 77]
A—SMALLEST OF THE SMALLER HAMMERS. B—INTERMEDIATE. C—LARGEST. D—SMALL
KIND OF THE LARGER HAMMER. E—LARGE KIND. F—WOODEN HANDLE. G—HANDLE
FIXED IN THE SMALLEST HAMMER.
Hammers are of two kinds, the smaller ones the miners hold in
one hand, and the larger ones they hold with both hands. The former,
because of their size and use, are of three sorts. With the smallest,
that is to say, the lightest, they strike the second “iron tool;” with the
intermediate one the first “iron tool;” and with the largest the third “iron
tool”; this one is two digits wide and thick. Of the larger sort of hammers
there are two kinds; with the smaller they strike the fourth “iron tool;”
with the larger they drive the wedges into the cracks; the former are three,
and the latter five digits wide and thick, and a foot long. All swell out in
their middle, in which there is an eye for a handle, but in most cases the
handles are somewhat light, in order that the workmen may be able to strike
more powerful blows by the hammer's full weight being thus concentrated.
1
The iron crowbars are likewise of two kinds, and each kind is pointed at
one end. One is rounded, and with this they pierce to a shaft full of water
when a tunnel reaches to it; the other is flat, and with this they knock out
of the stopes on to the floor, the rocks which have been softened by the fire,
and which cannot be dislodged by the pike. A miner's pike, like a sailor's,
is a long rod having an iron head.
78[Figure 78]
A—ROUND CROWBAR. B—FLAT CROWBAR. C—PIKE.
79[Figure 79]
A—PICK. B—HOE. C—SHOVEL.
1
The miner's pick differs from a peasant's pick in that the latter is wide
at the bottom and sharp, but the former is pointed. It is used to dig out
ore which is not hard, such as earth. Likewise a hoe and shovel are in no
way different from the common articles, with the one they scrape up earth
and sand, with the other they throw it into vessels.
Now earth, rock, mineral substances and other things dug out with
the pick or hewn out with the “iron tools” are hauled out of the shaft
in buckets, or baskets, or hide buckets; they are drawn out of tunnels in
wheelbarrows or open trucks, and from both they are sometimes carried in
trays.
Buckets are of two kinds, which differ in size, but not in material or
shape. The smaller for the most part hold only about one metreta; the
larger are generally capable of carrying one-sixth of a congius; neither is
of unchangeable capacity, but they often vary.3 Each is made of staves circled
with hoops, one of which binds the top and the other the bottom.
The hoops are sometimes made of hazel and oak, but these are easily
broken by dashing against the shaft, while those made of iron are more
durable. In the larger buckets the staves are thicker and wider, as also are
both hoops, and in order that the buckets may be more firm and strong,
they have eight iron straps, somewhat broad, four of which run from the
upper hoop downwards, and four from the lower hoop upwards, as if to meet
each other. The bottom of each bucket, both inside and outside, is furnished
with two or three straps of iron, which run from one side of the lower hoop
to the other, but the straps which are on the outside are fixed crosswise.
Each bucket has two iron hafts which project above the edge, and it has an
iron semi-circular bail whose lower ends are fixed directly into the hafts,
that the bucket may be handled more easily. Each kind of bucket is much
deeper than it is wide, and each is wider at the top, in order that the material
which is dug out may be the more easily poured in and poured out again.
Into the smaller buckets strong boys, and into larger ones men, fill earth
from the bottom of the shaft with hoes; or the other material dug up is
shovelled into them or filled in with their hands, for which reason these men
are called “shovellers.4” Afterward they fix the hook of the drawing-rope
into the bale; then the buckets are drawn up by machines—the smaller ones,
because of their lighter weight, by machines turned by men, and the larger
ones, being heavier, by the machines turned by horses. Some, in place
of these buckets, substitute baskets which hold just as much, or even more,
since they are lighter than the buckets; some use sacks made of ox-hide
instead of buckets, and the drawing-rope hook is fastened to their iron bale,
usually three of these filled with excavated material are drawn up at the
same time as three are being lowered and three are being filled by boys. The
latter are generally used at Schneeberg and the former at Freiberg.
180[Figure 80]
81[Figure 81]
A—SMALL BUCKET. B—LARGE BUCKET. C—STAVES. D—IRON HOOPS. E—IRON
STRAPS. F—IRON STRAPS ON THE BOTTOM. G—HAFTS. H—IRON BALE. I—HOOK OF
DRAWING-ROPE. K—BASKET. L—HIDE BUCKET OR SACK.
That which we call a cisíum5 is a vehicle with one wheel, not with
two, such as horses draw. When filled with excavated material it is pushed
1by a workman out of tunnels or sheds. It is made as follows: two planks
are chosen about five feet long, one foot wide, and two digits thick; of
each of these the lower side is cut away at the front for a length of one
foot, and at the back for a length of two feet, while the middle is left whole.
Then in the front parts are bored circular holes, in order that the ends of an
axle may revolve in them. The intermediate parts of the planks are
perforated twice near the bottom, so as to receive the heads of two little
cleats on which the planks are fixed; and they are also perforated in the
middle, so as to receive the heads of two end-boards, while keys fixed in
these projecting heads strengthen the whole structure. The handles are
made out of the extreme ends of the long planks, and they turn downward
at the ends that they may be grasped more firmly in the hands. The small
wheel, of which there is only one, neither has a nave nor does it revolve
around the axle, but turns around with it. From the felloe, which the
Greeks called ἀψῑδες, two transverse spokes fixed into it pass through the
middle of the axle toward the opposite felloe; the axle is square, with
the exception of the ends, each of which is rounded so as to turn in the
opening. A workman draws out this barrow full of earth and rock and draws
it back empty. Miners also have another wheelbarrow, larger than this
one, which they use when they wash earth mixed with tin-stone on to which
a stream has been turned. The front end-board of this one is deeper, in
order that the earth which has been thrown into it may not fall out.
82[Figure 82]
A—SMALL WHEELBARROW. B—LONG PLANKS THEREOF. C—END-BOARDS. D—SMALL
WHEEL. E—LARGER BARROW. F—FRONT END-BOARD THEREOF.
1 83[Figure 83]
A—RECTANGULAR IRON BANDS ON TRUCK. B—ITS IRON STRAPS. C—IRON AXLE.
D—WOODEN ROLLERS. E—SMALL IRON KEYS. F—LARGE BLUNT IRON PIN.
G—SAME TRUCK UPSIDE DOWN.
The open truck has a capacity half as large again as a wheelbarrow; it is
about four feet long and about two and a half feet wide and deep; and since
its shape is rectangular, it is bound together with three rectangular iron
bands, and besides these there are iron straps on all sides. Two small iron
axles are fixed to the bottom, around the ends of which wooden rollers revolve
on either side; in order that the rollers shall not fall off the immovable
axles, there are small iron keys. A large blunt pin fixed to the bottom of the
truck runs in a groove of a plank in such a way that the truck does not
leave the beaten track. Holding the back part with his hands, the carrier
pushes out the truck laden with excavated material, and pushes it back
again empty. Some people call it a “dog”6, because when it moves it
makes a noise which seems to them not unlike the bark of a dog. This truck
is used when they draw loads out of the longest tunnels, both because it is
moved more easily and because a heavier load can be placed in it.
Bateas7 are hollowed out of a single block of wood; the smaller kind
are generally two feet long and one foot wide. When they have been
filled with ore, especially when but little is dug from the shafts and tunnels,
men either carry them out on their shoulders, or bear them away hung from
1 84[Figure 84]
A—SMALL BATEA. B—ROPE. C—LARGE BATEA.
their necks. Pliny8 is our authority that among the ancients everything
which was mined was carried out on men's shoulders, but in truth this
method of carrying forth burdens is onerous, since it causes great fatigue
to a great number of men, and involves a large expenditure for labour; for
this reason it has been rejected and abandoned in our day. The length of
the larger batea is as much as three feet, the width up to a foot and a palm.
In these bateas the metallic earth is washed for the purpose of testing it.
Water-vessels differ both in the use to which they are put and in the
material of which they are made; some draw the water from the shafts and
pour it into other things, as dippers; while some of the vessels filled with
water are drawn out by machines, as buckets and bags; some are made of
wood, as the dippers and buckets, and others of hides, as the bags. The
water-buckets, just like the buckets which are filled with dry material, are of
two kinds, the smaller and the larger, but these are unlike the other buckets at
the top, as in this case they are narrower, in order that the water may not be
spilled by being bumped against the timbers when they are being drawn out
of the shafts, especially those considerably inclined. The water is poured
into these buckets by dippers, which are small wooden buckets, but unlike the
water-buckets, they are neither narrow at the top nor bound with iron hoops,
but with hazel,—because there is no necessity for either. The smaller buckets
are drawn up by machines turned by men, the larger ones by those turned by
horses.
1 85[Figure 85]
A—SMALLER WATER-BUCKET. B—LARGER WATER-BUCKET. C—DIPPER
86[Figure 86]
A—WATER-BAG WHICH TAKES IN WATER BY ITSELF. B—WATER-BAG INTO WHICH WATER
POURS WHEN IT IS PUSHED WITH A SHOVEL.
1
Our people give the name of water-bags to those very large skins for
carrying water which are made of two, or two and a half, ox-hides. When
these water-bags have undergone much wear and use, first the hair comes
off them and they become bald and shining; after this they become
torn. If the tear is but a small one, a piece of smooth notched stick is put
into the broken part, and the broken bag is bound into its notches on either
side and sewn together; but if it is a large one, they mend it with a piece of
ox-hide. The water-bags are fixed to the hook of a drawing-chain and let
down and dipped into the water, and as soon as they are filled they are drawn
up by the largest machine. They are of two kinds; the one kind take in the
water by themselves; the water pours into the other kind when it is pushed
in a certain way by a wooden shovel.
When the water has been drawn out from the shafts, it is run off in
troughs, or into a hopper, through which it runs into the trough. Likewise
the water which flows along the sides of the tunnels is carried off in drains.
These are composed of two hollowed beams joined firmly together, so as to
hold the water which flows through them, and they are covered by planks
all along their course, from the mouth of the tunnel right up to the extreme
end of it, to prevent earth or rock falling into them and obstructing the flow
of the water. If much mud gradually settles in them the planks are raised
and the drains are cleaned out, for they would otherwise become stopped up
and obstructed by this accident. With regard to the trough lying above
87[Figure 87]
A—TROUGH. B—HOPPER.
1ground, which miners place under the hoppers which are close by the shaft
houses, these are usually hollowed out of single trees. Hoppers are generally
made of four planks, so cut on the lower side and joined together that the
top part of the hopper is broader and the bottom part narrower.
I have sufficiently indicated the nature of the miners' iron tools and
their vessels. I will now explain their machines, which are of three kinds,
that is, hauling machines, ventilating machines, and ladders. By means of
the hauling machines loads are drawn out of the shafts; the ventilating
machines receive the air through their mouths and blow it into shafts or
tunnels, for if this is not done, diggers cannot carry on their labour without
great difficulty in breathing; by the steps of the ladders the miners go
down into the shafts and come up again.
Hauling machines are of varied and diverse forms, some of them being
made with great skill, and if I am not mistaken, they were unknown to the
Ancients. They have been invented in order that water may be drawn from
the depths of the earth to which no tunnels reach, and also the excavated
material from shafts which are likewise not connected with a tunnel, or if
so, only with very long ones. Since shafts are not all of the same depth, there
is a great variety among these hauling machines. Of those by which dry loads
are drawn out of the shafts, five sorts are in the most common use, of which
I will now describe the first. Two timbers a little longer than the shaft are
placed beside it, the one in the front of the shaft, the other at the back.
Their extreme ends have holes through which stakes, pointed at the bottom
like wedges, are driven deeply into the ground, so that the timbers may remain
stationary. Into these timbers are mortised the ends of two cross-timbers,
one laid on the right end of the shaft, while the other is far enough
from the left end that between it and that end there remains suitable
space for placing the ladders. In the middle of the cross-timbers, posts are
fixed and secured with iron keys. In hollows at the top of these posts
thick iron sockets hold the ends of the barrel, of which each end projects
beyond the hollow of the post, and is mortised into the end of another
piece of wood a foot and a half long, a palm wide and three digits thick;
the other end of these pieces of wood is seven digits wide, and into each
of them is fixed a round handle, likewise a foot and a half long. A
winding-rope is wound around the barrel and fastened to it at the
middle part. The loop at each end of the rope has an iron hook which
is engaged in the bale of a bucket, and so when the windlass revolves by
being turned by the cranks, a loaded bucket is always being drawn out of the
shaft and an empty one is being sent down into it. Two robust men turn
the windlass, each having a wheelbarrow near him, into which he unloads
the bucket which is drawn up nearest to him; two buckets generally fill a
wheelbarrow; therefore when four buckets have been drawn up, each man
runs his own wheelbarrow out of the shed and empties it. Thus it happens
that if shafts are dug deep, a hillock rises around the shed of the windlass.
If a vein is not metal-bearing, they pour out the earth and rock without
discriminating; whereas if it is metal-bearing, they preserve these materials,
1which they unload separately and crush and wash. When they draw up
buckets of water they empty the water through the hopper into a trough,
through which it flows away.
88[Figure 88]
A—TIMBER PLACED IN FRONT OF THE SHAFT. B—TIMBER PLACED AT THE BACK OF THE
SHAFT. C—POINTED STAKES. D—CROSS-TIMBERS. E—POSTS OR THICK PLANKS.
F—IRON SOCKETS. G—BARREL. H—ENDS OF BARREL. I—PIECES OF WOOD.
K—HANDLE. L—DRAWING-ROPE. M—ITS HOOK. N—BUCKET. O—BALE OF THE
BUCKET.
The next kind of machine, which miners employ when the shaft is
deeper, differs from the first in that it possesses a wheel as well as cranks.
This windlass, if the load is not being drawn up from a great depth, is turned
by one windlass man, the wheel taking the place of the other man. But if the
depth is greater, then the windlass is turned by three men, the wheel being
substituted for a fourth, because the barrel having been once set in motion,
the rapid revolutions of the wheel help, and it can be turned more easily.
Sometimes masses of lead are hung on to this wheel, or are fastened to the
spokes, in order that when it is turned they depress the spokes by their weight
and increase the motion; some persons for the same reason fasten into the
barrel two, three, or four iron rods, and weight their ends with lumps of lead.
The windlass wheel differs from the wheel of a carriage and from the one
1 89[Figure 89]
A—BARREL. B—STRAIGHT LEVERS. C—USUAL CRANK. D—SPOKES OF WHEEL.
E—RIM OF THE SAME WHEEL.
which is turned by water power, for it lacks the buckets of a water-wheel
and it lacks the nave of a carriage wheel. In the place of the nave it has a thick
barrel, in which are mortised the lower ends of the spokes, just as their upper
ends are mortised into the rim. When three windlass men turn this machine,
four straight levers are fixed to the one end of the barrel, and to the
other the crank which is usual in mines, and which is composed of two limbs,
of which the rounded horizontal one is grasped by the hands; the rect­
angular limb, which is at right angles to the horizontal one, has mortised in its
lower end the round handle, and in the upper end the end of the barrel. This
crank is worked by one man, the levers by two men, of whom one pulls while
the other pushes; all windlass workers, whatsoever kind of a machine they
may turn, are necessarily robust that they can sustain such great toil.
The third kind of machine is less fatiguing for the workman, while it
raises larger loads; even though it is slower, like all other machines which
have drums, yet it reaches greater depths, even to a depth of 180 feet. It
consists of an upright axle with iron journals at its extremities, which
turn in two iron sockets, the lower of which is fixed in a block set in the
ground and the upper one in the roof beam. This axle has at its lower end a
1 90[Figure 90]
A—UPRIGHT AXLE. B—BLOCK. C—ROOF BEAM. D—WHEEL. E—TOOTHED-DRUM.
F—HORIZONTAL AXLE. G—DRUM COMPOSED OF RUNDLES. H—DRAWING ROPE.
I—POLE. K—UPRIGHT POSTS. L—CLEATS ON THE WHEEL.
wheel made of thick planks joined firmly together, and at its upper end a
toothed drum; this toothed drum turns another drum made of rundles, which
is on a horizontal axle. A winding-rope is wound around this latter axle,
which turns in iron bearings set in the beams. So that they may not fall, the
two workmen grasp with their hands a pole fixed to two upright posts, and
then pushing the cleats of the lower wheel backward with their feet, they
revolve the machine; as often as they have drawn up and emptied one
bucket full of excavated material, they turn the machine in the opposite
direction and draw out another.
The fourth machine raises burdens once and a half as large again as the
two machines first explained. When it is made, sixteen beams are erected
each forty feet long, one foot thick and one foot wide, joined at the top with
clamps and widely separated at the bottom. The lower ends of all of
them are mortised into separate sills laid flat upon the ground; these sills
are five feet long, a foot and a half wide, and a foot thick. Each beam is also
connected with its sill by a post, whose upper end is mortised into the beam
1and its lower end mortised into the sill; these posts are four feet long, one
foot thick, and one foot wide. Thus a circular area is made, the diameter of
which is fifty feet; in the middle of this area a hole is sunk to a depth of ten
feet, and rammed down tight, and in order to give it sufficient firmness, it is
strengthened with contiguous small timbers, through which pins are driven,
for by them the earth around the hole is held so that it cannot fall in. In
the bottom of the hole is planted a sill, three or four feet long and a foot and a
half thick and wide; in order that it may remain fixed, it is set into the small
timbers; in the middle of it is a steel socket in which the pivot of the axle turns.
In like manner a timber is mortised into two of the large beams, at the top
beneath the clamps; this has an iron bearing in which the other iron journal of
the axle revolves. Every axle used in mining, to speak of them once for all,
has two iron journals, rounded off on all sides, one fixed with keys in the centre
of each end. That part of this journal which is fixed to the end
of the axle is as broad as the end itself and a digit thick; that which
projects beyond the axle is round and a palm thick, or thicker if necessity
requires; the ends of each miner's axle are encircled and bound by an
iron band to hold the journal more securely. The axle of this machine,
except at the ends, is square, and is forty feet long, a foot and a half thick
and wide. Mortised and clamped into the axle above the lower end are the
ends of four inclined beams; their outer ends support two double cross­
beams similarly mortised into them; the inclined beams are eighteen feet
long, three palms thick, and five wide. The two cross-beams are fixed to
the axle and held together by wooden keys so that they will not separate,
and they are twenty-four feet long. Next, there is a drum which is made of
three wheels, of which the middle one is seven feet distant from the upper
one and from the lower one; the wheels have four spokes which are
supported by the same number of inclined braces, the lower ends of which
are joined together round the axle by a clamp; one end of each spoke is
mortised into the axle and the other into the rim. There are rundles all
round the wheels, reaching from the rim of the lowest one to the rim of the
middle one, and likewise from the rim of the middle wheel to the rim of the top
one; around these rundles are wound the drawing-ropes, one between the lowest
wheel and the middle one, the other between the middle and top wheels.
The whole of this construction is shaped like a cone, and is covered with a
shingle roof, with the exception of that square part which faces the shaft.
Then cross-beams, mortised at both ends, connect a double row of upright
posts; all of these are eighteen feet long, but the posts are one foot thick
and one foot wide, and the cross-beams are three palms thick and wide.
There are sixteen posts and eight cross-beams, and upon these cross-beams
are laid two timbers a foot wide and three palms thick, hollowed out to a
width of half a foot and to a depth of five digits; the one is laid upon the
upper cross-beams and the other upon the lower; each is long enough to
reach nearly from the drum of the whim to the shaft. Near the same drum
each timber has a small round wooden roller six digits thick, whose ends are
1 91[Figure 91]
A—UPRIGHT BEAMS. B—SILLS LAID FLAT UPON THE GROUND. C—POSTS. D—AREA.
E—SILL SET AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HOLE. F—AXLE. G—DOUBLE CROSS-BEAMS.
H—DRUM. I—WINDING-ROPES. K—BUCKET. L—SMALL PIECES OF WOOD HANGING
FROM DOUBLE CROSS-BEAMS. M—SHORT WOODEN BLOCK. N—CHAIN. O—POLE BAR.
P—GRAPPLING HOOK. (Some members mentioned in the text are not shown).
1covered with iron bands and revolve in iron rings. Each timber also has a
wooden pulley, which together with its iron axle revolves in holes in the
timber. These pulleys are hollowed out all round, in order that the drawing­
rope may not slip out of them, and thus each rope is drawn tight and turns
over its own roller and its own pulley. The iron hook of each rope is engaged
with the bale of the bucket. Further, with regard to the double cross­
beams which are mortised to the lower part of the main axle, to each end
of them there is mortised a small piece of wood four feet long. These appear
to hang from the double cross-beams, and a short wooden block is fixed to the
lower part of them, on which a driver sits. Each of these blocks has an iron
clavis which holds a chain, and that in turn a pole-bar. In this way it is
possible for two horses to draw this whim, now this way and now that; turn
by turn one bucket is drawn out of the shaft full and another is let down
into it empty; if, indeed, the shaft is very deep four horses turn the whim.
When a bucket has been drawn up, whether filled with dry or wet materials,
it must be emptied, and a workman inserts a grappling hook and overturns
it; this hook hangs on a chain made of three or four links, fixed to a timber.
The fifth machine is partly like the whim, and partly like the third rag
and chain pump, which draws water by balls when turned by horse power,
as I will explain a little later. Like this pump, it is turned by horse
power and has two axles, namely, an upright one—about whose lower end,
which decends into an underground chamber, there is a toothed drum—and a
horizontal one, around which there is a drum made of rundles. It has indeed
two drums around its horizontal axle, similar to those of the big machine, but
smaller, because it draws buckets from a shaft almost two hundred and forty
feet deep. One drum is made of hubs to which cleats are fixed, and
the other is made of rundles; and near the latter is a wheel two
feet deep, measured on all sides around the axle, and one foot wide; and
against this impinges a brake,10 which holds the whim when occasion demands
that it be stopped. This is necessary when the hide buckets are emptied
after being drawn up full of rock fragments or earth, or as often as water
is poured out of buckets similarly drawn up; for this machine not only
raises dry loads, but also wet ones, just like the other four machines which
I have already described. By this also, timbers fastened on to its winding­
chain are let down into a shaft. The brake is made of a piece of wood one
foot thick and half a foot long, projecting from a timber that is suspended
by a chain from one end of a beam which oscillates on an iron pin, this in
turn being supported in the claws of an upright post; and from the other end
of this oscillating beam a long timber is suspended by a chain, and from this
long timber again a short beam is suspended. A workman sits on the short
beam when the machine needs to be stopped, and lowers it; he then inserts
a plank or small stick so that the two timbers are held down and cannot be
raised. In this way the brake is raised, and seizing the drum, presses it
so tightly that sparks often fly from it; the suspended timber to which
the short beam is attached, has several holes in which the chain is
1 92[Figure 92]
A—TOOTHED DRUM WHICH IS ON THE UPRIGHT AXLE. B—HORIZONTAL AXLE. C—DRUM
WHICH IS MADE OF RUNDLES. D—WHEEL NEAR IT. E—DRUM MADE OF HUBS.
F—BRAKE. G—OSCILLATING BEAM. H—SHORT BEAM. I—HOOK.
1fixed, so that it may be raised as much as is convenient. Above this wheel
there are boards to prevent the water from dripping down and wetting it, for
if it becomes wet the brake will not grip the machine so well. Near the
other drum is a pin from which hangs a chain, in the last link of which there
is an iron hook three feet long; a ring is fixed to the bottom of the bucket,
and this hook, being inserted into it, holds the bucket back so that the water
may be poured out or the fragments of rock emptied.
The miners either carry, draw, or roll down the mountains the ore which
is hauled out of the shafts by these five machines or taken out of the
tunnels. In the winter time our people place a box on a sledge and draw
it down the low mountains with a horse; and in this season they
also fill sacks made of hide and load them on dogs, or place two or
three of them on a small sledge which is higher in the fore part and lower at
the back. Sitting on these sacks, not without risk of his life, the bold
driver guides the sledge as it rushes down the mountain into the valleys with
a stick, which he carries in his hand; when it is rushing down too
quickly he arrests it with the stick, or with the same stick brings it back to
the track when it is turning aside from its proper course. Some of the
93[Figure 93]
A—SLEDGE WITH BOX PLACED ON IT. B—SLEDGE WITH SACKS PLACED ON IT. C—STICK.
D—DOGS WITH PACK-SADDLES. E—PIG-SKIN SACKS TIED TO A ROPE.
1Noricians11 collect ore during the winter into sacks made of bristly pigskins,
and drag them down from the highest mountains, which neither horses,
mules nor asses can climb. Strong dogs, that are trained to bear pack
saddles, carry these sacks when empty into the mountains. When they
are filled with ore, bound with thongs, and fastened to a rope, a man,
winding the rope round his arm or breast, drags them down through the
snow to a place where horses, mules, or asses bearing pack-saddles can
climb. There the ore is removed from the pigskin sacks and put into other
sacks made of double or triple twilled linen thread, and these placed on the
pack-saddles of the beasts are borne down to the works where the ores
are washed or smelted. If, indeed, the horses, mules, or asses are able
to climb the mountains, linen sacks filled with ore are placed on their saddles,
and they carry these down the narrow mountain paths, which are passable
neither by wagons nor sledges, into the valleys lying below the steeper
portions of the mountains. But on the declivity of cliffs which beasts cannot
climb, are placed long open boxes made of planks, with transverse cleats to
hold them together; into these boxes is thrown the ore which has been
brought in wheelbarrows, and when it has run down to the level it is gathered
into sacks, and the beasts either carry it away on their backs or drag it away
after it has been thrown into sledges or wagons. When the drivers bring
ore down steep mountain slopes they use two-wheeled carts, and they drag
behind them on the ground the trunks of two trees, for these by their weight
hold back the heavily-laden carts, which contain ore in their boxes, and check
their descent, and but for these the driver would often be obliged to
bind chains to the wheels. When these men bring down ore from mountains
which do not have such declivities, they use wagons whose beds are twice
as long as those of the carts. The planks of these are so put together that,
when the ore is unloaded by the drivers, they can be raised and taken apart,
for they are only held together by bars. The drivers employed by the owners
of the ore bring down thirty or sixty wagon-loads, and the master of the
works marks on a stick the number of loads for each driver. But some
ore, especially tin, after being taken from the mines, is divided into eight
parts, or into nine, if the owners of the mine give “ninth parts” to the
owners of the tunnel. This is occasionally done by measuring with a bucket,
but more frequently planks are put together on a spot where, with the
addition of the level ground as a base, it forms a hollow box. Each owner
provides for removing, washing, and smelting that portion which has fallen
to him. (Illustration p. 170).
Into the buckets, drawn by these five machines, the boys or men throw
the earth and broken rock with shovels, or they fill them with their hands;
hence they get their name of shovellers. As I have said, the same
machines raise not only dry loads, but also wet ones, or water; but before
I explain the varied and diverse kinds of machines by which miners are wont
1 94[Figure 94]
A—HORSES WITH PACK-SADDLES. B—LONG BOX PLACED ON THE SLOPE OF THE CLIFF.
C—CLEATS THEREOF. D—WHEELBARROW. E—TWO-WHEELED CART. F—TRUNKS OF
TREES. G—WAGON. H—ORE BEING UNLOADED FROM THE WAGON. I—BARS.
K—MASTER OF THE WORKS MARKING THE NUMBER OF CARTS ON A STICK. L—BOXES
INTO WHICH ARE THROWN THE ORE WHICH HAS TO BE DIVIDED.
1to draw water alone, I will explain how heavy bodies, such as axles, iron
chains, pipes, and heavy timbers, should be lowered into deep vertical shafts.
A windlass is erected whose barrel has on each end four straight levers; it
is fixed into upright beams and around it is wound a rope, one end of which
is fastened to the barrel and the other to those heavy bodies which are slowly
lowered down by workmen; and if these halt at any part of the shaft they
are drawn up a little way. When these bodies are very heavy, then behind
this windlass another is erected just like it, that their combined strength
may be equal to the load, and that it may be lowered slowly. Sometimes for
the same reason, a pulley is fastened with cords to the roof-beam, and the rope
descends and ascends over it.
95[Figure 95]
A—WINDLASS. B—STRAIGHT LEVERS. C—UPRIGHT BEAMS. D—ROPE. E—PULLEY.
F—TIMBERS TO BE LOWERED.
Water is either hoisted or pumped out of shafts. It is hoisted up after
being poured into buckets or water-bags; the water-bags are generally
brought up by a machine whose water-wheels have double paddles, while the
buckets are brought up by the five machines already described, although in
certain localities the fourth machine also hauls up water-bags of moderate
size. Water is drawn up also by chains of dippers, or by suction pumps, or
1by “rag and chain” pumps.12 When there is but a small quantity, it is
either brought up in buckets or drawn up by chains of dippers or suction
pumps, and when there is much water it is either drawn up in hide bags or
by rag and chain pumps.
First of all, I will describe the machines which draw water by chains
of dippers, of which there are three kinds. For the first, a frame is
made entirely of iron bars: it is two and a half feet high, likewise two and
a half feet long, and in addition one-sixth and one-quarter of a digit
long, one-fourth and one-twenty-fourth of a foot wide. In it there are three
little horizontal iron axles, which revolve in bearings or wide pillows of steel.
and also four iron wheels, of which two are made with rundles and the same
number are toothed. Outside the frame, around the lowest axle, is a
wooden fly-wheel, so that it can be more readily turned, and inside the frame
is a smaller drum which is made of eight rundles, one-sixth and one twenty­
fourth of a foot long. Around the second axle, which does not project
beyond the frame, and is therefore only two and a half feet and one-twelfth
and one-third part of a digit long, there is on the one side, a smaller toothed
wheel, which has forty-eight teeth, and on the other side a larger drum,
which is surrounded by twelve rundles one-quarter of a foot long. Around the
third axle, which is one inch and one-third thick, is a larger toothed wheel
projecting one foot from the axle in all directions, which has seventy-two
teeth. The teeth of each wheel are fixed in with screws, whose threads are
screwed into threads in the wheel, so that those teeth which are broken can be
replaced by others; both the teeth and rundles are steel. The upper axle
projects beyond the frame, and is so skilfully mortised into the body of
another axle that it has the appearance of being one; this axle proceeds
through a frame made of beams which stands around the shaft, into an iron
fork set in a stout oak timber, and turns on a roller made of pure steel.
Around this axle is a drum of the kind possessed by those machines which
draw water by rag and chain; this drum has triple curved iron clamps,
to which the links of an iron chain hook themselves, so that a great weight
cannot tear them away. These links are not whole like the links of other
chains, but each one being curved in the upper part on each side catches the
one which comes next, whereby it presents the appearance of a double chain.
At the point where one catches the other, dippers made of iron or brass plates
and holding half a congíus13 are bound to them with thongs; thus, if there are
one hundred links there will be the same number of dippers pouring out water.
When the shafts are inclined, the mouths of the dippers project and are covered
on the top that they may not spill out the water, but when the shafts are
vertical the dippers do not require a cover. By fitting the end of the lowest
small axle into the crank, the man who works the crank turns the axle, and at
the same time the drum whose rundles turn the toothed wheel of the second
axle; by this wheel is driven the one that is made of rundles, which
1 96[Figure 96]
A—IRON FRAME. B—LOWEST AXLE. C—FLY-WHEEL. D—SMALLER DRUM MADE OF
RUNDLES. E—SECOND AXLE. F—SMALLER TOOTHED WHEEL G—LARGER DRUM MADE
OF RUNDLES. H—UPPER AXLE. I—LARGER TOOTHED WHEEL. K—BEARINGS.
L—PILLOW. M—FRAMEWORK. N—OAK TIMBER O—SUPPORT OF IRON BEARING
P—ROLLER Q—UPPER DRUM. R—CLAMPS. S—CHAIN. T—LINKS. V—DIPPERS
X—CRANK. Y—LOWER DRUM OR BALANCE WEIGHT.
1again turns the toothed wheel of the upper small axle and thus the drum to
which the clamps are fixed. In this way the chain, together with the empty
dippers, is slowly let down, close to the footwall side of the vein, into the sump
to the bottom of the balance drum, which turns on a little iron axle, both ends
of which are set in a thick iron bearing. The chain is rolled round the drum
and the dippers fill with water; the chain being drawn up close to the hanging­
wall side, carries the dippers filled with water above the drum of the upper
axle. Thus there are always three of the dippers inverted and pouring
water into a lip, from which it flows away into the drain of the tunnel. This
machine is less useful, because it cannot be constructed without great expense,
and it carries off but little water and is somewhat slow, as also are other
machines which possess a great number of drums.
97[Figure 97]
A—WHEEL WHICH IS TURNED BY TREADING. B—AXLE. C—DOUBLE CHAIN. D—LINK
OF DOUBLE CHAIN. E—DIPPERS. F—SIMPLE CLAMPS. G—CLAMP WITH TRIPLE CURVES.
The next machine of this kind, described in a few words by Vitruvius,14
more rapidly brings up dippers, holding a congius; for this reason, it is
1more useful than the first one for drawing water out of shafts, into which
much water is continually flowing. This machine has no iron frame nor
drums, but has around its axle a wooden wheel which is turned by treading;
the axle, since it has no drum, does not last very long. In other respects
this pump resembles the first kind, except that it differs from it by having
a double chain. Clamps should be fixed to the axle of this machine, just as
to the drum of the other one; some of these are made simple and others
with triple curves, but each kind has four barbs.
The third machine, which far excels the two just described, is made
when a running stream can be diverted to a mine; the impetus of the
stream striking the paddles revolves a water-wheel in place of the wheel
turned by treading. With regard to the axle, it is like the second machine,
98[Figure 98]
A—WHEEL WHOSE PADDLES ARE TURNED BY THE FORCE OF THE STREAM. B—AXLE.
C—DRUM OF AXLE, TO WHICH CLAMPS ARE FIXED. D—CHAIN. E—LINK. F—DIPPERS.
G—BALANCE DRUM.
but the drum which is round the axle, the chain, and the balance drum, are
like the first machine. It has much more capacious dippers than even the
second machine, but since the dippers are frequently broken, miners rarely
use these machines; for they prefer to lift out small quantities of water by
the first five machines or to draw it up by suction pumps, or, if there is
1much water, to drain it by the rag and chain pump or to bring it up in
water-bags.
Enough, then, of the first sort of pumps. I will now explain the other,
that is the pump which draws, by means of pistons, water which has been
raised by suction. Of these there are seven varieties, which though they
differ from one another in structure, nevertheless confer the same benefits
upon miners, though some to a greater degree than others. The first pump
is made as follows. Over the sump is placed a flooring, through which a
pipe—or two lengths of pipe, one of which is joined into the other—are let
down to the bottom of the sump; they are fastened with pointed iron clamps
driven in straight on both sides, so that the pipes may remain fixed. The
lower end of the lower pipe is enclosed in a trunk two feet deep; this trunk,
hollow like the pipe, stands at the bottom of the sump, but the lower opening
of it is blocked with a round piece of wood; the trunk has perforations
round about, through which water flows into it. If there is one length of
pipe, then in the upper part of the trunk which has been hollowed out there is
enclosed a box of iron, copper, or brass, one palm deep, but without a bottom,
and a rounded valve so tightly closes it that the water, which has been drawn
up by suction, cannot run back; but if there are two lengths of pipe, the
box is enclosed in the lower pipe at the point of junction. An opening or a
spout in the upper pipe reaches to the drain of the tunnel. Thus the work­
man, eager at his labour, standing on the flooring boards, pushes the piston
down into the pipe and draws it out again. At the top of the piston-rod is a
hand-bar and the bottom is fixed in a shoe; this is the name given to the
leather covering, which is almost cone-shaped, for it is so stitched that it is
tight at the lower end, where it is fixed to the piston-rod which it surrounds,
but in the upper end where it draws the water it is wide open. Or else an
iron disc one digit thick is used, or one of wood six digits thick, each of which
is far superior to the shoe. The disc is fixed by an iron key which pene­
trates through the bottom of the piston-rod, or it is screwed on to the
rod; it is round, with its upper part protected by a cover, and has five or
six openings, either round or oval, which taken together present a star-like
appearance; the disc has the same diameter as the inside of the pipe,
so that it can be just drawn up and down in it. When the workman draws
the piston up, the water which has passed in at the openings of the disc,
whose cover is then closed, is raised to the hole or little spout, through which
it flows away; then the valve of the box opens, and the water which has
passed into the trunk is drawn up by the suction and rises into the pipe;
but when the workman pushes down the piston, the valve closes and allows
the disc again to draw in the water.
The piston of the second pump is more easily moved up and down. When
this pump is made, two beams are placed over the sump, one near the right side
of it, and the other near the left. To one beam a pipe is fixed with iron clamps;
to the other is fixed either the forked branch of a tree or a timber cut out at
the top in the shape of a fork, and through the prongs of the fork a round
hole is bored. Through a wide round hole in the middle of a sweep passes
1 99[Figure 99]
A—SUMP. B—PIPES. C—FLOORING. D—TRUNK. E—PERFORATIONS OF TRUNK.
F—VALVE. G—SPOUT. H—PISTON-ROD. I—HAND-BAR OF PISTON. K—SHOE. L—DISC
WITH ROUND OPENINGS. M—DISC WITH OVAL OPENINGS. N—COVER. O—THIS MAN IS
BORING LOGS AND MAKING THEM INTO PIPES. P—BORER WITH AUGER. Q—WIDER BORER.
1 100[Figure 100]
A—ERECT TIMBER. B—AXLE. C—SWEEP WHICH TURNS ABOUT THE AXLE. D—PISTON
ROD. E—CROSS-BAR. F—RING WITH WHICH TWO PIPES ARE GENERALLY JOINED.
an iron axle, so fastened in the holes in the fork that it remains fixed, and
the sweep turns on this axle. In one end of the sweep the upper end of a
piston-rod is fastened with an iron key; at the other end a cross-bar is also
fixed, to the extreme ends of which are handles to enable it to be held more
firmly in the hands. And so when the workman pulls the cross-bar upward,
he forces the piston into the pipe; when he pushes it down again he draws
the piston out of the pipe; and thus the piston carries up the water which
has been drawn in at the openings of the disc, and the water flows away through
the spout into the drains. This pump, like the next one, is identical with
the first in all that relates to the piston, disc, trunk, box, and valve.
The third pump is not unlike the one just described, but in place of
one upright, posts are erected with holes at the top, and in these holes the
ends of an axle revolve. To the middle of this axle are fixed two wooden
bars, to the end of one of which is fixed the piston, and to the end of the
other a heavy piece of wood, but short, so that it can pass between the two
posts and may move backward and forward. When the workman pushes
this piece of wood, the piston is drawn out of the pipe; when it returns by its
1 101[Figure 101]
A—POSTS. B—AXLE. C—WOODEN BARS. D—PISTON ROD. E—SHORT PIECE OF WOOD.
F—DRAIN. G—THIS MAN IS DIVERTING THE WATER WHICH IS FLOWING OUT OF THE DRAIN,
TO PREVENT IT FROM FLOWING INTO THE TRENCHES WHICH ARE BEING DUG.
own weight, the piston is pushed in. In this way, the water which the pipe
contains is drawn through the openings in the disc and emptied by the piston
through the spout into the drain. There are some who place a hand-bar
underneath in place of the short piece of wood. This pump, as also the last
before described, is less generally used among miners than the others.
The fourth kind is not a simple pump but a duplex one. It is made as
follows. A rectangular block of beechwood, five feet long, two and a half
feet wide, and one and a half feet thick, is cut in two and hollowed out wide
and deep enough so that an iron axle with cranks can revolve in it. The axle
is placed between the two halves of this box, and the first part of the axle,
which is in contact with the wood, is round and the straight end forms a
journal. Then the axle is bent down the depth of a foot and again bent so
as to continue straight, and at this point a round piston-rod hangs from it;
next it is bent up as far as it was bent down; then it continues a little way
straight again, and then it is bent up a foot and again continues straight,
at which point a second round piston-rod is hung from it; afterward it
1 102[Figure 102]
A—BOX B—LOWER PART OF BOX. C—UPPER PART OF SAME. D—CLAMPS. E—PIPES
BELOW THE BOX. F—COLUMN PIPE FIXED ABOVE THE BOX. G—IRON AXLE. H—PISTON­
RODS. I—WASHERS TO PROTECT THE BEARINGS. K—LEATHERS. L—EYES IN THE AXLE.
M—RODS WHOSE ENDS ARE WEIGHTED WITH LUMPS OF LEAD. N—CRANK.
(This plate is unlettered in the first edition but corrected in those later.)
1is bent down the same distance as it was bent up the last time; the other
end of it, which also acts as a journal, is straight. This part which protrudes
through the wood is protected by two iron washers in the shape of discs, to
which are fastened two leather washers of the same shape and size, in order
to prevent the water which is drawn into the box from gushing out. These
discs are around the axle; one of them is inside the box and the other
outside. Beyond this, the end of the axle is square and has two eyes, in
which are fixed two iron rods, and to their ends are weighted lumps of lead,
so that the axle may have a greater propensity to revolve; this axle can
easily be turned when its end has been mortised in a crank. The upper part
of the box is the shallower one, and the lower part the deeper, the upper
part is bored out once straight down through the middle, the diameter of the
opening being the same as the outside diameter of the column pipe; the
lower box has, side by side, two apertures also bored straight down;
these are for two pipes, the space of whose openings therefore is twice as
great as that of the upper part; this lower part of the box is placed
upon the two pipes, which are fitted into it at their upper ends, and the
lower ends of these pipes penetrate into trunks which stand in the
sump. These trunks have perforations through which the water flows into
them. The iron axle is placed in the inside of the box, then the two iron
piston-rods which hang from it are let down through the two pipes to the depth
of a foot. Each piston has a screw at its lower end which holds a thick iron
plate, shaped like a disc and full of openings, covered with a leather, and
similarly to the other pump it has a round valve in a little box. Then the
upper part of the box is placed upon the lower one and properly fitted to it on
every side, and where they join they are bound by wide thick iron plates, and
held with small wide iron wedges, which are driven in and are fastened with
clamps. The first length of column pipe is fixed into the upper part of the
box, and another length of pipe extends it, and a third again extends this one,
and so on, another extending on another, until the uppermost one reaches the
drain of the tunnel. When the crank worker turns the axle, the pistons in
turn draw the water through their discs; since this is done quickly, and
since the area of openings of the two pipes over which the box is set, is twice
as large as the opening of the column pipe which rises from the box, and since
the pistons do not lift the water far up, the impetus of the water from the
lower pipes forces it to rise and flow out of the column pipe into the drain of
the tunnel. Since a wooden box frequently cracks open, it is better to
make it of lead or copper or brass.
The fifth kind of pump is still less simple, for it is composed of two or
three pumps whose pistons are raised by a machine turned by men, for each
piston-rod has a tappet which is raised, each in succession, by two cams on
a barrel; two or four strong men turn it. When the pistons descend into
the pipes their discs draw the water; when they are raised these force the
water out through the pipes. The upper part of each of these piston-rods,
which is half a foot square, is held in a slot in a cross-beam; the lower part,
which drops down into the pipes, is made of another piece of wood and is
round. Each of these three pumps is composed of two lengths of pipe fixed
1 103[Figure 103]
A—TAPPETS OF PISTON-RODS. B—CAMS OF THE BARREL. C—SQUARE UPPER PARTS
OF PISTON-RODS. D—LOWER ROUNDED PARTS OF PISTON-RODS. E—CROSS-BEAMS.
F—PIPES. G—APERTURES OF PIPES. H—TROUGH. (Fifth kind of pump—see p. 181).
1 104[Figure 104]
A—WATER-WHEEL. B—AXLE. C—TRUNK ON WHICH THE LOWEST PIPE STANDS.
D—BASKET SURROUNDING TRUNK. (Sixth kind of pump—see p. 184.)
1to the shaft timbers. This machine draws the water higher, as much as
twenty-four feet. If the diameter of the pipes is large, only two pumps are
made; if smaller, three, so that by either method the volume of water is the
same. This also must be understood regarding the other machines and
their pipes. Since these pumps are composed of two lengths of pipe, the
little iron box having the iron valve which I described before, is not enclosed
in a trunk, but is in the lower length of pipe, at that point where it joins
the upper one; thus the rounded part of the piston-rod is only as long as
the upper length of pipe; but I will presently explain this more clearly.
The sixth kind of pump would be just the same as the fifth were it not
that it has an axle instead of a barrel, turned not by men but by a water­
wheel, which is revolved by the force of water striking its buckets.
Since water-power far exceeds human strength, this machine draws water
through its pipes by discs out of a shaft more than one hundred feet deep.
The bottom of the lowest pipe, set in the sump, not only of this pump but
also of the others, is generally enclosed in a basket made of wicker-work, to
prevent wood shavings and other things being sucked in. (See p. 183.)
The seventh kind of pump, invented ten years ago, which is the most
ingenious, durable, and useful of all, can be made without much expense. It
is composed of several pumps, which do not, like those last described, go down
into the shaft together, but of which one is below the other, for if there are
three, as is generally the case, the lower one lifts the water of the sump and
pours it out into the first tank; the second pump lifts again from that tank
into a second tank, and the third pump lifts it into the drain of the tunnel.
A wheel fifteen feet high raises the piston-rods of all these pumps at the same
time and causes them to drop together. The wheel is made to revolve by
paddles, turned by the force of a stream which has been diverted to the
mountain. The spokes of the water-wheel are mortised in an axle six feet
long and one foot thick, each end of which is surrounded by an iron band,
but in one end there is fixed an iron journal; to the other end is attached an
iron like this journal in its posterior part, which is a digit thick and as wide
as the end of the axle itself. Then the iron extends horizontally, being
rounded and about three digits in diameter, for the length of a foot, and
serves as a journal; thence, it bends to a height of a foot in a curve,
like the horn of the moon, after which it again extends straight out for
one foot; thus it comes about that this last straight portion, as it
revolves in an orbit becomes alternately a foot higher and a foot lower than
the first straight part. From this round iron crank there hangs the first flat
pump-rod, for the crank is fixed in a perforation in the upper end of this flat
pump-rod just as the iron key of the first set of “claws” is fixed into the
lower end. In order to prevent the pump-rod from slipping off it, as it
could easily do, and that it may be taken off when necessary, its opening
is wider than the corresponding part of the crank, and it is fastened on
both sides by iron keys. To prevent friction, the ends of the pump-rods are
protected by iron plates or intervening leathers. This first pump-rod is
about twelve feet long, the other two are twenty-six feet, and each is a palm
1 105[Figure 105]
A—SHAFT. B—BOTTOM PUMP. C—FIRST TANK. D—SECOND PUMP. E—SECOND TANK.
F—THIRD PUMP. G—TROUGH. H—THE IRON SET IN THE AXLE. I—FIRST PUMP ROD.
K—SECOND PUMP ROD. L—THIRD PUMP ROD. M—FIRST PISTON ROD. N—SECOND
PISTON ROD. O—THIRD PISTON ROD. P—LITTLE AXLES. Q—“CLAWS.”
1wide and three digits thick. The sides of each pump-rod are covered and
protected by iron plates, which are held on by iron screws, so that a part
which has received damage can be repaired. In the “claws” is set a
small round axle, a foot and a half long and two palms thick. The ends are
encircled by iron bands to prevent the iron journals which revolve in the
iron bearings of the wood from slipping out of it.15 From this little axle
the wooden “claws” extend two feet, with a width and thickness of six
digits; they are three palms distant from each other, and both the inner and
outer sides are covered with iron plates. Two rounded iron keys two digits
thick are immovably fixed into the claws. The one of these keys per­
forates the lower end of the first pump-rod, and the upper end of the second
pump-rod which is held fast. The other key, which is likewise immovable,
perforates the iron end of the first piston-rod, which is bent in a curve and
is immovable. Each such piston-rod is thirteen feet long and three digits
thick, and descends into the first pipe of each pump to such depth that its
disc nearly reaches the valve-box. When it descends into the pipe, the
water, penetrating through the openings of the disc, raises the leather, and
when the piston-rod is raised the water presses down the leather, and this
supports its weight; then the valve closes the box as a door closes an
entrance. The pipes are joined by two iron bands, one palm wide, one
outside the other, but the inner one is sharp all round that it may
fit into each pipe and hold them together. Although at the present time
pipes lack the inner band, still they have nipples by which they are joined
together, for the lower end of the upper one holds the upper end of the lower
one, each being hewn away for a length of seven digits, the former inside, the
latter outside, so that the one can fit into the other. When the piston-rod
descends into the first pipe, that valve which I have described is closed;
when the piston-rod is raised, the valve is opened so that the water can run
in through the perforations. Each one of such pumps is composed of two
lengths of pipe, each of which is twelve feet long, and the inside diameter is
seven digits. The lower one is placed in the sump of the shaft, or in a tank,
and its lower end is blocked by a round piece of wood, above which there are
six perforations around the pipe through which the water flows into it. The
upper part of the upper pipe has a notch one foot deep and a palm wide,
through which the water flows away into a tank or trough. Each tank is
two feet long and one foot wide and deep. There is the same number of
axles, “claws,” and rods of each kind as there are pumps; if there are three
pumps, there are only two tanks, because-the sump of the shaft and the drain
of the tunnel take the place of two. The following is the way this machine
draws water from a shaft. The wheel being turned raises the first pump­
rod, and the pump-rod raises the first “claw,” and thus also the second
pump-rod, and the first piston-rod; then the second pump-rod raises the
second “claw,” and thus the third pump-rod and the second piston-rod;
then the third pump-rod raises the third “claw” and the third piston-rod,
1for there hangs no pump-rod from the iron key of these claws, for it can be of
no use in the last pump. In turn, when the first pump-rod descends, each
set of “claws” is lowered, each pump-rod and each piston-rod. And by this
system, at the same time the water is lifted into the tanks and drained out of
them; from the sump at the bottom of the shaft it is drained out, and it
is poured into the trough of the tunnel. Further, around the main axle there
may be placed two water wheels, if the river supplies enough water to turn
them, and from the back part of each round iron crank, one or two pump-rods
can be hung, each of which can move the piston-rods of three pumps.
Lastly, it is necessary that the shafts from which the water is pumped out in
pipes should be vertical, for as in the case of the hauling machines, all pumps
which have pipes do not draw the water so high if the pipes are inclined in
inclined shafts, as if they are placed vertically in vertical shafts.
If the river does not supply enough water-power to turn the last­
described pump, which happens because of the nature of the locality
or occurs during the summer season when there are daily droughts, a
machine is built with a wheel so low and light that the water of ever so little a
106[Figure 106]
A—WATER WHEEL OF UPPER MACHINE. B—ITS PUMP. C—ITS TROUGH. D—WHEEL OF
LOWER MACHINE. E—ITS PUMP. F—RACE.
1stream can turn it. This water, falling into a race, runs therefrom on to a
second high and heavy wheel of a lower machine, whose pump lifts the water
out of a deep shaft. Since, however, the water of so small a stream cannot
alone revolve the lower water-wheel, the axle of the latter is turned at the start
with a crank worked by two men, but as soon as it has poured out into a pool
the water which has been drawn up by the pumps, the upper wheel draws
up this water by its own pump, and pours it into the race, from which it
flows on to the lower water-wheel and strikes its buckets. So both this
water from the mine, as well as the water of the stream, being turned down
the races on to that subterranean wheel of the lower machine, turns it, and
water is pumped out of the deeper part of the shaft by means of two or
three pumps.16
If the stream supplies enough water straightway to turn a higher and
heavier water-wheel, then a toothed drum is fixed to the other end of the
axle, and this turns the drum made of rundles on another axle set below it.
To each end of this lower axle there is fitted a crank of round iron curved
like the horns of the moon, of the kind employed in machines of this
description. This machine, since it has rows of pumps on each side,
draws great quantities of water.
Of the rag and chain pumps there are six kinds known to us, of which
the first is made as follows: A cave is dug under the surface of earth or in a
tunnel, and timbered on all sides by stout posts and planks, to prevent either
the men from being crushed or the machine from being broken by its collapse.
In this cave, thus timbered, is placed a water-wheel fitted to an angular axle.
The iron journals of the axle revolve in iron pillows, which are held in timbers
of sufficient strength. The wheel is generally twenty-four feet high,
occasionally thirty, and in no way different from those which are made for
grinding corn, except that it is a little narrower. The axle has on one side
a drum with a groove in the middle of its circumference, to which are fixed
many four-curved iron clamps. In these clamps catch the links of the chain,
which is drawn through the pipes out of the sump, and which again falls,
through a timbered opening, right down to the bottom into the sump to a
balancing drum. There is an iron band around the small axle of the
balancing drum, each journal of which revolves in an iron bearing fixed to a
timber. The chain turning about this drum brings up the water by the
balls through the pipes. Each length of pipe is encircled and protected by
five iron bands, a palm wide and a digit thick, placed at equal distances from
each other; the first band on the pipe is shared in common with the
preceding length of pipe into which it is fitted, the last band with the succeed­
ing length of pipe which is fitted into it. Each length of pipe, except the
first, is bevelled on the outer circumference of the upper end to a distance
of seven digits and for a depth of three digits, in order that it may be inserted
into the length of pipe which goes before it; each, except the last, is reamed
out on the inside of the lower end to a like distance, but to the depth
1 107[Figure 107]
A—UPPER AXLE. B—WHEEL WHOSE BUCKETS THE FORCE OF THE STREAM STRIKES.
C—TOOTHED DRUM. D—SECOND AXLE. E—DRUM COMPOSED OF RUNDLES. F—CURVED
ROUND IRONS. G—ROWS OF PUMPS.
1of a palm, that it may be able to take the end of the pipe which
follows. And each length of pipe is fixed with iron clamps to the timbers of
the shaft, that it may remain stationary. Through this continuous series
of pipes, the water is drawn by the balls of the chain up out of the sump as
far as the tunnel, where it flows out into the drains through an aperture in
the highest pipe. The balls which lift the water are connected by the iron
links of the chain, and are six feet distant from one another; they are made
of the hair of a horse's tail sewn into a covering to prevent it from being
pulled out by the iron clamps on the drum; the balls are of such size that
one can be held in each hand. If this machine is set up on the surface of
the earth, the stream which turns the water-wheel is led away through open­
air ditches; if in a tunnel, the water is led away through the subterranean
drains. The buckets of the water-wheel, when struck by the impact of the
stream, move forward and turn the wheel, together with the drum, whereby
the chain is wound up and the balls expel the water through the pipes. If
the wheel of this machine is twenty-four feet in diameter, it draws water from a
shaft two hundred and ten feet deep; if thirty feet in diameter, it will draw
water from a shaft two hundred and forty feet deep. But such work requires
a stream with greater water-power.
The next pump has two drums, two rows of pipes and two drawing­
chains whose balls lift out the water; otherwise they are like the last pump.
This pump is usually built when an excessive amount of water flows into the
sump. These two pumps are turned by water-power; indeed, water draws
water.
The following is the way of indicating the increase or decrease of the
water in an underground sump, whether it is pumped by this rag and chain
pump or by the first pump, or the third, or some other. From a beam which
is as high above the shaft as the sump is deep, is hung a cord, to one
end of which there is fastened a stone, the other end being attached to a
plank. The plank is lowered down by an iron wire fastened to the
other end; when the stone is at the mouth of the shaft the plank
is right down the shaft in the sump, in which water it floats. This
plank is so heavy that it can drag down the wire and its iron clasp and
hook, together with the cord, and thus pull the stone upwards. Thus, as
the water decreases, the plank decends and the stone is raised; on the
contrary, when the water increases the plank rises and the stone is lowered.
When the stone nearly touches the beam, since this indicates that the water
has been exhausted from the sump by the pump, the overseer in charge of the
machine closes the water-race and stops the water-wheel: when the stone
nearly touches the ground at the side of the shaft, this indicates that the
sump is full of water which has again collected in it, because the water raises
the plank and thus the stone drags back both the rope and the iron wire;
then the overseer opens the water-race, whereupon the water of the stream
again strikes the buckets of the water-wheel and turns the pump. As
workmen generally cease from their labours on the yearly holidays, and
1 108[Figure 108]
A—WHEEL. B—AXLE. C—JOURNALS. D—PILLOWS. E—DRUM. F—CLAMPS.
G—DRAWING-CHAIN. H—TIMBERS. I—BALLS. K—PIPE. L—RACE OF STREAM.
1sometimes on working days, and are thus not always near the pump, and as
the pump, if necessary, must continue to draw water all the time, a bell rings
aloud continuously, indicating that this pump, or any other kind, is uninjured
and nothing is preventing its turning. The bell is hung by a cord from
a small wooden axle held in the timbers which stand over the shaft, and
a second long cord whose upper end is fastened to the small axle is lowered
into the shaft; to the lower end of this cord is fastened a piece of wood;
and as often as a cam on the main axle strikes it, so often does the bell ring
and give forth a sound.
The third pump of this kind is employed by miners when no river capable
of turning a water-wheel can be diverted, and it is made as follows. They
first dig a chamber and erect strong timbers and planks to prevent the sides
from falling in, which would overwhelm the pump and kill the men. The
roof of the chamber is protected with contiguous timbers, so arranged that
the horses which pull the machine can travel over it. Next they again set up
sixteen beams forty feet long and one foot wide and thick, joined by clamps
at the top and spreading apart at the bottom, and they fit the lower end
of each beam into a separate sill laid flat on the ground, and join these by a
post; thus there is created a circular area of which the diameter is fifty
feet. Through an opening in the centre of this area there descends an
upright square axle, forty-five feet long and a foot and a half wide and thick;
its lower pivot revolves in a socket in a block laid flat on the ground in the
chamber, and the upper pivot revolves in a bearing in a beam which is mor­
tised into two beams at the summit beneath the clamps; the lower pivot is
seventeen feet distant from either side of the chamber, i.e., from its front and
rear. At the height of a foot above its lower end, the axle has a toothed wheel,
the diameter of which is twenty-two feet. This wheel is composed of four
spokes and eight rim pieces; the spokes are fifteen feet long and three­
quarters of a foot wide and thick17; one end of them is mortised in the axle,
the other in the two rims where they are joined together. These rims are three­
quarters of a foot thick and one foot wide, and from them there rise and
project upright teeth three-quarters of a foot high, half a foot wide, and six
digits thick. These teeth turn a second horizontal axle by means of a drum
composed of twelve rundles, each three feet long and six digits wide and
thick. This drum, being turned, causes the axle to revolve, and around this
axle there is a drum having iron clamps with four-fold curves in which catch
the links of a chain, which draws water through pipes by means of balls.
The iron journals of this horizontal axle revolve on pillows which are set in
the centre of timbers. Above the roof of the chamber there are mortised
into the upright axle the ends of two beams which rise obliquely; the upper
ends of these beams support double cross-beams, likewise mortised to the
axle. In the outer end of each cross-beam there is mortised a small wooden
piece which appears to hang down; in this wooden piece there is similarly
1 109[Figure 109]
A—UPRIGHT AXLE. B—TOOTHED WHEEL. C—TEETH. D—HORIZONTAL AXLE.
E—DRUM WHICH IS MADE OF RUNDLES. F—SECOND DRUM. G—DRAWING-CHAIN.
H—THE BALLS.
1mortised at the lower end a short board; this has an iron key which engages
a chain, and this chain again a pole-bar. This machine, which draws water
from a shaft two hundred and forty feet deep, is worked by thirty-two horses;
eight of them work for four hours, and then these rest for twelve hours, and
the same number take their place. This kind of machine is employed at the
foot of the Harz18 mountains and in the neighbourhood. Further, if
necessity arises, several pumps of this kind are often built for the purpose of
mining one vein, but arranged differently in different localities varying
according to the depth. At Schemnitz, in the Carpathian mountains, there
are three pumps, of which the lowest lifts water from the lowest sump to
the first drains, through which it flows into the second sump; the intermediate
one lifts from the second sump to the second drain, from which it flows into
the third sump; and the upper one lifts it to the drains of the tunnel, through
which it flows away. This system of three machines of this kind is turned
by ninety-six horses; these horses go down to the machines by an inclined
110[Figure 110]
A—AXLE. B—DRUM. C—DRAWING-CHAIN. D—BALLS. E—CLAMPS.
1shaft, which slopes and twists like a screw and gradually descends. The
lowest of these machines is set in a deep place, which is distant from the
surface of the ground 660 feet.
The fourth species of pump belongs to the same genera, and is made
as follows. Two timbers are erected, and in openings in them, the ends of a
barrel revolve. Two or four strong men turn the barrel, that is to say, one
or two pull the cranks, and one or two push them, and in this way help the
others; alternately another two or four men take their place. The barrel
of this machine, just like the horizontal axle of the other machines, has a
drum whose iron clamps catch the links of a drawing-chain. Thus water
is drawn through the pipes by the balls from a depth of forty-eight feet.
Human strength cannot draw water higher than this, because such very
heavy labour exhausts not only men, but even horses; only water-power
can drive continuously a drum of this kind. Several pumps of this kind, as
of the last, are often built for the purpose of mining on a single vein,
but they are arranged differently for different positions and depths.
111[Figure 111]
A—AXLES. B—LEVERS. C—TOOTHED DRUM. D—DRUM MADE OF RUNDLES.
E—DRUM IN WHICH IRON CLAMPS ARE FIXED.
1
The fifth pump of this kind is partly like the third and partly like the
fourth, because it is turned by strong men like the last, and like the third
it has two axles and three drums, though each axle is horizontal. The
journals of each axle are so fitted in the pillows of the beams that they cannot
fly out; the lower axle has a crank at one end and a toothed drum at the
other end; the upper axle has at one end a drum made of rundles, and at
the other end, a drum to which are fixed iron clamps, in which the links of a
chain catch in the same way as before, and from the same depth, draw water
through pipes by means of balls. This revolving machine is turned by two
pairs of men alternately, for one pair stands working while the other sits
taking a rest; while they are engaged upon the task of turning, one pulls
the crank and the other pushes, and the drums help to make the pump turn
more easily.
The sixth pump of this kind likewise has two axles. At one end of the
lower axle is a wheel which is turned by two men treading, this is twenty­
three feet high and four feet wide, so that one man may stand alongside
the other. At the other end of this axle is a toothed wheel. The upper19
axle has two drums and one wheel; the first drum is made of rundles, and to
the other there are fixed the iron clamps. The wheel is like the one on the
second machine which is chiefly used for drawing earth and broken rock
out of shafts. The treaders, to prevent themselves from falling, grasp in
their hands poles which are fixed to the inner sides of the wheel. When
they turn this wheel, the toothed drum being made to revolve, sets in motion
the other drum which is made of rundles, by which means again the links
of the chain catch to the cleats of the third drum and draw water through
pipes by means of balls,—from a depth of sixty-six feet.
But the largest machine of all those which draw water is the one which
follows. First of all a reservoir is made in a timbered chamber; this reser­
voir is eighteen feet long and twelve feet wide and high. Into this reservoir
a stream is diverted through a water-race or through the tunnel; it has two
entrances and the same number of gates. Levers are fixed to the upper part
of these gates, by which they can be raised and let down again, so that by one
way the gates are opened and in the other way closed. Beneath the openings
are two plank troughs which carry the water flowing from the reservoir, and
pour it on to the buckets of the water-wheel, the impact of which turns the
wheel. The shorter trough carries the water, which strikes the buckets
that turn the wheel toward the reservoir, and the longer trough carries
the water which strikes those buckets that turn the wheel in the opposite
direction. The casing or covering of the wheel is made of joined boards to
which strips are affixed on the inner side. The wheel itself is thirty-six feet
in diameter, and is mortised to an axle, and it has, as I have already said,
two rows of buckets, of which one is set the opposite way to the other, so
that the wheel may be turned toward the reservoir or in the opposite
1 112[Figure 112]
A—AXLES. B—WHEEL WHICH IS TURNED BY TREADING. C—TOOTHED WHEEL.
D—DRUM MADE OF RUNDLES. E—DRUM TO WHICH ARE FIXED IRON CLAMPS.
F—SECOND WHEEL. G—BALLS.
1direction. The axle is square and is thirty-five feet long and two feet thick
and wide. Beyond the wheel, at a distance of six feet, the axle has four hubs,
one foot wide and thick, each one of which is four feet distant from the next
to these hubs are fixed by iron nails as many pieces of wood as are necessary
to cover the hubs, and, in order that the wood pieces may fit tight, they are
broader on the outside and narrower on the inside; in this way a drum is
made, around which is wound a chain to whose ends are hooked leather bags.
The reason why a drum of this kind is made, is that the axle may be kept in
good condition, because this drum when it becomes worn away by use can
be repaired easily. Further along the axle, not far from the end, is another
drum one foot broad, projecting two feet on all sides around the axle. And
to this, when occasion demands, a brake is applied forcibly and holds back
the machine; this kind of brake I have explained before. Near the axle,
in place of a hopper, there is a floor with a considerable slope, having in
front of the shaft a width of fifteen feet and the same at the back; at each
side of it there is a stout post carrying an iron chain which has a large hook.
Five men operate this machine; one lets down the doors which close the
reservoir gates, or by drawing down the levers, opens the water-races; this
man, who is the director of this machine, stands in a hanging cage beside the
reservoir. When one bag has been drawn out nearly as far as the sloping
floor, he closes the water gate in order that the wheel may be stopped; when
the bag has been emptied he opens the other water gate, in order that the
other set of buckets may receive the water and drive the wheel in the opposite
direction. If he cannot close the water-gate quickly enough, and the water
continues to flow, he calls out to his comrade and bids him raise the brake
upon the drum and stop the wheel. Two men alternately empty the bags,
one standing on that part of the floor which is in front of the shaft,
and the other on that part which is at the back. When the bag has been
nearly drawn up—of which fact a certain link of the chain gives warning—the
man who stands on the one part of the floor, catches a large iron hook in one
link of the chain, and pulls out all the subsequent part of the chain toward
the floor, where the bag is emptied by the other man. The object of this
hook is to prevent the chain, by its own weight, from pulling down the
other empty bag, and thus pulling the whole chain from its axle and
dropping it down the shaft. His comrade in the work, seeing that the bag
filled with water has been nearly drawn out, calls to the director of the
machine and bids him close the water of the tower so that there will be time
to empty the bag; this being emptied, the director of the machine first of
all slightly opens the other water-gate of the tower to allow the end of the
chain, together with the empty bag, to be started into the shaft again, and
then opens entirely the water-gates. When that part of the chain which
has been pulled on to the floor has been wound up again, and has been let
down over the shaft from the drum, he takes out the large hook which was
fastened into a link of the chain. The fifth man stands in a sort of cross-cut
beside the sump, that he may not be hurt, if it should happen that a link
1 113[Figure 113]
A—RESERVOIR. B—RACE. C, D—LEVERS. E, F—TROUGHS UNDER THE WATER GATES.
G, H—DOUBLE ROWS OF BUCKETS. I—AXLE. K—LARGER DRUM. L—DRAWING-CHAIN.
M—BAG. N—HANGING CAGE. O—MAN WHO DIRECTS THE MACHINE. P, Q—MEN
EMPTYING BAGS.
1is broken and part of the chain or anything else should fall down; he guides
the bag with a wooden shovel, and fills it with water if it fails to take
in the water spontaneously. In these days, they sew an iron band into the
top of each bag that it may constantly remain open, and when lowered into
the sump may fill itself with water, and there is no need for a man to act as
governor of the bags. Further, in these days, of those men who stand on
the floor the one empties the bags, and the other closes the gates of the
reservoir and opens them again, and the same man usually fixes the large
hook in the link of the chain. In this way, three men only are employed in
working this machine; or even—since sometimes the one who empties the
bag presses the brake which is raised against the other drum and thus stops
the wheel—two men take upon themselves the whole labour.
But enough of haulage machines; I will now speak of ventilating
machines. If a shaft is very deep and no tunnel reaches to it, or no drift
from another shaft connects with it, or when a tunnel is of great length and
no shaft reaches to it, then the air does not replenish itself. In such a case it
weighs heavily on the miners, causing them to breathe with difficulty, and
sometimes they are even suffocated, and burning lamps are also extinguished.
There is, therefore, a necessity for machines which the Greeks call
πνευματικάι and the Latins spiritales—though they do not give forth any
sound—which enable the miners to breathe easily and carry on their work.
These devices are of three genera. The first receives and diverts into
the shaft the blowing of the wind, and this genus is divided into three species,
of which the first is as follows. Over the shaft—to which no tunnel connects—
are placed three sills a little longer than the shaft, the first over the front,
the second over the middle, and the third over the back of the shaft. Their
ends have openings, through which pegs, sharpened at the bottom, are driven
deeply into the ground so as to hold them immovable, in the same way that
the sills of the windlass are fixed. Each of these sills is mortised into each
of three cross-beams, of which one is at the right side of the shaft, the second
at the left, and the third in the middle. To the second sill and the second
cross-beam—each of which is placed over the middle of the shaft—planks
are fixed which are joined in such a manner that the one which precedes
always fits into the groove of the one which follows. In this way four angles
and the same number of intervening hollows are created, which collect the
winds that blow from all directions. The planks are roofed above with a
cover made in a circular shape, and are open below, in order that the wind may
not be diverted upward and escape, but may be carried downward; and there­
by the winds of necessity blow into the shafts through these four openings.
However, there is no need to roof this kind of machine in those localities in
which it can be so placed that the wind can blow down through its topmost
part.
1 114[Figure 114]
A—SILLS. B—POINTED STAKES. C—CROSS-BEAMS. D—UPRIGHT PLANKS.
E—HOLLOWS. F—WINDS. G—COVERING DISC. H—SHAFTS. I—MACHINE
WITHOUT A COVERING.
The second machine of this genus turns the blowing wind into a shaft
through a long box-shaped conduit, which is made of as many lengths of
planks, joined together, as the depth of the shaft requires; the joints are
smeared with fat, glutinous clay moistened with water. The mouth of this con­
duit either projects out of the shaft to a height of three or four feet, or it does
not project; if it projects, it is shaped like a rectangular funnel, broader and
wider at the top than the conduit itself, that it may the more easily gather
the wind; if it does not project, it is not broader than the conduit, but
planks are fixed to it away from the direction in which the wind is blowing,
which catch the wind and force it into the conduit.
The third of this genus of machine is made of a pipe or pipes and
a barrel. Above the uppermost pipe there is erected a wooden barrel, four
1 115[Figure 115]
A—PROJECTING MOUTH OF CONDUIT. B—PLANKS FIXED TO THE MOUTH OF THE CONDUIT
WHICH DOES NOT PROJECT.
feet high and three feet in diameter, bound with wooden hoops; it has a
square blow-hole always open, which catches the breezes and guides them
down either by a pipe into a conduit or by many pipes into the shaft. To
the top of the upper pipe is attached a circular table as thick as
the bottom of the barrel, but of a little less diameter, so that the barrel may be
turned around on it; the pipe projects out of the table and is fixed in a
round opening in the centre of the bottom of the barrel. To the end of the
pipe a perpendicular axle is fixed which runs through the centre of the barrel
into a hole in the cover, in which it is fastened, in the same way as at the
bottom. Around this fixed axle and the table on the pipe, the movable
barrel is easily turned by a zephyr, or much more by a wind, which govern
the wing on it. This wing is made of thin boards and fixed to the upper
part of the barrel on the side furthest away from the blow-hole; this, as I
have said, is square and always open. The wind, from whatever quarter of
1the world it blows, drives the wing straight toward the opposite direction, in
which way the barrel turns the blow-hole towards the wind itself; the
blow-hole receives the wind, and it is guided down into the shaft by means
of the conduit or pipes.
116[Figure 116]
A—WOODEN BARRELS. B—HOOPS. C—BLOW-HOLES. D—PIPE.
E—TABLE. F—AXLE. G—OPENING IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL.
H—WING.
The second genus of blowing machine is made with fans, and is likewise
varied and of many forms, for the fans are either fitted to a windlass barrel
or to an axle. If to an axle, they are either contained in a hollow drum,
which is made of two wheels and a number of boards joining them together,
or else in a box-shaped casing. The drum is stationary and closed on the
sides, except for round holes of such size that the axle may turn in them;
it has two square blow-holes, of which the upper one receives the air, while
the lower one empties into the conduit through which the air is led down the
shaft. The ends of the axle, which project on each side of the drum, are
supported by forked posts or hollowed beams plated with thick iron; one
end of the axle has a crank, while in the other end are fixed four rods with
thick heavy ends, so that they weight the axle, and when turned, make it
1 117[Figure 117]
A—DRUM. B—BOX-SHAPED CASING. C—BLOW-HOLE. D—SECOND HOLE.
E—CONDUIT. F—AXLE. G—LEVER OF AXLE. H—RODS.
1prone to motion as it revolves. And so, when the workman turns the axle
by the crank, the fans, the description of which I will give a little later, draw
in the air by the blow-hole, and force it through the other blow-hole which
leads to the conduit, and through this conduit the air penetrates into the
shaft.
The one with the box-shaped casing is furnished with just the same
things as the drum, but the drum is far superior to the box: for the fans so
fill the drum that they almost touch it on every side, and drive into the
conduit all the air that has been accumulated; but they cannot thus fill
the box-shaped casing, on account of its angles, into which the air partly
retreats; therefore it cannot be as useful as the drum. The kind with a
box-shaped casing is not only placed on the ground, but is also set up on timbers
like a windmill, and its axle, in place of a crank, has four sails outside,
like the sails of a windmill. When these are struck by the wind they turn
the axle, and in this way its fans—which are placed within the casing—drive
118[Figure 118]
A—BOX-SHAPED CASING PLACED ON THE GROUND. B—ITS BLOW-HOLE. C—ITS AXLE
WITH FANS. D—CRANK OF THE AXLE. E—RODS OF SAME. F—CASING SET ON TIMBERS.
G—SAILS WHICH THE AXLE HAS OUTSIDE THE CASING.
1the air through the blow-hole and the conduit into the shaft. Although
this machine has no need of men whom it is necessary to pay to work the
crank, still when the sky is devoid of wind, as it often is, the machine does
not turn, and it is therefore less suitable than the others for ventilating a shaft.
In the kind where the fans are fixed to an axle, there is generally a
hollow stationary drum at one end of the axle, and on the other end is fixed
a drum made of rundles. This rundle drum is turned by the toothed wheel
of a lower axle, which is itself turned by a wheel whose buckets receive the
impetus of water. If the locality supplies an abundance of water this
machine is most useful, because to turn the crank does not need men
who require pay, and because it forces air without cessation through the
conduit into the shaft.
119[Figure 119]
A—HOLLOW DRUM. B—ITS BLOW-HOLE. C—AXLE WITH FANS. D—DRUM
WHICH IS MADE OF RUNDLES. E—LOWER AXLE. F—ITS TOOTHED WHEEL.
G—WATER WHEEL.
Of the fans which are fixed on to an axle contained in a drum or box,
there are three sorts. The first sort is made of thin boards of such length
and width as the height and width of the drum or box require; the second
1sort is made of boards of the same width, but shorter, to which are bound
long thin blades of poplar or some other flexible wood; the third sort has
boards like the last, to which are bound double and triple rows of goose
feathers. This last is less used than the second, which in turn is less used
than the first. The boards of the fan are mortised into the quadrangular
parts of the barrel axle.
120[Figure 120]
A—FIRST KIND OF FAN. B—SECOND KIND OF FAN. C—THIRD KIND OF
FAN. D—QUADRANGULAR PART OF AXLE. E—ROUND PART OF SAME.
F—CRANK.
Blowing machines of the third genus, which are no less varied and of no
fewer forms than those of the second genus, are made with bellows, for by its
blasts the shafts and tunnels are not only furnished with air through conduits
or pipes, but they can also be cleared by suction of their heavy and pestilential
vapours. In the latter case, when the bellows is opened it draws the
vapours from the conduits through its blow-hole and sucks these vapours
into itself; in the former case, when it is compressed, it drives the air through
its nozzle into the conduits or pipes. They are compressed either by a man,
1or by a horse or by water-power; if by a man, the lower board of a large bellows is
fixed to the timbers above the conduit which projects out of the shaft, and so
placed that when the blast is blown through the conduit, its nozzle is
set in the conduit. When it is desired to suck out heavy or pestilential
vapours, the blow-hole of the bellows is fitted all round the mouth of the
conduit. Fixed to the upper bellows board is a lever which couples
with another running downward from a little axle, into which it is
mortised so that it may remain immovable; the iron journals of this little
axle revolve in openings of upright posts; and so when the workman pulls
down the lever the upper board of the bellows is raised, and at the same time
the flap of the blow-hole is dragged open by the force of the wind. If the
nozzle of the bellows is enclosed in the conduit it draws pure air into itself,
but if its blow-hole is fitted all round the mouth of the conduit it exhausts
the heavy and pestilential vapours out of the conduit and thus from the
shaft, even if it is one hundred and twenty feet deep. A stone placed on the
upper board of the bellows depresses it and then the flap of the blow-hole is
121[Figure 121]
A—SMALLER PART OF SHAFT. B—SQUARE CONDUIT. C—BELLOWS. D—LARGER PART
OF SHAFT.
1closed. The bellows, by the first method, blows fresh air into the conduit
through its nozzle, and by the second method blows out through the nozzle
the heavy and pestilential vapours which have been collected. In this
latter case fresh air enters through the larger part of the shaft, and the miners
getting the benefit of it can sustain their toil. A certain smaller part of the
shaft which forms a kind of estuary, requires to be partitioned off from the
other larger part by uninterrupted lagging, which reaches from the top of the
shaft to the bottom; through this part the long but narrow conduit reaches
down nearly to the bottom of the shaft.
When no shaft has been sunk to such depth as to meet a tunnel driven
far into a mountain, these machines should be built in such a manner that
the workman can move them about. Close by the drains of the tunnel
through which the water flows away, wooden pipes should be placed and
joined tightly together in such a manner that they can hold the air; these
should reach from the mouth of the tunnel to its furthest end. At the mouth
of the tunnel the bellows should be so placed that through its nozzle it can
blow its accumulated blasts into the pipes or the conduit; since one blast
122[Figure 122]
A—TUNNEL. B—PIPE. C—NOZZLE OF DOUBLE BELLOWS.
1always drives forward another, they penetrate into the tunnel and change
the air, whereby the miners are enabled to continue their work.
If heavy vapours need to be drawn off from the tunnels, generally three
double or triple bellows, without nozzles and closed in the forepart, are placed
upon benches. A workman compresses them by treading with his feet, just
as persons compress those bellows of the organs which give out varied and
sweet sounds in churches. These heavy vapours are thus drawn along the
air-pipes and through the blow-hole of the lower bellows board, and are
expelled through the blow-hole of the upper bellows board into the open
air, or into some shaft or drift. This blow-hole has a flap-valve, which the
noxious blast opens, as often as it passes out. Since one volume of air con­
stantly rushes in to take the place of another which has been drawn out by
the bellows, not only is the heavy air drawn out of a tunnel as great as 1,200
feet long, or even longer, but also the wholesome air is naturally drawn in
through that part of the tunnel which is open outside the conduits. In this way
the air is changed, and the miners are enabled to carry on the work they have
begun. If machines of this kind had not been invented, it would be necessary
for miners to drive two tunnels into a mountain, and continually, at every
two hundred feet at most, to sink a shaft from the upper tunnel to the
lower one, that the air passing into the one, and descending by the shafts
into the other, would be kept fresh for the miners; this could not be done
without great expense.
There are two different machines for operating, by means of horses, the
above described bellows. The first of these machines has on its axle a
wooden wheel, the rim of which is covered all the way round by steps; a
horse is kept continually within bars, like those within which horses are held
to be shod with iron, and by treading these steps with its feet it turns the wheel,
together with the axle; the cams on the axle press down the sweeps which
compress the bellows. The way the instrument is made which raises the
bellows again, and also the benches on which the bellows rest, I will explain
more clearly in Book IX. Each bellows, if it draws heavy vapours
out of a tunnel, blows them out of the hole in the upper board; if they are
drawn out of a shaft, it blows them out through its nozzle. The wheel has
a round hole, which is transfixed with a pole when the machine needs to be
stopped.
The second machine has two axles; the upright one is turned by a horse,
and its toothed drum turns a drum made of rundles on a horizontal axle;
in other respects this machine is like the last. Here, also, the nozzles of
the bellows placed in the conduits blow a blast into the shaft or tunnel.
In the same way that this last machine can refresh the heavy air of a
shaft or tunnel, so also could the old system of ventilating by the constant
shaking of linen cloths, which Pliny20 has explained; the air not only grows
1 123[Figure 123]
A—MACHINE FIRST DESCRIBED. B—THIS WORKMAN, TREADING WITH HIS FEET, IS COM­
PRESSING THE BELLOWS. C—BELLOWS WITHOUT NOZZLES. D—HOLE BY WHICH HEAVY
VAPOURS OR BLASTS ARE BLOWN OUT. E—CONDUITS. F—TUNNEL. G—SECOND
MACHINE DESCRIBED. H—WOODEN WHEEL. I—ITS STEPS. K—BARS. L—HOLE IN
SAME WHEEL. M—POLE. N—THIRD MACHINE DESCRIBED. O—UPRIGHT AXLE.
P—ITS TOOTHED DRUM. Q—HORIZONTAL AXLE. R—ITS DRUM WHICH IS MADE OF RUNDLES.
1 124[Figure 124]
A—TUNNEL. B—LINEN CLOTH.
heavier with the depth of a shaft, of which fact he has made mention, but
also with the length of a tunnel.
The climbing machines of miners are ladders, fixed to one side of the shaft,
and these reach either to the tunnel or to the bottom of the shaft. I need not
describe how they are made, because they are used everywhere, and need
not so much skill in their construction as care in fixing them. However,
miners go down into mines not only by the steps of ladders, but they are
also lowered into them while sitting on a stick or a wicker basket, fastened to
the rope of one of the three drawing machines which I described at first.
Further, when the shafts are much inclined, miners and other workmen
sit in the dirt which surrounds their loins and slide down in the same way
that boys do in winter-time when the water on some hillside has congealed
with the cold, and to prevent themselves from falling, one arm is wound about
a rope, the upper end of which is fastened to a beam at the mouth of the shaft,
and the lower end to a stake fixed in the bottom of the shaft. In these three
ways miners descend into the shafts. A fourth way may be mentioned
which is employed when men and horses go down to the underground
1 125[Figure 125]
A—DESCENDING INTO THE SHAFT BY LADDERS. B—BY SITTING ON A STICK. C—BY
SITTING ON THE DIRT. D—DESCENDING BY STEPS CUT IN THE ROCK.
1machines and come up again, that is by inclined shafts which are twisted like
a screw and have steps cut in the rock, as I have already described.
It remains for me to speak of the ailments and accidents of miners, and of
the methods by which they can guard against these, for we should always
devote more care to maintaining our health, that we may freely perform our
bodily functions, than to making profits. Of the illnesses, some affect the
joints, others attack the lungs, some the eyes, and finally some are fatal to
men.
Where water in shafts is abundant and very cold, it frequently injures
the limbs, for cold is harmful to the sinews. To meet this, miners should
make themselves sufficiently high boots of rawhide, which protect their
legs from the cold water; the man who does not follow this advice will
suffer much ill-health, especially when he reaches old age. On the other
hand, some mines are so dry that they are entirely devoid of water, and this
dryness causes the workmen even greater harm, for the dust which is stirred
and beaten up by digging penetrates into the windpipe and lungs, and
produces difficulty in breathing, and the disease which the Greeks call
ἂσθμα. If the dust has corrosive qualities, it eats away the lungs, and
implants consumption in the body; hence in the mines of the Carpathian
Mountains women are found who have married seven husbands, all of whom
this terrible consumption has carried off to a premature death. At Altenberg
in Meissen there is found in the mines black pompholyx, which eats wounds
and ulcers to the bone; this also corrodes iron, for which reason the keys
of their sheds are made of wood. Further, there is a certain kind of cadmia21
which eats away the feet of the workmen when they have become wet, and
similarly their hands, and injures their lungs and eyes. Therefore, for their
1digging they should make for themselves not only boots of rawhide, but gloves
long enough to reach to the elbow, and they should fasten loose veils over their
faces; the dust will then neither be drawn through these into their wind­
pipes and lungs, nor will it fly into their eyes. Not dissimilarly, among the
Romans22 the makers of vermilion took precautions against breathing its fatal
dust.
Stagnant air, both that which remains in a shaft and that which remains
in a tunnel, produces a difficulty in breathing; the remedies for this evil
are the ventilating machines which I have explained above. There is another
illness even more destructive, which soon brings death to men who work
in those shafts or levels or tunnels in which the hard rock is broken by fire.
Here the air is infected with poison, since large and small veins and seams
in the rocks exhale some subtle poison from the minerals, which is driven
out by the fire, and this poison itself is raised with the smoke not unlike
pompholyx,23 which clings to the upper part of the walls in the works in which
ore is smelted. If this poison cannot escape from the ground, but falls down
into the pools and floats on their surface, it often causes danger, for if at any
time the water is disturbed through a stone or anything else, these fumes rise
again from the pools and thus overcome the men, by being drawn in with their
breath; this is even much worse if the fumes of the fire have not yet all
escaped. The bodies of living creatures who are infected with this poison
generally swell immediately and lose all movement and feeling, and they die
without pain; men even in the act of climbing from the shafts by the
steps of ladders fall back into the shafts when the poison overtakes them,
because their hands do not perform their office, and seem to them to be round
and spherical, and likewise their feet. If by good fortune the injured
ones escape these evils, for a little while they are pale and look like
dead men. At such times, no one should descend into the mine or into the
neighbouring mines, or if he is in them he should come out quickly. Prudent
and skilled miners burn the piles of wood on Friday, towards evening, and
1they do not descend into the shafts nor enter the tunnels again before Monday,
and in the meantime the poisonous fumes pass away.
There are also times when a reckoning has to be made with Orcus,24
for some metalliferous localities, though such are rare, spontaneously
produce poison and exhale pestilential vapour, as is also the case with some
openings in the ore, though these more often contain the noxious fumes.
In the towns of the plains of Bohemia there are some caverns which,
at certain seasons of the year, emit pungent vapours which put out lights
and kill the miners if they linger too long in them. Pliny, too, has left
a record that when wells are sunk, the sulphurous or aluminous vapours
which arise kill the well-diggers, and it is a test of this danger if a burning
lamp which has been let down is extinguished. In such cases a second well
is dug to the right or left, as an air-shaft, which draws off these noxious
vapours. On the plains they construct bellows which draw up these noxious
vapours and remedy this evil; these I have described before.
Further, sometimes workmen slipping from the ladders into the shafts
break their arms, legs, or necks, or fall into the sumps and are drowned;
often, indeed, the negligence of the foreman is to blame, for it is his special
work both to fix the ladders so firmly to the timbers that they cannot break
away, and to cover so securely with planks the sumps at the bottom of the
shafts, that the planks cannot be moved nor the men fall into the water;
wherefore the foreman must carefully execute his own work. Moreover,
he must not set the entrance of the shaft-house toward the north wind,
lest in winter the ladders freeze with cold, for when this happens the men's
hands become stiff and slippery with cold, and cannot perform their office
of holding. The men, too, must be careful that, even if none of these things
happen, they do not fall through their own carelessness.
Mountains, too, slide down and men are crushed in their fall and perish.
In fact, when in olden days Rammelsberg, in Goslar, sank down, so many
men were crushed in the ruins that in one day, the records tell us, about
400 women were robbed of their husbands. And eleven years ago, part
of the mountain of Altenberg, which had been excavated, became loose and
sank, and suddenly crushed six miners; it also swallowed up a hut and one
mother and her little boy. But this generally occurs in those mountains
which contain venae cumulatae. Therefore, miners should leave numerous
arches under the mountains which need support, or provide underpinning.
Falling pieces of rock also injure their limbs, and to prevent this from hap­
pening, miners should protect the shafts, tunnels, and drifts.
The venomous ant which exists in Sardinia is not found in our mines.
This animal is, as Solinus25 writes, very small and like a spider in shape; it
is called solífuga, because it shuns (fugít) the light (solem). It is very common
1in silver mines; it creeps unobserved and brings destruction upon those
who imprudently sit on it. But, as the same writer tells us, springs of warm
and salubrious waters gush out in certain places, which neutralise the venom
inserted by the ants.
In some of our mines, however, though in very few, there are other
pernicious pests. These are demons of ferocious aspect, about which I have
spoken in my book De Animantibus Subterraneis. Demons of this kind
are expelled and put to flight by prayer and fasting.26
Some of these evils, as well as certain other things, are the reason why
pits are occasionally abandoned. But the first and principal cause is that
they do not yield metal, or if, for some fathoms, they do bear metal they
become barren in depth. The second cause is the quantity of water which
flows in; sometimes the miners can neither divert this water into the
tunnels, since tunnels cannot be driven so far into the mountains, or they
cannot draw it out with machines because the shafts are too deep; or if they
could draw it out with machines, they do not use them, the reason
undoubtedly being that the expenditure is greater than the profits of a
moderately poor vein. The third cause is the noxious air, which the owners
sometimes cannot overcome either by skill or expenditure, for which reason
the digging is sometimes abandoned, not only of shafts, but also of tunnels. The
fourth cause is the poison produced in particular places, if it is not in our
power either completely to remove it or to moderate its effects. This is the
reason why the caverns in the Plain known as Laurentius27 used not to be
1worked, though they were not deficient in silver. The fifth cause are the
fierce and murderous demons, for if they cannot be expelled, no one escapes
from them. The sixth cause is that the underpinnings become loosened
and collapse, and a fall of the mountain usually follows; the underpinnings
are then only restored when the vein is very rich in metal. The seventh
cause is military operations. Shafts and tunnels should not be re-opened
unless we are quite certain of the reasons why the miners have deserted them,
because we ought not to believe that our ancestors were so indolent and
spiritless as to desert mines which could have been carried on with profit.
Indeed, in our own days, not a few miners, persuaded by old women's tales,
have re-opened deserted shafts and lost their time and trouble. Therefore,
to prevent future generations from being led to act in such a way, it is
advisable to set down in writing the reason why the digging of each shaft or
tunnel has been abandoned, just as it is agreed was once done at Freiberg,
when the shafts were deserted on account of the great inrush of water.
END OF BOOK VI.
126[Figure 126]
1
BOOK VII.
Since the Sixth Book has described the iron tools,
the vessels and the machines used in mines, this
Book will describe the methods of assaying1 ores;
because it is desirable to first test them in order
that the material mined may be advantageously
smelted, or that the dross may be purged away and
the metal made pure. Although writers have men­
tioned such tests, yet none of them have set down the
directions for performing them, wherefore it is no
wonder that those who come later have written nothing on the subject.
By tests of this kind miners can determine with certainty whether
ores contain any metal in them or not; or if it has already been
indicated that the ore contains one or more metals, the tests show whether
it is much or little; the miners also ascertain by such tests the method by
which the metal can be separated from that part of the ore devoid of it;
and further, by these tests, they determine that part in which there is much
metal from that part in which there is little. Unless these tests have been
carefully applied before the metals are melted out, the ore cannot be smelted
without great loss to the owners, for the parts which do not easily melt in the
fire carry the metals off with them or consume them. In the last case, they pass
off with the fumes; in the other case they are mixed with the slag and furnace
accretions, and in such event the owners lose the labour which they have spent
in preparing the furnaces and the crucibles, and further, it is necessary for them
to incur fresh expenditure for fluxes and other things. Metals, when they have
been melted out, are usually assayed in order that we may ascertain what pro­
portion of silver is in a centumpondium of copper or lead, or what quantity of
gold is in one libra of silver; and, on the other hand, what proportion of copper
or lead is contained in a centumpondium of silver, or what quantity of silver is
contained in one libra of gold. And from this we can calculate whether it
will be worth while to separate the precious metals from the base metals, or
not. Further, a test of this kind shows whether coins are good or are
debased; and readily detects silver, if the coiners have mixed more than is
lawful with the gold; or copper, if the coiners have alloyed with the gold or
silver more of it than is allowable. I will explain all these methods with the
utmost care that I can.
1
The method of assaying ore used by mining people, differs from
smelting only by the small amount of material used. Inasmuch as, by
smelting a small quantity, they learn whether the smelting of a large
1quantity will compensate them for their expenditure; hence, if they are not
particular to employ assays, they may, as I have already said, sometimes smelt
the metal from the ore with a loss or sometimes without any profit; for they
1can assay the ore at a very small expense, and smelt it only at a great
expense. Both processes, however, are carried out in the same way, for just
as we assay ore in a little furnace, so do we smelt it in the large furnace. Also
in both cases charcoal and not wood is burned. Moreover, in the crucible
when metals are tested, be they gold, silver, copper, or lead, they are mixed in
precisely the same way as they are mixed in the blast furnace when they
are smelted. Further, those who assay ores with fire, either pour out the
metal in a liquid state, or, when it has cooled, break the crucible and clean
1the metal from slag; and in the same way the smelter, as soon as the metal
flows from the furnace into the forehearth, pours in cold water and takes the
slag from the metal with a hooked bar. Finally, in the same way that gold
and silver are separated from lead in a cupel, so also are they separated in
the cupellation furnace.
It is necessary that the assayer who is testing ore or metals should be
prepared and instructed in all things necessary in assaying, and that he
should close the doors of the room in which the assay furnace stands, lest
127[Figure 127]
ROUND ASSAY FURNACE.
128[Figure 128]
RECTANGULAR ASSAY FURNACE.
1anyone coming at an inopportune moment might disturb his thoughts when
they are intent on the work. It is also necessary for him to place his balances
in a case, so that when he weighs the little buttons of metal the scales may
not be agitated by a draught of air, for that is a hindrance to his work.
Now I will describe the different things which are necessary in assaying,
beginning with the assay furnace, of which one differs from another in
shape, material, and the place in which it is set. In shape, they may be
round or rectangular, the latter shape being more suited to assaying ores.
The materials of the assay furnaces differ, in that one is made of bricks,
another of iron, and certain ones of clay. The one of bricks is built on a
chimney-hearth which is three and a half feet high; the iron one is placed
in the same position, and also the one of clay. The brick one is a cubit high,
a foot wide on the inside, and one foot two digits long; at a point five digits
above the hearth—which is usually the thickness of an unbaked2 brick—
an iron plate is laid, and smeared over with lute on the upper side to prevent
it from being injured by the fire; in front of the furnace above the plate is a
mouth a palm high, five digits wide, and rounded at the top. The iron plate
129[Figure 129]
A—OPENINGS IN THE PLATE. B—PART OF PLATE WHICH PROJECTS BEYOND THE FURNACE.
has three openings which are one digit wide and three digits long, one is at
each side and the third at the back; through them sometimes the ash falls
from the burning charcoal, and sometimes the draught blows through the
chamber which is below the iron plate, and stimulates the fire. For this
reason this furnace when used by metallurgists is named from assaying, but
when used by the alchemists it is named from the wind3. The part of the
iron plate which projects from the furnace is generally three-quarters of a
1palm long and a palm wide; small pieces of charcoal, after being laid thereon,
can be placed quickly in the furnace through its mouth with a pair of tongs,
or again, if necessary, can be taken out of the furnace and laid there.
The iron assay furnace is made of four iron bars a foot and a half high,
which at the bottom are bent outward and broadened a short distance to enable
them to stand more firmly; the front part of the furnace is made from two
of these bars, and the back part from two of them; to these bars on both
sides are joined and welded three iron cross-bars, the first at a height of a palm
from the bottom, the second at a height of a foot, and the third at the top.
The upright bars are perforated at that point where the side cross-bars are
joined to them, in order that three similar iron bars on the remaining sides
can be engaged in them; thus there are twelve cross-bars, which make
three stages at unequal intervals. At the lower stage, the upright bars are
distant from each other one foot and five digits; and at the middle stage the
front is distant from the back three palms and one digit, and the sides are
distant from each other three palms and as many digits; at the highest stage
from the front to the back there is a distance of two palms, and between the
sides three palms, so that in this way the furnace becomes narrower at the
top. Furthermore, an iron rod, bent to the shape of the mouth, is set into
the lowest bar of the front; this mouth, just like that of the brick furnace,
is a palm high and five digits wide. Then the front cross-bar of the lower
stage is perforated on each side of the mouth, and likewise the back one;
through these perforations there pass two iron rods, thus making altogether
four bars in the lower stage, and these support an iron plate smeared with
lute; part of this plate also projects outside the furnace. The outside of
the furnace from the lower stage to the upper, is covered with iron plates,
which are bound to the bars by iron wires, and smeared with lute to enable
them to bear the heat of the fire as long as possible.
As for the clay furnace, it must be made of fat, thick clay, medium so
far as relates to its softness or hardness. This furnace has exactly the same
height as the iron one, and its base is made of two earthenware tiles, one
foot and three palms long and one foot and one palm wide. Each side of the
fore part of both tiles is gradually cut away for the length of a palm, so
that they are half a foot and a digit wide, which part projects from the
furnace; the tiles are about a digit and a half thick. The walls are similarly
of clay, and are set on the lower tiles at a distance of a digit from the edge,
and support the upper tiles; the walls are three digits high and have four
openings, each of which is about three digits high; those of the back part and
of each side are five digits wide, and of the front, a palm and a half wide, to
enable the freshly made cupels to be conveniently placed on the hearth, when
it has been thoroughly warmed, that they may be dried there. Both tiles
are bound on the outer edge with iron wire, pressed into them, so that they
will be less easily broken; and the tiles, not unlike the iron bed-plate, have
three openings three digits long and a digit wide, in order that when the upper
one on account of the heat of the fire or for some other reason has become
damaged, the lower one may be exchanged and take its place. Through these
1holes, the ashes from the burning charcoal, as I have stated, fall down, and
air blows into the furnace after passing through the openings in the walls of
the chamber. The furnace is rectangular, and inside at the lower part it is
three palms and one digit wide and three palms and as many digits long. At
the upper part it is two palms and three digits wide, so that it also grows
narrower; it is one foot high; in the middle of the back it is cut out at
the bottom in the shape of a semicircle, of half a digit radius. Not
unlike the furnace before described, it has in its forepart a mouth which is
rounded at the top, one palm high and a palm and a digit wide. Its door
is also made of clay, and this has a window and a handle; even the lid
of the furnace which is made of clay has its own handle, fastened on with iron
wire. The outer parts and sides of this furnace are bound with iron wires,
which are usually pressed in, in the shape of triangles. The brick furnaces
must remain stationary; the clay and iron ones can be carried from one
place to another. Those of brick can be prepared more quickly, while those
of iron are more lasting, and those of clay are more suitable. Assayers
also make temporary furnaces in another way; they stand three bricks
on a hearth, one on each side and a third one at the back, the fore-part lies
open to the draught, and on these bricks is placed an iron plate, upon which
they again stand three bricks, which hold and retain the charcoal.
The setting of one furnace differs from another, in that some are placed
higher and others lower; that one is placed higher, in which the man who is
assaying the ore or metals introduces the scorifier through the mouth with the
tongs; that one is placed lower, into which he introduces the crucible
through its open top.
In some cases the assayer uses an iron hoop4 in place of a furnace;
this is placed upon the hearth of a chimney, the lower edge being daubed
with lute to prevent the blast of the bellows from escaping under it.
If the blast is given slowly, the ore will be smelted and the copper will melt in
the triangular crucible, which is placed in it and taken away again with the
tongs. The hoop is two palms high and half a digit thick; its diameter is
generally one foot and one palm, and where the blast from the bellows enters
into it, it is notched out. The bellows is a double one, such as goldworkers
use, and sometimes smiths. In the middle of the bellows there is a board in
which there is an air-hole, five digits wide and seven long, covered by a
little flap which is fastened over the air-hole on the lower side of the board;
this flap is of equal length and width. The bellows, without its head, is
three feet long, and at the back is one foot and one palm wide and
somewhat rounded, and it is three palms wide at the head; the head itself
is three palms long and two palms and a digit wide at the part where it joins
the boards, then it gradually becomes narrower. The nozzle, of which there
is only one, is one foot and two digits long; this nozzle, and one-half of the
head in which the nozzle is fixed, are placed in an opening of the wall, this
being one foot and one palm thick; it reaches only to the iron hoop on the
1hearth, for it does not project beyond the wall. The hide of the bellows is
fixed to the bellows-boards with its own peculiar kind of iron nails. It joins
both bellows-boards to the head, and over it there are cross strips of
hide fixed to the bellows-boards with broad-headed nails, and similarly
fixed to the head. The middle board of the bellows rests on an iron bar,
to which it is fastened with iron nails clinched on both ends, so that it cannot
move; the iron bar is fixed between two upright posts, through which it
penetrates. Higher up on these upright posts there is a wooden axle, with
iron journals which revolve in the holes in the posts. In the middle of
this axle there is mortised a lever, fixed with iron nails to prevent it from
flying out; the lever is five and a half feet long, and its posterior end is
engaged in the iron ring of an iron rod which reaches to the “tail” of the
lowest bellows-board, and there engages another similar ring. And so when
the workman pulls down the lever, the lower part of the bellows is raised and
drives the wind into the nozzle; then the wind, penetrating through the hole
in the middle bellows-board, which is called the air-hole, lifts up the upper
part of the bellows, upon whose upper board is a piece of lead, heavy enough
to press down that part of the bellows again, and this being pressed down
blows a blast through the nozzle. This is the principle of the double bellows,
which is peculiar to the iron hoop where are placed the triangular crucibles in
which copper ore is smelted and copper is melted.
130[Figure 130]
A—IRON HOOP. B—DOUBLE BELLOWS. C—ITS NOZZLE. D—LEVER.
I have spoken of the furnaces and the iron hoop; I will now speak of
the muffles and the crucibles. The muffle is made of clay, in the shape
of an inverted gutter tile; it covers the scorifiers, lest coal dust fall into
them and interfere with the assay. It is a palm and a half broad, and the
height, which corresponds with the mouth of the furnace, is generally a palm,
1and it is nearly as long as the furnace; only at the front end does it touch
the mouth of the furnace, everywhere else on the sides and at the back
there is a space of three digits, to allow the charcoal to lie in the open space
between it and the furnace. The muffle is as thick as a fairly thick earthen
jar; its upper part is entire; the back has two little windows, and each side
has two or three or even four, through which the heat passes into the scorifiers
and melts the ore. In place of little windows, some muffles have small holes,
ten in the back and more on each side. Moreover, in the back below the
little windows, or small holes, there are cut away three semi-circular notches
half a digit high, and on each side there are four. The back of the muffle
is generally a little lower than the front.
131[Figure 131]
A—BROAD LITTLE WINDOWS OF MUFFLE. B—NARROW ONES. C—OPENINGS IN THE
BACK THEREOF.
The crucibles differ in the materials from which they are made, because
they are made of either clay or ashes; and those of clay, which we also call
“earthen,” differ in shape and size. Some are made in the shape of a mod­
erately thick salver (scorifiers), three digits wide, and of a capacity of an
uncía measure; in these the ore mixed with fluxes is melted, and they are used
by those who assay gold or silver ore. Some are triangular and much
thicker and more capacious, holding five, or six, or even more uncíae; in
these copper is melted, so that it can be poured out, expanded, and tested
with fire, and in these copper ore is usually melted.
The cupels are made of ashes; like the preceding scorifiers they are
tray-shaped, and their lower part is very thick but their capacity is less.
In these lead is separated from silver, and by them assays are concluded.
Inasmuch as the assayers themselves make the cupels, something must
be said about the material from which they are made, and the method
of making them. Some make them out of all kinds of ordinary ashes; these
are not good, because ashes of this kind contain a certain amount of fat,
whereby such cupels are easily broken when they are hot. Others make
them likewise out of any kind of ashes which have been previously
leached; of this kind are the ashes into which warm water has been infused
for the purpose of making lye. These ashes, after being dried in the sun or
a furnace, are sifted in a hair sieve; and although warm water washes away the
1 132[Figure 132]
A—SCORIFIER. B—TRIANGULAR CRUCIBLE. C—CUPEL.
fat from the ashes, still the cupels which are made from such ashes are not
very good because they often contain charcoal dust, sand, and pebbles.
Some make them in the same way out of any kind of ashes, but first of all
pour water into the ashes and remove the scum which floats thereon; then,
after it has become clear, they pour away the water, and dry the ashes; they
then sift them and make the cupels from them. These, indeed, are good,
but not of the best quality, because ashes of this kind are also not devoid of
small pebbles and sand. To enable cupels of the best quality to be made, all
the impurities must be removed from the ashes. These impurities are of
two kinds; the one sort light, to which class belong charcoal dust and fatty
material and other things which float in water, the other sort heavy, such
as small stones, fine sand, and any other materials which settle in the
bottom of a vessel. Therefore, first of all, water should be poured into the
ashes and the light impurities removed; then the ashes should be
kneaded with the hands, so that they will become properly mixed with
the water. When the water has become muddy and turbid, it should be
poured into a second vessel. In this way the small stones and fine sand, or
any other heavy substance which may be there, remain in the first vessel,
and should be thrown away. When all the ashes have settled in this second
vessel, which will be shown if the water has become clear and does not taste
of the flavour of lye, the water should be thrown away, and the ashes
which have settled in the vessel should be dried in the sun or in a furnace.
This material is suitable for the cupels, especially if it is the ash of beech
wood or other wood which has a small annual growth; those ashes made
from twigs and limbs of vines, which have rapid annual growth, are not so
1good, for the cupels made from them, since they are not sufficiently dry,
frequently crack and break in the fire and absorb the metals. If ashes of
beech or similar wood are not to be had, the assayer makes little balls of such
ashes as he can get, after they have been cleared of impurities in the manner
before described, and puts them in a baker's or potter's oven to burn, and from
these the cupels are made, because the fire consumes whatever fat or damp
there may be. As to all kinds of ashes, the older they are the better, for it is
necessary that they should have the greatest possible dryness. For this
reason ashes obtained from burned bones, especially from the bones of the
heads of animals, are the most suitable for cupels, as are also those ashes
obtained from the horns of deer and the spines of fishes. Lastly, some take the
ashes which are obtained from burnt scrapings of leather, when the tanners
scrape the hides to clear them from hair. Some prefer to use compounds,
that one being recommended which has one and a half parts of ashes from the
bones of animals or the spines of fishes, and one part of beech ashes, and half a
part of ashes of burnt hide scrapings. From this mixture good cupels are
made, though far better ones are obtained from equal portions of ashes of
burnt hide scrapings, ashes of the bones of heads of sheep and calves, and
ashes of deer horns. But the best of all are produced from deer horns alone,
burnt to powder; this kind, by reason of its extreme dryness, absorbs metals
least of all. Assayers of our own day, however, generally make the
cupels from beech ashes. These ashes, after being prepared in the
manner just described, are first of all sprinkled with beer or water, to make
them stick together, and are then ground in a small mortar. They are ground
again after being mixed with the ashes obtained from the skulls of beasts or from
the spines of fishes; the more the ashes are ground the better they are.
Some rub bricks and sprinkle the dust so obtained, after sifting it, into the
beech ashes, for dust of this kind does not allow the hearth-lead to absorb
the gold or silver by eating away the cupels. Others, to guard against the
same thing, moisten the cupels with white of egg after they have been made,
and when they have been dried in the sun, again crush them; especially if they
want to assay in it an ore or copper which contains iron. Some moisten the
ashes again and again with cow's milk, and dry them, and grind them in a
small mortar, and then mould the cupels. In the works in which silver
is separated from copper, they make cupels from two parts of the ashes of
the crucible of the cupellation furnace, for these ashes are very dry, and from
one part of bone-ash. Cupels which have been made in these ways also
need to be placed in the sun or in a furnace; afterward, in whatever way
they have been made, they must be kept a long time in dry places, for the
older they are, the dryer and better they are.
Not only potters, but also the assayers themselves, make scorifiers
and triangular crucibles. They make them out of fatty clay, which is
dry5, and neither hard nor soft. With this clay they mix the dust of old
broken crucibles, or of burnt and worn bricks; then they knead with a
pestle the clay thus mixed with dust, and then dry it. As to these crucibles,
1the older they are, the dryer and better they are. The moulds in which the
cupels are moulded are of two kinds, that is, a smaller size and a larger size.
In the smaller ones are made the cupels in which silver or gold is purged
from the lead which has absorbed it; in the larger ones are made cupels in
which silver is separated from copper and lead. Both moulds are made out
of brass and have no bottom, in order that the cupels can be taken out of
them whole. The pestles also are of two kinds, smaller and larger, each
likewise of brass, and from the lower end of them there projects a round
knob, and this alone is pressed into the mould and makes the hollow part of
the cupel. The part which is next to the knob corresponds to the upper
part of the mould.
133[Figure 133]
A—LITTLE MOULD. B—INVERTED MOULD. C—PESTLE. D—ITS KNOB. E—SECOND
PESTLE.
So much for these matters. I will now speak of the preparation of the
ore for assaying. It is prepared by roasting, burning, crushing, and wash­
ing. It is necessary to take a fixed weight of ore in order that one may
determine how great a portion of it these preparations consume. The
hard stone containing the metal is burned in order that, when its hardness
has been overcome, it can be crushed and washed; indeed, the very hardest
kind, before it is burned, is sprinkled with vinegar, in order that it may more
rapidly soften in the fire. The soft stone should be broken with a hammer,
crushed in a mortar and reduced to powder; then it should be washed
and then dried again. If earth is mixed with the mineral, it is washed in a
basin, and that which settles is assayed in the fire after it is dried. All mining
products which are washed must again be dried. But ore which is rich in
metal is neither burned nor crushed nor washed, but is roasted, lest that
method of preparation should lose some of the metal. When the fires have
1been kindled, this kind of ore is roasted in an enclosed pot, which is stopped
up with lute. A less valuable ore is even burned on a hearth, being placed
upon the charcoal; for we do not make a great expenditure upon metals, if
they are not worth it. However, I will go into fuller details as to all these
methods of preparing ore, both a little later, and in the following Book.
For the present, I have decided to explain those things which mining
people usually call fluxes6 because they are added to ores, not only for
assaying, but also for smelting. Great power is discovered in all these fluxes,
but we do not see the same effects produced in every case; and some are of a
very complicated nature. For when they have been mixed with the ore
and are melted in either the assay or the smelting furnace, some of them,
because they melt easily, to some extent melt the ore; others, because they
either make the ore very hot or penetrate into it, greatly assist the fire in
separating the impurities from the metals, and they also mix the fused part
with the lead, or they partly protect from the fire the ore whose metal contents
would be either consumed in the fire, or carried up with the fumes and fly out
of the furnace; some fluxes absorb the metals. To the first order be­
longs lead, whether it be reduced to little granules or resolved into ash by
fire, or red-lead7, or ochre made from lead8, or litharge, or hearth-lead, or

1galena; also copper, the same either roasted or in leaves or filings9; also the
slags of gold, silver, copper, and lead; also soda10, its slags, saltpetre, burned
alum, vitriol, sal tostus, and melted salt11; stones which easily melt
in hot furnaces, the sand which is made from them12; soft tophus13,



1and a certain white schist14. But lead, its ashes, red-lead, ochre, and
litharge, are more efficacious for ores which melt easily; hearth-lead for
those which melt with difficulty; and galena for those which melt with
greater difficulty. To the second order belong iron filings, their slag, sal
artificíosus, argol, dried lees of vinegar15, and the lees of the aqua which separates
gold from silver16; these lees and sal artíficíosus have the power of penetrating
into ore, the argol to a considerable degree, the lees of vinegar to a greater
degree, but most of all those of the aqua which separates gold from silver;
filings and slags of iron, since they melt more slowly, have the power of heat­
ing the ore. To the third order belong pyrites, the cakes which are melted
from them, soda, its slags, salt, iron, iron scales, iron filings, iron slags, vitriol,
the sand which is resolved from stones which easily melt in the fire, and
tophus; but first of all are pyrites and the cakes which are melted from it, for
they absorb the metals of the ore and guard them from the fire which con­
sumes them. To the fourth order belong lead and copper, and their relations.
And so with regard to fluxes, it is manifest that some are natural, others
fall in the category of slags, and the rest are purged from slag. When we

1assay ores, we can without great expense add to them a small portion of any
sort of flux, but when we smelt them we cannot add a large portion without
great expense. We must, therefore, consider how great the cost is, to avoid
incurring a greater expense on smelting an ore than the profit we make out of
the metals which it yields.
The colour of the fumes which the ore emits after being placed on a hot
shovel or an iron plate, indicates what flux is needed in addition to the lead,
for the purpose of either assaying or smelting. If the fumes have a purple
tint, it is best of all, and the ore does not generally require any flux whatever.
If the fumes are blue, there should be added cakes melted out of pyrites or
other cupriferous rock; if yellow, litharge and sulphur should be added; if
red, glass-galls17 and salt; if green, then cakes melted from cupriferous stones,
litharge, and glass-galls; if the fumes are black, melted salt or iron slag,
litharge and white lime rock. If they are white, sulphur and iron which is
eaten with rust; if they are white with green patches, iron slag and
sand obtained from stones which easily melt; if the middle part of the
fumes are yellow and thick, but the outer parts green, the same sand and
iron slag. The colour of the fumes not only gives us information as to the
proper remedies which should be applied to each ore, but also more or less
indication as to the solidified juices which are mixed with it, and which give
forth such fumes. Generally, blue fumes signify that the ore contains azure;
yellow, orpiment; red, realgar; green, chrysocolla; black, black bitumen;
white, tin18; white with green patches, the same mixed with chrysocolla;
the middle part yellow and other parts green show that it contains sulphur.
Earth, however, and other things dug up which contain metals, some­
times emit similarly coloured fumes.
If the ore contains any stíbíum, then iron slag is added to it; if pyrites,
then are added cakes melted from a cupriferous stone and sand made from
stones which easily melt. If the ore contains iron, then pyrites and sulphur
are added; for just as iron slag is the flux for an ore mixed with sulphur, so
on the contrary, to a gold or silver ore containing iron, from which they are
1not easily separated, is added sulphur and sand made from stones which
easily melt.
Sal artíficíosus19 suitable for use in assaying ore is made in many ways.
By the first method, equal portions of argol, lees of vinegar, and urine,
are all boiled down together till turned into salt. The second method is from
equal portions of the ashes which wool-dyers use, of lime. of argol purified,
and of melted salt; one libra of each of these ingredients is thrown into
twenty líbrae of urine; then all are boiled down to one-third and strained,
and afterward there is added to what remains one líbra and four uncíae
of unmelted salt, eight pounds of lye being at the same time poured into
the pots, with litharge smeared around on the inside, and the whole is boiled
till the salt becomes thoroughly dry. The third method follows. Unmelted
salt, and iron which is eaten with rust, are put into a vessel, and after
urine has been poured in, it is covered with a lid and put in a warm place
for thirty days; then the iron is washed in the urine and taken out, and
the residue is boiled until it is turned into salt. In the fourth method by
which sal artíficíosus is prepared, the lye made from equal portions of
lime and the ashes which wool-dyers use, together with equal portions of
salt, soap, white argol, and saltpetre, are boiled until in the end the mix­
ture evaporates and becomes salt. This salt is mixed with the concentrates
from washing, to melt them.
Saltpetre is prepared in the following manner, in order that it may be
suitable for use in assaying ore. It is placed in a pot which is smeared on
the inside with litharge, and lye made of quicklime is repeatedly poured over
it, and it is heated until the fire consumes it. Wherefore the saltpetre
does not kindle with the fire, since it has absorbed the lime which preserves
it, and thus it is prepared20.
The following compositions21 are recommended to smelt all ores which
the heat of fire breaks up or melts only with difficulty. Of these, one is made
from stones of the third order, which easily melt when thrown into hot
furnaces. They are crushed into pure white powder, and with half an uncia

1of this powder there are mixed two unciae of yellow litharge, likewise crushed.
This mixture is put into a scorifier large enough to hold it, and placed under
the muffle of a hot furnace; when the charge flows like water, which occurs
after half an hour, it is taken out of the furnace and poured on to a stone,
and when it has hardened it has the appearance of glass, and this is likewise
crushed. This powder is sprinkled over any metalliferous ore which does
not easily melt when we are assaying it, and it causes the slag to exude.
Others, in place of litharge, substitute lead ash,22 which is made in the
following way: sulphur is thrown into lead which has been melted in a
crucible, and it soon becomes covered with a sort of scum; when this is
removed, sulphur is again thrown in, and the skin which forms is again taken
off; this is frequently repeated, in fact until all the lead is turned into
powder. There is a powerful flux compound which is made from one uncía
each of prepared saltpetre, melted salt, glass-gall, and argol, and one-third
of an uncia of litharge and a bes of glass ground to powder; this flux, being
added to an equal weight of ore, liquefies it. A more powerful flux is made by
placing together in a pot, smeared on the inside with litharge, equal portions
of white argol, common salt, and prepared saltpetre, and these are heated
until a white powder is obtained from them, and this is mixed with as much
litharge; one part of this compound is mixed with two parts of the ore which
is to be assayed. A still more powerful flux than this is made out of ashes
of black lead, saltpetre, orpiment, stíbíum, and dried lees of the aqua with
which gold workers separate gold from silver. The ashes of lead23 are made from
one pound of lead and one pound of sulphur; the lead is flattened out into
sheets by pounding with a hammer, and placed alternately with sulphur in a
crucible or pot, and they are heated together until the fire consumes the
sulphur and the lead turns to ashes. One líbra of crushed saltpetre is mixed
with one libra of orpiment similarly ground to powder, and the two are cooked
in an iron pan until they liquefy; they are then poured out, and after cool­
ing are again ground to powder. A líbra of stíbíum and a bes of the
dried lees (of what?) are placed alternately in a crucible and heated to the
point at which they form a button, which is similarly reduced to powder.
A bes of this powder and one líbra of the ashes of lead, as well as a líbra of
powder made out of the saltpetre and orpiment, are mixed together and a
1powder is made from them, one part of which added to two parts of ore
liquefies it and cleanses it of dross. But the most powerful flux is one which
has two drachmae of sulphur and as much glass-galls, and half an uncía of each of
the following,—stíbíum, salt obtained from boiled urine, melted common salt,
prepared saltpetre, litharge, vitriol, argol, salt obtained from ashes of musk ivy,
dried lees of the aqua by which gold-workers separate gold from silver,
alum reduced by fire to powder, and one uncía of camphor24 combined with
sulphur and ground into powder. A half or whole portion of this mixture,
as the necessity of the case requires, is mixed with one portion of the ore
and two portions of lead, and put in a scorifier; it is sprinkled with powder
of crushed Venetian glass, and when the mixture has been heated for an hour
and a half or two hours, a button will settle in the bottom of the scorifier, and
from it the lead is soon separated.
There is also a flux which separates sulphur, orpiment and realgar from
metalliferous ore. This flux is composed of equal portions of iron slag,
white tophus, and salt. After these juices have been secreted, the ores
themselves are melted, with argol added to them. There is one flux which
preserves stíbíum from the fire, that the fire may not consume it, and
which preserves the metals from the stíbíum; and this is composed of equal
portions of sulphur, prepared saltpetre, melted salt, and vitriol, heated
together in lye until no odour emanates from the sulphur, which occurs after
a space of three or four hours.25
It is also worth while to substitute certain other mixtures. Take two
portions of ore properly prepared, one portion of iron filings, and likewise
one portion of salt, and mix; then put them into a scorifier and place them
in a muffle furnace; when they are reduced by the fire and run together, a
button will settle in the bottom of the scorifier. Or else take equal portions
of ore and of lead ochre, and mix with them a small quantity of iron filings,
and put them into a scorifier, then scatter iron filings over the mixture. Or
else take ore which has been ground to powder and sprinkle it in a crucible,
and then sprinkle over it an equal quantity of salt that has been three or
four times moistened with urine and dried; then, again and again alternately,
powdered ore and salt; next, after the crucible has been covered with a
lid and sealed, it is placed upon burning charcoal. Or else take one portion of
ore, one portion of minute lead granules, half a portion of Venetian glass,
and the same quantity of glass-galls. Or else take one portion of ore, one
portion of lead granules, half a portion of salt, one-fourth of a portion of argol,
and the same quantity of lees of the aqua which separates gold from silver.
Or else take equal portions of prepared ore and a powder in which there
1are equal portions of very minute lead granules, melted salt, stíbíum and
iron slag Or else take equal portions of gold ore, vitriol, argol, and of salt.
So much for the fluxes.
In the assay furnace, when it has been prepared in the way in which I
have described, is first placed a muffle. Then selected pieces of live charcoals
are laid on it, for, from pieces of inferior quality, a great quantity of ash collects
around the muffle and hinders the action of the fire. Then the scorifiers are
placed under the muffle with tongs, and glowing coals are placed under the
fore part of the muffle to warm the scorifiers more quickly; and when the lead
or ore is to be placed in the scorifiers, they are taken out again with the
tongs. When the scorifiers glow in the heat, first of all the ash or small
charcoals, if any have fallen into them, should be blown away with an iron
pipe two feet long and a digit in diameter; this same thing must be done
if ash or small coal has fallen into the cupels. Next, put in a small ball of lead
with the tongs, and when this lead has begun to be turned into fumes and
consumed, add to it the prepared ore wrapped in paper. It is preferable that
the assayer should wrap it in paper, and in this way put it in the scorifier,
than that he should drop it in with a copper ladle; for when the
scorifiers are small, if he uses a ladle he frequently spills some part of the
ore. When the paper is burnt, he stirs the ore with a small charcoal held in
the tongs, so that the lead may absorb the metal which is mixed in the ore;
when this mixture has taken place, the slag partly adheres by its cir­
cumference to the scorifier and makes a kind of black ring, and partly
floats on the lead in which is mixed the gold or silver; then the slag must
be removed from it.
The lead used must be entirely free from every trace of silver, as is that
which is known as Víllacense.26 But if this kind is not obtainable, the lead
must be assayed separately, to determine with certainty that proportion of
silver it contains, so that it may be deducted from the calculation of the
ore, and the result be exact; for unless such lead be used, the assay will be
false and misleading. The lead balls are made with a pair of iron tongs,
about one foot long; its iron claws are so formed that when pressed
together they are egg-shaped; each claw contains a hollow cup, and when
the claws are closed there extends upward from the cup a passage, so there
are two openings, one of which leads to each hollow cup. And so when the
molten lead is poured in through the openings, it flows down into the hollow
cup, and two balls are formed by one pouring.
In this place I ought not to omit mention of another method of assaying
employed by some assayers. They first of all place prepared ore in the
scorifiers and heat it, and afterward they add the lead. Of this method I
cannot approve, for in this way the ore frequently becomes cemented, and
for this reason it does not stir easily afterward, and is very slow in mixing
with the lead.
1
If the whole space of the furnace covered by the muffle is not filled with
scorifiers, cupels are put in the empty space, in order that they may become
warmed in the meantime. Sometimes, however, it is filled with scorifiers,
when we are assaying many different ores, or many portions of one ore at the
same time. Although the cupels are usually dried in one hour, yet smaller
ones are done more quickly, and the larger ones more slowly. Unless the
cupels are heated before the metal mixed with lead is placed in them, they
134[Figure 134]
A—CLAWS OF THE TONGS. B—IRON, GIVING FORM OF AN EGG. C—OPENING.
frequently break, and the lead always sputters and sometimes leaps out of them;
if the cupel is broken or the lead leaps out of it, it is necessary to assay
another portion of ore; but if the lead only sputters, then the cupels should
be covered with broad thin pieces of glowing charcoal, and when the lead
strikes these, it falls back again, and thus the mixture is slowly exhaled.
Further, if in the cupellation the lead which is in the mixture is not con­
sumed, but remains fixed and set, and is covered by a kind of skin, this is a
sign that it has not been heated by a sufficiently hot fire; put into the
mixture, therefore, a dry pine stick, or a twig of a similar tree, and hold it
in the hand in order that it can be drawn away when it has been heated.
Then take care that the heat is sufficient and equal; if the heat has not
passed all round the charge, as it should when everything is done rightly,
but causes it to have a lengthened shape, so that it appears to have a tail,
this is a sign that the heat is deficient where the tail lies. Then in order
that the cupel may be equally heated by the fire, turn it around with a small
iron hook, whose handle is likewise made of iron and is a foot and a half long.
135[Figure 135]
SMALL IRON HOOK.
Next, if the mixture has not enough lead, add as much of it as is required
with the iron tongs, or with the brass ladle to which is fastened a very long
handle. In order that the charge may not be cooled, warm the lead beforehand.
1But it is better at first to add as much lead as is required to the ore which
needs melting, rather than afterward when the melting has been half finished,
that the whole quantity may not vanish in fumes, but part of it remain
fast. When the heat of the fire has nearly consumed the lead, then is the
time when the gold and silver gleam in their varied colours, and when all the
lead has been consumed the gold or silver settles in the cupel. Then as
soon as possible remove the cupel out of the furnace, and take the button out
of it while it is still warm, in order that it does not adhere to the ashes. This
generally happens if the button is already cold when it is taken out. If the
ashes do adhere to it, do not scrape it with a knife, lest some of it be lost and
the assay be erroneous, but squeeze it with the iron tongs, so that the ashes
drop off through the pressure. Finally, it is of advantage to make two or
three assays of the same ore at the same time, in order that if by chance
one is not successful, the second, or in any event the third, may be certain.
While the assayer is assaying the ore, in order to prevent the great heat
of the fire from injuring his eyes, it will be useful for him always to have
ready a thin wooden tablet, two palms wide, with a handle by which it may
be held, and with a slit down the middle in order that he may look through
it as through a crack, since it is necessary for him to look frequently within
and carefully to consider everything.
136[Figure 136]
A—HANDLE OF TABLET. B—ITS CRACK.
Now the lead which has absorbed the silver from a metallic ore is con­
sumed in the cupel by the heat in the space of three quarters of an hour. When
the assays are completed the muffle is taken out of the furnace, and the
ashes removed with an iron shovel, not only from the brick and iron furnaces,
but also from the earthen one, so that the furnace need not be removed from
its foundation.
From ore placed in the triangular crucible a button is melted out, from
which metal is afterward made. First of all, glowing charcoal is put into
the iron hoop, then is put in the triangular crucible, which contains the ore
together with those things which can liquefy it and purge it of its dross;
then the fire is blown with the double bellows, and the ore is heated until
the button settles in the bottom of the crucible. We have explained that
there are two methods of assaying ore,—one, by which the lead is mixed
1with ore in the scorifier and afterward again separated from it in the cupel;
the other, by which it is first melted in the triangular earthen crucible and
afterward mixed with lead in the scorifier, and later separated from it in the
cupel. Now let us consider which is more suitable for each ore, or, if neither
is suitable, by what other method in one way or another we can assay it.
We justly begin with a gold ore, which we assay by both methods, for
if it is rich and seems not to be strongly resistant to fire, but to liquefy easily,
one centumpondium of it (known to us as the lesser weights),27 together with
one and a half, or two unciae of lead of the larger weights, are mixed together
and placed in the scorifier, and the two are heated in the fire until they are
well mixed. But since such an ore sometimes resists melting, add a little
salt to it, either sal torrefactus or sal artificiosus, for this will subdue it, and
prevent the alloy from collecting much dross; stir it frequently with an iron
rod, in order that the lead may flow around the gold on every side, and absorb
it and cast out the waste. When this has been done, take out the alloy and
cleanse it of slag; then place it in the cupel and heat it until it exhales all
the lead, and a bead of gold settles in the bottom.
If the gold ore is seen not to be easily melted in the fire, roast it and
extinguish it with brine. Do this again and again, for the more often you
roast it and extinguish it, the more easily the ore can be crushed fine, and the
more quickly does it melt in the fire and give up whatever dross it possesses.
1Mix one part of this ore, when it has been roasted, crushed, and washed, with
three parts of some powder compound which melts ore, and six parts of lead.
Put the charge into the triangular crucible, place it in the iron hoop to which
the double bellows reaches, and heat first in a slow fire, and afterward
gradually in a fiercer fire, till it melts and flows like water. If the ore does
not melt, add to it a little more of these fluxes, mixed with an equal portion
of yellow litharge, and stir it with a hot iron rod until it all melts. Then
take the crucible out of the hoop, shake off the button when it has cooled,
and when it has been cleansed, melt first in the scorifier and afterward in
the cupel. Finally, rub the gold which has settled in the bottom of the cupel,
after it has been taken out and cooled, on the touchstone, in order to find out
what proportion of silver it contains. Another method is to put a centum­
pondium (of the lesser weights) of gold ore into the triangular crucible, and
add to it a drachma (of the larger weights) of glass-galls. If it resists melting,
add half a drachma of roasted argol, and if even then it resists, add the
same quantity of roasted lees of vinegar, or lees of the aqua which separates
gold from silver, and the button will settle in the bottom of the crucible.
Melt this button again in the scorifier and a third time in the cupel.
We determine in the following way, before it is melted in the muffle
furnace, whether pyrites contains gold in it or not: if, after being three times
roasted and three times quenched in sharp vinegar, it has not broken nor
changed its colour, there is gold in it. The vinegar by which it is quenched
should be mixed with salt that is put in it, and frequently stirred and dissolved
for three days. Nor is pyrites devoid of gold, when, after being roasted and
then rubbed on the touchstone, it colours the touchstone in the same way that
it coloured it when rubbed in its crude state. Nor is gold lacking in that,
whose concentrates from washing, when heated in the fire, easily melt, giving
forth little smell and remaining bright; such concentrates are heated in the
fire in a hollowed piece of charcoal covered over with another charcoal.
We also assay gold ore without fire, but more often its sand or the con­
centrates which have been made by washing, or the dust gathered up by
some other means. A little of it is slightly moistened with water and heated
until it begins to exhale an odour, and then to one portion of ore are placed
two portions of quicksilver28 in a wooden dish as deep as a basin. They are
mixed together with a little brine, and are then ground with a wooden pestle
for the space of two hours, until the mixture becomes of the thickness of dough,
and the quicksilver can no longer be distinguished from the concentrates
made by the washing, nor the concentrates from the quicksilver. Warm, or
at least tepid, water is poured into the dish and the material is washed until
the water runs out clear. Afterward cold water is poured into the same dish,
and soon the quicksilver, which has absorbed all the gold, runs together
into a separate place away from the rest of the concentrates made by
washing. The quicksilver is afterward separated from the gold by means
of a pot covered with soft leather, or with canvas made of woven
threads of cotton; the amalgam is poured into the middle of the cloth or
1leather, which sags about one hand's breadth; next, the leather is folded
over and tied with a waxed string, and the dish catches the quicksilver
which is squeezed through it. As for the gold which remains in the leather,
it is placed in a scorifier and purified by being placed near glowing coals. Others
do not wash away the dirt with warm water, but with strong lye and vinegar,
for they pour these liquids into the pot, and also throw into it the quicksilver
mixed with the concentrates made by washing. Then they set the pot in a
warm place, and after twenty-four hours pour out the liquids with the dirt, and
separate the quicksilver from the gold in the manner which I have described.
Then they pour urine into a jar set in the ground, and in the jar place a
pot with holes in the bottom, and in the pot they place the gold; then the
lid is put on and cemented, and it is joined with the jar; they afterward heat
it till the pot glows red. After it has cooled, if there is copper in the gold
they melt it with lead in a cupel, that the copper may be separated from it;
but if there is silver in the gold they separate them by means of the aqua
which has the power of parting these two metals. There are some who,
when they separate gold from quicksilver, do not pour the amalgam into
a leather, but put it into a gourd-shaped earthen vessel, which they place
in the furnace and heat gradually over burning charcoal; next, with an iron
plate, they cover the opening of the operculum, which exudes vapour, and as
soon as it has ceased to exude, they smear it with lute and heat it for a short
time; then they remove the operculum from the pot, and wipe off the
quicksilver which adheres to it with a hare's foot, and preserve it for future
use. By the latter method, a greater quantity of quicksilver is lost, and by
the former method, a smaller quantity.
If an ore is rich in silver, as is rudis silver29, frequently silver glance,
or rarely ruby silver, gray silver, black silver, brown silver, or yellow silver,
as soon as it is cleansed and heated, a centumpondíum (of the lesser weights) of
it is placed in an uncia of molten lead in a cupel, and is heated until the lead
exhales. But if the ore is of poor or moderate quality, it must first be dried,
then crushed, and then to a centumpondium (of the lesser weights) an uncia
of lead is added, and it is heated in the scorifier until it melts. If it is not
soon melted by the fire, it should be sprinkled with a little powder of the
first order of fluxes, and if then it does not melt, more is added little by little
until it melts and exudes its slag; that this result may be reached sooner,
the powder which has been sprinkled over it should be stirred in with an iron
rod. When the scorifier has been taken out of the assay furnace, the alloy
should be poured into a hole in a baked brick; and when it has cooled and been
cleansed of the slag, it should be placed in a cupel and heated until it exhales
all its lead; the weight of silver which remains in the cupel indicates what
proportion of silver is contained in the ore.
We assay copper ore without lead, for if it is melted with it, the copper
usually exhales and is lost. Therefore, a certain weight of such an ore
1is first roasted in a hot fire for about six or eight hours; next, when it has
cooled, it is crushed and washed; then the concentrates made by washing
are again roasted, crushed, washed, dried, and weighed. The portion which
it has lost whilst it is being roasted and washed is taken into account, and
these concentrates by washing represent the cake which will be melted out
of the copper ore. Place three centumpondia (lesser weights) of this, mixed
with three centumpondia (lesser weights) each of copper scales30, saltpetre,
and Venetian glass, mixed, into the triangular crucible, and place it in the iron
hoop which is set on the hearth in front of the double bellows. Cover the crucible
with charcoal in such a way that nothing may fall into the ore which is to be
melted, and so that it may melt more quickly. At first blow a gentle blast with
the bellows in order that the ore may be heated gradually in the fire; then
blow strongly till it melts, and the fire consumes that which has been added to
it, and the ore itself exudes whatever slag it possesses. Next, cool
the crucible which has been taken out, and when this is broken you will find
the copper; weigh this, in order to ascertain how great a portion of the ore
the fire has consumed. Some ore is only once roasted, crushed, and washed;
and of this kind of concentrates, three centumpondia (lesser weights) are
taken with one centumpondíum each of common salt, argol and glass­
galls. Heat them in the triangular crucible, and when the mixture has
cooled a button of pure copper will be found, if the ore is rich in this metal.
If, however, it is less rich, a stony lump results, with which the copper is
intermixed; this lump is again roasted, crushed, and, after adding stones
which easily melt and saltpetre, it is again melted in another crucible, and
there settles in the bottom of the crucible a button of pure copper. If you
wish to know what proportion of silver is in this copper button, melt it in a
cupel after adding lead. With regard to this test I will speak later.
Those who wish to know quickly what portion of silver the copper ore
contains, roast the ore, crush and wash it, then mix a little yellow litharge
with one centumpondium (lesser weights) of the concentrates, and put the
mixture into a scorifier, which they place under the muffle in a hot furnace for
the space of half an hour. When the slag exudes, by reason of the melting force
which is in the litharge, they take the scorifier out; when it has cooled, they
cleanse it of slag and again crush it, and with one centumpondíum of it they
mix one and a half uncíae of lead granules. They then put it into another
scorifier, which they place under the muffle in a hot furnace, adding to the
mixture a little of the powder of some one of the fluxes which cause ore to
melt; when it has melted they take it out, and after it has cooled, cleanse
it of slag; lastly, they heat it in the cupel till it has exhaled all of the lead,
and only silver remains.
Lead ore may be assayed by this method: crush half an uncía of
pure lead-stone and the same quantity of the chrysocolla which they call
borax, mix them together, place them in a crucible, and put a glowing coal
1in the middle of it. As soon as the borax crackles and the lead-stone melts,
which soon occurs, remove the coal from the crucible, and the lead will settle
to the bottom of it; weigh it out, and take account of that portion of it
which the fire has consumed. If you also wish to know what portion of silver
is contained in the lead, melt the lead in the cupel until all of it exhales.
Another way is to roast the lead ore, of whatsoever quality it be, wash
it, and put into the crucible one centumpondium of the concentrates, together
with three centumpondia of the powdered compound which melts ore, mixed
together, and place it in the iron hoop that it may melt; when it has cooled,
cleanse it of its slag, and complete the test as I have already said. Another way is
to take two unciae of prepared ore, five drachmae of roasted copper, one uncia of
glass, or glass-galls reduced to powder, a semi-uncia of salt, and mix them. Put
the mixture into the triangular crucible, and heat it over a gentle fire to
prevent it from breaking; when the mixture has melted, blow the fire
vigorously with the bellows; then take the crucible off the live coals and
let it cool in the open air; do not pour water on it, lest the lead button being
acted upon by the excessive cold should become mixed with the slag, and the
assay in this way be erroneous. When the crucible has cooled, you will find
in the bottom of it the lead button. Another way is to take two unciae of
ore, a semi-uncia of litharge, two drachmae of Venetian glass and a semi-uncia
of saltpetre. If there is difficulty in melting the ore, add to it iron filings,
which, since they increase the heat, easily separate the waste from lead and
other metals. By the last way, lead ore properly prepared is placed in the
crucible, and there is added to it only the sand made from stones which easily
melt, or iron filings, and then the assay is completed as formerly.
You can assay tin ore by the following method. First roast it, then
crush, and afterward wash it; the concentrates are again roasted, crushed,
and washed. Mix one and a half centumpondia of this with one centum­
pondium of the chrysocolla which they call borax; from the mixture,
when it has been moistened with water, make a lump. Afterwards,
perforate a large round piece of charcoal, making this opening a palm deep,
three digits wide on the upper side and narrower on the lower side; when
the charcoal is put in its place the latter should be on the bottom and the
former uppermost. Let it be placed in a crucible, and let glowing coal be
put round it on all sides; when the perforated piece of coal begins to burn,
the lump is placed in the upper part of the opening, and it is covered with a
wide piece of glowing coal, and after many pieces of coal have been put round
it, a hot fire is blown up with the bellows, until all the tin has run out
of the lower opening of the charcoal into the crucible. Another way is to
take a large piece of charcoal, hollow it out, and smear it with lute, that the
ore may not leap out when white hot. Next, make a small hole through the
middle of it, then fill up the large opening with small charcoal, and put the
ore upon this; put fire in the small hole and blow the fire with the nozzle of
a hand bellows; place the piece of charcoal in a small crucible, smeared
with lute, in which, when the melting is finished, you will find a button
of tin.
1
In assaying bismuth ore, place pieces of ore in the scorifier, and put
it under the muffle in a hot furnace; as soon as they are heated, they
drip with bismuth, which runs together into a button.
Quicksilver ore is usually tested by mixing one part of broken ore
with three-parts of charcoal dust and a handful of salt. Put the mixture into
a crucible or a pot or a jar, cover it with a lid, seal it with lute, place it on
glowing charcoal, and as soon as a burnt cinnabar colour shows in it, take
out the vessel; for if you continue the heat too long the mixture exhales the
quicksilver with the fumes. The quicksilver itself, when it has become cool, is
found in the bottom of the crucible or other vessel. Another way is to place
broken ore in a gourd-shaped earthen vessel, put it in the assay furnace,
and cover with an operculum which has a long spout; under the spout, put
an ampulla to receive the quicksilver which distills. Cold water should be
poured into the ampulla, so that the quicksilver which has been heated by the
fire may be continuously cooled and gathered together, for the quicksilver
is borne over by the force of the fire, and flows down through the spout of
the operculum into the ampulla. We also assay quicksilver ore in the very
same way in which we smelt it. This I will explain in its proper place.
Lastly, we assay iron ore in the forge of a blacksmith. Such ore is burned,
crushed, washed, and dried; a magnet is laid over the concentrates, and
the particles of iron are attracted to it; these are wiped off with a brush,
and are caught in a crucible, the magnet being continually passed over the
concentrates and the particles wiped off, so long as there remain any particles
which the magnet can attract to it. These particles are heated in the crucible
with saltpetre until they melt, and an iron button is melted out of them.
If the magnet easily and quickly attracts the particles to it, we infer that the
ore is rich in iron; if slowly, that it is poor; if it appears actually to repel
the ore, then it contains little or no iron. This is enough for the assaying of
ores.
I will now speak of the assaying of the metal alloys. This is done both
by coiners and merchants who buy and sell metal, and by miners, but most
of all by the owners and mine masters, and by the owners and masters of
the works in which the metals are smelted, or in which one metal is parted
from another.
First I will describe the way assays are usually made to ascertain what
portion of precious metal is contained in base metal. Gold and silver are
now reckoned as precious metals and all the others as base metals. Once
upon a time the base metals were burned up, in order that the precious metals
should be left pure; the Ancients even discovered by such burning what
portion of gold was contained in silver, and in this way all the silver was
consumed, which was no small loss. However, the famous mathematician,
Archimedes31, to gratify King Hiero, invented a method of testing the silver,
1which was not very rapid, and was more accurate for testing a large mass
than a small one. This I will explain in my commentaries. The
alchemists have shown us a way of separating silver from gold by which
neither of them is lost32.
Gold which contains silver,33 or silver which contains gold, is first rubbed
on the touchstone. Then a needle in which there is a similar amount of
gold or silver is rubbed on the same touchstone, and from the lines which are
produced in this way, is perceived what portion of silver there is in the gold,
or what portion of gold there is in the silver. Next there is added to the
silver which is in the gold, enough silver to make it three times as much as the
gold. Then lead is placed in a cupel and melted; a little later, a small
amount of copper is put in it, in fact, half an uncía of it, or half an uncia and
a sícílícus (of the smaller weights) if the gold or silver does not contain any
copper. The cupel, when the lead and copper are wanting, attracts the particles
of gold and silver, and absorbs them. Finally, one-third of a líbra of the gold,
and one libra34 of the silver must be placed together in the same cupel and
melted; for if the gold and silver were first placed in the cupel and melted, as I
have already said, it absorbs particles of them, and the gold, when separated
from the silver, will not be found pure. These metals are heated until the
lead and the copper are consumed, and again, the same weight of each is melted
in the same manner in another cupel. The buttons are pounded with a
hammer and flattened out, and each little leaf is shaped in the form of a
tube, and each is put into a small glass ampulla. Over these there is poured
one uncia and one drachma (of the large weight) of the third quality aqua
valens, which I will describe in the Tenth Book. This is heated over a slow
fire, and small bubbles, resembling pearls in shape, will be seen to adhere
to the tubes. The redder the aqua appears, the better it is judged to be;
when the redness has vanished, small white bubbles are seen to be resting
on the tubes, resembling pearls not only in shape, but also in colour. After
a short time the aqua is poured off and other is poured on; when this has
again raised six or eight small white bubbles, it is poured off and the tubes are
taken out and washed four or five times with spring water; or if they are
heated with the same water, when it is boiling, they will shine more brilliantly.
Then they are placed in a saucer, which is held in the hand and gradually
dried by the gentle heat of the fire; afterward the saucer is placed over glowing
charcoal and covered with a charcoal, and a moderate blast is blown upon it

1with the mouth and then a blue flame will be emitted. In the end the tubes
are weighed, and if their weights prove equal, he who has undertaken this work
has not laboured in vain. Lastly, both are placed in another balance-pan and
weighed; of each tube four grains must not be counted, on account of the
silver which remains in the gold and cannot be separated from it. From the
weight of the tubes we learn the weight both of the gold and of the silver
which is in the button. If some assayer has omitted to add so much silver to
the gold as to make it three times the quantity, but only double, or two and a
half times as much, he will require the stronger quality of aqua which
separates gold from silver, such as the fourth quality. Whether the aqua
which he employs for gold and silver is suitable for the purpose, or whether
it is more or less strong than is right, is recognised by its effect. That of
medium strength raises the little bubbles on the tubes and is found to colour
the ampulla and the operculum a strong red; the weaker one is found to
colour them a light red, and the stronger one to break the tubes. To pure
silver in which there is some portion of gold, nothing should be added when
they are being heated in the cupel prior to their being parted, except a bes
of lead and one-fourth or one-third its amount of copper of the lesser weights.
If the silver contains in itself a certain amount of copper, let it be weighed,
both after it has been melted with the lead, and after the gold has been parted
from it; by the former we learn how much copper is in it, by the latter how
much gold. Base metals are burnt up even to-day for the purpose of assay,
because to lose so little of the metal is small loss, but from a large mass of
base metal, the precious metal is always extracted, as I will explain in
Books X. and XI.
We assay an alloy of copper and silver in the following way. From a
few cakes of copper the assayer cuts out portions, small samples from small
cakes, medium samples from medium cakes, and large samples from large
cakes; the small ones are equal in size to half a hazel nut, the large
ones do not exceed the size of half a chestnut, and those of medium size come
between the two. He cuts out the samples from the middle of the
bottom of each cake. He places the samples in a new, clean, triangular
crucible and fixes to them pieces of paper upon which are written the weight
of the cakes of copper, of whatever size they may be; for example, he writes,
“These samples have been cut from copper which weighs twenty centum­
pondía.” When he wishes to know how much silver one centumpondíum of
copper of this kind has in it, first of all he throws glowing coals into the
iron hoop, then adds charcoal to it. When the fire has become hot, the paper
is taken out of the crucible and put aside, he then sets that crucible on the
fire and gradually heats it for a quarter of an hour until it becomes red hot.
Then he stimulates the fire by blowing with a blast from the double bellows
for half an hour, because copper which is devoid of lead requires this time to
become hot and to melt; copper not devoid of lead melts quicker. When
he has blown the bellows for about the space of time stated, he removes the
glowing charcoal with the tongs, and stirs the copper with a splinter of wood,
which he grasps with the tongs. If it does not stir easily, it is a sign that the
1copper is not wholly liquefied; if he finds this is the case, he again places a
large piece of charcoal in the crucible, and replaces the glowing charcoal which
had been removed, and again blows the bellows for a short time. When all
the copper has melted he stops using the bellows, for if he were to continue
to use them, the fire would consume part of the copper, and then that which
remained would be richer than the cake from which it had been cut; this is
no small mistake. Therefore, as soon as the copper has become sufficiently
liquified, he pours it out into a little iron mould, which may be large or small,
according as more or less copper is melted in the crucible for the purpose of the
assay. The mould has a handle, likewise made of iron, by which it is held
when the copper is poured in, after which, he plunges it into a tub of water
placed near at hand, that the copper may be cooled. Then he again dries the
copper by the fire, and cuts off its point with an iron wedge; the portion
nearest the point he hammers on an anvil and makes into a leaf, which he
cuts into pieces.
137[Figure 137]
A—IRON MOULD. B—ITS HANDLE.
Others stir the molten copper with a stick of linden tree charcoal, and
then pour it over a bundle of new clean birch twigs, beneath which is placed
a wooden tub of sufficient size and full of water, and in this manner the copper
is broken up into little granules as small as hemp seeds. Others employ straw
in place of twigs. Others place a broad stone in a tub and pour in enough
water to cover the stone, then they run out the molten copper from the
crucible on to the stone, from which the minute granules roll off; others
pour the molten copper into water and stir it until it is resolved into granules.
The fire does not easily melt the copper in the cupel unless it has been poured
and a thin leaf made of it, or unless it has been resolved into granules or
made into filings; and if it does not melt, all the labour has been undertaken
in vain. In order that they may be accurately weighed out, silver and lead
are resolved into granules in the same manner as copper. But to return
to the assay of copper. When the copper has been prepared by these
methods, if it is free of lead and iron, and rich in silver, to each centumpon­
díum (lesser weights) add one and a half unciae of lead (larger weights). If,
however, the copper contains some lead, add one uncia of lead; if it contains
iron, add two unciae. First put the lead into a cupel, and after it begins
to smoke, add the copper; the fire generally consumes the copper, together
with the lead, in about one hour and a quarter. When this is done, the silver
1will be found in the bottom of the cupel. The fire consumes both of those
metals more quickly if they are heated in that furnace which draws in air. It
is better to cover the upper half of it with a lid, and not only to put on the
muffle door, but also to close the window of the muffle door with a piece of
charcoal, or with a piece of brick. If the copper be such that the silver can
only be separated from it with difficulty, then before it is tested with fire in
the cupel, lead should first be put into the scorifier, and then the copper should
be added with a moderate quantity of melted salt, both that the lead may
absorb the copper and that the copper may be cleansed of the dross which
abounds in it.
Tin which contains silver should not at the beginning of the assay be
placed in a cupel, lest the silver, as often happens, be consumed and converted
into fumes, together with the tin. As soon as the lead35 has begun to fume
in the scorifier, then add that36 to it. In this way the lead will take the
silver and the tin will boil and turn into ashes, which may be removed with a
wooden splinter. The same thing occurs if any alloy is melted in which there
is tin. When the lead has absorbed the silver which was in the tin, then,
and not till then, it is heated in the cupel. First place the lead with which
the silver is mixed, in an iron pan, and stand it on a hot furnace and let it
melt; afterward pour this lead into a small iron mould, and then beat it
out with a hammer on an anvil and make it into leaves in the same way as
the copper. Lastly, place it in the cupel, which assay can be carried out in
the space of half an hour. A great heat is harmful to it, for which reason
there is no necessity either to cover the half of the furnace with a lid or to
close up its mouth.
The minted metal alloys, which are known as money, are assayed in the
following way. The smaller silver coins which have been picked out from
the bottom and top and sides of a heap are first carefully cleansed; then, after
they have been melted in the triangular crucible, they are either resolved
into granules, or made into thin leaves. As for the large coins which weigh
a drachma, a sícílícus, half an uncía, or an uncia, beat them into leaves.
Then take a bes of the granules, or an equal weight of the leaves, and likewise
take another bes in the same way. Wrap each sample separately in paper,
and afterwards place two small pieces of lead in two cupels which have first
been heated. The more precious the money is, the smaller portion of lead
do we require for the assay, the more base, the larger is the portion required;
for if a bes of silver is said to contain only half an uncia or one uncia of copper,
we add to the bes of granules half an uncía of lead. If it is composed of equal
parts of silver and copper, we add an uncía of lead, but if in a bes of copper
there is only half an uncía or one uncía of silver, we add an uncía and a half
of lead. As soon as the lead has begun to fume, put into each cupel one of
the papers in which is wrapped the sample of silver alloyed with copper, and
close the mouth of the muffle with charcoal. Heat them with a gentle fire
until all the lead and copper are consumed, for a hot fire by its heat forces the
1silver, combined with a certain portion of lead, into the cupel, in which way
the assay is rendered erroneous. Then take the beads out of the cupel and
clean them of dross. If neither depresses the pan of the balance in which it
is placed, but their weight is equal, the assay has been free from error; but
if one bead depresses its pan, then there is an error, for which reason the
assay must be repeated. If the bes of coin contains but seven unciae of
pure silver it is because the King, or Prince, or the State who coins the money,
has taken one uncia, which he keeps partly for profit and partly for the
expense of coining, he having added copper to the silver. Of all these
matters I have written extensively in my book De Precio Metallorum et
Monetís.
We assay gold coins in various ways. If there is copper mixed with
the gold, we melt them by fire in the same way as silver coins; if there is
silver mixed with the gold, they are separated by the strongest aqua valens;
if there is copper and silver mixed with the gold, then in the first place, after
the addition of lead, they are heated in the cupel until the fire consumes the
copper and the lead, and afterward the gold is parted from the silver.
It remains to speak of the touchstone37 with which gold and silver are
tested, and which was also used by the Ancients. For although the assay made
by fire is more certain, still, since we often have no furnace, nor muffle, nor
crucibles, or some delay must be occasioned in using them, we can always
rub gold or silver on the touchstone, which we can have in readiness.
Further, when gold coins are assayed in the fire, of what use are they after­
ward? A touchstone must be selected which is thoroughly black and free
of sulphur, for the blacker it is and the more devoid of sulphur, the better it
1generally is; I have written elsewhere of its nature38. First the gold is
rubbed on the touchstone, whether it contains silver or whether it is obtained
from the mines or from the smelting; silver also is rubbed in the same
way. Then one of the needles, that we judge by its colour to be of similar
composition, is rubbed on the touchstone; if this proves too pale, another
needle which has a stronger colour is rubbed on the touchstone; and if this
proves too deep in colour, a third which has a little paler colour is used. For
this will show us how great a proportion of silver or copper, or silver and
copper together, is in the gold, or else how great a proportion of copper is in
silver.
These needles are of four kinds.39 The first kind are made of gold and
silver, the second of gold and copper, the third of gold, silver, and copper,
and the fourth of silver and copper. The first three kinds of needles are
used principally for testing gold, and the fourth for silver. Needles of this
kind are prepared in the following ways. The lesser weights correspond
proportionately to the larger weights, and both of them are used, not
only by mining people, but by coiners also. The needles are made in
accordance with the lesser weights, and each set corresponds to a bes,
which, in our own vocabulary, is called a mark. The bes, which is employed
by those who coin gold, is divided into twenty-four double sextulae, which
1are now called after the Greek name ceratía; and each double sextula is
divided into four semi-sextulae, which are called granas; and each semí-sextula
is divided into three units of four siliquae each, of which each unit is called
a grenlín. If we made the needles to be each four síliquae, there would be
two hundred and eighty-eight in a bes, but if each were made to be a semí-sextula
or a double scripula, then there would be ninety-six in a bes. By these two
methods too many needles would be made, and the majority of them, by reason
of the small difference in the proportion of the gold, would indicate nothing,
therefore it is advisable to make them each of a double sextula; in this way
twenty-four needles are made, of which the first is made of twenty-three
duellae of silver and one of gold. Fannius is our authority that the Ancients
called the double sextula a duella. When a bar of silver is rubbed on the
touchstone and colours it just as this needle does, it contains one duella of gold.
In this manner we determine by the other needles what proportion of gold
there is, or when the gold exceeds the silver in weight, what proportion of
silver.
The needles are made40:—
The 1st needle of 23 duellae of silver and 1 duella of gold.
The 2nd needle of 22 duellae of silver and 2 duellae of gold.
The 3rd needle of 21 duellae of silver and 3 duellae of gold.
The 4th needle of 20 duellae of silver and 4 duellae of gold.
The 5th needle of 19 duellae of silver and 5 duellae of gold.
The 6th needle of 18 duellae of silver and 6 duellae of gold.
The 7th needle of 17 duellae of silver and 7 duellae of gold.
The 8th needle of 16 duellae of silver and 8 duellae of gold.
1
The 9th needle of 15 duellae of silver and 9 duellae of gold.
The 10th needle of 14 duellae of silver and 10 duellae of gold.
The 11th needle of 13 duellae of silver and 11 duellae of gold.
The 12th needle of 12 duellae of silver and 12 duellae of gold.
The 13th needle of 11 duellae of silver and 13 duellae of gold.
The 14th needle of 10 duellae of silver and 14 duellae of gold.
The 15th needle of 9 duellae of silver and 15 duellae of gold.
The 16th needle of 8 duellae of silver and 16 duellae of gold.
The 17th needle of 7 duellae of silver and 17 duellae of gold.
The 18th needle of 6 duellae of silver and 18 duellae of gold.
The 19th needle of 5 duellae of silver and 19 duellae of gold.
The 20th needle of 4 duellae of silver and 20 duellae of gold.
The 21st needle of 3 duellae of silver and 21 duellae of gold.
The 22nd needle of 2 duellae of silver and 22 duellae of gold.
The 23rd needle of 1 duellae of silver and 23 duellae of gold.
The 24th needle of pure gold
138[Figure 138]
By the first eleven needles, when they are rubbed on the touchstone, we
test what proportion of gold a bar of silver contains, and with the remaining
thirteen we test what proportion of silver is in a bar of gold; and also what
proportion of either may be in money.
Since some gold coins are composed of gold and copper, thirteen needles
of another kind are made as follows:—
1
The 1st of 12 duellae of gold and 12 duellae of copper.
The 2nd of 13 duellae of gold and 11 duellae of copper.
The 3rd of 14 duellae of gold and 10 duellae of copper.
The 4th of 15 duellae of gold and 9 duellae of copper.
The 5th of 16 duellae of gold and 8 duellae of copper.
The 6th of 17 duellae of gold and 7 duellae of copper.
The 7th of 18 duellae of gold and 6 duellae of copper.
The 8th of 19 duellae of gold and 5 duellae of copper.
The 9th of 20 duellae of gold and 4 duellae of copper.
The 10th of 21 duellae of gold and 3 duellae of copper.
The 11th of 22 duellae of gold and 2 duellae of copper.
The 12th of 23 duellae of gold and 1 duellae of copper.
The 13th of pure gold.
These needles are not much used, because gold coins of that kind are
somewhat rare; the ones chiefly used are those in which there is much
copper. Needles of the third kind, which are composed of gold, silver, and
copper, are more largely used, because such gold coins are common. But since
with the gold there are mixed equal or unequal portions of silver and copper,
two sorts of needles are made. If the proportion of silver and copper is
equal, the needles are as follows:—
Gold. Silver. Copper. The 1st of 12 duellae 6 duellae 0 sextula 6 duellae 0 sextula The 2nd of 13 duellae 5 duellae 1 sextula 5 duellae 1 sextula The 3rd of 14 duellae 5 duellae 5 duellae The 4th of 15 duellae 4 duellae 1 sextula 4 duellae 1 sextula The 5th of 16 duellae 4 duellae 4 duellae The 6th of 17 duellae 3 duellae 1 sextula 3 duellae 1 sextula The 7th of 18 duellae 3 duellae 3 duellae The 8th of 19 duellae 2 duellae 1 sextula 2 duellae 1 sextula The 9th of 20 duellae 2 duellae 2 duellae The 10th of 21 duellae 1 duellae 1 sextula 1 duellae 1 sextula The 11th of 22 duellae 1 duellae 1 duellae The 12th of 23 1 duellae The 13th of pure gold.
Some make twenty-five needles, in order to be able to detect the two
scrípula of silver or copper which are in a bes of gold. Of these needles, the
first is composed of twelve duellae of gold and six of silver, and the same
number of copper. The second, of twelve duellae and one sextula of gold and
five duellae and one and a half sextulae of silver, and the same number of
duellae and one and a half sextulae of copper. The remaining needles are
made in the same proportion.
Pliny is our authority that the Romans could tell to within one scrípulum
how much gold was in any given alloy, and how much silver or copper.
Needles may be made in either of two ways, namely, in the ways of which
I have spoken, and in the ways of which I am now about to speak. If
1unequal portions of silver and copper have been mixed with the gold, thirty­
seven needles are made in the following way:—
1 Gold. Silver. Copper. Sext- Sext- Duellae. Duellae Siliquae. Duellae Siliquae. ulae ulae The 1st of 12 9 0 0 3 0 0 The 2nd of 12 8 0 0 4 0 0 The 3rd of 12 7 5 The 4th of 13 8 1/2 2 1/2 The 5th of 13 7 1/2 4 3 1 8 The 6th of 13 6 1/2 8 4 1 4 The 7th of 14 7 1 2 1 The 8th of 14 6 1 8 3 1/2 4 The 9th of 14 5 1 1/2 4 4 8 The 10th of 15 6 1 1/2 2 1/2 The 11th of 15 6 3 The 12th of 15 5 1/2 3 1 1/2 The 13th of 16 6 2 The 14th of 16 5 1/2 4 2 1 8 The 15th of 16 4 1 8 3 1/2 4 The 16th of 17 5 1/2 0 1 1 1/2 The 17th of 17 4 1 8 2 1/2 4 The 18th of 17 4 4 2 1 1/2 8 The 19th of 18 4 1 1 1 The 20th of 18 4 0 2 1 The 21st of 18 3 1 2 The 22nd of 19 2 1 1/2 1 1/2 The 23rd of 19 3 1/2 4 1 1 8 The 24th of 19 2 1 1/2 8 2 4 The 25th of 20 3 1 The 26th of 20 2 1 8 1 1/2 4 The 27th of 20 2 1/2 4 1 1 8 The 28th of 21 2 1/2 1 1/2 The 29th of 21 2 1 The 30th of 21 1 1 1/2 1 1/2 The 31st of 22 1 1 1 The 32nd of 22 1 1/2 4 0 1 8 The 33rd of 22 1 8 1 1/2 4 The 34th of 23 1 1/2 1/2 The 35th of 23 1 8 1/2 4 The 36th of 23 1 4 1/2 8 The 37th of pure gold.
Since it is rarely found that gold, which has been coined, does not amount to
at least fifteen duellae of gold in a bes, some make only twenty-eight needles, and
some make them different from those already described, inasmuch as the
alloy of gold with silver and copper is sometimes differently proportioned.
These needles are made:—
Gold. Silver. Copper. Sext- Sext- Duellae. Duellae Siliquae. Duellae Siliquae. ulae ulae The 1st of 15 6 1 8 2 1/2 4 The 2nd of 15 6 4 2 1 1/2 8 The 3rd of 15 5 1/2 3 1 1/2 The 4th of 16 6 1/2 1 1 1/2 The 5th of 16 5 1 8 2 1/2 4 The 6th of 16 4 1 1/2 8 3 4 The 7th of 17 5 1 4 1 1/2 8 The 8th of 17 5 4 1 1 1/2 8 The 9th of 17 4 1 4 2 1/2 8 The 10th of 18 4 1 1 1 The 11th of 18 4 2 The 12th of 18 3 1 2 1 The 13th of 19 3 1 1/2 4 1 8 The 14th of 19 3 1/2 4 1 1 8 The 15th of 19 2 1 1/2 4 2 8 The 16th of 20 3 1 The 17th of 20 2 1 1 The 18th of 20 2 2 The 19th of 21 2 1/2 4 1 8 The 20th of 21 1 1 1/2 4 1 8 The 21st of 21 1 1 8 1 1/2 4 The 22nd of 22 1 1 8 1/2 4 The 23rd of 22 1 1 1 The 24th of 22 1 1/2 4 1 8 The 25th of 23 1 1/2 4 8 The 26th of 23 1 1/2 1/2 The 27th of 23 1 8 1/2 4 The 28th of pure gold
Next follows the fourth kind of needles, by which we test silver coins
which contain copper, or copper coins which contain silver. The bes by
which we weigh the silver is divided in two different ways. It is either
divided twelve times, into units of five drachmae and one scrípulum each,
1which the ordinary people call nummi41; each of these units we again divide
into twenty-four units of four siliquae each, which the same ordinary people
call a grenlin; or else the bes is divided into sixteen semunciae which
are called loths, each of which is again divided into eighteen units of four
silíquae each, which they call grenlín. Or else the bes is divided into
sixteen semuncíae, of which each is divided into four drachmae, and
each drachma into four pfennige. Needles are made in accordance with
each method of dividing the bes. According to the first method, to the
number of twenty-four half nummí; according to the second method, to the
number of thirty-one half semuncíae, that is to say a sícílícus; for if the
needles were made to the number of the smaller weights, the number of
needles would again be too large, and not a few of them, by reason of the
small difference in proportion of silver or copper, would have no significance.
We test both bars and coined money composed of silver and copper by both
scales. The one is as follows: the first needle is made of twenty-three
parts of copper and one part silver; whereby, whatsoever bar or coin, when
rubbed on the touchstone, colours it just as this needle does, in that bar or
money there is one twenty-fourth part of silver, and so also, in accordance
with the proportion of silver, is known the remaining proportion of the copper.
The 1st needle is made of 23 parts of copper and 1 of silver.
The 2nd needle is made of 22 parts of copper and 2 of silver.
The 3rd needle is made of 21 parts of copper and 3 of silver.
The 4th needle is made of 20 parts of copper and 4 of silver.
The 5th needle is made of 19 parts of copper and 5 of silver.
The 6th needle is made of 18 parts of copper and 6 of silver.
The 7th needle is made of 17 parts of copper and 7 of silver.
The 8th needle is made of 16 parts of copper and 8 of silver.
The 9th needle is made of 15 parts of copper and 9 of silver.
The 10th needle is made of 14 parts of copper and 10 of silver.
The 11th needle is made of 13 parts of copper and 11 of silver.
The 12th needle is made of 12 parts of copper and 12 of silver.
The 13th needle is made of 11 parts of copper and 13 of silver.
The 14th needle is made of 10 parts of copper and 14 of silver.
The 15th needle is made of 9 parts of copper and 15 of silver.
The 16th needle is made of 8 parts of copper and 16 of silver.
The 17th needle is made of 7 parts of copper and 17 of silver.
The 18th needle is made of 6 parts of copper and 18 of silver.
The 19th needle is made of 5 parts of copper and 19 of silver.
The 20th needle is made of 4 parts of copper and 20 of silver.
The 21st needle is made of 3 parts of copper and 21 of silver.
The 22nd needle is made of 2 parts of copper and 22 of silver.
The 23rd needle is made of 1 parts of copper and 23 of silver.
The 24th of pure silver.
1
The other method of making needles is as follows:—
Copper. Silver. Semunciae Sícilící Semuncíae Sícilící The 1st is of 15 1 The 2nd is of 14 1 1 1 The 3rd is of 14 2 The 4th is of 13 1 2 1 The 5th is of 13 3 The 6th is of 12 1 3 1 The 7th is of 12 4 The 8th is of 11 1 1 The 9th is of 11 5 The 10th is of 10 1 5 1 The 11th is of 10 6 The 12th is of 9 1 6 1 The 13th is of 9 7 The 14th is of 8 1 7 1 The 15th is of 8 8 The 16th is of 7 1 8 1 The 17th is of 7 9 The 18th is of 6 1 9 1 The 19th is of 6 10 The 20th is of 5 1 10 1 The 21st is of 5 11 The 22nd is of 4 1 11 1 The 23rd is of 4 12 The 24th is of 3 1 12 1 The 25th is of 3 13 The 26th is of 2 1 13 1 The 27th is of 2 14 The 28th is of 1 1 14 1 The 29th is of 1 15 The 30th is of 1 15 1 The 31st of pure silver.
So much for this. Perhaps I have used more words than those most
highly skilled in the art may require, but it is necessary for the understanding
of these matters.
I will now speak of the weights, of which I have frequently made mention.
Among mining people these are of two kinds, that is, the greater weights and
the lesser weights. The centumpondium is the first and largest weight, and of
1course consists of one hundred librae, and for that reason is called a
hundred weight.
The various weights are:—
1st = 100 librae = centumpondium.
2nd = 50 librae
3rd = 52 librae
4th = 16 librae
5th = 8 librae
6th = 4 librae
7th = 2 librae
8th = 1 libra.
This libra consists of sixteen unciae, and the half part of the libra is
the selibra, which our people call a mark, and consists of eight unciae, or, as
they divide it, of sixteen semunciae:—
9th = 8 unciae.
10th = 8 semunciae.
11th = 4 semunciae.
12th = 2 semunciae.
13th = 1 semuncia.
14th = 1 sicilicus.
15th = 1 drachma.
16th = 1 dimidi-drachma.
The above is how the “greater” weights are divided. The “lesser”
weights are made of silver or brass or copper. Of these, the first and largest
generally weighs one drachma, for it is necessary for us to weigh, not only
ore, but also metals to be assayed, and smaller quantities of lead. The first
of these weights is called a centumpondium and the number of librae in it
corresponds to the larger scale, being likewise one hundred42.
The 1st is called 1 centumpondium.
The 2nd is called 50 librae.
The 3rd is called 25 librae.
The 4th is called 16 librae.
The 5th is called 8 librae.
The 6th is called 4 librae.
The 7th is called 2 librae.
The 8th is called 1 librae.
The 9th is called 1 selibra.
The 10th is called 8 semunciae.
The 11th is called 4 semunciae.
The 12th is called 2 semunciae.
The 13th is called 1 semunciae.
The 14th is called 1 sicilicus.
The fourteenth is the last, for the proportionate weights which correspond
with a drachma and half a drachma are not used. On all these weights of
the lesser scale, are written the numbers of librae and of semunciae. Some
1copper assayers divide both the lesser and greater scale weights into divisions
of a different scale. Their largest weight of the greater scale weighs one
hundred and twelve líbrae, which is the first unit of measurement.
1st = 112 librae.
2nd = 64 librae.
3rd = 32 librae.
4th = 16 librae.
5th = 8 librae.
6th = 4 librae.
7th = 2 librae.
8th = 1 librae.
9th = 1 selibra or sixteen semunciae.
10th = 8 semunciae.
11th = 4 semunciae.
12th = 2 semunciae.
13th = 1 semunciae.
139[Figure 139]
As for the selíbra of the lesser weights, which our people, as I have often
said, call a mark, and the Romans call a bes, coiners who coin gold, divide it
just like the greater weights scale, into twenty-four units of two sextulae
each, and each unit of two sextulae is divided into four semí-sextulae and
each semí-sextula into three units of four síliquae each. Some also divide
the separate units of four siliquae into four individual síliquae, but most,
omitting the semi-sextulae, then divide the double sextula into twelve units of
four sílíquae each, and do not divide these into four individual siliquae. Thus
the first and greatest unit of measurement, which is the bes, weighs twenty­
four double sextulae.
1
The 2nd = 12 double sextulae.
The 3rd = 6 double sextulae.
The 4th = 3 double sextulae.
The 5th = 2 double sextulae.
The 6th = 1 double sextulae.
The 7th = 2 semí-sextulae or four semí-sextulae.
The 8th = 1 semi-sextula or 3 units of 4 síliquae each.
The 9th = 2 units of four siliquae each.
The 10th = 1 units of four siliquae each.
Coiners who mint silver also divide the bes of the lesser weights in the same
way as the greater weights; our people, indeed, divide it into sixteen sem­
uncíae, and the semuncia into eighteen units of four silíquae each.
There are ten weights which are placed in the other pan of the balance,
when they weigh the silver which remains from the copper that has been
consumed, when they assay the alloy with fire.
The 1st = 16 semunciae = 1 bes.
The 2nd = 8 semunciae
The 3rd = 4 semunciae
The 4th = 2 semunciae
The 5th = 1 semunciae or 18 units of 4 sílíquae each.
The 6th = 9 units of 4 siliquae each.
The 7th = 6 units of 4 siliquae each.
The 8th = 3 units of 4 siliquae each.
The 9th = 2 units of 4 siliquae each.
The 10th = 1 units of 4 siliquae each.
The coiners of Nuremberg who mint silver, divide the bes into sixteen sem­
uncíae, but divide the semuncía into four drachmae, and the drachma into
four pfenníge. They employ nine weights.
The 1st = 16 semuncíae.
The 2nd = 8 semuncíae.
The 3rd = 4 semuncíae.
The 4th = 2 semuncíae.
The 5th = 1 semuncíae.
For they divide the bes in the same way as our own people, but since they
divide the semuncía into four drachmae,
the 6th weight = 2 drachmae.
the 7th weight = 1 drachma or 4 pfenníge.
the 8th weight = 2 pfenníge.
the 9th weight = 1 pfenníg
The men of Cologne and Antwerp43 divide the bes into twelve units of
five drachmae and one scrípulum, which weights they call nummi. Each
of these they again divide into twenty-four units of four siliquae each,
which they call grenlíns. They have ten weights, of which
1
the 1st = 12 nummi = 1 bes.
the 2nd = 6 nummi
the 3rd = 3 nummi
the 4th = 2 nummi
the 5th = 1 nummi = 24 units of 4 siliquae each.
the 6th = 12 units of 4 siliquae each.
the 7th = 6 units of 4 siliquae each.
the 8th = 3 units of 4 siliquae each.
the 9th = 2 units of 4 siliquae each.
the 10th = 1 units of 4 siliquae each.
And so with them, just as with our own people, the mark is divided into
two hundred and eighty-eight grenlíns, and by the people of Nuremberg it is
divided into two hundred and fifty-six pfennige. Lastly, the Venetians divide
the bes into eight unciae. The uncia into four sicilici, the sicilicus into
thirty-six siliquae. They make twelve weights, which they use whenever they
wish to assay alloys of silver and copper. Of these
the 1st = 8 unciae = 1 bes.
the 2nd = 4 uncíae
the 3rd = 2 uncíae
the 4th = 1 uncíae or 4 sícílicí.
the 5th = 2 sícilícˊ.
the 6th = 1 sícilicus.
the 7th = 18 siliquae.
the 8th = 9 siliquae.
the 9th = 6 siliquae.
the 10th = 3 siliquae.
the 11th = 2 siliquae.
the 12th = 1 siliquae.
Since the Venetians divide the bes into eleven hundred and fifty-two siliquae,
or two hundred and eighty-eight units of 4 siliquae each, into which number
our people also divide the bes, they thus make the same number of siliquae,
and both agree, even though the Venetians divide the bes into smaller
divisions.
This, then, is the system of weights, both of the greater and the lesser kinds,
which metallurgists employ, and likewise the system of the lesser weights
which coiners and merchants employ, when they are assaying metals and
coined money. The bes of the larger weight with which they provide them­
selves when they weigh large masses of these things, I have explained in my
work De Mensuris et Ponderibus, and in another book, De Precio Metallorum
et Monetis.
There are three small balances by which we weigh ore, metals, and
fluxes. The first, by which we weigh lead and fluxes, is the largest among these
smaller balances, and when eight unciae (of the greater weights) are placed in
one of its pans, and the same number in the other, it sustains no damage.
The second is more delicate, and by this we weigh the ore or the metal, which
is to be assayed; this is well able to carry one centumpondium of the lesser
1weights in one pan, and in the other, ore or metal as heavy as that weight.
The third is the most delicate, and by this we weigh the beads of gold or
silver, which, when the assay is completed, settle in the bottom of the cupel.
But if anyone weighs lead in the second balance, or an ore in the third, he
will do them much injury.
Whatsoever small amount of metal is obtained from a centumpondium
of the lesser weights of ore or metal alloy, the same greater weight of metal
is smelted from a centumpondium of the greater weight of ore or metal alloy.
140[Figure 140]
A—FIRST SMALL BALANCE. B—SECOND. C—THIRD, PLACED IN A CASE.
END OF BOOK VII.
1 141[Figure 141]
1
BOOK VIII.
Questions of assaying were explained in the last
Book, and I have now come to a greater task, that
is, to the description of how we extract the metals.
First of all I will explain the method of preparing
the ore1; for since Nature usually creates metals
in an impure state, mixed with earth, stones, and
solidified juices, it is necessary to separate most of
these impurities from the ores as far as can be,
before they are smelted, and therefore I will now
describe the methods by which the ores are sorted, broken with hammers,
burnt, crushed with stamps, ground into powder, sifted, washed, roasted,
and calcined2.
1 142[Figure 142]
A—LONG TABLE. B—TRAY. C—TUB.
I will start at the beginning with the first sort of work. Experienced
miners, when they dig the ore, sort the metalliferous material from earth,
stones, and solidified juices before it is taken from the shafts and tunnels,
and they put the valuable metal in trays and the waste into buckets. But
if some miner who is inexperienced in mining matters has omitted to do this,
or even if some experienced miner, compelled by some unavoidable necessity,
has been unable to do so, as soon as the material which has been dug out
has been removed from the mine, all of it should be examined, and that part of
the ore which is rich in metal sorted from that part of it which is devoid of
metal, whether such part be earth, or solidified juices, or stones. To smelt
waste together with an ore involves a loss, for some expenditure is thrown
away, seeing that out of earth and stones only empty and useless slags are
1melted out, and further, the solidified juices also impede the smelting of the
metals and cause loss. The rock which lies contiguous to rich ore should also be
broken into small pieces, crushed, and washed, lest any of the mineral should
be lost. When, either through ignorance or carelessness, the miners while
excavating have mixed the ore with earth or broken rock, the work of sorting
the crude metal or the best ore is done not only by men, but also by boys and
women. They throw the mixed material upon a long table, beside which they
sìt for almost the whole day, and they sort out the ore; when it has been
sorted out, they collect it in trays, and when collected they throw it into
tubs, which are carried to the works in which the ores are smelted.
The metal which is dug out in a pure or crude state, to which class belong
native silver, silver glance, and gray silver, is placed on a stone by the
mine foreman and flattened out by pounding with heavy square hammers.
These masses, when they have been thus flattened out like plates, are placed
either on the stump of a tree, and cut into pieces by pounding an iron chisel
into them with a hammer, or else they are cut with an iron tool similar to a
pair of shears. One blade of these shears is three feet long, and is firmly
fixed in a stump, and the other blade which cuts the metal is six feet long.
143[Figure 143]
A—MASSES OF METAL. B—HAMMER. C—CHISEL. D—TREE STUMPS. E—IRON TOOL
SIMILAR TO A PAIR OF SHEARS.
1These pieces of metal are afterward heated in iron basins and smelted in the
cupellation furnace by the smelters.
Although the miners, in the shafts or tunnels, have sorted over the
material which they mine, still the ore which has been broken down and carried
out must be broken into pieces by a hammer or minutely crushed, so that
the more valuable and better parts can be distinguished from the inferior and
worthless portions. This is of the greatest importance in smelting ore, for
if the ore is smelted without this separation, the valuable part frequently
receives great damage before the worthless part melts in the fire, or else the
one consumes the other; this latter difficulty can, however, be partly
avoided by the exercise of care and partly by the use of fluxes. Now, if a
vein is of poor quality, the better portions which have been broken down and
carried out should be thrown together in one place, and the inferior portion
and the rock thrown away. The sorters place a hard broad stone on a table;
the tables are generally four feet square and made of joined planks, and to
the edge of the sides and back are fixed upright planks, which rise about a
foot from the table; the front, where the sorter sits, is left open. The
144[Figure 144]
A—TABLES. B—UPRIGHT PLANKS. C—HAMMER. D—QUADRANGULAR HAMMER.
E—DEEPER VESSEL. F—SHALLOWER VESSEL. G—IRON ROD.
1lumps of ore, rich in gold or silver, are put by the sorters on the stone and
broken up with a broad, but not thick, hammer; they either break them into
pieces and throw them into one vessel, or they break and sort—whence they
get their name—the more precious from the worthless, throwing and collecting
them separately into different vessels. Other men crush the lumps of ore
less rich in gold or silver, which have likewise been put on the stone, with a
broad thick hammer, and when it has been well crushed, they collect it and
throw it into one vessel. There are two kinds of vessels; one is deeper, and a
little wider in the centre than at the top or bottom; the other is not so deep
though it is broader at the bottom, and becomes gradually a little narrower
toward the top. The latter vessel is covered with a lid, while the former is not
covered; an iron rod through the handles, bent over on either end, is
grasped in the hand when the vessel is carried. But, above all, it behooves
the sorters to be assiduous in their labours.
By another method of breaking ore with hammers, large hard frag­
ments of ore are broken before they are burned. The legs of the workmen
—at all events of those who crush pyrites in this manner with large hammers
in Goslar—are protected with coverings resembling leggings, and their hands
145[Figure 145]
A—PYRITES. B—LEGGINGS. C—GLOVES. D—HAMMER.
1are protected with long gloves, to prevent them from being injured by the
chips which fly away from the fragments.
In that district of Greater Germany which is called Westphalia and in
that district of Lower Germany which is named Eifel, the broken ore which
has been burned, is thrown by the workmen into a round area paved with the
hardest stones, and the fragments are pounded up with iron tools, which are
very much like hammers in shape and are used like threshing sledges. This
tool is a foot long, a palm wide, and a digit thick, and has an opening in the
middle just as hammers have, in which is fixed a wooden handle of no great
thickness, but up to three and a half feet long, in order that the workmen
can pound the ore with greater force by reason of its weight falling from a
greater height. They strike and pound with the broad side of the tool, in the
same way as corn is pounded out on a threshing floor with the threshing
sledges, although the latter are made of wood and are smooth and fixed to
poles. When the ore has been broken into small pieces, they sweep it
together with brooms and remove it to the works, where it is washed
146[Figure 146]
A—AREA PAVED WITH STONES. B—BROKEN ORE. C—AREA COVERED WITH BROKEN ORE.
D—IRON TOOL. E—ITS HANDLE. F—BROOM. G—SHORT STRAKE. H—WOODEN HOE.
1in a short strake, at the head of which stands the washer, who draws the water
upward with a wooden hoe. The water running down again, carries all
the light particles into a trough placed underneath. I shall deal more fully
with this method of washing a little later.
Ore is burned for two reasons; either that from being hard, it may become
soft and more easily broken and more readily crushed with a hammer or
stamps, and then can be smelted; or that the fatty things, that is to say,
sulphur, bitumen, orpiment, or realgar3 may be consumed. Sulphur is
frequently found in metallic ores, and, generally speaking, is more harmful
to the metals, except gold, than are the other things. It is most harmful of
all to iron, and less to tin than to bismuth, lead, silver, or copper.
Since very rarely gold is found in which there is not some silver, even gold
ores containing sulphur ought to be roasted before they are smelted, because,
in a very vigorous furnace fire, sulphur resolves metal into ashes and makes
slag of it. Bitumen acts in the same way, in fact sometimes it consumes
silver, which we may see in bituminous cadmia4.
I now come to the methods of roasting, and first of all to that one which
is common to all ores. The earth is dug out to the required extent, and
thus is made a quadrangular area of fair size, open at the front, and above
this, firewood is laid close together, and on it other wood is laid trans­
versely, likewise close together, for which reason our countrymen call this
pile of wood a crate; this is repeated until the pile attains a height of one
or two cubits. Then there is placed upon it a quantity of ore that has been
broken into small pieces with a hammer; first the largest of these pieces,
next those of medium size, and lastly the smallest, and thus is built up a
gently sloping cone. To prevent it from becoming scattered, fine sand of the
1 147[Figure 147]
A—AREA. B—WOOD. C—ORE. D—CONE-SHAPED PILES. E—CANAL.
same ore is soaked with water and smeared over it and beaten on with shovels;
some workers, if they cannot obtain such fine sand, cover the pile with char­
coal-dust, just as do charcoal-burners. But at Goslar, the pile, when it has
been built up in the form of a cone, is smeared with atramentum sutorium
rubrum5, which is made by the leaching of roasted pyrites soaked with water.
In some districts the ore is roasted once, in others twice, in others three times,
as its hardness may require. At Goslar, when pyrites is roasted for the third
time, that which is placed on the top of the pyre exudes a certain greenish,
dry, rough, thin substance, as I have elsewhere written6; this is no more
easily burned by the fire than is asbestos. Very often also, water is put on
1to the ore which has been roasted, while it is still hot, in order to make
it softer and more easily broken; for after fire has dried up the moisture
in the ore, it breaks up more easily while it is still hot, of which fact burnt
limestone affords the best example.
By digging out the earth they make the areas much larger, and square;
walls should be built along the sides and back to hold the heat of the
fire more effectively, and the front should be left open. In these compart­
ments tin ore is roasted in the following manner. First of all wood about
twelve feet long should be laid in the area in four layers, alternately straight
and transverse. Then the larger pieces of ore should be laid upon them, and
on these again the smaller ones, which should also be placed around the sides;
the fine sand of the same ore should also be spread over the pile and pounded
with shovels, to prevent the pile from falling before it has been roasted; the
wood should then be fired.
148[Figure 148]
A—LIGHTED PYRE. B—PYRE WHICH IS BEING CONSTRUCTED. C—ORE. D—WOOD.
E—PILE OF THE SAME WOOD.
Lead ore, if roasting is necessary, should be piled in an area just like the
last, but sloping, and the wood should be placed over it. A tree trunk should
be laid right across the front of the ore to prevent it from falling out. The
ore, being roasted in this way, becomes partly melted and resembles slag.
1Thuringian pyrites, in which there is gold, sulphur, and vitriol, after the last
particle of vitriol has been obtained by heating it in water, is thrown into a
furnace, in which logs are placed. This furnace is very similar to an oven
in shape, in order that when the ore is roasted the valuable contents may not
fly away with the smoke, but may adhere to the roof of the furnace. In this
way sulphur very often hangs like icicles from the two openings of the roof
through which the smoke escapes.
149[Figure 149]
A—BURNING PYRE WHICH IS COMPOSED OF LEAD ORE WITH WOOD PLACED ABOVE IT.
B—WORKMAN THROWING ORE INTO ANOTHER AREA. C—OVEN-SHAPED FURNACE.
D—OPENINGS THROUGH WHICH THE SMOKE ESCAPES.
If pyrites or cadmia, or any other ore containing metal, possesses a good
deal of sulphur or bitumen, it should be so roasted that neither is lost. For
this purpose it is thrown on an iron plate full of holes, and roasted with char­
coal placed on top; three walls support this plate, two on the sides and the
third at the back. Beneath the plate are placed pots containing water, into
which the sulphurous or bituminous vapour descends, and in the water the
fat accumulates and floats on the top. If it is sulphur, it is generally of a
yellow colour; if bitumen, it is black like pitch. If these were not drawn
out they would do much harm to the metal, when the ore is being smelted.
When they have thus been separated they prove of some service to man,
especially the sulphurous kind. From the vapour which is carried down, not
1 150[Figure 150]
A—IRON PLATES FULL OF HOLES. B—WALLS. C—PLATE ON WHICH ORE IS PLACED.
D—BURNING CHARCOAL PLACED ON THE ORE. E—POTS. F—FURNACE. G—MIDDLE
PART OF UPPER CHAMBER. H—THE OTHER TWO COMPARTMENTS. I—DIVISIONS OF THE
LOWER CHAMBER. K—MIDDLE WALL. L—POTS WHICH ARE FILLED WITH ORE. M—LIDS
OF SAME POTS. N—GRATING.
1into the water, but into the ground, there is created a sulphurous or a
bituminous substance resembling pompholyx7, and so light that it can be
blown away with a breath. Some employ a vaulted furnace, open at the
front and divided into two chambers. A wall built in the middle of the
furnace divides the lower chamber into two equal parts, in which are set pots
containing water, as above described. The upper chamber is again divided
into three parts, the middle one of which is always open, for in it the wood
is placed, and it is not broader than the middle wall, of which it forms the
topmost portion. The other two compartments have iron doors which are
closed, and which, together with the roof, keep in the heat when the wood
is lighted. In these upper compartments are iron bars which take the place
of a floor, and on these are arranged pots without bottoms, having in
place of a bottom, a grating made of iron wire, fixed to each, through
the openings of which the sulphurous or bituminous vapours roasted from
the ore run into the lower pots. Each of the upper pots holds a hundred
151[Figure 151]
A—HEAP OF CUPRIFEROUS STONES. B—KINDLED HEAP. C—STONES BEING TAKEN TO
THE BEDS OF FAGGOTS.
1pounds of ore; when they are filled they are covered with lids and smeared
with lute.
In Eisleben and the neighbourhood, when they roast the schistose
stone from which copper is smelted, and which is not free from bitumen,
they do not use piles of logs, but bundles of faggots. At one time, they used
to pile this kind of stone, when extracted from the pit, on bundles of
faggots and roast it by firing the faggots; nowadays, they first of all
carry these same stones to a heap, where they are left to lie for some time in
such a way as to allow the air and rain to soften them. Then they make a
bed of faggot bundles near the heap, and carry the nearest stones to this
bed; afterward they again place bundles of faggots in the empty place
from which the first stones have been removed, and pile over this extended
bed, the stones which lay nearest to the first lot; and they do this right up to
the end, until all the stones have been piled mound-shape on a bed of faggots.
Finally they fire the faggots, not, however, on the side where the wind is
blowing, but on the opposite side, lest the fire blown up by the force of the
wind should consume the faggots before the stones are roasted and made soft;
by this method the stones which are adjacent to the faggots take fire and
communicate it to the next ones, and these again to the adjoining ones, and
in this way the heap very often burns continuously for thirty days or more.
This schist rock when rich in copper, as I have said elsewhere, exudes a
substance of a nature similar to asbestos.
Ore is crushed with iron-shod stamps, in order that the metal may be
separated from the stone and the hanging-wall rock.8 The machines which
miners use for this purpose are of four kinds, and are made by the following
method. A block of oak timber six feet long, two feet and a palm square, is
laid on the ground. In the middle of this is fixed a mortar-box, two feet and six
digits long, one foot and six digits deep; the front, which might be called a
1mouth, lies open; the bottom is covered with a plate of iron, a palm thick
and two palms and as many digits wide, each end of which is wedged into the
timber with broad wedges, and the front and back part of it are fixed to the
timber with iron nails. To the sides of the mortar above the block are fixed
two upright posts, whose upper ends are somewhat cut back and are mor­
tised to the timbers of the building. Two and a half feet above the mortar
1are placed two cross-beams joined together, one in front and one in the back,
the ends of which are mortised into the upright posts already mentioned.
Through each mortise is bored a hole, into which is driven an iron clavis
one end of the clavis has two horns, and the other end is perforated in order
that a wedge driven through, binds the beams more firmly; one horn of the
clavis turns up and the other down. Three and a half feet above the cross-
1beams, two other cross-beams of the same kind are again joined in a similar
manner; these cross-beams have square openings, in which the iron-shod
stamps are inserted. The stamps are not far distant from each other, and
fit closely in the cross-beams. Each stamp has a tappet at the back, which
requires to be daubed with grease on the lower side that it can be raised
more easily. For each stamp there are on a cam-shaft, two cams, rounded on
1the outer end, which alternately raise the stamp, in order that, by its dropping
into the mortar, it may with its iron head pound and crush the rock which
has been thrown under it. To the cam-shaft is fixed a water-wheel whose
buckets are turned by water-power. Instead of doors, the mouth of the
mortar has a board, which is fitted into notches cut out of the front of the block.
This board can be raised, in order that when the mouth is open, the workmen
1 152[Figure 152]
A—MORTAR. B—UPRIGHT POSTS. C—CROSS-BEAMS. D—STAMPS. E—THEIR HEADS.
F—AXLE (CAM-SHAFT). G—TOOTH OF THE STAMP (TAPPET). H—TEETH OF AXLE (CAMS).
can remove with a shovel the fine sand, and likewise the coarse sand and
broken rock, into which the rocks have been crushed; this board can be
lowered, so that the mouth thus being closed, the fresh rock thrown in may
be crushed with the iron-shod stamps. If an oak block is not available,
two timbers are placed on the ground and joined together with iron clamps,
each of the timbers being six feet long, a foot wide, and a foot and a half thick.
Such depth as should be allowed to the mortar, is obtained by cutting out the
first beam to a width of three-quarters of a foot and to a length of two and a
third and one twenty-fourth of a foot. In the bottom of the part thus dug
out, there should be laid a very hard rock, a foot thick and three-quarters of a
foot wide; about it, if any space remains, earth or sand should be filled in
and pounded. On the front, this bed rock is covered with a plank; this
rock when it has been broken, should be taken away and replaced by
another. A smaller mortar having room for only three stamps may also be
made in the same manner.
The stamp-stems are made of small square timbers nine feet long and
half a foot wide each way. The iron head of each is made in the following
1way; the lower part of the head is three palms long and the upper part the
same length. The lower part is a palm square in the middle for two palms,
then below this, for a length of two digits it gradually spreads until it
becomes five digits square; above the middle part, for a length of two
digits, it again gradually swells out until it becomes a palm and a half square.
Higher up, where the head of the shoe is enclosed in the stem, it is bored
through and similarly the stem itself is pierced, and through the opening of
each, there passes a broad iron wedge, which prevents the head falling off the
stem. To prevent the stamp head from becoming broken by the constant
striking of fragments of ore or rocks, there is placed around it a quadrangular
iron band a digit thick, seven digits wide, and six digits deep. Those who
use three stamps, as is common, make them much larger, and they are
made square and three palms broad each way; then the iron shoe
of each has a total length of two feet and a palm; at the lower end, it is
hexagonal, and at that point it is seven digits wide and thick. The lower
part of it which projects beyond the stem is one foot and two palms long;
the upper part, which is enclosed in the stem, is three palms long; the
153[Figure 153]
A—STAMP. B—STEM CUT OUT IN LOWER PART. C—SHOE. D—THE OTHER SHOE,
BARBED AND GROOVED. E—QUADRANGULAR IRON BAND. F—WEDGE. G—TAPPET.
H—ANGULAR CAM-SHAFT. I—CAMS. K—PAIR OF COMPASSES.
1lower part is a palm wide and thick; then gradually the upper part becomes
narrower and thinner, so that at the top it is three digits and a half wide and
two thick. It is bored through at the place where the angles have been
somewhat cut away; the hole is three digits long and one wide, and is one
digit's distance from the top. There are some who make that part of the
head which is enclosed in the stem, barbed and grooved, in order that when
the hooks have been fixed into the stem and wedges fitted to the grooves,
it may remain tightly fixed, especially when it is also held with two quad­
rangular iron bands. Some divide the cam-shaft with a compass into six
sides, others into nine; it is better for it to be divided into twelve sides, in
order that successively one side may contain a cam and the next be without one.
The water-wheel is entirely enclosed under a quadrangular box, in case
either the deep snows or ice in winter, or storms, may impede its running and
its turning around. The joints in the planks are stopped all around with
moss. The cover, however, has one opening, through which there passes
a race bringing down water which, dropping on the buckets of the wheel,
turns it round, and flows out again in the lower race under the box. The
spokes of the water-wheel are not infrequently mortised into the middle of
154[Figure 154]
A—BOX. ALTHOUGH THE UPPER PART IS NOT OPEN, IT IS SHOWN OPEN HERE, THAT THE
WHEEL MAY BE SEEN. B—WHEEL. C—CAM-SHAFT. D—STAMPS.
1the cam-shaft; in this case the cams on both sides raise the stamps, which
either both crush dry or wet ore, or else the one set crushes dry ore and the
other set wet ore, just as circumstances require the one or the other;
further, when the one set is raised and the iron clavises in them are fixed
into openings in the first cross-beam, the other set alone crushes the ore.
Broken rock or stones, or the coarse or fine sand, are removed from
the mortar of this machine and heaped up, as is also done with the same
materials when raked out of the dump near the mine. They are thrown
by a workman into a box, which is open on the top and the front, and is three
feet long and nearly a foot and a half wide. Its sides are sloping and made
of planks, but its bottom is made of iron wire netting, and fastened with
wire to two iron rods, which are fixed to the two side planks. This bottom
has openings, through which broken rock of the size of a hazel nut cannot
pass; the pieces which are too large to pass through are removed by the
workman, who again places them under stamps, while those which have
passed through, together with the coarse and fine sand, he collects in a large
vessel and keeps for the washing. When he is performing his laborious
155[Figure 155]
A—BOX LAID FLAT ON THE GROUND. B—ITS BOTTOM WHICH IS MADE OF IRON WIRE.
C—BOX INVERTED. D—IRON RODS. E—BOX SUSPENDED FROM A BEAM, THE INSIDE
BEING VISIBLE. F—BOX SUSPENDED FROM A BEAM, THE OUTSIDE BEING VISIBLE.
1task he suspends the box from a beam by two ropes. This box may rightly
be called a quadrangular sieve, as may also that kind which follows.
Some employ a sieve shaped like a wooden bucket, bound with two iron
hoops; its bottom, like that of the box, is made of iron wire netting.
They place this on two small cross-planks fixed upon a post set in the ground.
Some do not fix the post in the ground, but stand it on the ground until
there arises a heap of the material which has passed through the sieve, and
in this the post is fixed. With an iron shovel the workman throws into this
sieve broken rock, small stones, coarse and fine sand raked out of the dump;
holding the handles of the sieve in his hands, he agitates it up and down in
156[Figure 156]
A—SIEVE. B—SMALL PLANKS. C—POST. D—BOTTOM OF SIEVE. E—OPEN BOX.
F—SMALL CROSS-BEAM. G—UPRIGHT POSTS.
order that by this movement the dust, fine and coarse sand, small stones, and
fine broken rock may fall through the bottom. Others do not use a sieve, but
an open box, whose bottom is likewise covered with wire netting; this they
fix on a small cross-beam fastened to two upright beams and tilt it backward
and forward.
Some use a sieve made of copper, having square copper handles on both
sides, and through these handles runs a pole, of which one end projects three­
quarters of a foot beyond one handle; the workman then places that end in
a rope which is suspended from a beam, and rapidly shakes the pole alter-
1nately backward and forward. By this movement the small particles
fall through the bottom of the sieve. In order that the end of the pole
may be easily placed in the rope, a stick, two palms long, holds open the
lower part of the rope as it hangs double, each end of the rope being tied to
the beam; part of the rope, however, hangs beyond the stick to a length of
half a foot. A large box is also used for this purpose, of which the bottom
is either made of a plank full of holes or of iron netting, as are the other
boxes. An iron bale is fastened from the middle of the planks which form
its sides; to this bale is fastened a rope which is suspended from a wooden
beam, in order that the box may be moved or tilted in any direction.
157[Figure 157]
A—BOX. B—BALE. C—ROPE. D—BEAM. E—HANDLES. F—FIVE-TOOTHED RAKE.
G—SIEVE. H—ITS HANDLES. I—POLE. K—ROPE. L—TIMBER.
There are two handles on each end, not unlike the handles of a wheel­
barrow; these are held by two workmen, who shake the box to and fro.
This box is the one principally used by the Germans who dwell in the
Carpathian mountains. The smaller particles are separated from the larger
ones by means of three boxes and two sieves, in order that those which
pass through each, being of equal size, may be washed together; for the
bottoms of both the boxes and sieves have openings which do not let
through broken rock of the size of a hazel nut. As for the dry remnants
1in the bottoms of the sieves, if they contain any metal the miners put them
under the stamps. The larger pieces of broken rock are not separated from
the smaller by this method until the men and boys, with five-toothed rakes,
have separated them from the rock fragments, the little stones, the
coarse and the fine sand and earth, which have been thrown on to the dumps.
At Neusohl, in the Carpathians, there are mines where the veins of copper
lie in the ridges and peaks of the mountains, and in order to save expense
being incurred by a long and difficult transport, along a rough and sometimes
very precipitous road, one workman sorts over the dumps which have been
thrown out from the mines, and another carries in a wheelbarrow the earth,
fine and coarse sand, little stones, broken rock, and even the poorer ore, and
overturns the barrow into a long open chute fixed to a steep rock. This
chute is held apart by small cleats, and the material slides down a distance of
about one hundred and fifty feet into a short box, whose bottom is made of a
thick copper plate, full of holes. This box has two handles by which it is
shaken to and fro, and at the top there are two bales made of hazel sticks,
in which is fixed the iron hook of a rope hung from the branch of a tree or
from a wooden beam which projects from an upright post. From time to
time a sifter pulls this box and thrusts it violently against the tree or post,
by which means the small particles passing through its holes descend down
another chute into another short box, in whose bottom there are smaller
holes. A second sifter, in like manner, thrusts this box violently against a
tree or post, and a second time the smaller particles are received into a third
chute, and slide down into a third box, whose bottom has still smaller holes.
A third sifter, in like manner, thrusts this box violently against a tree or post,
and for the third time the tiny particles fall through the holes upon a table.
While the workman is bringing in the barrow, another load which has been
sorted from the dump, each sifter withdraws the hooks from his bale
and carries away his own box and overturns it, heaping up the broken rock
or sand which remains in the bottom of it. As for the tiny particles which
have slid down upon the table, the first washer—for there are as many
washers as sifters—sweeps them off and in a tub nearly full of water, washes
them through a sieve whose holes are smaller than the holes of the third box.
When this tub has been filled with the material which has passed through
the sieve, he draws out the plug to let the water run away; then he removes
with a shovel that which has settled in the tub and throws it upon the table
of a second washer, who washes it in a sieve with smaller holes. The sedi­
ment which has this time settled in his tub, he takes out and throws on the
table of a third washer, who washes it in a sieve with the smallest holes.
The copper concentrates which have settled in the last tub are taken out and
smelted; the sediment which each washer has removed with a limp is
washed on a canvas strake. The sifters at Altenberg, in the tin mines of
the mountains bordering on Bohemia, use such boxes as I have described,
hung from wooden beams. These, however, are a little larger and open in
the front, through which opening the broken rock which has not gone through
the sieve can be shaken out immediately by thrusting the sieve against its post.
1 158[Figure 158]
A—WORKMAN CARRYING BROKEN ROCK IN A BARROW. B—FIRST CHUTE. C—FIRST BOX.
D—ITS HANDLES. E—ITS BALES. F—ROPE. G—BEAM. H—POST. I—SECOND
CHUTE. K—SECOND BOX. L—THIRD CHUTE. M—THIRD BOX. N—FIRST TABLE.
O—FIRST SIEVE. P—FIRST TUB. Q—SECOND TABLE. R—SECOND SIEVE. S—SECOND
TUB. T—THIRD TABLE. V—THIRD SIEVE. X—THIRD TUB. Y—PLUGS.
1
If the ore is rich in metal, the earth, the fine and coarse sand, and the
pieces of rock which have been broken from the hanging-wall, are dug out of
the dump with a spade or rake and, with a shovel, are thrown into a large sieve
or basket, and washed in a tub nearly full of water. The sieve is generally
a cubit broad and half a foot deep; its bottom has holes of such size that the
larger pieces of broken rock cannot pass through them, for this material rests
upon the straight and cross iron wires, which at their points of contact are
bound by small iron clips. The sieve is held together by an iron band and by
two cross-rods likewise of iron; the rest of the sieve is made of staves in the
shape of a little tub, and is bound with two iron hoops; some, however,
bind it with hoops of hazel or oak, but in that case they use three of them.
On each side it has handles, which are held in the hands by whoever washes
the metalliferous material. Into this sieve a boy throws the material to be
washed, and a woman shakes it up and down, turning it alternately to the
159[Figure 159]
A—SIEVE. B—ITS HANDLES. C—TUB. D—BOTTOM OF SIEVE MADE OF IRON WIRES.
E—HOOP. F—RODS. G—HOOPS. H—WOMAN SHAKING THE SIEVE. I—BOY SUPPLYING
IT WITH MATERIAL WHICH REQUIRES WASHING. K—MAN WITH SHOVEL REMOVING FROM
THE TUB THE MATERIAL WHICH HAS PASSED THROUGH THE SIEVE.
1right and to the left, and in this way passes through it the smaller pieces of
earth, sand, and broken rock. The larger pieces remain in the sieve, and
these are taken out, placed in a heap and put under the stamps. The
mud, together with fine sand, coarse sand, and broken rock, which remain
after the water has been drawn out of the tub, is removed by an iron shovel
and washed in the sluice, about which I will speak a little later.
The Bohemians use a basket a foot and a half broad and half a foot deep,
bound together by osiers. It has two handles by which it is grasped, when
they move it about and shake it in the tub or in a small pool nearly full
of water. All that passes through it into the tub or pool they take out and
wash in a bowl, which is higher in the back part and lower and flat in the
front; it is grasped by the two handles and shaken in the water, the lighter
particles flowing away, and the heavier and mineral portion sinking to the
bottom.
160[Figure 160]
A—BASKET. B—ITS HANDLES. C—DISH. D—ITS BACK PART. E—ITS FRONT PART.
F—HANDLES OF SAME.
Gold ore, after being broken with hammers or crushed by the stamps,
and even tin ore, is further milled to powder. The upper millstone, which
1is turned by water-power, is made in the following way. An axle is rounded
to compass measure, or is made angular, and its iron pinions turn in iron
sockets which are held in beams. The axle is turned by a water-wheel, the
buckets of which are fixed to the rim and are struck by the force of a stream.
161[Figure 161]
A—AXLE. B—WATER-WHEEL. C—TOOTHED DRUM. D—DRUM MADE OF RUNDLES.
E—IRON AXLE. F—MILLSTONE. G—HOPPER. H—ROUND WOODEN PLATE.
I—TROUGH.
Into the axle is mortised a toothed drum, whose teeth are fixed in the side
of the rim. These teeth turn a second drum of rundles, which are made of
very hard material. This drum surrounds an iron axle which has a pinion
at the bottom and revolves in an iron cup in a timber. At the top of the
iron axle is an iron tongue, dove-tailed into the millstone, and so when the
teeth of the one drum turn the rundles of the other, the millstone is made to
turn round. An overhanging machine supplies it with ore through a hopper,
and the ore, being ground to powder, is discharged from a round wooden plate
into a trough and flowing away through it accumulates on the floor;
from there the ore is carried away and reserved for washing. Since this
1method of grinding requires the millstone to be now raised and now
lowered, the timber in whose socket the iron of the pinion axle revolves, rests
upon two beams, which can be raised and lowered.
There are three mills in use in milling gold ores, especially for quartz11
which is not lacking in metal. They are not all turned by water-power,
but some by the strength of men, and two of them even by the power
of beasts of burden. The first revolving one differs from the next only
in its driving wheel, which is closed in and turned by men treading it, or by
horses, which are placed inside, or by asses, or even by strong goats; the
eyes of these beasts are covered by linen bands. The second mill, both
when pushed and turned round, differs from the two above by having an
upright axle in the place of the horizontal one; this axle has at its lower end
a disc, which two workmen turn by treading back its cleats with their feet,
though frequently one man sustains all the labour; or sometimes there
projects from the axle a pole which is turned by a horse or an ass, for which
reason it is called an asinaria. The toothed drum which is at the upper end
of the axle turns the drum which is made of rundles, and together with it the
millstone.
The third mill is turned round and round, and not pushed by hand; but
between this and the others there is a great distinction, for the lower
millstone is so shaped at the top that it can hold within it the upper mill­
stone, which revolves around an iron axle; this axle is fastened in the
centre of the lower stone and passes through the upper stone. A workman,
by grasping in his hand an upright iron bar placed in the upper millstone,
moves it round. The middle of the upper millstone is bored through, and
the ore, being thrown into this opening, falls down upon the lower millstone
and is there ground to powder, which gradually runs out through its opening;
it is washed by various methods before it is mixed with quicksilver,
which I will explain presently.
Some people build a machine which at one and the same time can crush,
grind, cleanse, and wash the gold ore, and mix the gold with quicksilver.
This machine has one water-wheel, which is turned by a stream striking its
buckets; the main axle on one side of the water-wheel has long cams, which
raise the stamps that crush the dry ore. Then the crushed ore is thrown
into the hopper of the upper millstone, and gradually falling through the
opening, is ground to powder. The lower millstone is square, but has a round
depression in which the round, upper millstone turns, and it has an outlet
from which the powder falls into the first tub. A vertical iron axle is dove­
tailed into a cross-piece, which is in turn fixed into the upper millstone;
the upper pinion of this axle is held in a bearing fixed in a beam; the drum
of the vertical axle is made of rundles, and is turned by the toothed drum
on the main axle, and thus turns the millstone. The powder falls continually
into the first tub, together with water, and from there runs into a second tub
which is set lower down, and out of the second into a third, which is the
lowest; from the third, it generally flows into a small trough hewn out of a
1 162[Figure 162]
A—FIRST MILL. B—WHEEL TURNED BY GOATS. C—SECOND MILL. D—DISC OF
UPRIGHT AXLE. E—ITS TOOTHED DRUM. F—THIRD MILL. G—SHAPE OF LOWER
MILLSTONE. H—SMALL UPRIGHT AXLE OF THE SAME. I—ITS OPENING. K—LEVER
OF THE UPPER MILLSTONE. L—ITS OPENING.
1tree trunk. Quicksilver12 is placed in each tub, across which is fixed a small
plank, and through a hole in the middle of each plank there passes a small
upright axle, which is enlarged above the plank to prevent it from dropping
into the tub lower than it should. At the lower end of the axle three sets
of paddles intersect, each made from two little boards fixed to the axle
opposite each other. The upper end of this axle has a pinion held by a
bearing set in a beam, and around each of these axles is a small drum made
of rundles, each of which is turned by a small toothed drum on a horizontal
1axle, one end of which is mortised into the large horizontal axle, and the
other end is held in a hollow covered with thick iron plates in a beam. Thus
the paddles, of which there are three sets in each tub, turn round, and
agitating the powder, thoroughly mix it with water and separate the minute
particles of gold from it, and these are attracted by the quicksilver and
purified. The water carries away the waste. The quicksilver is poured
into a bag made of leather or cloth woven from cotton, and when this bag is
squeezed, as I have described elsewhere, the quicksilver drips through it into
a jar placed underneath. The pure gold13 remains in the bag. Some people
substitute three broad sluices for the tubs, each of which has an angular axle
on which are set six narrow spokes, and to them are fixed the same number of
broad paddles; the water that is poured in strikes these paddles and turns
them round, and they agitate the powder which is mixed with the water and
separate the metal from it. If the powder which is being treated contains
gold particles, the first method of washing is far superior, because the quick­
silver in the tubs immediately attracts the gold; if it is powder in which
are the small black stones from which tin is smelted, this latter method is
not to be despised. It is very advantageous to place interlaced fir boughs
in the sluices in which such tin-stuff is washed, after it has run through the
launders from the mills, because the fine tin-stone is either held back by the
twigs, or if the current carries them along they fall away from the water
and settle down.
1 163[Figure 163]
A—WATER-WHEEL. B—AXLE. C—STAMP. D—HOPPER IN THE UPPER MILLSTONE.
E—OPENING PASSING THROUGH THE CENTRE. F—LOWER MILLSTONE. G—ITS
ROUND DEPRESSION. H—ITS OUTLET. I—IRON AXLE. K—ITS CROSSPIECE. L—BEAM.
M—DRUM OF RUNDLES ON THE IRON AXLE. N—TOOTHED DRUM OF MAIN AXLE. O—TUBS.
P—THE SMALL PLANKS. Q—SMALL UPRIGHT AXLES. R—ENLARGED PART OF ONE.
1
Seven methods of washing are in common use for the ores of many
metals; for they are washed either in a simple buddle, or in a divided buddle,
or in an ordinary strake, or in a large tank, or in a short strake, or in a canvas
strake, or in a jigging sieve. Other methods of washing are either peculiar
to some particular metal, or are combined with the method of crushing wet
ore by stamps.
A simple buddle is made in the following way. In the first place, the head
is higher than the rest of the buddle, and is three feet long and a foot and a half
broad; this head is made of planks laid upon a timber and fastened, and
on both sides, side-boards are set up so as to hold the water, which flows in
through a pipe or trough, so that it shall fall straight down. The middle of
the head is somewhat depressed in order that the broken rock and the larger
metallic particles may settle into it. The buddle is sunk into the earth to a
depth of three-quarters of a foot below the head, and is twelve feet long and
a foot and a half wide and deep; the bottom and each side are lined with
planks to prevent the earth, when it is softened by the water, from falling
in or from absorbing the metallic particles. The lower end of the buddle is
obstructed by a board, which is not as high as the sides. To this straight
buddle there is joined a second transverse buddle, six feet long and a foot
and a half wide and deep, similarly lined with planks; at the lower
1end it is closed up with a board, also lower than the sides of the buddle so
that the water can flow away: this water falls into a launder and is carried
outside the building. In this simple buddle is washed the metallic material
which has passed on to the floor of the works through the five large sieves.
When this has been gathered into a heap, the washer throws it into the head
of the buddle, and water is poured upon it through the pipe or small trough,
and the portion which sinks and settles in the middle of the head compart­
ment he stirs with a wooden scrubber,—this is what we will henceforth call
the implement made of a stick to which is fixed a piece of wood a foot long
and a palm broad. The water is made turbid by this stirring, and carries
the mud and sand and small particles of metal into the buddle below.
Together with the broken rock, the larger metallic particles remain in the
head compartment, and when these have been removed, boys throw them upon
the platform of a washing tank or the short strake, and separate them from
the broken rock. When the buddle is full of mud and sand, the washer closes
the pipe through which the water flows into the head; very soon the
water which remains in the buddle flows away, and when this has taken
164[Figure 164]
A—HEAD OF BUDDLE. B—PIPE. C—BUDDLE. D—BOARD. E—TRANSVERSE BUDDLE.
F—SHOVEL. G—SCRUBBER.
1place, he removes with a shovel the mud and sand which are mixed with
minute particles of metal, and washes them on a canvas strake. Sometimes
before the buddles have been filled full, the boys throw the material into a
bowl and carry it to the strakes and wash it.
Pulverized ore is washed in the head of this kind of a buddle; but usually
when tin-stone is washed in it, interlacing fir boughs are put into the buddle, in
the same manner as in the sluice when wet ore is crushed with stamps. The
larger tin-stone particles, which sink in the upper part of the buddle,
are washed separately in a strake; those particles which are of medium
size, and settle in the middle part, are washed separately in the same way;
and the mud mixed with minute particles of tin-stone, which has settled in
the lowest part of the buddle below the fir boughs, is washed separately on
the canvas strakes.
The divided buddle differs from the last one by having several cross­
boards, which, being placed inside it, divide it off like steps; if the buddle
is twelve feet long, four of them are placed within; if nine feet long, three.
The nearer each one is to the head, the greater is its height; the further from
the head, the lower it is; and so when the highest is a foot and a palm high,
165[Figure 165]
A—PIPE. B—CROSS LAUNDER. C—SMALL TROUGHS. D—HEAD OF THE BUDDLE.
E—WOODEN SCRUBBER. F—DIVIDING BOARDS. G—SHORT STRAKE.
1the second is usually a foot and three digits high, the third a foot and two
digits, and the lowest a foot and one digit. In this buddle is generally washed
that metalliferous material which has been sifted through the large sieve
into the tub containing water. This material is continuously thrown with
an iron shovel into the head of the buddle, and the water which has been
let in is stirred up by a wooden scrubber, until the buddle is full, then the
cross-boards are taken out by the washer, and the water is drained off; next
the metalliferous material which has settled in the compartments is again
washed, either on a short strake or on the canvas strakes or in the jigging
sieves. Since a short strake is often united with the upper part of this buddle,
a pipe in the first place carries the water into a cross launder, from which it
flows down through one little launder into the buddle, and through another
into the short strake.
An ordinary strake, so far as the planks are concerned, is not unlike the
last two. The head of this, as of the others, is first made of earth stamped
down, then covered with planks; and where it is necessary, earth is
thrown in and beaten down a second time, so that no crevice may remain
through which water carrying the particles of metal can escape. The water
ought to fall straight down into the strake, which has a length of eight feet
166[Figure 166]
A—HEAD B—STRAKE. C—TROWEL. D—SCRUBBER. E—CANVAS F—ROD BY
WHICH THE CANVAS IS MADE SMOOTH.
1and a breadth of a foot and a half; it is connected with a transverse launder,
which then extends to a settling pit outside the building. A boy with
a shovel or a ladle takes the impure concentrates or impure tin-stone from a
heap, and throws them into the head of the strake or spreads them over it.
A washer with a wooden scrubber then agitates them in the strake, whereby
the mud mixed with water flows away into the transverse launder, and the
concentrates or the tin-stone settle on the strake. Since sometimes the
concentrates or fine tin-stone flow down together with the mud into the
transverse launder, a second washer closes it, after a distance of about six feet,
with a cross-board and frequently stirs the mud with a shovel, in order that
when mixed with water it may flow out into the settling-pit; and there
remains in the launder only the concentrates or tin-stone. The tin-stuff
of Schlackenwald and Erbisdroff is washed in this kind of a strake once
or twice; those of Altenberg three or four times; those of Geyer often
seven times; for in the ore at Schlackenwald and Erbisdorff the tin-stone
particles are of a fair size, and are crushed with stamps; at Altenberg they
are of much smaller size, and in the broken ore at Geyer only a few particles
of tin-stone can be seen occasionally.
This method of washing was first devised by the miners who treated
tin ore, whence it passed on from the works of the tin workers to those of the
silver workers and others; this system is even more reliable than
washing in jigging-sieves. Near this ordinary strake there is generally a
canvas strake.
In modern times two ordinary strakes, similarly made, are generally
joined together; the head of one is three feet distant from that of the other,
while the bodies are four feet distant from each other, and there is only one
cross launder under the two strakes. One boy shovels, from the heap into the
head of each, the concentrates or tin-stone mixed with mud. There are
two washers, one of whom sits at the right side of one strake, and the
other at the left of the other strake, and each pursues his task, using the
following sort of implement. Under each strake is a sill, from a socket in
which a round pole rises, and is held by half an iron ring in a beam of the
building, so that it may revolve; this pole is nine feet long and a palm
thick. Penetrating the pole is a small round piece of wood, three palms
long and as many digits thick, to which is affixed a small board two feet
long and five digits wide, in an opening of which one end of a small axle
revolves, and to this axle is fixed the handle of a little scrubber. The other
end of this axle turns in an opening of a second board, which is likewise fixed
to a small round piece of wood; this round piece, like the first one, is three
palms long and as many digits thick, and is used by the washer as a handle.
The little scrubber is made of a stick three feet long, to the end of which is
fixed a small tablet of wood a foot long, six digits broad, and a digit and a
half thick. The washer constantly moves the handle of this implement
with one hand; in this way the little scrubber stirs the concentrates or
the fine tin-stone mixed with mud in the head of the strake, and the mud, on
being stirred, flows on to the strake. In the other hand he holds a second
1 167[Figure 167]
A—UPPER CROSS LAUNDER. B—SMALL LAUNDERS. C—HEADS OF STRAKES.
D—STRAKES. E—LOWER TRANSVERSE LAUNDER. F—SETTLING PIT. G—SOCKET
IN THE SILL. H—HALVED IRON RINGS FIXED TO BEAM. I—POLE. K—ITS LITTLE
SCRUBRER. L—SECOND SMALL SCRUBBER.
1little scrubber, which has a handle of half the length, and with this he cease­
lessly stirs the concentrates or tin-stone which have settled in the upper
part of the strake; in this way the mud and water flow down into the
transverse launder, and from it into the settling-pit which is outside the
building.
Before the short strake and the jigging-sieve had been invented, metallifer­
ous ores, especially tin, were crushed dry with stamps and washed in a large
trough hollowed out of one or two tree trunks; and at the head of this trough
was a platform, on which the ore was thrown after being completely crushed.
The washer pulled it down into the trough with a wooden scrubber which
had a long handle, and when the water had been let into the trough, he stirred
the ore with the same scrubber.
168[Figure 168]
A—TROUGH. B—PLATFORM. C—WOODEN SCRUBBER.
The short strake is narrow in the upper part where the water flows down
into it through the little launder; in fact it is only two feet wide; at the lower
end it is wider, being three feet and as many palms. At the sides, which are
six feet long, are fixed boards two palms high. In other respects the head
resembles the head of the simple buddle, except that it is not depressed in the
middle. Beneath is a cross launder closed by a low board. In this short
strake not only is ore agitated and washed with a wooden scrubber, but boys
1also separate the concentrates from the broken rock in them and collect them
in tubs. The short strake is now rarely employed by miners, owing to the
carelessness of the boys, which has been frequently detected; for this
reason, the jigging-sieve has taken its place. The mud which settles in the
launder, if the ore is rich, is taken up and washed in a jigging-sieve or on a
canvas strake.
169[Figure 169]
A—SHORT STRAKE. B—SMALL LAUNDER. C—TRANSVERSE LAUNDER. D—WOODEN
SCRUBBER.
A canvas strake is made in the following way. Two beams, eighteen feet
long and half a foot broad and three palms thick, are placed on a slope; one
half of each of these beams is partially cut away lengthwise, to allow the ends
of planks to be fastened in them, for the bottom is covered by planks three
feet long, set crosswise and laid close together. One half of each supporting
beam is left intact and rises a palm above the planks, in order that the water
that is running down may not escape at the sides, but shall flow straight
down. The head of the strake is higher than the rest of the body, and slopes
so as to enable the water to flow away. The whole strake is covered by six
stretched pieces of canvas, smoothed with a stick. The first of them occupies
the lowest division, and the second is so laid as to slightly overlap it; on
1 170[Figure 170]
A—BEAMS. B—CANVAS. C—HEAD OF STRAKE. D—SMALL LAUNDER. E—SETTLING
PIT OR TANK. F—WOODEN SCRUBBER. G—TUBS.
the second division, the third is similarly laid, and so on, one on the other.
If they are laid in the opposite way, the water flowing down carries the
concentrates or particles of tin-stone under the canvas, and a useless task
is attempted. Boys or men throw the concentrates or tin-stuff mixed with
mud into the head of the strake, after the canvas has been thus stretched,
and having opened the small launder they let the water flow in; then
they stir the concentrates or tin-stone with a wooden scrubber till the water
carries them all on to the canvas; next they gently sweep the linen with
the wooden scrubber until the mud flows into the settling-pit or into the
transverse launder. As soon as there is little or no mud on the canvas, but
only concentrates or tin-stone, they carry the canvas away and wash it in a
tub placed close by. The tin-stone settles in the tub, and the men return
immediately to the same task. Finally, they pour the water out of the tub,
and collect the concentrates or tin-stone. However, if either concentrates
or tin-stone have washed down from the canvas and settled in the settling­
pit or in the transverse launder, they wash the mud again.
Some neither remove the canvas nor wash it in the tubs, but place over
1it on each edge narrow strips, of no great thickness, and fix them to the beams
with nails. They agitate the metalliferous material with wooden scrubbers
and wash it in a similar way. As soon as little or no mud remains on the
canvas, but only concentrates or fine tin-stone, they lift one beam so that
the whole strake rests on the other, and dash it with water, which has been
drawn with buckets out of the small tank, and in this way all the sediment
which clings to the canvas falls into the trough placed underneath. This
trough is hewn out of a tree and placed in a ditch dug in the ground; the
interior of the trough is a foot wide at the top, but narrower in the bottom,
because it is rounded out. In the middle of this trough they put a cross­
board, in order that the fairly large particles of concentrates or fairly large­
sized tin-stone may remain in the forepart into which they have fallen, and
the fine concentrates or fine tin-stone in the lower part, for the water flows
from one into the other, and at last flows down through an opening into the
pit. As for the fairly large-sized concentrates or tin-stone which have been
removed from the trough, they are washed again on the ordinary strake.
171[Figure 171]
A—CANVAS STRAKE. B—MAN DASHING WATER ON THE CANVAS. C—BUCKET.
D—BUCKET OF ANOTHER KIND. E—MAN REMOVING CONCENTRATES OR TIN-STONE
FROM THE TROUGH.
1The fine concentrates and fine tin-stone are washed again on this canvas
strake. By this method, the canvas lasts longer because it remains fixed,
and nearly double the work is done by one washer as quickly as can be done
by two washers by the other method.
The jigging sieve has recently come into use by miners. The
metalliferous material is thrown into it and sifted in a tub nearly full of water.
The sieve is shaken up and down, and by this movement all the material
below the size of a pea passes through into the tub, and the rest remains on the
bottom of the sieve. This residue is of two kinds, the metallic particles,
which occupy the lower place, and the particles of rock and earth, which
take the higher place, because the heavy substance always settles, and the
light is borne upward by the force of the water. This light material is taken
away with a limp, which is a thin tablet of wood almost semicircular in
shape, three-quarters of a foot long, and half a foot wide. Before the
lighter portion is taken away the contents of the sieve are generally divided
crosswise with a limp, to enable the water to penetrate into it more quickly.
Afterward fresh material is again thrown into the sieve and shaken up and
down, and when a great quantity of metallic particles have settled in the sieve,
they are taken out and put into a tray close by. But since there fall into
the tub with the mud, not only particles of gold or silver, but also of sand,
pyrites, cadmia, galena, quartz, and other substances, and since the
water cannot separate these from the metallic particles because they are all
heavy, this muddy mixture is washed a second time, and the part which is
useless is thrown away. To prevent the sieve passing this sand again too
quickly, the washer lays small stones or gravel in the bottom of the sieve.
However, if the sieve is not shaken straight up and down, but is tilted to one
side, the small stones or broken ore move from one part to another, and the
metallic material again falls into the tub, and the operation is frustrated.
The miners of our country have made an even finer sieve, which does not
fail even with unskilled washers; in washing with this sieve they have no
need for the bottom to be strewn with small stones. By this method the mud
settles in the tub with the very fine metallic particles, and the larger sizes of
metal remain in the sieve and are covered with the valueless sand, and this
is taken away with a limp. The concentrates which have been collected
are smelted together with other things. The mud mixed with the very fine
metallic particles is washed for a third time and in the finest sieve, whose
bottom is woven of hair. If the ore is rich in metal, all the material which
has been removed by the limp is washed on the canvas strakes, or if the ore
is poor it is thrown away.
I have explained the methods of washing which are used in common for
the ores of many metals. I now come to another method of crushing ore,
for I ought to speak of this before describing those methods of washing which
are peculiar to ores of particular metals.
In the year 1512, George, the illustrious Duke of Saxony14, gave the over­
1 172[Figure 172]
A—FINE SIEVES. B—LIMP. C—FINER SIEVE. D—FINEST SIEVE
1lordship of all the dumps ejected from the mines in Meissen to the noble
and wise Sigismund Maltitz, father of John, Bishop of Meissen. Reject­
ing the dry stamps, the large sieve, and the stone mills of Dippolds­
walde and Altenberg, in which places are dug the small black stones
from which tin is smelted, he invented a machine which could crush the ore
wet under iron-shod stamps. That is called “wet ore” which is softened by
water which flows into the mortar box, and they are sometimes called “wet
stamps” because they are drenched by the same water; and on the other hand, the
other kinds are called “dry stamps” or “dry ore,” because no water is used
to soften the ore when the stamps are crushing. But to return to our subject.
This machine is not dissimilar to the one which crushes the ore with dry
iron-shod stamps, but the heads of the wet stamps are larger by half than the
heads of the others. The mortar-box, which is made of oak or beech timber, is
set up in the space between the upright posts; it does not open in front, but
at one end, and it is three feet long, three-quarters of a foot wide, and one foot
and six digits deep. If it has no bottom, it is set up in the same way over a
slab of hard, smooth rock placed in the ground, which has been dug down a
little. The joints are stopped up all round with moss or cloth rags. If
the mortar has a bottom, then an iron sole-plate, three feet long, three­
quarters of a foot wide, and a palm thick, is placed in it. In the opening
in the end of the mortar there is fixed an iron plate full of holes, in such a
way that there is a space of two digits between it and the shoe of the nearest
stamp, and the same distance between this screen and the upright post, in
an opening through which runs a small but fairly long launder. The crushed
particles of silver ore flow through this launder with the water into a settling­
pit, while the material which settles in the launder is removed with an iron
shovel to the nearest planked floor; that material which has settled in the
pit is removed with an iron shovel on to another floor. Most people make
two launders, in order that while the workman empties one of them of the
accumulation which has settled in it, a fresh deposit may be settling in the
other. The water flows in through a small launder at the other end of the
mortar that is near the water-wheel which turns the machine. The workman
throws the ore to be crushed into the mortar in such a way that the pieces,
when they are thrown in among the stamps, do not impede the work. By
this method a silver or gold ore is crushed very fine by the stamps.
When tin ore is crushed by this kind of iron-shod stamps, as soon as
crushing begins, the launder which extends from the screen discharges the
water carrying the fine tin-stone and fine sand into a transverse trough,
from which the water flows down through the spouts, which pierce the side of
the trough, into the one or other of the large buddles set underneath. The
reason why there are two is that, while the washer empties the one which is
filled with fine tin-stone and sand, the material may flow into the other.
Each buddle is twelve feet long, one cubit deep, and a foot and a half broad.
The tin-stone which settles in the upper part of the buddles is called the
large size; these are frequently stirred with a shovel, in order that the
medium sized particles of tin-stone, and the mud mixed with the very fine
1 173[Figure 173]
A—MORTAR. B—OPEN END OF MORTAR. C—SLAB OF ROCK. D—IRON SOLE PLATES.
E—SCREEN. F—LAUNDER. G—WOODEN SHOVEL. H—SETTLING PIT. I—IRON
SHOVEL. K—HEAP OF MATERIAL WHICH HAS SETTLED. L—ORE WHICH REQUIRES
CRUSHING. M—SMALL LAUNDER.
1particles of the stones may flow away. The particles of medium size generally
settle in the middle part of the buddle, where they are arrested by interwoven
fir twigs. The mud which flows down with the water settles between the
twigs and the board which closes the lower end of the buddle. The tin-stone
of large size is removed separately from the buddle with a shovel; those
of medium size are also removed separately, and likewise the mud is removed
separately, for they are separately washed on the canvas strakes and on
the ordinary strake, and separately roasted and smelted. The tin-stone
which has settled in the middle part of the buddle, is also always washed
separately on the canvas strakes; but if the particles are nearly equal in size
to those which have settled in the upper part of the buddle, they are washed
with them in the ordinary strake and are roasted and smelted with them.
However, the mud is never washed with the others, either on the canvas
strakes or on the ordinary strake, but separately, and the fine tin-stone which
is obtained from it is roasted and smelted separately. The two large buddles
discharge into a cross trough, and it again empties through a launder into
a settling-pit which is outside the building.
174[Figure 174]
A—LAUNDER REACHING TO THE SCREEN. B—TRANSVERSE TROUGH. C—SPOUTS.
D—LARGE BUDDLES. E—SHOVEL. F—INTERWOVEN TWIGS. G—BOARDS CLOSING
THE BUDDLES. H—CROSS TROUGH.
1
This method of washing has lately undergone a considerable change; for
the launder which carries the water, mixed with the crushed tin-stone and
fine sand which flow from the openings of the screen, does not reach to a
transverse trough which is inside the same room, but runs straight through
a partition into a small settling-pit. A boy draws a three-toothed rake
through the material which has settled in the portion of the launder outside
the room, by which means the larger sized particles of tin-stone settle at the
bottom, and these the washer takes out with the wooden shovel and carries
into the room; this material is thrown into an ordinary strake and swept
with a wooden scrubber and washed. As for those tin-stone particles which
the water carries off from the strake, after they have been brought back on to
the strake, he washes them again until they are clean.
The remaining tin-stone, mixed with sand, flows into the small settling-pit
which is within the building, and this discharges into two large buddles. The
tin-stone of moderate size, mixed with those of fairly large size, settle in the
upper part, and the small size in the lower part; but both are impure, and
for this reason they are taken out separately and the former is washed twice,
175[Figure 175]
A—FIRST LAUNDER. B—THREE-TOOTHED RAKE. C—SMALL SETTLING PIT. D—LARGE
BUDDLE. E—BUDDLE RESEMBLING THE SIMPLE BUDDLE. F—SMALL ROLLER. G—
BOARDS. H—THEIR HOLES. I—SHOVEL. K—BUILDING. L—STOVE. (THIS PICTURE
DOES NOT ENTIRELY AGREE WITH THE TEXT).
1first in a buddle like the simple buddle, and afterward on an ordinary
strake. Likewise the latter is washed twice, first on a canvas strake and
afterward on an ordinary strake. This buddle, which is like the simple
buddle, differs from it in the head, the whole of which in this case is sloping,
while in the case of the other it is depressed in the centre. In order that the
boy may be able to rest the shovel with which he cleanses the tin-stone,
this sluice has a small wooden roller which turns in holes in two thick
boards fixed to the sides of the buddle; if he did not do this, he would become
over-exhausted by his task, for he spends whole days standing over these
labours. The large buddle, the one like the simple buddle, the ordinary
strake, and the canvas strakes, are erected within a special building. In
this building there is a stove that gives out heat through the earthen tiles
or iron plates of which it is composed, in order that the washers can pursue
their labours even in winter, if the rivers are not completely frozen over.
On the canvas strakes are washed the very fine tin-stone mixed with
mud which has settled in the lower end of the large buddle, as well as
in the lower end of the simple buddle and of the ordinary strake. The canvas
is cleaned in a trough hewn out of one tree trunk and partitioned off with
two boards, so that three compartments are made. The first and second pieces
of canvas are washed in the first compartment, the third and fourth in the
second compartment, the fifth and sixth in the third compartment. Since
among the very fine tin-stone there are usually some grains of stone, rock,
or marble, the master cleanses them on the ordinary strake, lightly brushing
the top of the material with a broom, the twigs of which do not all run the
same way, but some straight and some crosswise. In this way the water
carries off these impurities from the strake into the settling-pit because they
are lighter, and leaves the tin-stone on the table because it is heavier.
Below all buddles or strakes, both inside and outside the building, there
are placed either settling-pits or cross-troughs into which they discharge,
in order that the water may carry on down into the stream but very few
of the most minute particles of tin-stone. The large settling-pit which is
outside the building is generally made of joined flooring, and is eight feet in
length, breadth and depth. When a large quantity of mud, mixed with
very fine tin-stone, has settled in it, first of all the water is let out by with­
drawing a plug, then the mud which is taken out is washed outside the house
on the canvas strakes, and afterward the concentrates are washed on the
strake which is inside the building. By these methods the very finest tin­
stone is made clean.
The mud mixed with the very fine tin-stone, which has neither settled
in the large settling-pit nor in the transverse launder which is outside the
room and below the canvas strakes, flows away and settles in the bed of the
stream or river. In order to recover even a portion of the fine tin-stone,
many miners erect weirs in the bed of the stream or river, very much like
those that are made above the mills, to deflect the current into the races
through which it flows to the water-wheels. At one side of each weir there
is an area dug out to a depth of five or six or seven feet, and if the nature of
1 176[Figure 176]
A—LAUNDER FROM THE SCREEN OF THE MORTAR-BOX. B—THREE-TOOTHED RAKE.
C—SMALI. SETTLING-PIT. D—CANVAS. E—STRAKES. F—BROOMS.
1the place will permit, extending in every direction more than sixty feet.
Thus, when the water of the river or stream in autumn and winter inundates
the land, the gates of the weir are closed, by which means the current carries
the mud mixed with fine tin-stone into the area. In spring and summer
this mud is washed on the canvas strakes or on the ordinary strake, and
even the finest black-tin is collected. Within a distance of four thousand
fathoms along the bed of the stream or river below the buildings in which
the tin-stuff is washed, the miners do not make such weirs, but put inclined
fences in the meadows, and in front of each fence they dig a ditch of the
same length, so that the mud mixed with the fine tin-stone, carried along by the
stream or river when in flood, may settle in the ditch and cling to the fence.
When this mud is collected, it is likewise washed on canvas strakes and on
the ordinary strake, in order that the fine tin-stone may be separated from
it. Indeed we may see many such areas and fences collecting mud of this
kind in Meissen below Altenberg in the river Moglitz,—which is always of a
reddish colour when the rock containing the black tin is being crushed under
the stamps.
177[Figure 177]
A—RIVER. B—WEIR. C—GATE. D—AREA. E—MEADOW. F—FENCE. G—DITCH.
1
But to return to the stamping machines. Some usually set up four
machines of this kind in one place, that is to say, two above and the same
number below. By this plan it is necessary that the current which has been
diverted should fall down from a greater height upon the upper water­
wheels, because these turn axles whose cams raise heavier stamps. The
stamp-stems of the upper machines should be nearly twice as long as the stems
of the lower ones, because all the mortar-boxes are placed on the same level.
These stamps have their tappets near their upper ends, not as in the case of
the lower stamps, which are placed just above the bottom. The water flowing
down from the two upper water-wheels is caught in two broad races, from
which it falls on to the two lower water-wheels. Since all these machines
have the stamps very close together, the stems should be somewhat cut away,
to prevent the iron shoes from rubbing each other at the point where they are
set into the stems. Where so many machines cannot be constructed, by
reason of the narrowness of the valley, the mountain is excavated and
levelled in two places, one of which is higher than the other, and in this case
two machines are constructed and generally placed in one building. A
broad race receives in the same way the water which flows down from the
upper water-wheel, and similarly lets it fall on the lower water-wheel. The
mortar-boxes are not then placed on one level, but each on the level which
is appropriate to its own machine, and for this reason, two workmen are then
required to throw ore into the mortar-boxes. When no stream can be
diverted which will fall from a higher place upon the top of the water-wheel,
one is diverted which will turn the foot of the wheel; a great quantity of
water from the stream is collected in one pool capable of holding it, and
from this place, when the gates are raised, the water is discharged against
the wheel which turns in the race. The buckets of a water-wheel of this
kind are deeper and bent back, projecting upward; those of the former
are shallower and bent forward, inclining downward.
Further, in the Julian and Rhaetian Alps15 and in the Carpathian
Mountains, gold or even silver ore is now put under stamps, which are
sometimes placed more than twenty in a row, and crushed wet in a long mortar­
box. The mortar has two plates full of holes through which the ore, after
being crushed, flows out with the water into the transverse launder placed
underneath, and from there it is carried down by two spouts into the heads of
the canvas strakes. Each head is made of a thick broad plank, which can be
raised and set upright, and to which on each side are fixed pieces projecting
upward. In this plank there are many cup-like depressions equal in size and
similar in shape, in each of which an egg could be placed. Right down in
these depressions are small crevices which can retain the concentrates of gold
or silver, and when the hollows are nearly filled with these materials, the
plank is raised on one side so that the concentrates will fall into a large bowl.
The cup-like depressions are washed out by dashing them with water. These
1 178[Figure 178]
A—FIRST MACHINE. B—ITS STAMPS. C—ITS MORTAR-BOX. D—SECOND MACHINE.
E—ITS STAMPS. F—ITS MORTAR-BOX. G—THIRD MACHINE. H—ITS STAMPS. I—ITS
MORTAR-BOX. K—FOURTH MACHINE. L—ITS STAMPS. M—ITS MORTAR-BOX.
1concentrates are washed separately in different bowls from those which have
settled on the canvas. This bowl is smooth and two digits wide and deep,
being in shape very similar to a small boat; it is broad in the fore part,
narrow in the back, and in the middle of it there is a cross groove, in which
the particles of pure gold or silver settle, while the grains of sand, since they
are lighter, flow out of it.
In some parts of Moravia, gold ore, which consists of quartz mixed with
gold, is placed under the stamps and crushed wet. When crushed fine it
flows out through a launder into a trough, is there stirred by a wooden
scrubber, and the minute particles of gold which settle in the upper end of
the trough are washed in a black bowl.
179[Figure 179]
A—STAMPS. B—MORTAR. C—PLATES FULL OF HOLES. D—TRANSVERSE LAUNDER.
E—PLANKS FULL OF CUP-LIKE DEPRESSIONS. F—SPOUT. G—BOWL INTO WHICH THE
CONCENTRATES FALL. H—CANVAS STRAKE. I—BOWLS SHAPED LIKE A SMALL BOAT.
K—SETTLING-PIT UNDER THE CANVAS STRAKE.
So far I have spoken of machines which crush wet ore with iron-shod
stamps. I will now explain the methods of washing which are in a measure
peculiar to the ore of certain metals, beginning with gold. The ore which
contains particles of this metal, and the sand of streams and rivers which
1contains grains of it, are washed in frames or bowls; the sands especially
are also washed in troughs. More than one method is employed for washing
on frames, for these frames either pass or retain the particles or concentrates
of gold; they pass them if they have holes, and retain them if they have
no holes. But either the frame itself has holes, or a box is substituted for
it; if the frame itself is perforated it passes the particles or concentrates
of gold into a trough; if the box has them, it passes the gold material into
the long sluice. I will first speak of these two methods of washing. The
frame is made of two planks joined together, and is twelve feet long and
three feet wide, and is full of holes large enough for a pea to pass. To prevent
the ore or sand with which the gold is mixed from falling out at the sides,
small projecting edge-boards are fixed to it. This frame is set upon two
stools, the first of which is higher than the second, in order that the gravel
and small stones can roll down it. The washer throws the ore or sand into
the head of the frame, which is higher, and opening the small launder, lets
the water into it, and then agitates it with a wooden scrubber. In this way,
the gravel and small stones roll down the frame on to the ground, while the
180[Figure 180]
A—HEAD OF FRAME. B—FRAME. C—HOLES. D—EDGE-BOARDS. E—STOOLS
F—SCRUBBER. G—TROUGH. H—LAUNDER. I—BOWL.
1particles or concentrates of gold, together with the sand, pass through the
holes into the trough which is placed under the frame, and after being
collected are washed in the bowl.
A box which has a bottom made of a plate full of holes, is placed over
the upper end of a sluice, which is fairly long but of moderate width. The
gold material to be washed is thrown into this box, and a great quantity of
water is let in. The lumps, if ore is being washed, are mashed with an iron
shovel. The fine portions fall through the bottom of the box into the sluice,
but the coarse pieces remain in the box, and these are removed with a scraper
through an opening which is nearly in the middle of one side. Since a large
amount of water is necessarily let into the box, in order to prevent it from
sweeping away any particles of gold which have fallen into the sluice, the
sluice is divided off by ten, or if it is as long again, by fifteen riffles. These
riffles are placed equidistant from one another, and each is higher than the one
next toward the lower end of the sluice. The little compartments which are
thus made are filled with the material and the water which flows through
181[Figure 181]
A—SLUICE. B—BOX. C—BOTTOM OF INVERTED BOX. D—OPEN PART OF IT. E—IRON
HOE. F—RIFFLES. G—SMALL LAUNDER. H—BOWL WITH WHICH SETTLINGS ARE TAKEN
AWAY. I—BLACK BOWL IN WHICH THEY ARE WASHED.
1the box; as soon as these compartments are full and the water has begun
to flow over clear, the little launder through which this water enters into the
box is closed, and the water is turned in another direction. Then the
lowest riffle is removed from the sluice, and the sediment which has
accumulated flows out with the water and is caught in a bowl. The
riffles are removed one by one and the sediment from each is taken into a
separate bowl, and each is separately washed and cleansed in a bowl. The
larger particles of gold concentrates settle in the higher compartments, the
smaller size, in the lower compartments. This bowl is shallow and smooth,
and smeared with oil or some other slippery substance, so that the tiny particles
of gold may not cling to it, and it is painted black, that the gold may be more
easily discernible; on the exterior, on both sides and in the middle, it is
slightly hollowed out in order that it may be grasped and held firmly in the
hands when shaken. By this method the particles or concentrates of gold
settle in the back part of the bowl; for if the back part of the bowl is
tapped or shaken with one hand, as is usual, the contents move toward the
fore part. In this way the Moravians, especially, wash gold ore.
The gold particles are also caught on frames which are either bare or
covered. If bare, the particles are caught in pockets; if covered, they
182[Figure 182]
A—PLANK. B—SIDE-BOARDS. C—IRON WIRE. D—HANDLES.
1cling to the coverings. Pockets are made in various ways, either with iron
wire or small cross-boards fixed to the frame, or by holes which are sunk
into the sluice itself or into its head, but which do not quite go through.
These holes are round or square, or are grooves running crosswise. The
frames are either covered with skins, pieces of cloth, or turf, which I will
deal with one by one in turn.
In order to prevent the sand which contains the particles of gold from
spilling out, the washer fixes side-boards to the edges of a plank which is six
feet long and one and a quarter wide. He then lays crosswise many iron
wires a digit apart, and where they join he fixes them to the bottom plank
with iron nails. Then he makes the head of the frame higher, and into this
he throws the sand which needs washing, and taking in his hands the handles
which are at the head of the frame, he draws it backward and forward
several times in the river or stream. In this way the small stones and gravel
flow down along the frame, and the sand mixed with particles of gold remains
in the pockets between the strips. When the contents of the pockets have
been shaken out and collected in one place, he washes them in a bowl and
thus cleans the gold dust.
Other people, among whom are the Lusitanians16, fix to the sides of a
sluice, which is about six feet long and a foot and a half broad, many cross­
strips or riffles, which project backward and are a digit apart. The washer
or his wife lets the water into the head of the sluice, where he throws the sand
which contains the particles of gold. As it flows down he agitates it with a
wooden scrubber, which he moves transversely to the riffles. He constantly
removes with a pointed wooden stick the sediment which settles in the pockets
between the riffles, and in this way the particles of gold settle in them,
while the sand and other valueless materials are carried by the water into a
tub placed below the sluice. He removes the particles of metal with a small
wooden shovel into a wooden bowl. This bowl does not exceed a foot and a
quarter in breadth, and by moving it up and down in the stream he cleanses
the gold dust, for the remaining sand flows out of the dish, and the gold dust
settles in the middle of it, where there is a cup-like depression. Some make
use of a bowl which is grooved inside like a shell, but with a smooth lip where
the water flows out. This smooth place, however, is narrower where the
grooves run into it, and broader where the water flows out.
1 183[Figure 183]
A—HEAD OF THE SLUICE. B—RIFFLES. C—WOODEN SCRUBBER. D—POINTED STICK.
E—DISH. F—ITS CUP-LIKE DEPRESSION. G—GROOVED DISH.
The cup-like pockets and grooves are cut or burned at the same time into
the bottom of the sluice; the bottom is composed of three planks ten feet
long, and is about four feet wide; but the lower end, through which the water
is discharged, is narrower. This sluice, which likewise has side-boards fixed
to its edges, is full of rounded pockets and of grooves which lead to them,
there being two grooves to one pocket, in order that the water mixed with
sand may flow into each pocket through the upper groove, and that after the
sand has partly settled, the water may again flow out through the lower
groove. The sluice is set in the river or stream or on the bank, and placed
on two stools, of which the first is higher than the second in order that the
gravel and small stones may roll down the sluice. The washer throws sand
into the head with a shovel, and opening the launder, lets in the water, which
carries the particles of metal with a little sand down into the pockets, while
the gravel and small stones with the rest of the sand falls into a tub placed
below the sluice. As soon as the pockets are filled, he brushes out the
concentrates and washes them in a bowl. He washes again and again
through this sluice.
1 184[Figure 184]
A—HEAD OF THE SLUICE. B—SIDE-BOARDS. C—LOWER END OF THE SLUICE.
D—POCKETS. E—GROOVES. F—STOOLS. G—SHOVEL. H—TUB SET BELOW.
I—LAUNDER.
Some people cut a number of cross-grooves, one palm distant from each
other, in a sluice similarly composed of three planks eight feet long. The
upper edge of these grooves is sloping, that the particles of gold may slip into
them when the washer stirs the sand with a wooden shovel; but their lower
edge is vertical so that the gold particles may thus be unable to slide
out of them. As soon as these grooves are full of gold particles mixed
with fine sand, the sluice is removed from the stools and raised up on its
head. The head in this case is nothing but the upper end of the planks
of which the sluice is composed. In this way the metallic particles, being
turned over backward, fall into another tub, for the small stones and gravel
have rolled down the sluice. Some people place large bowls under the
sluice instead of tubs, and as in the other cases, the unclean concentrates are
washed in the small bowl.
The Thuringians cut rounded pockets, a digit in diameter and depth, in
the head of the sluice, and at the same time they cut grooves reaching from
one to another. The sluice itself they cover with canvas. The sand which
1 185[Figure 185]
A—CROSS GROOVES. B—TUB SET UNDER THE SLUICE. C—ANOTHER TUB.
is to be washed, is thrown into the head and stirred with a wooden scrubber;
in this way the water carries the light particles of gold on to the canvas,
and the heavy ones sink in the pockets, and when these hollows are full, the
head is removed and turned over a tub, and the concentrates are collected
and washed in a bowl. Some people make use of a sluice which has square
pockets with short vertical recesses which hold the particles of gold. Other
workers use a sluice made of planks, which are rough by reason of the very
small shavings which still cling to them; these sluices are used instead of
those with coverings, of which this sluice is bare, and when the sand is washed,
the particles of gold cling no less to these shavings than to canvas, or skins, or
cloths, or turf. The washer sweeps the sluice upward with a broom, and
when he has washed as much of the sand as he wishes, he lets a more abundant
supply of water into the sluice again to wash out the concentrates, which he
collects in a tub set below the sluice, and then washes again in a bowl. Just
as Thuringians cover the sluice with canvas, so some people cover it with
the skins of oxen or horses. They push the auriferous sand upward with a
wooden scrubber, and by this system the light material flows away with the
water, while the particles of gold settle among the hairs; the skins are
afterward washed in a tub; and the concentrates are colleced in a bowl.
1 186[Figure 186]
A—SLUICE COVERED WITH CANVAS. B—ITS HEAD FULL OF POCKETS AND GROOVES.
C—HEAD REMOVED AND WASHED IN A TUB. D—SLUICE WHICH HAS SQUARE POCKETS.
E—SLUICE TO WHOSE PLANKS SMALL SHAVINGS CLING. F—BROOM. G—SKINS OF OXEN.
H—WOODEN SCRUBBER.
1
The Colchians17 placed the skins of animals in the pools of springs; and
since many particles of gold had clung to them when they were removed,
187[Figure 187]
A—SPRING. B—SKIN. C—ARGONAUTS.
the poets invented the “golden fleece” of the Colchians. In like manner,
it can be contrived by the methods of miners that skins should take up, not
only particles of gold, but also of silver and gems.
1
Many people cover the frame with a green cloth as long and wide as the
frame itself, and fasten it with iron nails in such a way that they can easily
188[Figure 188]
A—HEAD OF FRAME. B—FRAME. C—CLOTH. D—SMALL LAUNDER. E—TUB SET
BELOW THE FRAME. F—TUB IN WHICH CLOTH IS WASHED.
draw them out and remove the cloth. When the cloth appears to be golden
because of the particles which adhere to it, it is washed in a special tub and
the particles are collected in a bowl. The remainder which has run down into
the tub is again washed on the frame.
1
Some people, in place of a green cloth, use a cloth of tightly woven
horsehair, which has a rough knotty surface. Since these knots stand out
189[Figure 189]
A—CLOTH FULL OF SMALL KNOTS, SPREAD OUT. B—SMALL KNOTS MORE CONSPICUOUSLY
SHOWN. C—TUB IN WHICH CLOTH IS WASHED.
and the cloth is rough, even the very small particles of gold adhere to it;
these cloths are likewise washed in a tub with water.
1
Some people construct a frame not unlike the one covered with canvas,
but shorter. In place of the canvas they set pieces of turf in rows. They
190[Figure 190]
A—HEAD OF FRAME. B—SMALL LAUNDER THROUGH WHICH WATER FLOWS INTO HEAD OF
FRAME. C—PIECES OF TURF. D—TROUGH PLACED UNDER FRAME. E—TUB IN WHICH
PIECES OF TURF ARE WASHED.
wash the sand, which has been thrown into the head of the frame, by letting
in water. In this way the particles of gold settle in the turf, the mud and
sand, together with the water, are carried down into the settling-pit or trough
below, which is opened when the work is finished. After all the water has
passed out of the settling-pit, the sand and mud are carried away and washed
over again in the same manner. The particles which have clung to the turf
are afterward washed down into the settling-pit or trough by a stronger
current of the water, which is let into the frame through a small launder.
The concentrates are finally collected and washed in a bowl. Pliny was not
ignorant of this method of washing gold. “The ulex,” he says, “after being
dried, is burnt, and its ashes are washed over a grassy turf, that the gold
may settle on it.”
1 191[Figure 191]
A—TRAY. B—BOWL-LIKE DEPRESSION. C—HANDLES.
Sand mixed with particles of gold is also washed in a tray, or in a trough
or bowl. The tray is open at the further end, is either hewn out of a
squared trunk of a tree or made out of a thick plank to which side-boards
are fixed, and is three feet long, a foot and a half wide, and three digits
deep. The bottom is hollowed out into the shape of an elongated bowl whose
narrow end is turned toward the head, and it has two long handles, by which
it is drawn backward and forward in the river. In this way the fine sand
is washed, whether it contains particles of gold or the little black stones from
which tin is made.
The Italians who come to the German mountains seeking gold, in order
to wash the river sand which contains gold-dust and garnets,19 use a fairly
long shallow trough hewn out of a tree, rounded within and without, open
at one end and closed at the other, which they turn in the bed of the stream
in such a way that the water does not dash into it, but flows in gently.
They stir the sand, which they throw into it, with a wooden hoe, also
rounded. To prevent the particles of gold or garnets from running out with
the light sand, they close the end with a board similarly rounded, but lower
than the sides of the trough. The concentrates of gold or garnets which,
1 192[Figure 192]
A—TROUGH. B—ITS OPEN END. C—END THAT MAY BE CLOSED. D—STREAM.
E—HOE. F—END-BOARD. G—BAG.
with a small quantity of heavy sand, have settled in the trough, they wash
in a bowl and collect in bags and carry away with them.
Some people wash this kind of sand in a large bowl which can easily be
shaken, the bowl being suspended by two ropes from a beam in a building.
The sand is thrown into it, water is poured in, then the bowl is shaken, and
the muddy water is poured out and clear water is again poured in, this being
done again and again. In this way, the gold particles settle in the back part
of the bowl because they are heavy, and the sand in the front part because it
is light; the latter is thrown away, the former kept for smelting. The one
who does the washing then returns immediately to his task. This method
of washing is rarely used by miners, but frequently by coiners and goldsmiths
when they wash gold, silver, or copper. The bowl they employ has only
three handles, one of which they grasp in their hands when they shake the
bowl, and in the other two is fastened a rope by which the bowl is hung from
a beam, or from a cross-piece which is upheld by the forks of two upright
posts fixed in the ground. Miners frequently wash ore in a small bowl to test
1 193[Figure 193]
A—LARGE BOWL B—ROPES. C—BEAM. D—OTHER LARGE BOWL WHICH COINERS
USE. E—SMALL BOWL.
it. This bowl, when shaken, is held in one hand and thumped with the other
hand. In other respects this method of washing does not differ from the
last.
I have spoken of the various methods of washing sand which contains
grains of gold; I will now speak of the methods of washing the material in
which are mixed the small black stones from which tin is made20. Eight
such methods are in use, and of these two have been invented lately. Such
metalliferous material is usually found torn away from veins and stringers
and scattered far and wide by the impetus of water, although sometimes
venae dilatatae are composed of it. The miners dig out the latter material
with a broad mattock, while they dig the former with a pick. But they dig
out the little stones, which are not rare in this kind of ore, with an instrument
like the bill of a duck. In districts which contain this material, if there is
an abundant supply of water, and if there are valleys or gentle slopes and
hollows, so that rivers can be diverted into them, the washers in summer­
1 194[Figure 194]
A—STREAM. B—DITCH. C—MATTOCK. D—PIECES OF TURF. E—SEVEN-PRONGED FORK.
F—IRON SHOVEL. G—TROUGH. H—ANOTHER TROUGH BELOW IT. I—SMALL WOODEN TROWEL.
1time first of all dig a long ditch sloping so that the water will run through
it rapidly. Into the ditch is thrown the metallic material, together with the
surface material, which is six feet thick, more or less, and often contains moss,
roots of plants, shrubs, trees, and earth; they are all thrown in with a broad
mattock, and the water flows through the ditch. The sand and tin-stone, as
they are heavy, sink to the bottom of the ditch, while the moss and roots, as
they are light, are carried away by the water which flows through the ditch.
The bottom of the ditch is obstructed with turf and stones in order to prevent
the water from carrying away the tin-stone at the same time. The washers,
whose feet are covered with high boots made of hide, though not of rawhide,
themselves stand in the ditch and throw out of it the roots of the trees,
shrubs, and grass with seven-pronged wooden forks, and push back the tin­
stone toward the head of the ditch. After four weeks, in which they have
devoted much work and labour, they raise the tin-stone in the following
way; the sand with which it is mixed is repeatedly lifted from the ditch
195[Figure 195]
A—TROUGH. B—WOODEN SHOVEL. C—TUB. D—LAUNDER. E—WOODEN TROWEL.
F—TRANSVERSE TROUGH. G—PLUG. H—FALLING WATER. I—DITCH. K—BARROW
CONVEYING MATERIAL TO BE WASHED. L—PICK LIKE THE BEAK OF A DUCK WITH WHICH
THE MINER DIGS OUT THE MATERIAL FROM WHICH THE SMALL STONES ARE OBTAINED.
1with an iron shovel and agitated hither and thither in the water, until the
sand flows away and only the tin-stone remains on the shovel. The tin­
stone is all collected together and washed again in a trough by pushing it
up and turning it over with a wooden trowel, in order that the remaining
sand may separate from it. Afterward they return to their task, which they
continue until the metalliferous material is exhausted, or until the water can
no longer be diverted into the ditches.
The trough which I mentioned is hewn out of the trunk of a tree and the
interior is five feet long, three-quarters of a foot deep, and six digits wide.
It is placed on an incline and under it is put a tub which contains interwoven
fir twigs, or else another trough is put under it, the interior of which is three
feet long and one foot wide and deep; the fine tin-stone, which has run out
with the water, settles in the bottom. Some people, in place of a trough,
put a square launder underneath, and in like manner they wash the tin­
stone in this by agitating it up and down and turning it over with a small
wooden trowel. A transverse trough is put under the launder, which is
either open on one end and drains off into a tub or settling-pit, or else is
closed and perforated through the bottom; in this case, it drains into a
ditch beneath, where the water falls when the plug has been partly removed.
The nature of this ditch I will now describe.
If the locality does not supply an abundance of water, the washers dig a
ditch thirty or thirty-six feet long, and cover the bottom, the full length, with
logs joined together and hewn on the side which lies flat on the ground. On
each side of the ditch, and at its head also, they place four logs, one above
the other, all hewn smooth on the inside. But since the logs are laid
obliquely along the sides, the upper end of the ditch is made four feet wide
and the tail end, two feet. The water has a high drop from a launder and
first of all it falls into interlaced fir twigs, in order that it shall fall straight
down for the most part in an unbroken stream and thus break up the lumps
by its weight. Some do not place these twigs under the end of the launder,
but put a plug in its mouth, which, since it does not entirely close the launder,
nor altogether prevent the discharge from it, nor yet allow the water to
spout far afield, makes it drop straight down. The workman brings in a
wheelbarrow the material to be washed, and throws it into the ditch. The
washer standing in the upper end of the ditch breaks the lumps with a seven­
pronged fork, and throws out the roots of trees, shrubs, and grass with the
same instrument, and thereby the small black stones settle down. When a
large quantity of the tin-stone has accumulated, which generally happens
when the washer has spent a day at this work, to prevent it from being
washed away he places it upon the bank, and other material having been
again thrown into the upper end of the ditch, he continues the task of washing.
A boy stands at the lower end of the ditch, and with a thin pointed hoe
stirs up the sediment which has settled at the lower end, to prevent the
washed tin-stone from being carried further, which occurs when the sediment
has accumulated to such an extent that the fir branches at the outlet of the
ditch are covered.
1 196[Figure 196]
A—LAUNDER. B—INTERLACING FIR TWIGS. C—LOGS; THREE ON ONE SIDE, FOR THE
FOURTH CANNOT BE SEEN BECAUSE THE DITCH IS SO FULL WITH MATERIAL NOW BEING
WASHED. D—LOGS AT THE HEAD OF THE DITCH. E—BARROW. F—SEVEN-PRONGED
FORK. G—HOE
The third method of washing materials of this kind follows. Two
strakes are made, each of which is twelve feet long and a foot and a
half wide and deep. A tank is set at their head, into which the water flows
through a little launder. A boy throws the ore into one strake; if it is of
poor quality he puts in a large amount of it, if it is rich he puts in less. The
water is let in by removing the plug, the ore is stirred with a wooden shovel,
and in this way the tin-stone, mixed with the heavier material, settles
in the bottom of the strake, and the water carries the light material into the
launder, through which it flows on to a canvas strake. The very fine tin­
stone, carried by the water, settles on to the canvas and is cleansed. A low
cross-board is placed in the strake near the head, in order that the largest
sized tin-stone may settle there. As soon as the strake is filled with the
material which has been washed, he closes the mouth of the tank and continues
washing in the other strake, and then the plug is withdrawn and the
water and tin-stone flow down into a tank below. Then he pounds the sides
1 197[Figure 197]
A—STRAKES. B—TANK. C—LAUNDER. D—PLUG. E—WOODEN SHOVEL.
F—WOODEN MALLET. G—WOODEN SHOVEL WITH SHORT HANDLE. H—THE PLUG
IN THE STRAKE. I—TANK PLACED UNDER THE PLUG.
of the loaded strake with a wooden mallet, in order that the tin-stone clinging
to the sides may fall off; all that has settled in it, he throws out with a
wooden shovel which has a short handle. Silver slags which have been
crushed under the stamps, also fragments of silver-lead alloy and of cakes
melted from pyrites, are washed in a strake of this kind.
Material of this kind is also washed while wet, in a sieve whose bottom
is made of woven iron wire, and this is the fourth method of washing. The
sieve is immersed in the water which is contained in a tub, and is violently
shaken. The bottom of this tub has an opening of such size that as much
water, together with tailings from the sieve, can flow continuously out of it as
water flows into it. The material which settles in the strake, a boy either
digs over with a three-toothed iron rake or sweeps with a wooden scrubber;
in this way the water carries off a great part of both sand and mud. The
tin-stone or metalliferous concentrates settle in the strake and are afterward
washed in another strake.
These are ancient methods of washing material which contains tin­
stone; there follow two modern methods. If the tin-stone mixed with
1 198[Figure 198]
A—SIEVE. B—TUB. C—WATER FLOWING OUT OF THE BOTTOM OF IT. D—STRAKE.
E—THREE-TOOTHED RAKE. F—WOODEN SCRUBBER.
earth or sand is found on the slopes of mountains or hills, or in the level fields
which are either devoid of streams or into which a stream cannot be diverted,
miners have lately begun to employ the following method of washing, even
in the winter months. An open box is constructed of planks, about six
feet long, three feet wide, and two feet and one palm deep. At the upper
end on the inside, an iron plate three feet long and wide is fixed, at a depth
of one foot and a half from the top; this plate is very full of holes, through
which tin-stone about the size of a pea can fall. A trough hewn from a tree
is placed under the box, and this trough is about twenty-four feet long and
three-quarters of a foot wide and deep; very often three cross-boards are
placed in it, dividing it off into compartments, each one of which is lower
than the next. The turbid waters discharge into a settling-pit.
The metalliferous material is sometimes found not very deep beneath
the surface of the earth, but sometimes so deep that it is necessary to drive
tunnels and sink shafts. It is transported to the washing-box in wheel­
barrows, and when the washers are about to begin they lay a small launder,
1 199[Figure 199]
A—BOX. B—PERFORATED PLATE. C—TROUGH. D—CROSS-BOARDS. E—POOL.
F—LAUNDER. G—SHOVEL. H—RAKE.
1through which there flows on to the iron plate so much water as is necessary
for this washing. Next, a boy throws the metalliferous material on to the
iron plate with an iron shovel and breaks the small lumps, stirring them this
way and that with the same implement. Then the water and sand penetra­
ting the holes of the plate, fall into the box, while all the coarse gravel remains
on the plate, and this he throws into a wheelbarrow with the same shovel.
Meantime, a younger boy continually stirs the sand under the plate with a
wooden scrubber nearly as wide as the box, and drives it to the upper end of
the box; the lighter material, as well as a small amount of tin-stone, is
carried by the water down into the underlying trough. The boys carry on
this labour without intermission until they have filled four wheelbarrows
with the coarse and worthless residues, which they carry off and throw away, or
three wheelbarrows if the material is rich in black tin. Then the foreman
has the plank removed which was in front of the iron plate, and on which the
boy stood. The sand, mixed with the tin-stone, is frequently pushed backward
and forward with a scrubber, and the same sand, because it is lighter, takes
the upper place, and is removed as soon as it appears; that which takes the
lower place is turned over with a spade, in order that any that is light
can flow away; when all the tin-stone is heaped together, he shovels it out
of the box and carries it away. While the foreman does this, one boy with
an iron hoe stirs the sand mixed with fine tin-stone, which has run out of the
box and has settled in the trough and pushes it back to the uppermost part
of the trough, and this material, since it contains a very great amount of tin­
stone, is thrown on to the plate and washed again. The material which has
settled in the lowest part of the trough is taken out separately and piled in a
heap, and is washed on the ordinary strake; that which has settled in the
pool is washed on the canvas strake. In the summer-time this fruitful
labour is repeated more often, in fact ten or eleven times. The tin-stone
which the foreman removes from the box, is afterward washed in a jigging
sieve, and lastly in a tub, where at length all the sand is separated out.
Finally, any material in which are mixed particles of other metals, can be
washed by all these methods, whether it has been disintegrated from veins or
stringers, or whether it originated from venae dílatatae, or from streams and
rivers.
The sixth method of washing material of this kind is even more modern
and more useful than the last. Two boxes are constructed, into each of
which water flows through spouts from a cross trough into which it has been
discharged through a pipe or launder. When the material has been agitated
and broken up with iron shovels by two boys, part of it runs down and falls
through the iron plates full of holes, or through the iron grating, and flows
out of the box over a sloping surface into another cross trough, and from
this into a strake seven feet long and two and a half feet wide. Then
the foreman again stirs it with a wooden scrubber that it may become
clean. As for the material which has flowed down with the water and settled
in the third cross trough, or in the launder which leads from it, a third boy
rakes it with a two-toothed rake; in this way the fine tin-stone settles down
1 200[Figure 200]
A—LAUNDER. B—CROSS TROUGH. C—TWO SPOUTS. D—BOXES. E—PLATE. F—
GRATING. G—SHOVELS. H—SECOND CROSS TROUGH. I—STRAKE. K—WOODEN
SCRUBBER. L—THIRD CROSS TROUGH. M—LAUNDER. N—THREE-TOOTHED RAKE.
and the water carries off the valueless sand into the creek. This method
of washing is most advantageous, for four men can do the work of washing
in two boxes, while the last method, if doubled, requires six men, for it requires
two boys to throw the material to be washed on to the plate and to stir it
with iron shovels; two more are required with wooden scrubbers to keep
stirring the sand, mixed with the tin-stone, under the plate, and to push it
toward the upper end of the box; further, two foremen are required
to clean the tin-stone in the way I have described. In the place of a plate
full of holes, they now fix in the boxes a grating made of iron wire as
thick as the stalks of rye; that these may not be depressed by the weight
and become bent, three iron bars support them, being laid crosswise under­
neath. To prevent the grating from being broken by the iron shovels with
which the material is stirred in washing, five or six iron rods are placed on
top in cross lines, and are fixed to the box so that the shovels may rub them
instead of the grating; for this reason the grating lasts longer than the
1plates, because it remains intact, while the rods, when worn by rubbing, can
easily be replaced by others.
Miners use the seventh method of washing when there is no stream of
water in the part of the mountain which contains the black tin, or particles of
gold, or of other metals. In this case they frequently dig more than fifty
ditches on the slope below, or make the same number of pits, six feet long,
three feet wide, and three-quarters of a foot deep, not any great distance
from each other. At the season when a torrent rises from storms of
great violence or long duration, and rushes down the mountain, some of
the miners dig the metalliferous material in the woods with broad hoes and
201[Figure 201]
A—PITS. B—TORRENT. C—SEVEN-PRONGED FORK. D—SHOVEL.
drag it to the torrent. Other miners divert the torrent into the ditches or
pits, and others throw the roots of trees, shrubs, and grass out of the ditches
or pits with seven-pronged wooden forks. When the torrent has run down,
they remove with shovels the uncleansed tin-stone or particles of metal which
have settled in the ditches or pits, and cleanse it.
The eighth method is also employed in the regions which the Lusitanians
hold in their power and sway, and is not dissimilar to the last. They drive
1a great number of deep ditches in rows in the gullies, slopes, and hollows of
the mountains. Into these ditches the water, whether flowing down from
snow melted by the heat of the sun or from rain, collects and carries together
with earth and sand, sometimes tin-stone, or, in the case of the Lusitanians,
the particles of gold loosened from veins and stringers. As soon as the
waters of the torrent have all run away, the miners throw the material out
of the ditches with iron shovels, and wash it in a common sluice box.
202[Figure 202]
A—GULLY. B—DITCH. C—TORRENT. D—SLUICE BOX EMPLOYED BY THE
LUSITANIANS.
The Poles wash the impure lead from venae dílatatae in a trough ten
feet long, three feet wide, and one and one-quarter feet deep. It is mixed
with moist earth and is covered by a wet and sandy clay, and so
first of all the clay, and afterward the ore, is dug out. The ore is carried
to a stream or river, and thrown into a trough into which water is admitted
by a little launder, and the washer standing at the lower end of the trough
drags the ore out with a narrow and nearly pointed hoe, whose wooden handle
is nearly ten feet long. It is washed over again once or twice in the same
way and thus made pure. Afterward when it has been dried in the sun
1they throw it into a copper sieve, and separate the very small pieces which
pass through the sieve from the larger ones. of these the former are smelted
in a faggot pile and the latter in the furnace. Of such a number then are
the methods of washing.
203[Figure 203]
A—TROUGH. B—LAUNDER. C—HOE. D—SIEVE.
One method of burning is principally employed, and two of roasting.
The black tin is burned by a hot fire in a furnace similar to an oven21; it
is burned if it is a dark-blue colour, or if pyrites and the stone from which
iron is made are mixed with it, for the dark blue colour if not burnt, consumes
the tin. If pyrites and the other stone are not volatilised into fumes in a
furnace of this kind, the tin which is made from the tin-stone is impure.
The tin-stone is thrown either into the back part of the furnace, or into one
side of it; but in the former case the wood is placed in front, in the latter
case alongside, in such a manner, however, that neither firebrands nor
coals may fall upon the tin-stone itself or touch it. The fuel is manipulated
by a poker made of wood. The tin-stone is now stirred with a rake with two
1teeth, and now again levelled down with a hoe, both of which are made of iron.
The very fine tin-stone requires to be burned less than that of moderate size,
and this again less than that of the largest size. While the tin-stone is being
thus burned, it frequently happens that some of the material runs together.
204[Figure 204]
A—FURNACE. B—ITS MOUTH. C—POKER. D—RAKE WITH TWO TEETH. E—HOE.
The burned tin-stone should then be washed again on the strake, for in this
way the material which has been run together is carried away by the water
into the cross-trough, where it is gathered up and worked over, and again
washed on the strake. By this method the metal is separated from that
which is devoid of metal.
Cakes from pyrites, or cadmía, or cupriferous stones, are roasted in quad­
rangular pits, of which the front and top are open, and these pits are generally
twelve feet long, eight feet wide, and three feet deep. The cakes of melted
pyrites are usually roasted twice over, and those of cadmía once. These latter
are first rolled in mud moistened with vinegar, to prevent the fire from con­
suming too much of the copper with the bitumen, or sulphur, or orpiment, or
realgar. The cakes of pyrites are first roasted in a slow fire and afterward in
a fierce one, and in both cases, during the whole following night, water is let in,
1in order that, if there is in the cakes any alum or vitriol or saltpetre capable
of injuring the metals, although it rarely does injure them, the water may
remove it and make the cakes soft. The solidified juices are nearly all
harmful to the metal, when cakes or ore of this kind are smelted. The cakes
which are to be roasted are placed on wood piled up in the form of a crate,
and this pile is fired22.
205[Figure 205]
A—PITS. B—WOOD. C—CAKES. D—LAUNDER.
The cakes which are made of copper smelted from schist are first thrown
upon the ground and broken, and then placed in the furnace on bundles of
faggots, and these are lighted. These cakes are generally roasted seven
times and occasionally nine times. While this is being done, if they are
1bituminous, then the bitumen burns and can be smelled. These furnaces have
a structure like the structure of the furnaces in which ore is smelted, except
that they are open in front; they are six feet high and four feet wide. As
for this kind of furnace, three of them are required for one of those in which
the cakes are melted. First of all they are roasted in the first furnace, then
when they are cooled, they are transferred into the second furnace and again
roasted; later they are carried to the third, and afterward back to the first,
and this order is preserved until they have been roasted seven or nine times.
206[Figure 206]
A—CAKES. B—BUNDLES OF FAGGOTS. C—FURNACES.
END OF BOOK VIII.
1 207[Figure 207]
1
BOOK IX.1
Since I have written of the varied work of pre­
paring the ores, I will now write of the various
methods of smelting them. Although those who
burn, roast and calcine2 the ore, take from it some­
thing which is mixed or combined with the metals;
and those who crush it with stamps take away much;
and those who wash, screen and sort it, take away
still more; yet they cannot remove all which con­
ceals the metal from the eye and renders it crude
and unformed. Wherefore smelting is necessary, for by this means earths,
solidified juices, and stones are separated from the metals so that they
obtain their proper colour and become pure, and may be of great use to
mankind in many ways. When the ore is smelted, those things which
were mixed with the metal before it was melted are driven forth, because
the metal is perfected by fire in this manner. Since metalliferous ores
differ greatly amongst themselves, first as to the metals which they con­
tain, then as to the quantity of the metal which is in them, and then by
the fact that some are rapidly melted by fire and others slowly, there are,
therefore, many methods of smelting. Constant practice has taught the
1smelters by which of these methods they can obtain the most metal from
any one ore. Moreover, while sometimes there are many methods of
smelting the same ore, by which an equal weight of metal is melted out, yet
one is done at a greater cost and labour than the others. Ore is either melted
with a furnace or without one; if smelted with a furnace the tap-hole is either
temporarily closed or always open, and if smelted without a furnace, it is done
either in pots or in trenches. But in order to make this matter clearer, I will
describe each in detail, beginning with the buildings and the furnaces.
1
A wall which will be called the “second wall” is constructed of brick
or stone, two feet and as many palms thick, in order that it may be strong
enough to bear the weight. It is built fifteen feet high, and its length depends
on the number of furnaces which are put in the works; there are usually
six furnaces, rarely more, and often less. There are three furnace walls, a
back one which is against the “second” wall, and two side ones, of which I
will speak later. These should be made of natural stone, as this is more
serviceable than burnt bricks, because bricks soon become defective and
crumble away, when the smelter or his deputy chips off the accretions which
adhere to the walls when the ore is smelted. Natural stone resists injury
by the fire and lasts a long time, especially that which is soft and devoid
of cracks; but, on the contrary, that which is hard and has many cracks
is burst asunder by the fire and destroyed. For this reason, furnaces which
are made of the latter are easily weakened by the fire, and when the accretions
are chipped off they crumble to pieces. The front furnace wall should be
made of brick, and there should be in the lower part a mouth three palms
wide and one and a half feet high, when the hearth is completed. A hole
slanting upward, three palms long, is made through the back furnace wall, at
the height of a cubit, before the hearth has been prepared; through this
hole and a hole one foot long in the “second” wall—as the back of this wall
has an arch—is inserted a pipe of iron or bronze, in which are fixed the nozzles
1of the bellows. The whole of the front furnace wall is not more than five feet
high, so that the ore may be conveniently put into the furnace, together with
those things which the master needs for his work of smelting. Both the side
walls of the furnace are six feet high, and the back one seven feet, and they
are three palms thick. The interior of the furnace is five palms wide, six
palms and a digit long, the width being measured by the space which lies
between the two side walls, and the length by the space between the front and
the back walls; however, the upper part of the furnace widens out somewhat.
There are two doors in the second wall if there are six furnaces, one
of the doors being between the second and third furnaces and the other
between the fourth and fifth furnaces. They are a cubit wide and six feet
high, in order that the smelters may not have mishaps in coming and going.
It is necessary to have a door to the right of the first furnace, and similarly
one to the left of the last, whether the wall is longer or not. The second
wall is carried further when the rooms for the cupellation furnaces, or any
other building, adjoin the rooms for the blast furnaces, these buildings being
only divided by a partition. The smelter, and the ones who attend to the
first and the last furnaces, if they wish to look at the bellows or to do anything
else, go out through the doors at the end of the wall, and the other people go
through the other doors, which are the common ones. The furnaces are placed
at a distance of six feet from one another, in order that the smelters and their
assistants may more easily sustain the fierceness of the heat. Inasmuch as
the interior of each furnace is five palms wide and each is six feet distant
from the other, and inasmuch as there is a space of four feet three palms at
the right side of the first furnace and as much at the left side of the last
furnace, and there are to be six furnaces in one building, then it is necessary
to make the second wall fifty-two feet long; because the total of the widths
of all of the furnaces is seven and a half feet, the total of the spaces between
the furnaces is thirty feet, the space on the outer sides of the first and last
furnaces is nine feet and two palms, and the thickness of the two transverse
walls is five feet, which make a total measurement of fifty-two feet.3
Outside each furnace hearth there is a small pit full of powder which is
compressed by ramming, and in this manner is made the forehearth which
receives the metal flowing from the furnaces. Of this I will speak later.
Buried about a cubit under the forehearth and the hearth of the furnace
is a transverse water-tank, three feet long, three palms wide and a cubit deep.
It is made of stone or brick, with a stone cover, for if it were not covered, the
heat would draw the moisture from below and the vapour might be blown
into the hearth of the furnace as well as into the forehearth, and would
dampen the blast. The moisture would vitiate the blast, and part of the
metal would be absorbed and part would be mixed with the slags, and in
this manner the melting would be greatly damaged. From each water-tank
is built a walled vent, to the same depth as the tank, but six digits wide;
1 208[Figure 208]
A—FURNACES. B—FOREHEARTHS.
1this vent slopes upward, and sooner or later penetrates through to the other
side of the wall, against which the furnace is built. At the end of this vent
there is an opening where the steam, into which the water has been converted,
is exhausted through a copper or iron tube or pipe. This method of making
the tank and the vent is much the best. Another kind has a similar vent
but a different tank, for it does not lie transversely under the forehearth,
but lengthwise; it is two feet and a palm long, and a foot and three palms
wide, and a foot and a palm deep. This method of making tanks is not
condemned by us, as is the construction of those tanks without a vent;
the latter, which have no opening into the air through which the vapour may
discharge freely, are indeed to be condemned.
209[Figure 209]
A—FURNACES. B—FOREHEARTH. C—DOOR. D—WATER TANK. E—STONE WHICH
COVERS IT. F—MATERIAL OF THE VENT WALLS. G—STONE WHICH COVERS IT. H—PIPE
EXHALING THE VAPOUR.
Fifteen feet behind the second wall is constructed the first wall, thirteen
feet high. In both of these are fixed roof beams4, which are a foot wide and
1210[Figure 210]
1thick, and nineteen feet and a palm long; these are placed three feet distant
from one another. As the second wall is two feet higher than the first wall,
recesses are cut in the back of it two feet high, one foot wide, and a palm deep,
and in these recesses, as it were in mortises, are placed one end of each of
the beams. Into these ends are mortised the bottoms of just as many posts;
these posts are twenty-four feet high, three palms wide and thick, and from
the tops of the posts the same number of rafters stretch downward to the
ends of the beams superimposed on the first wall; the upper ends of the
rafters are mortised into the posts and the lower ends are mortised into the
ends of the beams laid on the first wall; the rafters support the roof,
which consists of burnt tiles. Each separate rafter is propped up by a
separate timber, which is a cross-beam, and is joined to its post. Planks
close together are affixed to the posts above the furnaces; these planks are
about two digits thick and a palm wide, and they, together with the wicker
work interposed between the timbers, are covered with lute so that there may
be no risk of fire to the timbers and wicker-work. In this practical manner
is constructed the back part of the works, which contains the bellows, their
frames, the mechanism for compressing the bellows, and the instrument for
distending them, of all of which I will speak hereafter.
In front of the furnaces is constructed the third long wall and likewise
the fourth. Both are nine feet high, but of the same length and thickness as
the other two, the fourth being nine feet distant from the third; the
third is twenty-one and a half feet from the second. At a distance of
twelve feet from the second wall, four posts seven and a half feet high, a cubit
wide and thick, are set upon rock laid underneath. Into the tops of the
posts the roof beam is mortised; this roof beam is two feet and as many
palms longer than the distance between the second and the fifth transverse
walls, in order that its ends may rest on the transverse walls. If there should
not be so long a beam at hand, two are substituted for it. As the length of
the long beam is as above, and as the posts are equidistant, it is necessary
that the posts should be a distance of nine feet, one palm, two and two-fifths
digits from each other, and the end ones this distance from the transverse
walls. On this longitudinal beam and to the third and fourth walls are fixed
twelve secondary beams twenty-four feet long, one foot wide, three palms
thick, and distant from each other three feet, one palm, and two digits. In
these secondary beams, where they rest on the longitudinal beams, are mortised
the ends of the same number of rafters as there are posts which stand on the
second wall. The ends of the rafters do not reach to the tops of the posts,
but are two feet away from them, that through this opening, which is like
the open part of a forge, the furnaces can emit their fumes. In order that
the rafters should not fall down, they are supported partly by iron rods,
which extend from each rafter to the opposite post, and partly supported
by a few tie-beams, which in the same manner extend from some rafters to
the posts opposite, and give them stability. To these tie-beams, as well as
to the rafters which face the posts, a number of boards, about two digits thick
and a palm wide, are fixed at a distance of a palm from each other, and are
1covered with lute so that they do not catch fire. In the secondary beams,
where they are laid on the fourth wall, are mortised the lower ends of the
same number of rafters as those in a set of rafters5 opposite them. From
the third long wall these rafters are joined and tied to the ends of the opposite
rafters, so that they may not slip, and besides they are strengthened with
substructures which are made of cross and oblique timbers. The rafters
support the roof.
211[Figure 211]
THE FOUR LONG WALLS: A—FIRST. B—SECOND. C—THIRD. D—FOURTH. THE
SEVEN TRANSVERSE WALLS: E—FIRST. F—SECOND. G—THIRD. H—FOURTH.
I—FIFTH. K—SIXTH. L—SEVENTH, OR MIDDLE.
In this manner the front part of the building is made, and is divided into
three parts; the first part is twelve feet wide and is under the hood, which
consists of two walls, one vertical and one inclined. The second part is the
same number of feet wide and is for the reception of the ore to be smelted,
the fluxes, the charcoal, and other things which are needed by the smelter.
The third part is nine feet wide and contains two separate rooms of equal
size, in one of which is the assay furnace, while the other contains the metal
to be melted in the cupellation furnaces. It is thus necessary that in the
1building there should be, besides the four long walls, seven transverse walls,
of which the first is constructed from the upper end of the first long wall to
the upper end of the second long wall; the second proceeds from the end
of this to the end of the third long wall; the third likewise from this end of
the last extends to the end of the fourth long wall; the fourth leads from
the lower end of the first long wall to the lower end of the second long wall;
the fifth extends from the end of this to the end of the third long wall; the
sixth extends from this last end to the end of the fourth long wall; the
seventh divides into two parts the space between the third and fourth long
walls.
To return to the back part of the building, in which, as I said, are the
bellows6, their frames, the machinery for compressing them, and the instru­
ment for distending them. Each bellows consists of a body and a head.
The body is composed of two “boards,” two bows, and two hides. The
upper board is a palm thick, five feet and three palms long, and two and a half
feet wide at the back part, where each of the sides is a little curved, and it is
a cubit wide at the front part near the head. The whole of the body of the
bellows tapers toward the head. That which we now call the “board”
consists of two pieces of pine, joined and glued together, and of two strips of
linden wood which bind the edges of the board, these being seven digits
wide at the back, and in front near the head of the bellows one and a half
digits wide. These strips are glued to the boards, so that there shall be less
damage from the iron nails driven through the hide. There are some people
who do not surround the boards with strips, but use boards only, which
are very thick. The upper board has an aperture and a handle; the
aperture is in the middle of the board and is one foot three palms distant
from where the board joins the head of the bellows, and is six digits long and
four wide. The lid for this aperture is two palms and a digit long and wide,
and three digits thick; toward the back of the lid is a little notch cut
into the surface so that it may be caught by the hand; a groove is cut out
of the top of the front and sides, so that it may engage in mouldings a palm
wide and three digits thick, which are also cut out in a similar manner under
the edges. Now, when the lid is drawn forward the hole is closed, and
when drawn back it is opened; the smelter opens the aperture a little so that
the air may escape from the bellows through it, if he fears the hides might be
burst when the bellows are too vigorously and quickly inflated; he, however,
closes the aperture if the hides are ruptured and the air escapes. Others
perforate the upper board with two or three round holes in the same place as
the rectangular one, and they insert plugs in them which they draw out
1when it is necessary. The wooden handle is seven palms long, or even longer,
in order that it may extend outside; one-half of this handle, two palms
wide and one thick, is glued to the end of the board and fastened with pegs
covered with glue; the other half projects beyond the board, and is rounded
and seven digits thick. Besides this, to the handle and to the board is fixed
a cleat two feet long, as many palms wide and one palm thick, and to the under
side of the same board, at a distance of three palms from the end, is fixed
another cleat two feet long, in order that the board may sustain the force
of distension and compression; these two cleats are glued to the board, and
are fastened to it with pegs covered with glue.
The lower bellows-board, like the upper, is made of two pieces of pine
and of two strips of linden wood, all glued together; it is of the same width
and thickness as the upper board, but is a cubit longer, this extension being
part of the head of which I have more to say a little later. This lower bellows­
board has an air-hole and an iron ring. The air-hole is about a cubit distant
from the posterior end, and it is midway between the sides of the bellows­
board, and is a foot long and three palms wide; it is divided into equal
parts by a small rib which forms part of the board, and is not cut from it;
this rib is a palm long and one-third of a digit wide. The flap of the air­
hole is a foot and three digits long, three palms and as many digits wide;
it is a thin board covered with goat skin, the hairy part of which is turned
toward the ground. There is fixed to one end of the flap, with small iron
nails, one-half of a doubled piece of leather a palm wide and as long as the
flap is wide; the other half of the leather, which is behind the flap, is twice
perforated, as is also the bellows-board, and these perforations are seven
digits apart. Passing through these a string is tied on the under side of the
board; and thus the flap when tied to the board does not fall away. In this
manner are made the flap and the air-hole, so when the bellows are distended
the flap opens, when compressed it closes. At a distance of about a foot
beyond the air-hole a slightly elliptical iron ring, two palms long and one
wide, is fastened by means of an iron staple to the under part of the bellows­
board; it is at a distance of three palms from the back of the bellows. In
order that the lower bellows-board may remain stationary, a wooden bolt is
driven into the ring, after it penetrates through the hole in the transverse
supporting plank which forms part of the frame for the bellows. There are
some who dispense with the ring and fasten the bellows-board to the frame
with two iron screws something like nails.
The bows are placed between the two boards and are of the same length
as the upper board. They are both made of four pieces of linden wood three
digits thick, of which the two long ones are seven digits wide at the back and
two and a half at the front; the third piece, which is at the back, is two
palms wide. The ends of the bows are a little more than a digit thick, and are
mortised to the long pieces, and both having been bored through, wooden
pegs covered with glue are fixed in the holes; they are thus joined and glued
to the long pieces. Each of the ends is bowed (arcuatur) to meet the end of
the long part of the bow, whence its name “bow” originated. The fourth
1piece keeps the ends of the bow distended, and is placed a cubit distant from
the head of the bellows; the ends of this piece are mortised into the ends
of the bow and are joined and glued to them; its length without the tenons
is a foot, and its width a palm and two digits. There are, besides, two other
very small pieces glued to the head of the bellows and to the lower board,
and fastened to them by wooden pegs covered with glue, and they are three
palms and two digits long, one palm high, and a digit thick, one half being
slightly cut away. These pieces keep the ends of the bow away from the
hole in the bellows-head, for if they were not there, the ends, forced inward
by the great and frequent movement, would be broken.
The leather is of ox-hide or horse-hide, but that of the ox is far preferable
to that of the horse. Each of these hides, for there are two, is three and a
half feet wide where they are joined at the back part of the bellows. A
long leathern thong is laid along each of the bellows-boards and each of the
bows, and fastened by T-shaped iron nails five digits long; each of the
horns of the nails is two and a half digits long and half a digit wide. The
hide is attached to the bellows-boards by means of these nails, so that a horn
of one nail almost touches the horn of the next; but it is different with the
bows, for the hide is fastened to the back piece of the bow by only two nails,
and to the two long pieces by four nails. In this practical manner they put
ten nails in one bow and the same number in the other. Sometimes when the
smelter is afraid that the vigorous motion of the bellows may pull or tear
the hide from the bows, he also fastens it with little strips of pine by means of
another kind of nail, but these strips cannot be fastened to the back pieces of
the bow, because these are somewhat bent. Some people do not fix the
hide to the bellows-boards and bows by iron nails, but by iron screws,
screwed at the same time through strips laid over the hide. This method
of fastening the hide is less used than the other, although there is no doubt
that it surpasses it in excellence.
Lastly, the head of the bellows, like the rest of the body, consists of two
boards, and of a nozzle besides. The upper board is one cubit long, one and a
half palms thick. The lower board is part of the whole of the lower bellows­
board; it is of the same length as the upper piece, but a palm and a digit
thick. From these two glued together is made the head, into which, when it
has been perforated, the nozzle is fixed. The back part of the head, where
it is attached to the rest of the bellows-body, is a cubit wide, but three palms
forward it becomes two digits narrower. Afterward it is somewhat cut
away so that the front end may be rounded, until it is two palms and as
many digits in diameter, at which point it is bound with an iron ring three
digits wide.
The nozzle is a pipe made of a thin plate of iron; the diameter in front is
three digits, while at the back, where it is encased in the head of the bellows,
it is a palm high and two palms wide. It thus gradually widens out, especially
at the back, in order that a copious wind can penetrate into it; the whole
nozzle is three feet long.
1 212[Figure 212]
A—UPPER BELLOWS-BOARD. B—LOWER BELLOWS-BOARD. C—THE TWO PIECES OF WOOD
OF WHICH EACH CONSISTS. D—POSTERIOR ARCHED PART OF EACH. E—TAPERED FRONT
PART OF EACH. F—PIECES OF LINDEN WOOD. G—APERTURE IN THE UPPER BOARD.
H—LID. I—LITTLE MOULDINGS OF WOOD. K—HANDLE. L—CLEAT ON THE OUTSIDE.
THE CLEAT INSIDE I AM NOT ABLE TO DEPICT. M—INTERIOR OF THE LOWER BELLOWS­
BOARD. N—PART OF THE HEAD. O—AIR-HOLE. P—SUPPORTING BAR. Q—FLAP.
R—HIDE. S—THONG. T—EXTERIOR OF THE LOWER BOARD. V—STAPLE. X—RING.
Y—BOW. Z—ITS LONG PIECES. AA—BACK PIECE OF THE BOW. BB—THE BOWED
ENDS. CC—CROSSBAR DISTENDING THE BOW. DD—THE TWO LITTLE PIECES.
EE—HIDE. FF—NAIL. GG—HORN OF THE NAIL. HH—A SCREW. II—LONG THONG.
KK—HEAD. LL—ITS LOWER BOARD. MM—ITS UPPER BOARD. NN—NOZZLE.
1
The upper bellows-board is joined to the head of the bellows in the
following way. An iron plate7, a palm wide and one and a half palms long,
is first fastened to the head at a distance of three digits from the end; from
this plate there projects a piece three digits long and two wide, curved
in a small circle. The other side has a similar plate. Then in the same
part of the upper board are fixed two other iron plates, distant two digits
from the edge, each of which are six digits wide and seven long; in each
of these plates the middle part is cut away for a little more than three
digits in length and for two in depth, so that the curved part of the plates
on the head corresponding to them may fit into this cut out part. From
both sides of each plate there project pieces, three digits long and two
digits wide, similarly curved into small circles. A little iron pin is passed
through these curved pieces of the plates, like a little axle, so that the upper
board of the bellows may turn upon it. The little axle is six digits long and a
little more than a digit thick, and a small groove is cut out of the upper
board, where the plates are fastened to it, in such a manner that the little axle
when fixed to the plates may not fall out. Both plates fastened to the
bellows-board are affixed by four iron nails, of which the heads are on the
inner part of the board, whereas the points, clinched at the top, are
transformed into heads, so to speak. Each of the other plates is fastened
to the head of the bellows by means of a nail with a wide head, and by two
other nails of which the heads are on the edge of the bellows-head. Midway
between the two plates on the bellows-board there remains a space two
palms wide, which is covered by an iron plate fastened to the board by
little nails; and another plate corresponding to this is fastened to the head
between the other two plates; they are two palms and the same number
of digits wide.
The hide is common to the head as to all the other parts of the body;
the plates are covered with it, as well as the front part of the upper bellows­
board, and both the bows and the back of the head of the bellows, so that the
wind may not escape from that part of the bellows. It is three palms and as
many digits wide, and long enough to extend from one of the sides of the
lower board over the back of the upper; it is fastened by many T-headed
nails on one side to the upper board, and on the other side to the head of
the bellows, and both ends are fastened to the lower bellows-board.
In the above manner the bellows is made. As two are required for each
furnace, it is necessary to have twelve bellows, if there are to be six furnaces
in one works.
Now it is time to describe their framework. First, two sills a little
shorter than the furnace wall are placed on the ground. The front one of
these is three palms wide and thick, and the back one three palms and two
digits. The front one is two feet distant from the back wall of the furnace, and
the back one is six feet three palms distant from the front one. They are set into
the earth, that they may remain firm; there are some who accomplish this by
means of pegs which, through several holes, penetrate deeply into the ground.
1
Then twelve short posts are erected, whose lower ends are mortised into
the sill that is near the back of the furnace wall; these posts are two feet
high, exclusive of the tenons, and are three palms and the same number of
digits wide, and two palms thick. A slot one and a half palms wide is cut
through them, beginning two palms from the bottom and extending for a
height of three palms. All the posts are not placed at the same intervals, the
first being at a distance of three feet five digits from the second, and likewise
the third from the fourth, but the second is two feet one palm and three
digits from the third; the intervals between the other posts are arranged in
the same manner, equal and unequal, of which each four pertain to two
furnaces. The upper ends of these posts are mortised into a transverse
beam which is twelve feet, two palms, and three digits long, and projects
five digits beyond the first post and to the same distance beyond the fourth;
it is two palms and the same number of digits wide, and two palms thick.
Since each separate transverse beam supports four bellows, it is necessary to
have three of them.
Behind the twelve short posts the same number of higher posts are
erected, of which each has the middle part of the lower end cut out, so that
its two resulting lower ends are mortised into the back sill; these posts,
exclusive of the tenons, are twelve feet and two palms high, and are five palms
wide and two palms thick. They are cut out from the bottom upward, the
slot being four feet and five digits high and six digits wide. The upper ends of
these posts are mortised into a long beam imposed upon them; this long
beam is placed close under the timbers which extend from the wall at the
back of the furnace to the first long wall; the beam is three palms wide
and two palms thick, and forty-three feet long. If such a long one is
not at hand, two or three may be substituted for it, which when joined together
make up that length. These higher posts are not placed at equal distances,
but the first is at a distance of two feet three palms one digit from the second,
and the third is at the same distance from the fourth; while the second is at a
distance of one foot three palms and the same number of digits from the
third, and in the same manner the rest of the posts are arranged at equal
and unequal intervals. Moreover, there is in every post, where it faces the
shorter post, a mortise at a foot and a digit above the slot; in these mortises
of the four posts is tenoned a timber which itself has four mortises. Tenons
are enclosed in mortises in order that they may be better joined, and they
are transfixed with wooden pins. This timber is thirteen feet three palms
one digit long, and it projects beyond the first post a distance of two palms
and two digits, and to the same number of palms and digits beyond the
fourth post. It is two palms and as many digits wide, and also two palms
thick. As there are twelve posts it is necessary to have three timbers of this
kind.
On each of these timbers, and on each of the cross-beams which are laid
upon the shorter posts, are placed four planks, each nine feet long, two palms
three digits wide, and two palms one digit thick. The first plank is five feet
one palm one digit distant from the second, at the front as well as at the back.
1for each separate plank is placed outside of the posts. The third is at the
same distance from the fourth, but the second is one foot and three digits
distant from the third. In the same manner the rest of the eight planks are
arranged at intervals, the fifth from the sixth and the seventh from the eighth
are at the same distances as the first from the second and the third from the
fourth; the sixth is at the same distance from the seventh as the second
from the third.
Two planks support one transverse plank six feet long, one foot wide, one
palm thick, placed at a distance of three feet and two palms from the back
posts. When there are six of these supporting planks, on each separate one
are placed two bellows; the lower bellows-boards project a palm beyond
them. From each of the bellows-boards an iron ring descends through a hole
in its supporting plank, and a wooden peg is driven into the ring, so that the
bellows-board may remain stationary, as I stated above.
The two bellows communicate, each by its own plank, to the back of a
copper pipe in which are set both of the nozzles, and their ends are tightly
213[Figure 213]
A—FRONT SILL. B—BACK SILL. C—FRONT POSTS. D—THEIR SLOTS. E—BEAM
IMPOSED UPON THEM. F—HIGHER POSTS. G—THEIR SLOTS. H—BEAM IMPOSED UPON
THEM. I—TIMBER JOINED IN THE MORTISES OF THE POSTS. K—PLANKS. L—TRANSVERSE
SUPPORTING PLANKS. M—THE HOLES IN THEM. N—PIPE. O—ITS FRONT END. P—ITS
REAR END.
1fastened in it. The pipe is made of a rolled copper or iron plate, a foot and
two palms and the same number of digits long; the plate is half a digit
thick, but a digit thick at the back. The interior of the pipe is three digits
wide, and two and a half digits high in the front, for it is not absolutely round;
and at the back it is a foot and two palms and three digits in diameter. The
plate from which the pipe is made is not entirely joined up, but at the front
there is left a crack half a digit wide, increasing at the back to three digits.
This pipe is placed in the hole in the furnace, which, as I said, was in the
middle of the wall and the arch. The nozzles of the bellows, placed in this
pipe, are a distance of five digits from its front end.
The levers are of the same number as the bellows, and when depressed
by the cams of the long axle they compress the bellows. These levers
are eight feet three palms long, one palm wide and thick, and the ends are
inserted in the slots of the posts; they project beyond the front posts to a
distance of two palms, and the same distance beyond the back posts in order
that each may have its end depressed by its two cams on the axle. The
cams not only penetrate into the slots of the back posts, but project three
digits beyond them. An iron pin is set in round holes made through both
sides of the slot of each front post, at three palms and as many digits from the
bottom; the pin penetrates the lever, which turns about it when depressed
or raised. The back of the lever for the length of a cubit is a palm and a
digit wider than the rest, and is perforated; in this hole is engaged a bar
six feet and two palms long, three digits wide, and about one and one-half
digits thick; it is somewhat hooked at the upper end, and approaches the
handle of the bellows. Under the lever there is a nail, which penetrates
through a hole in the bar, so that the lever and bar may move together. The
bar is perforated in the upper end at a distance of six digits from the top;
this hole is two palms long and a digit wide, and in it is engaged the hook of
an iron implement which is a digit thick. At the upper part this implement
has either a round or square opening, like a link, and at the lower end is
hooked; the link is two digits high and wide and the hook is three digits long;
the middle part between the link and the hook is three palms and two
digits long. The link of this implement engages either the handle of the
bellows, or else a large ring which does engage it. This iron ring is a digit thick,
two palms wide on the inside of the upper part, and two digits in the
lower part, and this iron ring, not unlike the first one, engages the
handle of the bellows. The iron ring either has its narrower part turned
upward, and in it is engaged the ring of another iron implement, similar
to the first, whose hook, extending upward, grips the rope fastened to the
iron ring holding the end of the second lever, of which I will speak
presently; or else the iron ring grips this lever, and then in its hook is
engaged the ring of the other implement whose ring engages the handle of the
bellows, and in this case the rope is dispensed with.
Resting on beams fixed in the two walls is a longitudinal beam, at a
distance of four and a half feet from the back posts; it is two palms wide,
1 214[Figure 214]
A—LEVER WHICH WHEN DEPRESSED BY MEANS OF A CAM COMPRESSES THE BELLOWS.
B—SLOTS THROUGH THE POSTS. C—BAR. D—IRON IMPLEMENT WITH A RECTANGULAR
LINK. E—IRON INSTRUMENT WITH ROUND RING. F—HANDLE OF BELLOWS. G—UPPER
POST. H—UPPER LEVER. I—BOX WITH EQUAL SIDES. K—BOX NARROW AT THE
BOTTOM. L—PEGS DRIVEN INTO THE UPPER LEVER.
one and a half palms thick. There are mortised into this longitudinal beam
the lower ends of upper posts three palms wide and two thick, which are six
feet two palms high, exclusive of their tenons. The upper ends of these
posts are mortised into an upper longitudinal beam, which lies close under
the rafters of the building; this upper longitudinal beam is two palms
wide and one thick. The upper posts have a slot cut out upward from a
point two feet from the bottom, and the slot is two feet high and six digits
wide. Through these upper posts a round hole is bored from one side to
the other at a point three feet one palm from the bottom, and a small iron axle
penetrates through the hole and is fastened there. Around this small iron
axle turns the second lever when it is depressed and raised. This lever is
eight feet long, and its other end is three digits wider than the rest of the
lever; at this widest point is a hole two digits wide and three high, in which
is fixed an iron ring, to which is tied the rope I have mentioned; it is five
palms long, its upper loop is two palms and as many digits wide, and the
1lower one is one palm one digit wide. This half of the second lever, the end
of which I have just mentioned, is three palms high and one wide; it projects
three feet beyond the slot of the post on which it turns; the other end, which
faces the back wall of the furnaces, is one foot and a palm high and a foot wide.
On this part of the lever stands and is fixed a box three and a half feet
long, one foot and one palm wide, and half a foot deep; but these measure­
ments vary; sometimes the bottom of this box is narrower, sometimes
equal in width to the top. In either case, it is filled with stones and earth
to make it heavy, but the smelters have to be on their guard and
make provision against the stones falling out, owing to the constant
motion; this is prevented by means of an iron band which is placed over
the top, both ends being wedge-shaped and driven into the lever so that the
stones can be held in. Some people, in place of the box, drive four or more
pegs into the lever and put mud between them, the required amount being
added to the weight or taken away from it.
There remains to be considered the method of using this machine. The
lower lever, being depressed by the cams, compresses the bellows, and the
compression drives the air through the nozzle. Then the weight of the box
on the other end of the upper lever raises the upper bellows-board, and the
air is drawn in, entering through the air-hole.
The machine whose cams depress the lower lever is made as follows.
First there is an axle, on whose end outside the building is a water-wheel;
at the other end, which is inside the building, is a drum made of rundles.
This drum is composed of two double hubs, a foot apart, which are five digits
thick, the radius all round being a foot and two digits; but they are double,
because each hub is composed of two discs, equally thick, fastened together
with wooden pegs glued in. These hubs are sometimes covered above and
around by iron plates. The rundles are thirty in number, a foot and two
palms and the same number of digits long, with each end fastened into a hub;
they are rounded, three digits in diameter, and the same number of digits
apart. In this practical manner is made the drum composed of rundles.
There is a toothed wheel, two palms and a digit thick, on the end
of another axle; this wheel is composed of a double disc8. The inner disc
is composed of four segments a palm thick, everywhere two palms and a
digit wide. The outer disc, like the inner, is made of four segments, and is
a palm and a digit thick; it is not equally wide, but where the head of the
spokes are inserted it is a foot and a palm and digit wide, while on each side
of the spokes it becomes a little narrower, until the narrowest part is only
two palms and the same number of digits wide. The outer segments are joined
to the inner ones in such a manner that, on the one hand, an outer segment
ends in the middle of an inner one, and, on the other hand, the ends of the
inner segments are joined in the middle of the outer ones; there is no doubt
that by this kind of joining the wheel is made stronger. The outer segments
are fastened to the inner by means of a large number of wooden pegs. Each
1 215[Figure 215]
A—AXLE. B—WATER-WHEEL. C—DRUM COMPOSED OF RUNDLES. D—OTHER AXLE.
E—TOOTHED WHEEL. F—ITS SPOKES. G—ITS SEGMENTS. H—ITS TEETH. I—CAMS
OF THE AXLE.
segment, measured over its round back, is four feet and three palms long.
There are four spokes, each two palms wide and a palm and a digit thick; their
length, excluding the tenons, being two feet and three digits. One end of the
spoke is mortised into the axle, where it is firmly fastened with pegs; the
wide part of the other end, in the shape of a triangle, is mortised into the
outer segment opposite it, keeping the shape of the same as far as the segment
ascends. They also are joined together with wooden pegs glued in, and these
pegs are driven into the spokes under the inner disc. The parts of the spokes
in the shape of the triangle are on the inside; the outer part is simple. This
triangle has two sides equal, the erect ones as is evident, which are a palm
long; the lower side is not of the same length, but is five digits long, and a
mortise of the same shape is cut out of the segments. The wheel has sixty
teeth, since it is necessary that the rundle drum should revolve twice while
the toothed wheel revolves once. The teeth are a foot long, and project one
palm from the inner disc of the wheel, and three digits from the outer disc;
1they are a palm wide and two and a half digits thick, and it is necessary
that they should be three digits apart, as were the rundles.
The axle should have a thickness in proportion to the spokes and the
segments. As it has two cams to depress each of the levers, it is necessary that
it should have twenty-four cams, which project beyond it a foot and a palm and
a digit. The cams are of almost semicircular shape, of which the widest part is
three palms and a digit wide, and they are a palm thick; they are
distributed according to the four sides of the axle, on the upper, the lower
and the two lateral sides. The axle has twelve holes, of which the first
penetrates through from the upper side to the lower, the second from one
lateral side to the other; the first hole is four feet two palms distant from
the second; each alternate one of these holes is made in the same direc­
tion, and they are arranged at equal intervals. Each single cam must
be opposite another; the first is inserted into the upper part of the first
hole, the second into the lower part of the same hole, and so fixed by
pegs that they do not fall out; the third cam is inserted into that part
of the second hole which is on the right side, and the fourth into that
part on the left. In like manner all the cams are inserted into the consecutive
holes, for which reason it happens that the cams depress the levers of the
216[Figure 216]
A—CHARCOAL. B—MORTAR-BOX. C—STAMPS.
1bellows in rotation. Finally we must not omit to state that this is only one
of many such axles having cams and a water-wheel.
I have arrived thus far with many words, and yet it is not unseasonable
that I have in this place pursued the subject minutely, since the smelting of all
the metals, to which I am about to proceed, could not be undertaken without
it.
The ores of gold, silver, copper, and lead, are smelted in a furnace by
four different methods. The first method is for the rich ores of gold or silver,
the second for the mediocre ores, the third for the poor ores, and the fourth
method is for those ores which contain copper or lead, whether they contain
precious metals or are wanting in them. The smelting of the first ores is
performed in the furnace of which the tap-hole is intermittently closed; the
other three ores are melted in furnaces of which the tap-holes are always
open.
First, I will speak of the manner in which the furnaces are prepared for
the smelting of the ores, and of the first method of smelting. The powder
from which the hearth and forehearth should be made is composed of char­
coal and earth (clay?). The charcoal is crushed by the stamps in a mortar­
box, the front of which is closed by a board at the top, while the charcoal,
217[Figure 217]
A—TUB. B—SIEVE. C—RODS. D—BENCH-FRAME.
1crushed to powder, is removed through the open part below; the stamps are
not shod with iron, but are made entirely of wood, although at the lower
part they are bound round at the wide part by an iron band.
The powder into which the charcoal is crushed is thrown on to a sieve
whose bottom consists of interwoven withes of wood. The sieve is drawn
backward and forward over two wooden or iron rods placed in a triangular
position on a tub, or over a bench-frame set on the floor of the building;
the powder which falls into the tub or on to the floor is of suitable size,
but the pieces of small charcoal which remain in the sieve are emptied out
and thrown back under the stamps.
When the earth is dug up it is first exposed to the sun that it may dry.
Later on it is thrown with a shovel on to a screen—set up obliquely and
supported by poles,—made of thick, loosely woven hazel withes, and in this
way the fine earth and its small lumps pass through the holes of the screen, but
the clods and stones do not pass through, but run down to the ground. The
earth which passes through the screen is conveyed in a two-wheeled cart to
the works and there sifted. This sieve, which is not dissimilar to the one
218[Figure 218]
A—SCREEN. B—POLES. C—SHOVEL. D—TWO-WHEELED CART. E—HAND-SIEVE.
F—NARROW BOARDS. G—BOX. H—COVERED PIT.
1described above, is drawn backward and forward upon narrow boards of
equal length placed over a long box; the powder which falls through the
sieve into the box is suitable for the mixture; the lumps that remain in the
sieve are thrown away by some people, but by others they are placed under
the stamps. This powdered earth is mixed with powdered charcoal, moist­
ened, and thrown into a pit, and in order that it may remain good for a long
time, the pit is covered up with boards so that the mixture may not
become contaminated.
They take two parts of pulverised charcoal and one part of powdered
earth, and mix them well together with a rake; the mixture is moistened by
pouring water over it so that it may easily be made into shapes resembling
snowballs; if the powder be light it is moistened with more water, if heavy
with less. The interior of the new furnace is lined with lute, so that the
cracks in the walls, if there are any, may be filled up, but especially in order
to preserve the rock from injury by fire. In old furnaces in which ore has
been melted, as soon as the rocks have cooled the assistant chips away, with
a spatula, the accretions which adhere to the walls, and then breaks them
up with an iron hoe or a rake with five teeth. The cracks of the furnace are
first filled in with fragments of rock or brick, which he does by passing his
hand into the furnace through its mouth, or else, having placed a ladder against
it, he mounts by the rungs to the upper open part of the furnace. To the
upper part of the ladder a board is fastened that he may lean and recline
against it. Then standing on the same ladder, with a wooden spatula, he
smears the furnace walls over with lute; this spatula is four feet long, a digit
thick, and for a foot upward from the bottom it is a palm wide, or even
wider, generally two and a half digits. He spreads the lute equally over the
inner walls of the furnace. The mouth of the copper pipe9 should not pro­
trude from the lute, lest sows10 form round about it and thus impede the
melting, for the furnace bellows could not force a blast through them. Then
the same assistant throws a little powdered charcoal into the pit of the fore­
hearth and sprinkles it with pulverised earth. Afterward, with a bucket
he pours water into it and sweeps this all over the forehearth pit, and with the
broom drives the turbid water into the furnace hearth and likewise sweeps
it out. Next he throws the mixed and moistened powder into the furnace,
and then a second time mounting the steps of the ladder, he introduces the
rammer into the furnace and pounds the powder so that the hearth is made
solid. The rammer is rounded and three palms long; at the bottom it is five
digits in diameter, at the top three and a half, therefore it is made in the form
of a truncated cone; the handle of the rammer is round and five feet long and
1 219[Figure 219]
A—FURNACE. B—LADDER. C—BOARD FIXED TO IT. D—HOE. E—FIVE­
TOOTHED RAKE. F—WOODEN SPATULA. G—BROOM. H—RAMMER. I—RAMMER, SAME
DIAMETER. K—TWO WOODEN SPATULAS. L—CURVED BLADE. M—BRONZE RAMMER.
N—ANOTHER BRONZE RAMMER. O—WIDE SPATULA. P—ROD. Q—WICKER BASKET.
R—TWO BUCKETS OF LEATHER IN WHICH WATER IS CARRIED FOR PUTTING OUT A CON­
FLAGRATION, SHOULD THE officina CATCH FIRE. S—BRASS PUMP WITH WHICH THE WATER
IS SQUIRTED OUT. T—TWO HOOKS. V—RAKE. X—WORKMAN BEATING THE CLAY WITH
AN IRON IMPLEMENT.
two and a half digits thick; the upper part of the rammer, where the handle
is inserted, is bound with an iron band two digits wide. There are some who,
instead, use two rounded rammers three and a half digits in diameter, the
same at the bottom as at the top. Some people prefer two wooden
spatulas, or a rammer spatula.
In a similar manner, mixed and moistened powder is thrown and pounded
with a rammer in the forehearth pit, which is outside the furnace. When
this is nearly completed, powder is again put in, and pushed with the rammer
up toward the protruding copper pipe, so that from a point a digit under the
mouth of the copper pipe the hearth slopes down into the crucible of the fore­
hearth,11 and the metal can run down. The same is repeated until the
1forehearth pit is full, then afterward this is hollowed out with a curved
blade; this blade is of iron, two palms and as many digits long, three digits
wide, blunt at the top and sharp at the bottom. The crucible of the fore­
hearth must be round, a foot in diameter and two palms deep if it has to
contain a centumpondíum of lead, or if only seventy líbrae, then three palms
in diameter and two palms deep like the other. When the forehearth has
been hollowed out it is pounded with a round bronze rammer. This is
five digits high and the same in diameter, having a curved round handle
one and a half digits thick; or else another bronze rammer is used, which
is fashioned in the shape of a cone, truncated at the top, on which is
imposed another cut away at the bottom, so that the middle part of the
rammer may be grasped by the hand; this is six digits high, and five digits
in diameter at the lower end and four at the top. Some use in its place a
wooden spatula two and a half palms wide at the lower end and one palm
thick.
The assistant, having prepared the forehearth, returns to the furnace and
besmears both sides as well as the top of the mouth with simple lute. In the
lower part of the mouth he places lute that has been dipped in charcoal
dust, to guard against the risk of the lute attracting to itself the powder
of the hearth and vitiating it. Next he lays in the mouth of the furnace a
straight round rod three quarters of a foot long and three digits in diameter.
Afterward he places a piece of charcoal on the lute, of the same length and
width as the mouth, so that it is entirely closed up; if there be not at hand
one piece of charcoal so large, he takes two instead. When the mouth is thus
closed up, he throws into the furnace a wicker basket full of charcoal, and in
order that the piece of charcoal with which the mouth of the furnace is closed
should not then fall out, the master holds it in with his hand. The pieces
of charcoal which are thrown into the furnace should be of medium size, for
if they are large they impede the blast of the bellows and prevent it from
blowing through the tap-hole of the furnace into the forehearth to heat it.
Then the master covers over the charcoal, placed at the mouth of the furnace,
with lute and extracts the wooden rod, and thus the furnace is prepared.
Afterward the assistant throws four or five larger baskets full of charcoal
into the furnace, filling it right up; he also throws a little charcoal
into the forehearth, and places glowing coals upon it in order that it may
be kindled, but in order that the flames of this fire should not enter through
the tap-hole of the furnace and fire the charcoal inside, he covers the tap-hole
with lute or closes it with fragments of pottery. Some do not warm the
forehearth the same evening, but place large charcoals round the edge of it, one
leaning on the other; those who follow the first method sweep out the
forehearth in the morning, and clean out the little pieces of charcoal and
cinders, while those who follow the latter method take, early in the morning,
burning firebrands, which have been prepared by the watchman of the works,
and place them on the charcoal.
At the fourth hour the master begins his work. He first inserts a
small piece of glowing coal into the furnace, through the bronze nozzle-pipe
1of the bellows, and blows up the fire with the bellows; thus within the space
of half an hour the forehearth, as well as the hearth, becomes warmed, and
of course more quickly if on the preceding day ores have been smelted in the
same furnace, but if not then it warms more slowly. If the hearth and
forehearth are not warmed before the ore to be smelted is thrown in, the furnace
is injured and the metals lost; or if the powder from which both are made
is damp in summer or frozen in winter, they will be cracked, and, giving
out a sound like thunder, they will blow out the metals and other substances
with great peril to the workmen. After the furnace has been warmed, the
master throws in slags, and these, when melted, flow out through the tap­
hole into the forehearth. Then he closes up the tap-hole at once with
mixed lute and charcoal dust; this plug he fastens with his hand to a
round wooden rammer that is five digits thick, two palms high, with a handle
three feet long. The smelter extracts the slags from the forehearth with a
hooked bar; if the ore to be smelted is rich in gold or silver he puts into the
forehearth a centumpondíum of lead, or half as much if the ore is poor,
because the former requires much lead, the latter little; he immediately
throws burning firebrands on to the lead so that it melts. Afterward he
performs everything according to the usual manner and order, whereby he
first throws into the furnace as many cakes melted from pyrites12, as he
requires to smelt the ore; then he puts in two wicker baskets full of ore
with litharge and hearth-lead13, and stones which fuse easily by fire of the
second order, all mixed together; then one wicker basket full of charcoal,
and lastly the slags. The furnace now being filled with all the things I
have mentioned, the ore is slowly smelted; he does not put too much of it
against the back wall of the furnace, lest sows should form around the nozzles
of the bellows and the blast be impeded and the fire burn less fiercely.
This, indeed, is the custom of many most excellent smelters, who know
how to govern the four elements14. They combine in right proportion the
ores, which are part earth, placing no more than is suitable in the furnaces;
they pour in the needful quantity of water; they moderate with skill the air
from the bellows; they throw the ore into that part of the fire which burns
fiercely. The master sprinkles water into each part of the furnace to dampen
the charcoal slightly, so that the minute parts of ore may adhere to it,
which otherwise the blast of the bellows and the force of the fire would agitate
and blow away with the fumes. But as the nature of the ores to be smelted
varies, the smelters have to arrange the hearth now high, now low, and to
place the pipe in which the nozzles of the bellows are inserted sometimes on a
great and sometimes at a slight angle, so that the blast of the bellows may

1blow into the furnace in either a mild or a vigorous manner. For those ores
which heat and fuse easily, a low hearth is necessary for the work of the
smelters, and the pipe must be placed at a gentle angle to produce a mild
blast from the bellows. On the contrary, those ores that heat and fuse
slowly must have a high hearth, and the pipe must be placed at a steep incline
in order to blow a strong blast of the bellows, and it is necessary, for this
kind of ore, to have a very hot furnace in which slags, or cakes melted from
pyrites, or stones which melt easily in the fire15, are first melted, so that the
ore should not settle in the hearth of the furnace and obstruct and choke up
the tap-hole, as the minute metallic particles that have been washed from
the ores are wont to do. Large bellows have wide nozzles, for if they were
narrow the copious and strong blast would be too much compressed and too
acutely blown into the furnace, and then the melted material would be
chilled, and would form sows around the nozzle, and thus obstruct the opening
into the furnace, which would cause great damage to the proprietors'
property. If the ores agglomerate and do not fuse, the smelter, mounting
on the ladder placed against the side of the furnace, divides the charge with
a pointed or hooked bar, which he also pushes down into the pipe in
1which the nozzle of the bellows is placed, and by a downward movement
dislodges the ore and the sows from around it.
After a quarter of an hour, when the lead which the assistant has placed
in the forehearth is melted, the master opens the tap-hole of the furnace
with a tapping-bar. This bar is made of iron, is three and a half feet long,
the forward end pointed and a little curved, and the back end hollow so that
into it may be inserted a wooden handle, which is three feet long and thick
enough to be well grasped by the hand. The slag first flows from the furnace
into the forehearth, and in it are stones mixed with metal or with the metal
adhering to them partly altered, the slag also containing earth and solidified
juices. After this the material from the melted pyrites flows out, and then the
molten lead contained in the forehearth absorbs the gold and silver. When
that which has run out has stood for some time in the forehearth, in order
to be able to separate one from the other, the master first either skims off
the slags with the hooked bar or else lifts them off with an iron fork; the
slags, as they are very light, float on the top. He next draws off the cakes of
melted pyrites, which as they are of medium weight hold the middle place;
he leaves in the forehearth the alloy of gold or silver with the lead, for these
being the heaviest, sink to the bottom. As, however, there is a difference
1in slags, the uppermost containing little metal, the middle more, and the
lowest much, he puts these away separately, each in its own place, in
order that to each heap, when it is re-smelted, he may add the proper
fluxes, and can put in as much lead as is demanded for the metal in the
slag; when the slag is re-melted, if it emits much odour, there is some
metal in it; if it emits no odour, then it contains none. He puts the cakes
of melted pyrites away separately, as they were nearest in the forehearth to
the metal, and contain a little more of it than the slags; from all these
cakes a conical mound is built up, by always placing the widest of them
at the bottom. The hooked bar has a hook on the end, hence its name;
otherwise it is similar to other bars.
Afterward the master closes up the tap-hole and fills the furnace with
the same materials I described above, and again, the ores having been melted,
he opens the tap-hole, and with a hooked bar extracts the slags and the cakes
melted from pyrites, which have run down into the forehearth. He repeats
the same operation until a certain and definite part of the ore has been
smelted, and the day's work is at an end; if the ore was rich the work is
finished in eight hours; if poor, it takes a longer time. But if the ore was
so rich as to be smelted in less than eight hours, another operation is in the
meanwhile combined with the first, and both are performed in the space of ten
hours. When all the ore has been smelted, he throws into the furnace a
basket full of litharge or hearth-lead, so that the metal which has remained
in the accretions may run out with these when melted. When he has finally
drawn out of the forehearth the slags and the cakes melted from pyrites,
he takes out, with a ladle, the lead alloyed with gold or silver and pours it into
little iron or copper pans, three palms wide and as many digits deep, but
first lined on the inside with lute and dried by warming, lest the glowing molten
substances should break through. The iron ladle is two palms wide, and in
other respects it is similar to the others, all of which have a sufficiently long
iron shaft, so that the fire should not burn the wooden part of the handle.
When the alloy has been poured out of the forehearth, the smelter foreman
and the mine captain weigh the cakes.
Then the master breaks out the whole of the mouth of the furnace with a
crowbar, and with that other hooked bar, the rabble and the five-toothed rake,
he extracts the accretions and the charcoal. This crowbar is not unlike
the other hooked one, but larger and wider; the handle of the rabble is six feet
long and is half of iron and half of wood. The furnace having cooled, the
master chips off the accretions clinging to the walls with a rectangular
spatula six digits long, a palm broad, and sharp on the front edge; it has
a round handle four feet long, half of it being of iron and half of wood. This
is the first method of smelting ores.
Because they generally consist of unequal constituents, some of which melt
rapidly and others slowly, the ores rich in gold and silver cannot be smelted as
rapidly or as easily by the other methods as they can by the first method, for
three important reasons. The first reason is that, as often as the closed
tap-hole of the furnace is opened with a tapping-bar, so often can the
1 220[Figure 220]
A, B, C—THREE FURNACES. AT THE FIRST STANDS THE SMELTER, WHO WITH A LADLE
POURS THE ALLOY OUT OF THE FOREHEARTH INTO THE MOULDS. D—FOREHEARTH.
E—LADLE. F—MOULDS. G—ROUND WOODEN RAMMER. H—TAPPING-BAR. AT THE
SECOND FURNACE STANDS THE SMELTER. WHO OPENS THE TAP-HOLE WITH HIS TAPPING-BAR.
1smelter observe whether the ore is melting too quickly or too slowly, or
whether it is flaming in scattered bits, and not uniting in one mass; in the
first case the ore is smelting too slowly and not without great expense; in
the second case the metal mixes with the slag which flows out of the
furnace into the forehearth, wherefore there is the expense of melting it again;
in the third case, the metal is consumed by the violence of the fire. Each of
these evils has its remedy; if the ore melts slowly or does not come together,
it is necessary to add some amount of fluxes which melt the ore; or if they
melt too readily, to decrease the amount.
The second reason is that each time that the furnace is opened with a
tapping-bar, it flows out into the forehearth, and the smelter is able to test
the alloy of gold and lead or of silver with lead, which is called stannum16.
When the tap-hole is opened the second or third time, this test shows us
whether the alloy of gold or silver has become richer, or whether the lead is
too debilitated and wanting in strength to absorb any more gold or silver. If
it has become richer, some portion of lead added to it should renew its
strength; if it has not become richer, it is poured out of the forehearth that
it may be replaced with fresh lead.
The third reason is that if the tap-hole of the furnace is always open
when the ore and other things are being smelted, the fluxes, which are easily
melted, run out of the furnace before the rich gold and silver ores, for these
are sometimes of a kind that oppose and resist melting by the fire for a longer
period. It follows in this case, that some part of the ore is either con­
sumed or is mixed with the accretions, and as a result little lumps of ore
not yet melted are now and then found in the accretions. Therefore when
these ores are being smelted, the tap-hole of the furnace should be closed
for a time, as it is necessary to heat and mix the ore and the fluxes at the
same time; since the fluxes fuse more rapidly than the ore, when the
molten fluxes are held in the furnace, they thus melt the ore which does not
readily fuse or mix with the lead. The lead absorbs the gold or silver, just
as tin or lead when melted in the forehearth absorbs the other unmelted
metal which has been thrown into it. But if the molten matter is poured
upon that which is not molten, it runs off on all sides and consequently does
not melt it. It follows from all this that ores rich in gold or silver, when put
into a furnace with its tap-hole always open, cannot for that reason be smelted
so successfully as in one where the tap-hole is closed for a time, so that during
this time the ore may be melted by the molten fluxes. Afterward, when the
tap-hole has been opened, they flow into the forehearth and mix there with
the molten lead. This method of smelting the ores is used by us and by the
Bohemians.
The three remaining methods of smelting ores are similar to each other
in that the tap-holes of the furnaces always remain open, so that the molten
metals may continually run out. They differ greatly from each other,
1 221[Figure 221]
A, B—TWO FURNACES. C—FOREHEARTHS. D—DIPPING-POT. THE SMELTER STANDING
BY THE FIRST FURNACE DRAWS OFF THE SLAGS WITH A HOOKED BAR. E—HOOKED BAR.
F—SLAGS. G—THE ASSISTANT DRAWING A BUCKET OF WATER WHICH HE POURS OVER THE
GLOWING SLAGS TO QUENCH THEM. H—BASKET MADE OF TWIGS OF WOOD INTERTWINED.
I—RABBLE. K—ORE TO BE SMELTED. THE MASTER STANDS AT THE OTHER FURNACE
1however, for the tap-hole of the first of this kind is deeper in the furnace and
narrower than that of the third, and besides it is invisible and concealed.
It easily discharges into the forehearth, which is one and a half feet higher
than the floor of the building, in order that below it to the left a dipping-pot
can be made. When the forehearth is nearly full of the slags, which well up
from the invisible tap-hole of the furnace, they are skimmed off from the top
with a hooked bar; then the alloy of gold or silver with lead and the melted
pyrites, being uncovered, flow into the dipping-pot, and the latter are made into
cakes; these cakes are broken and thrown back into the furnace so that all
their metal may be smelted out. The alloy is poured into little iron moulds.
The smelter, besides lead and cognate things, uses fluxes which combine
with the ore, of which I gave a sufficient account in Book VII. The metals
which are melted from ores that fuse readily in the fire, are profitable because
they are smelted in a short time, while those which are difficult to fuse are
not as profitable, because they take a long time. When fluxes remain in the
furnace and do not melt, they are not suitable; for this reason, accretions and
slags are the most convenient for smelting, because they melt quickly. It is
necessary to have an industrious and experienced smelter, who in the first
place takes care not to put into the furnace more ores mixed with fluxes than
it can accommodate.
The powder out of which this furnace hearth and the adjoining fore­
hearth and the dipping-pot are usually made, consists mostly of equal pro­
portions of charcoal dust and of earth, or of equal parts of the same and of
ashes. When the hearth of the furnace is prepared, a rod that will reach to the
forehearth is put into it, higher up if the ore to be smelted readily fuses, and
lower down if it fuses with difficulty. When the dipping-pot and forehearth
are finished, the rod is drawn out of the furnace so that the tap-hole is open,
and through it the molten material flows continuously into the forehearth,
which should be very near the furnace in order that it may keep very hot and
the alloy thus be made purer. If the ore to be smelted does not melt easily, the
hearth of the furnace must not be made too sloping, lest the molten fluxes
should run down into the forehearth before the ore is smelted, and the metal
thus remain in the accretions on the sides of the furnace. The smelter must
not ram the hearth so much that it becomes too hard, nor make the mistake
of ramming the lower part of the mouth to make it hard, for it could not
breathe17, nor could the molten matter flow freely out of the furnace.
The ore which does not readily melt is thrown as much as possible to the
back of the furnace, and toward that part where the fire burns very
fiercely, so that it may be smelted longer. In this way the smelter may direct
it whither he wills. Only when it glows at the part near the bellows' nozzle
does it signify that all the ore is smelted which has been thrown to the side of
the furnace in which the nozzles are placed. If the ore is easily melted, one
or two wicker baskets full are thrown into the front part of the furnace so that
the fire, being driven back by it, may also smelt the ore and the sows that
1 222[Figure 222]
A, B—TWO FURNACES. C—FOREHEARTH. D—DIPPING-POTS. THE MASTER STANDS AT
THE ONE FURNACE AND DRAWS AWAY THE SLAGS WITH AN IRON FORK. E—IRON FORK.
F—WOODEN HOE WITH WHICH THE CAKES OF MELTED PYRITES ARE DRAWN OUT. G—THE
FOREHEARTH CRUCIBLE: ONE-HALF INSIDE IS TO BE SEEN OPEN IN THE OTHER FURNACE.
H—THE H OUTSIDE THE J—THE ASSISTANT THE FOR
1form round about the nozzles of the bellows. This process of smelting is very
ancient among the Tyrolese18, but not so old among the Bohemians.
The second method of smelting ores stands in a measure midway between
that one performed in a furnace of which the tap-hole is closed intermittently,
and the first of the methods performed in a furnace where the tap-hole is
always open. In this manner are smelted the ores of gold and silver that are
neither very rich nor very poor, but mediocre, which fuse easily and are
readily absorbed by the lead. It was found that in this way a large quantity
of ore could be smelted at one operation without much labour or great expense,
and could thus be alloyed with lead. This furnace has two crucibles, one of
which is half inside the furnace and half outside, so that the lead being put
into this crucible, the part of the lead which is in the furnace absorbs
the metals of the ores which easily fuse; the other crucible is lower, and
the alloy and the molten pyrites run into it. Those who make use of this
method of smelting, tap the alloy of gold or silver with lead from the upper
crucible once or twice if need be, and throw in other lead or litharge, and
each absorbs that flux which is nearest. This method of smelting is in use
in Styria19.
The furnace in the third method of smelting ores has the tap-hole like­
wise open, but the furnace is higher and wider than the others, and its bellows
are larger; for these reasons a larger charge of the ore can be thrown into
it. When the mines yield a great abundance of ore for the smelter, they
smelt in the same furnace continuously for three days and three nights,
providing there be no defect either in the hearth or in the forehearth. In this
kind of a furnace almost every kind of accretion will be found. The fore­
hearth of the furnace is not unlike the forehearth of the first furnace of all,
except that it has a tap-hole. However, because large charges of ore
are smelted uninterruptedly, and the melted material runs out and the slags
are skimmed off, there is need for a second forehearth crucible, into which the
molten material runs through an opened tap-hole when the first is full. When
a smelter has spent twelve hours' labour on this work, another always takes his
place. The ores of copper and lead and the poorest ores of gold and silver
are smelted by this method, because they cannot be smelted by the other
three methods on account of the greater expense occasioned. Yet by this
method a centumpondíum of ore containing only one or two drachmae of
gold, or only a half to one uncía of silver,20 can be smelted; because there
is a large amount of ore in each charge, smelting is continuous, and without
expensive fluxes such as lead, litharge, and hearth-lead. In this method
of smelting we must use only cupriferous pyrites which easily melt in the
fire, in truth the cakes melted out from this, if they no longer absorb

1 223[Figure 223]
A, B—TWO FURNACES. C—TAP-HOLES OF FURNACES. D—FOREHEARTHS. E—THEIR
TAP-HOLES. F—DIPPING-POTS. G—AT THE ONE FURNACE STANDS THE SMELTER CARRYING
A WICKER BASKET FULL OF CHARCOAL. AT THE OTHER FURNACE STANDS A SMELTER WHO
WITH THE THIRD HOOKED BAR BREAKS AWAY THE MATERIAL WHICH HAS FROZEN THE TAP­
HOLE OF THE FURNACE. H—HOOKED BAR. I—HEAP OF CHARCOAL. K—BARROW ON
1much gold or silver, are replenished again from crude pyrites alone. If
from this poor ore, with melted pyrites alone, material for cakes cannot
be made, there are added other fluxes which have not previously been
melted. These fluxes are, namely, lead ore, stones easily fused by fire
of the second order and sand made from them, limestone, tophus, white
schist, and iron stone21.
Although this method of smelting ores is rough and might not seem to
be of great use, yet it is clever and useful; for a great weight of ores, in
which the gold, silver, or copper are in small quantities, may be reduced into
a few cakes containing all the metal. If on being first melted they are too
crude to be suitable for the second melting, in which the lead absorbs the
precious metals that are in the cakes, or in which the copper is melted out of
them, yet they can be made suitable if they are repeatedly roasted, some­
times as often as seven or eight times, as I have explained in the last book.
Smelters of this kind are so clever and expert, that in smelting they take out
all the gold and silver which the assayer in assaying the ores has stated to be
contained in them, because if during the first operation, when he makes the
cakes, there is a drachma of gold or half an uncia of silver lost from the ores,
the smelter obtains it from the slags by the second smelting. This method of
smelting ores is old and very common to most of those who use other methods.
Although lead ores are usually smelted in the third furnace—whose tap­
hole is always open,—yet not a few people melt them in special furnaces by a
method which I will briefly explain. The Carni22 first burn such lead ores,
and afterward break and crush them with large round mallets. Between
the two low walls of a hearth, which is inside a furnace made of and vaulted
with a rock that resists injury by the fire and does not burn into chalk, they
place green wood with a layer of dry wood on the top of it; then they throw
the ore on to this, and when the wood is kindled the lead drips down and
runs on to the underlying sloping hearth23. This hearth is made of pulverised

1charcoal and earth, as is also a large crucible, one-half of which lies under the
furnace and the other half outside it, into which runs the lead. The
smelter, having first skimmed off the slags and other things with a hoc, pours
the lead with a ladle into moulds, taking out the cakes after they have
cooled. At the back of the furnace is a rectangular hole, so that the fire
may be allowed more draught, and so that the smelter can crawl through it
into the furnace if necessity demands.
The Saxons who inhabit Gittelde, when smelting lead ore in a furnace
not unlike a baking oven, put the wood in through a hole at the back of the
furnace, and when it begins to burn vigorously the lead trickles out of the
ore into a forehearth. When this is full, the smelting being accomplished,
the tap-hole is opened with a bar, and in this way the lead, together with the
slags, runs into the dipping-pots below. Afterward the cakes of lead, when
they are cold, are taken from the moulds.
In Westphalia they heap up ten wagon-loads of charcoal on some hill­
side which adjoins a level place, and the top of the heap being made flat,
straw is thrown upon it to the thickness of three or four digits. On the top of
1this is laid as much pure lead ore as the heap can bear; then the charcoal is
kindled, and when the wind blows, it fans the fire so that the ore is smelted.
In this wise the lead, trickling down from the heap, flows on to the level and
forms broad thin slabs. A few hundred pounds of lead ore are kept at hand,
which, if things go well, are scattered over the heap. These broad slabs are
impure and are laid upon dry wood which in turn is placed on green wood
laid over a large crucible, and the former having been kindled, the lead is
re-melted.
The Poles use a hearth of bricks four feet high, sloping on both sides and
plastered with lute. On the upper level part of the hearth large pieces of
wood are piled, and on these is placed small wood with lute put in between;
over the top are laid wood shavings, and upon these again pure lead ore
covered with large pieces of wood. When these are kindled, the ore melts and
1 224[Figure 224]
A—FURNACE OF THE CARNI. B—LOW WALL. C—WOOD. D—ORE DRIPPING LEAD.
E—LARGE CRUCIBLE. F—MOULDS. G—LADLE. H—SLABS OF LEAD. I—RECTANGULAR
HOLE AT THE BACK OF THE FURNACE. K—SAXON FURNACE. L—OPENING IN THE BACK
OF THE FURNACE. M—WOOD. N—UPPER CRUCIBLE. O—DIPPING-POT. P—WESTPHALIAN
METHOD OF MELTING. Q—HEAPS OF CHARCOAL. R—STRAW. S—WIDE SLABS.
1runs down on to the lower layer of wood; and when this is consumed by
the fire, the metal is collected. If necessity demand, it is melted over and
over again in the same manner, but it is finally melted by means of wood
laid over the large crucible, the slabs of lead being placed upon it.
The concentrates from washing are smelted together with slags (fluxes?)
in a third furnace, of which the tap-hole is always open.
It is worth while to build vaulted dust-chambers over the furnaces,
especially over those in which the precious ores are to be smelted, in order
that the thicker part of the fumes, in which metals are not wanting, may be
caught and saved. In this way two or more furnaces are combined under the
same vaulted ceiling, which is supported by the wall, against which the
furnaces are built, and by four columns. Under this the smelters of the
ore perform their work. There are two openings through which the fumes
rise from the furnaces into the wide vaulted chamber, and the wider this is the
more fumes it collects; in the middle of this chamber over the arch is an opening
three palms high and two wide. This catches the fumes of both furnaces,
which have risen up from both sides of the vaulted chamber to its arch, and
have fallen again because they could not force their way out; and they thus
pass out through the opening mentioned, into the chimney which the Greeks
call καπνοδόχη, the name being taken from the object. The chimney has
thin iron plates fastened into the walls, to which the thinner metallic sub­
stances adhere when ascending with the fumes. The thicker metallic
substances, or cadmia,25 adhere to the vaulted chamber, and often
harden into stalactites. On one side of the chamber is a window in which
are set panes of glass, so that the light may be transmitted, but the fumes
kept in; on the other side is a door, which is kept entirely closed while the
ores are being smelted in the furnaces, so that none of the fumes may escape.
It is opened in order that the workman, passing through it, may be enabled
to enter the chamber and remove the soot and pompholyx26 and chip off
1 225[Figure 225]
A—FURNACES. B—VAULTED ROOF. C—COLUMNS. D—DUST-CHAMBER. E—OPENING.
F—CHIMNEY. G—WINDOW. H—DOOR. I—CHUTE.
1the cadmía; this sweeping is done twice a year. The soot mixed with
pompholyx and the cadmia, being chipped off, is thrown down through
a long chute made of four boards joined in the shape of a rectangle,
that they should not fly away. They fall on to the floor, and are sprinkled
with salt water, and are again smelted with ore and litharge, and become
an emolument to the proprietors. Such chambers, which catch the metallic
substances that rise with the fumes, are profitable for all metalliferous
ores; but especially for the minute metallic particles collected by washing
crushed ores and rock, because these usually fly out with the fire of the
furnaces.
I have explained the four general methods of smelting ores; now I
will state how the ores of each metal are smelted, or how the metal is obtained
from the ore. I will begin with gold. Its sand, the concentrates from
washing, or the gold dust collected in any other manner, should very often
not be smelted, but should be mixed with quicksilver and washed with tepid
water, so that all the impurities may be eliminated. This method I ex­
plained in Book VII. Or they are placed in the aqua which separates
gold from silver, for this also separates its impurities. In this method we
see the gold sink in the glass ampulla, and after all the aqua has been drained
from the particles, it frequently remains as a gold-coloured residue at the
bottom; this powder, when it has been moistened with oil made from
argol27, is then dried and placed in a crucible, where it is melted with borax
or with saltpetre and salt; or the same very fine dust is thrown into molten
silver, which absorbs it, and from this it is again parted by aqua valens28.
It is necessary to smelt gold ore either outside the blast furnace in a
crucible, or inside the blast furnace; in the former case a small charge of ore
is used, in the latter a large charge of it. Rudís gold, of whatever colour
it is, is crushed with a líbra each of sulphur and salt, a third of a líbra of copper,
1and a quarter of a líbra of argol; they should be melted in a crucible on a
slow fire for three hours, then the alloy is put into molten silver that it
may melt more rapidly. Or a líbra of the same crude gold, crushed up, is
mixed together with half a líbra of stíbium likewise crushed, and put
into a crucible with half an uncía of copper filings, and heated until they
melt, then a sixth part of granulated lead is thrown into the same crucible.
As soon as the mixture emits an odour, iron-filings are added to it, or if these
are not at hand, iron hammer-scales, for both of these break the strength of
the stíbíum. When the fire consumes it, not alone with it is some strength
of the stíbíum consumed, but some particles of gold and also of silver, if it
be mixed with the gold29. When the button has been taken out of the
crucible and cooled, it is melted in a cupel, first until the antimony is exhaled,
and thereafter until the lead is separated from it.
Crushed pyrites which contains gold is smelted in the same way; it
and the stíbíum should be of equal weight and in truth the gold may be
made from them in a number of different ways30. One part of crushed
material is mixed with six parts of copper, one part of sulphur, half a part of
salt, and they are all placed in a pot and over them is poured wine distilled
by heating liquid argol in an ampulla. The pot is covered and smeared
over with lute and is put in a hot place, so that the mixture moistened with
wine may dry for the space of six days, then it is heated for three hours over
a gentle fire that it may combine more rapidly with the lead. Finally it is put
into a cupel and the gold is separated from the lead31.
Or else one líbra of the concentrates from washing pyrites, or other stones
to which gold adheres, is mixed with half a líbra of salt, half a líbra of argol,
a third of a líbra of glass-galls, a sixth of a libra of gold or silver slags, and a
sicílícus of copper. The crucible into which these are put, after it has been
covered with a lid, is sealed with lute and placed in a small furnace that is
provided with small holes through which the air is drawn in, and then it is
heated until it turns red and the substances put in have alloyed; this should
take place within four or five hours. The alloy having cooled, it is again
crushed to powder and a pound of litharge is added to it; then it is heated
again in another crucible until it melts. The button is taken out, purged of
slag, and placed in a cupel, where the gold is separated from the lead.
1
Or to a líbra of the powder prepared from such metalliferous
concentrates, is added a libra each of salt, of saltpetre, of argol, and of
glass-galls, and it is heated until it melts. When cooled and crushed, it is washed,
then to it is added a libra of silver, a third of copper filings, a sixth of litharge,
and it is likewise heated again until it melts. After the button has been
purged of slag, it is put into the cupel, and the gold and silver are separated
from the lead; the gold is parted from the silver with aqua valens. Or else
a líbra of the powder prepared from such metalliferous concentrates,
a quarter of a libra of copper filings, and two librae of that second powder32
which fuses ores, are heated until they melt. The mixture when cooled is again
reduced to powder, roasted and washed, and in this manner a blue powder is
obtained. Of this, and silver, and that second powder which fuses ores, a
libra each are taken, together with three librae of lead, and a quarter of a
libra of copper, and they are heated together until they melt; then the
button is treated as before. Or else a libra of the powder prepared from
such metalliferous concentrates, half a libra of saltpetre, and a quarter of a
líbra of salt are heated until they melt. The alloy when cooled is again
crushed to powder, one libra of which is absorbed by four pounds of molten
silver. Or else a líbra of the powder made from that kind of concentrates,
together with a libra of sulphur, a libra and a half of salt, a third of a libra of
salt made from argol, and a third of a líbra of copper resolved into powder
with sulphur, are heated until they melt. Afterward the lead is re-melted,
and the gold is separated from the other metals. Or else a líbra of the
powder of this kind of concentrates, together with two líbrae of salt, half a
líbra of sulphur, and one libra of litharge, are heated, and from these the
gold is melted out. By these and similar methods concentrates containing
gold, if there be a small quantity of them or if they are very rich, can be
smelted outside the blast furnace.
If there be much of them and they are poor, then they are smelted in the
blast furnace, especially the ore which is not crushed to powder, and particularly
when the gold mines yield an abundance of it33. The gold concentrates mixed
with litharge and hearth-lead, to which are added iron-scales, are smelted in the
blast furnace whose tap-hole is intermittently closed, or else in the first or the
second furnaces in which the tap-hole is always open. In this manner an
1alloy of gold and lead is obtained which is put into the cupellation furnace.
Two parts of roasted pyrites or cadmía which contain gold, are put with
one part of unroasted, and are smelted together in the third furnace whose
tap-hole is always open, and are made into cakes. When these cakes have
been repeatedly roasted, they are re-smelted in the furnace whose tap­
hole is temporarily closed, or in one of the two others whose tap-holes are
always open. In this manner the lead absorbs the gold, whether pure or
argentiferous or cupriferous, and the alloy is taken to the cupellation
furnace. Pyrites, or other gold ore which is mixed with much material that
is consumed by fire and flies out of the furnace, is melted with stone from
which iron is melted, if this is at hand. Six parts of such pyrites, or of gold
ore reduced to powder and sifted, four of stone from which iron is made, like­
wise crushed, and three of slaked lime, are mixed together and moistened
with water; to these are added two and a half parts of the cakes which
contain some copper, together with one and a half parts of slag. A basket­
ful of fragments of the cakes is thrown into the furnace, then the mixture
of other things, and then the slag. Now when the middle part of the
forehearth is filled with the molten material which runs down from the
furnace, the slags are first skimmed off, and then the cakes made of pyrites;
afterward the alloy of copper, gold and silver, which settles at the bottom,
is taken out. The cakes are gently roasted and re-smelted with lead, and
made into cakes, which are carried to other works. The alloy of copper,
gold, and silver is not roasted, but is re-melted again in a crucible with an
equal portion of lead. Cakes are also made much richer in copper and gold
than those I spoke of. In order that the alloy of gold and silver may be
1made richer, to eighteen líbrae of it are added forty-eight líbrae of crude
ore, three líbrae of the stone from which iron is made, and three-quarters
of a líbra of the cakes made from pyrites, and mixed with lead, all are
heated together in the crucible until they melt. When the slag and the
cakes melted from pyrites have been skimmed off, the alloy is carried to
other furnaces.
There now follows silver, of which the native silver or the lumps of rudís
silver34 obtained from the mines are not smelted in the blast furnaces, but in
small iron pans, of which I will speak at the proper place; these lumps
are heated and thrown into molten silver-lead alloy in the cupellation furnace
when the silver is being separated from the lead, and refined. The tiny flakes
or tiny lumps of silver adhering to stones or marble or rocks, or again the
same little lumps mixed with earth, or silver not pure enough, should be
smelted in the furnace of which the tap-hole is only closed for a short time,
together with cakes melted from pyrites, with silver slags, and with stones
which easily fuse in fire of the second order.
In order that particles of silver should not fly away35 from the lumps
of ore consisting of minute threads of pure silver and twigs of native silver,
they are enclosed in a pot, and are placed in the same furnace where the rest of
the silver ores are being smelted. Some people smelt lumps of native silver
not sufficiently pure, in pots or triangular crucibles, whose lids are sealed with
lute. They do not place these pots in the blast furnace, but arrange them in
the assay furnace into which the draught of the air blows through small holes.
To one part of the native silver they add three parts of powdered litharge, as
many parts of hearth-lead, half a part of galena36, and a small quantity of
salt and iron-scales. The alloy which settles at the bottom of the other
substances in the pot is carried to the cupellation furnace, and the slags are
re-melted with the other silver slags. They crush under the stamps and
wash the pots or crucibles to which silver-lead alloy or slags adhere, and
having collected the concentrates they smelt them together with the slags.
This method of smelting rudis silver, if there is a small quantity of it, is the
best, because the smallest portion of silver does not fly out of the pot or the
crucible, and get lost.
If bismuth ore or antimony ore or lead ore37 contains silver, it is
smelted with the other ores of silver; likewise galena or pyrites, if there is
a small amount of it. If there be much galena, whether it contain a large
or a small amount of silver, it is smelted separately from the others;
which process I will explain a little further on.
1
Because lead and copper ores and their metals have much in common
with silver ores, it is fitting that I should say a great deal concerning them,
both now and later on. Also in the same manner, pyrites are smelted separ­
ately if there be much of them. To three parts of roasted lead or copper
ore and one part of crude ore, are added concentrates if they were made by
washing the same ore, together with slags, and all are put in the third furnace
whose tap-hole is always open. Cakes are made from this charge, which,
when they have been quenched with water, are roasted. Of these roasted
cakes generally four parts are again mixed with one part of crude pyrites
and re-melted in the same furnace. Cakes are again made from this charge,
and if there is a large amount of copper in these cakes, copper is made
immediately after they have been roasted and re-melted; if there is little
copper in the cakes they are also roasted, but they are re-smelted with a little
soft slag. In this method the molten lead in the forehearth absorbs the
silver. From the pyritic material which floats on the top of the forehearth
are made cakes for the third time, and from them when they have been
roasted and re-smelted is made copper. Similarly, three parts of roasted
cadmia38 in which there is silver, are mixed with one part of crude pyrites,
together with slag, and this charge is smelted and cakes are made from it;
these cakes having been roasted are re-smelted in the same furnace. By this
method the lead contained in the forehearth absorbs the silver, and the silver­
lead is taken to the cupellation furnace. Crude quartz and stones which
easily fuse in fire of the third order, together with other ores in which there
is a small amount of silver, ought to be mixed with crude roasted pyrites or
cadmía, because the roasted cakes of pyrites or cadmía cannot be
profitably smelted separately. In a similar manner earths which contain
little silver are mixed with the same; but if pyrites and cadmia are not
available to the smelter, he smelts such silver ores and earths with litharge,
hearth-lead, slags, and stones which easily melt in the fire. The concentrates39
originating from the washing of rudis silver, after first being roasted40 until
they melt, are smelted with mixed litharge and hearth-lead, or else, after
being moistened with water, they are smelted with cakes made from pyrites
and cadmia. By neither of these methods do (the concentrates) fall
back in the furnace, or fly out of it, driven by the blast of the bellows and the
agitation of the fire. If the concentrates originated from galena they are
smelted with it after having been roasted; and if from pyrites, then with
pyrites.
Pure copper ore, whether it is its own colour or is tinged with chrysocolla
or azure, and copper glance, or grey or black rudis copper, is smelted in a
furnace of which the tap-hole is closed for a very short time, or else is always

1open41. If there is a large amount of silver in the ore it is run into the fore­
hearth, and the greater part of the silver is absorbed by the molten lead, and
the remainder is sold with the copper to the proprietor of the works in which
silver is parted from copper42. If there is a small amount of silver in the ore,
no lead is put into the forehearth to absorb the silver, and the above­
1mentioned proprietors buy it in with the copper; if there be no silver, copper
is made direct. If such copper ore contains some minerals which do not
easily melt, as pyrites or cadmía metallíca fossilís43, or stone from which iron
is melted, then crude pyrites which easily fuse are added to it, together
with slag. From this charge, when smelted, they make cakes; and from
1these, when they have been roasted as much as is necessary and re-smelted,
the copper is made. But if there be some silver in the cakes, for which an
outlay of lead has to be made, then it is first run into the forehearth, and
the molten lead absorbs the silver.
Indeed, rudis copper ore of inferior quality, whether ash-coloured or
purple, blackish and occasionally in parts blue, is smelted in the first
furnace whose tap-hole is always open. This is the method of the Tyrolese.
To as much rudis copper ore as will fill eighteen vessels, each of which holds
1almost as much as seven Roman moduli44, the first smelter—for there are
three—adds three cartloads of lead slags, one cartload of schist, one fifth of
a centumpondium of stones which easily fuse in the fire, besides a small
quantity of concentrates collected from copper slag and accretions, all of
which he smelts for the space of twelve hours, and from which he makes six
centumpondía of primary cakes and one-half of a centumpondium of alloy.
One half of the latter consists of copper and silver, and it settles to the bottom
of the forehearth. In every centumpondium of the cakes there is half a libra
of silver and sometimes half an uncia besides; in the half of a centumpondium
1of the alloy there is a bes or three-quarters of silver. In this way every week,
if the work is for six days, thirty-six centumpondia of cakes are made and
three centumpondia of alloy, in all of which there is often almost twenty-four
librae of silver. The second smelter separates from the primary cakes the
greater part of the silver by absorbing it in lead. To eighteen centumpondia
of cakes made from crude copper ore, he adds twelve centumpondia of hearth­
lead and litharge, three centumpondia of stones from which lead is smelted,
five centumpondia of hard cakes rich in silver, and two centumpondía of
exhausted liquation cakes45; he adds besides, some of the slags resulting
from smelting crude copper, together with a small quantity of concentrates
made from accretions, all of which he melts for the space of twelve hours,
and makes eighteen centumpondia of secondary cakes, and twelve centum­
pondia of copper-lead-silver alloy; in each centumpondíum of the latter
there is half a libra of silver. After he has taken off the cakes with a
hooked bar, he pours the alloy out into copper or iron moulds; by this
method they make four cakes of alloy, which are carried to the works in
which silver is parted from copper. On the following day, the same smelter,
taking eighteen centumpondia of the secondary cakes, again adds twelve
centumpondia of hearth-lead and litharge, three centumpondia of stones
from which lead is smelted, five centumpondía of hard cakes rich in silver,
together with slags from the smelting of the primary cakes, and with concen­
trates washed from the accretions which are usually made at that time.
This charge is likewise smelted for the space of twelve hours, and he makes as
many as thirteen centumpondía of tertiary cakes and eleven centumpondia
of copper-lead-silver alloy, each centumpondium of which contains one­
third of a líbra and half an uncia of silver. When he has skimmed off the
tertiary cakes with a hooked bar, the alloy is poured into copper moulds, and
by this method four cakes of alloy are made, which, like the preceding four
cakes of alloy, are carried to the works in which silver is parted from copper.
By this method the second smelter makes primary cakes on alternate days
and secondary cakes on the intermediate days. The third smelter takes
eleven cartloads of the tertiary cakes and adds to them three cartloads of
hard cakes poor in silver, together with the slag from smelting the secondary
cakes, and the concentrates from the accretions which are usually made
at that time. From this charge when smelted, he makes twenty centum­
pondía of quaternary cakes, which are called “hard cakes,” and also
fifteen centumpondía of those “hard cakes rich in silver,” each centum­
pondium of which contains a third of a libra of silver. These latter cakes the
second smelter, as I said before, adds to the primary and secondary cakes
when he re-melts them. In the same way, from eleven cartloads of qua­
ternary cakes thrice roasted, he makes the “final” cakes, of which one
centumpondinm contains only half an uncia of silver. In this operation he
also makes fifteen centumpondia of “hard cakes poor in silver,” in each
centumpondium of which is a sixth of a líbra of silver. These hard cakes the
1third smelter, as I have said, adds to the tertiary cakes when he re-smelts
them, while from the “final” cakes, thrice roasted and re-smelted, is made
black copper46.
The rudis copper from which pure copper is made, if it contains little
silver or if it does not easily melt, is first smelted in the third furnace of which
the tap-hole is always open; and from this are made cakes, which after
being seven times roasted are re-smelted, and from these copper is melted
out; the cakes of copper are carried to a furnace of another kind, in which
they are melted for the third time, in order that in the copper “bottoms”
there may be more silver, while in the “tops” there may be less, which
process is explained in Book XI.
1
Pyrites, when they contain not only copper, but also silver, are smelted
in the manner I described when I treated of ores of silver. But if they are
poor in silver, and if the copper which is melted out of them cannot easily be
treated, they are smelted according to the method which I last explained.
Finally, the copper schists containing bitumen or sulphur are roasted,
and then smelted with stones which easily fuse in a fire of the second order,
and are made into cakes, on the top of which the slags float. From
these cakes, usually roasted seven times and re-melted, are melted out
slags and two kinds of cakes; one kind is of copper and occupies the
bottom of the crucible, and these are sold to the proprietors of the works in
which silver is parted from copper; the other kind of cakes are usually
re-melted with primary cakes. If the schist contains but a small amount of
copper, it is burned, crushed under the stamps, washed and sieved, and
the concentrates obtained from it are melted down; from this are made
cakes from which, when roasted, copper is made. If either chrysocolla or azure,
or yellow or black earth containing copper and silver, adheres to the schist,
it is not washed, but is crushed and smelted with stones which easily
fuse in fire of the second order.
Lead ore, whether it be molybdaena47, pyrites, (galena?) or stone from
which it is melted, is often smelted in a special furnace, of which I have
spoken above, but no less often in the third furnace of which the tap-hole
is always open. The hearth and forehearth are made from powder containing
a small portion of iron hammer-scales; iron slag forms the principal flux
for such ores; both of these the expert smelters consider useful and to
the owner's advantage, because it is the nature of iron to attract lead. If
it is molybdaena or the stone from which lead is smelted, then the lead runs
down from the furnace into the forehearth, and when the slags have been
skimmed off, the lead is poured out with a ladle. If pyrites are smelted,
the first to flow from the furnace into the forehearth, as may be seen at
Goslar, is a white molten substance, injurious and noxious to silver, for it
consumes it. For this reason the slags which float on the top having been
skimmed off, this substance is poured out; or if it hardens, then it is taken
out with a hooked bar; and the walls of the furnace exude the same substance48.
1Then the stannum runs out of the furnace into the forehearth; this is an alloy
of lead and silver. From the silver-lead alloy they first skim off the slags,
not rarely white, as some pyrites49 are, and afterward they skim off the
cakes of pyrites, if there are any. In these cakes there is usually some copper;
but since there is usually but a very small quantity, and as the forest
1charcoal is not abundant, no copper is made from them. From the silver­
lead poured into iron moulds they likewise make cakes: when these cakes
have been melted in the cupellation furnace, the silver is parted from the
lead, because part of the lead is transformed into litharge and part into
hearth-lead, from which in the blast furnace on re-melting they make
1de-silverized lead, for in this lead each centumpondíum contains only a
drachma of silver, when before the silver was parted from it each centumpon­
dium contained more or less than three unciae of silver50.
The little black stones51 and others from which tin is made, are smelted
in their own kind of furnace, which should be narrower than the other
furnaces, that there may be only the small fire which is necessary for this
ore. These furnaces are higher, that the height may compensate for the
narrowness and make them of almost the same capacity as the other furnaces.
At the top, in front, they are closed and on the other side they are open, where
there are steps, because they cannot have the steps in front on account of the
forehearth; the smelters ascend by these steps to put the tin-stone into the
furnace. The hearth of the furnace is not made of powdered earth and char­
coal, but on the floor of the works are placed sandstones which are not too
hard; these are set on a slight slope, and are two and three-quarters feet
long, the same number of feet wide, and two feet thick, for the thicker they are
the longer they last in the fire. Around them is constructed a rectangular
furnace eight or nine feet high, of broad sandstones, or of those common
substances which by nature are composed of diverse materials52. On the
inside the furnace is everywhere evenly covered with lute. The upper part
of the interior is two feet long and one foot wide, but below it is not so long
and wide. Above it are two hood-walls, between which the fumes ascend
from the furnace into the dust chamber, and through this they escape by a
narrow opening in the roof. The sandstones are sloped at the bed of the
furnace, so that the tin melted from the tin-stone may flow through the tap­
hole of the furnace into the forehearth.53
1
As there is no need for the smelters to have a fierce fire, it is not necessary
to place the nozzles of the bellows in bronze or iron pipes, but only through a
hole in the furnace wall. They place the bellows higher at the back so that
the blast from the nozzles may blow straight toward the tap-hole of the
furnace. That it may not be too fierce, the nozzles are wide, for if the fire
were fiercer, tin could not be melted out from the tin-stone, as it would be
consumed and turned into ashes. Near the steps is a hollowed stone,
in which is placed the tin-stone to be smelted; as often as the smelter
throws into the furnace an iron shovel-ful of this tin-stone, he puts on char­
coal that was first put into a vat and washed with water to be cleansed from the
grit and small stones which adhere to it, lest they melt at the same time as the
tin-stone and obstruct the tap-hole and impede the flow of tin from the
furnace. The tap-hole of the furnace is always open; in front of it is a fore­
hearth a little more than half a foot deep, three-quarters of two feet long and
one foot wide; this is lined with lute, and the tin from the tap-hole flows into it.
On one side of the forehearth is a low wall, three-quarters of a foot wider
and one foot longer than the forehearth, on which lies charcoal powder.
On the other side the floor of the building slopes, so that the slags may con­
veniently run down and be carried away. As soon as the tin begins to run
from the tap-hole of the furnace into the forehearth, the smelter scrapes
1down some of the powdered charcoal into it from the wall, so that the slags
may be separated from the hot metal, and so that it may be covered, lest
any part of it, being very hot, should fly away with the fumes. If after
the slag has been skimmed off, the powder does not cover up the whole of the
tin, the smelter draws a little more charcoal off the wall with a scraper. After
he has opened the tap-hole of the forehearth with a tapping-bar, in order
that the tin can flow into the tapping-pot, likewise smeared with lute, he
again closes the tap-hole with pure lute or lute mixed with powdered charcoal.
The smelter, if he be diligent and experienced, has brooms at hand with which
he sweeps down the walls above the furnace; to these walls and to the
dust chamber minute tin-stones sometimes adhere with part of the fumes.
If he be not sufficiently experienced in these matters and has melted at the
same time all of the tin-stone,—which is commonly of three sizes, large,
medium, and very small,—not a little waste of the proprietor's tin results;
because, before the large or the medium sizes have melted, the small have either
been burnt up in the furnace, or else, flying up from it, they not only adhere to
the walls but also fall in the dust chamber. The owner of the works has
the sweepings by right from the owner of the ore. For the above reasons
the most experienced smelter melts them down separately; indeed, he
melts the very small size in a wider furnace, the medium in a medium-sized
furnace, and the largest size in the narrowest furnace. When he melts down
the small size he uses a gentle blast from the bellows, with the medium-sized
a moderate one, with the large size a violent blast; and when he smelts
the first size he needs a slow fire, for the second a medium one, and for the
third a fierce one; yet he uses a much less fierce fire than when he smelts
the ores of gold, silver, or copper. When the workmen have spent three
consecutive days and nights in this work, as is usual, they have finished
their labours; in this time they are able to melt out a large weight of small
1sized tin-stone which melts quickly, but less of the large ones which melt
slowly, and a moderate quantity of the medium-sized which holds the middle
course. Those who do not smelt the tin-stone in furnaces made sometimes
wide, sometimes medium, or sometimes narrow, in order that great loss
should not be occasioned, throw in first the smallest size, then the medium,
then the large size, and finally those which are not quite pure; and the blast
of the bellows is altered as required. In order that the tin-stone thrown
into the furnace should not roll off from the large charcoal into the forehearth
before the tin is melted out of it, the smelter uses small charcoal; first some
of this moistened with water is placed in the furnace, and then he frequently
repeats this succession of charcoal and tin-stone.
The tin-stone, collected from material which during the summer was
washed in a ditch through which a stream was diverted, and during the winter
was screened on a perforated iron plate, is smelted in a furnace a palm wider
than that in which the fine tin-stone dug out of the earth is smelted. For
the smelting of these, a more vigorous blast of the bellows and a fiercer fire
is needed than for the smelting of the large tin-stone. Whichever kind of
tin-stone is being smelted, if the tin first flows from the furnace, much of it is
made, and if slags first flow from the furnace, then only a little. It happens
that the tin-stone is mixed with the slags when it is either less pure or
ferruginous—that is, not enough roasted—and is imperfect when put into
the furnace, or when it has been put in in a larger quantity than was neces­
sary; then, although it may be pure and melt easily, the ore either runs
out of the furnace at the same time, mixed with the slags, or else it settles
so firmly at the bottom of the furnace that the operation of smelting being
necessarily interrupted, the furnace freezes up.
The tap-hole of the forehearth is opened and the tin is diverted into the
dipping-pot, and as often as the slags flow down the sloping floor of the build­
ing they are skimmed off with a rabble; as soon as the tin has run out of
the forehearth, the tap-hole is again closed up with lute mixed with powdered
charcoal. Glowing coals are put in the dipping-pot so that the tin, after it
has run out, should not get chilled. If the metal is so impure that nothing
can be made from it, the material which has run out is made into cakes to be
re-smelted in the hearth, of which I shall have something to say later; if the
metal is pure, it is poured immediately upon thick copper plates, at first in
straight lines and then transversely over these to make a lattice. Each of
these lattice bars is impressed with an iron die; if the tin was melted out
of ore excavated from mines, then one stamp only, namely, that of the
Magistrate, is usually imprinted, but if it is made from tin-stone collected on
the ground after washing, then it is impressed with two seals, one the
Magistrate's and the other a fork which the washers use. Generally, three
of this kind of lattice bars are beaten and amalgamated into one mass with a
wooden mallet.
The slags that are skimmed off are afterward thrown with an iron shovel
into a small trough hollowed from a tree, and are cleansed from charcoal
1 226[Figure 226]
A—FURNACE. B—ITS TAP-HOLE. C—FOREHEARTH. D—ITS TAP-HOLE. E—SLAGS.
F—SCRAPER. G—DIPPING-POT. H—WALLS OF THE CHIMNEY. I—BROOM.
K—COPPER PLATE. L—LATTICEWORK BARS. M—IRON SEAL OR DIE. N—HAMMER.
1by agitation; when taken out they are broken up with a square iron mallet,
and then they are re-melted with the fine tin-stone next smelted. There
are some who crush the slags three times under wet stamps and re-melt them
three times; if a large quantity of this be smelted while still wet, little
tin is melted from it, because the slag, soon melted again, flows from the
furnace into the forehearth. Under the wet stamps are also crushed the
lute and broken rock with which such furnaces are lined, and also the
accretions, which often contain fine tin-stone, either not melted or half­
melted, and also prills of tin. The tin-stone not yet melted runs out
through the screen into a trough, and is washed in the same way as tin­
stone, while the partly melted and the prills of tin are taken from the mortar­
box and washed in the sieve on which not very minute particles remain, and
thence to the canvas strake. The soot which adheres to that part of the
chimney which emits the smoke, also often contains very fine tin-stone which
flies from the furnace with the fumes, and this is washed in the strake which
I have just mentioned, and in other sluices. The prills of tin and the partly
melted tin-stone that are contained in the lute and broken rock with which
the furnace is lined, and in the remnants of the tin from the forehearth and
the dipping-pot, are smelted together with the tin-stone.
When tin-stone has been smelted for three days and as many nights in a
furnace prepared as I have said above, some little particles of the rock from
which the furnace is constructed become loosened by the fire and fall down;
and then the bellows being taken away, the furnace is broken through at the
back, and the accretions are first chipped off with hammers, and afterward
the whole of the interior of the furnace is re-fitted with the prepared sand­
stone, and again evenly lined with lute. The sandstone placed on the bed
of the furnace, if it has become faulty, is taken out, and another is laid down
in its place; those rocks which are too large the smelter chips off and fits
with a sharp pick.
Some build two furnaces against the wall just like those I have described,
and above them build a vaulted ceiling supported by the wall and by four
pillars. Through holes in the vaulted ceiling the fumes from the furnaces
ascend into a dust chamber, similar to the one described before, except that
there is a window on each side and there is no door. The smelters, when
they have to clear away the flue-dust, mount by the steps at the side of the
furnaces, and climb by ladders into the dust chamber through the apertures
in the vaulted ceilings over the furnaces. They then remove the flue-dust
from everywhere and collect it in baskets, which are passed from one to the
other and emptied. This dust chamber differs from the other described, in
the fact that the chimneys, of which it has two, are not dissimilar to those
of a house; they receive the fumes which, being unable to escape through the
upper part of the chamber, are turned back and re-ascend and release the
tin; thus the tin set free by the fire and turned to ash, and the little tin­
stones which fly up with the fumes, remain in the dust chamber or else adhere
to copper plates in the chimney.
1 227[Figure 227]
A—FURNACES. B—FOREHEARTHS. C—THEIR TAP-HOLES. D—DIPPING-POTS. E—PILLARS.
F—DUST-CHAMBER. G—WINDOW. H—CHIMNEYS. I—TUB IN WHICH THE COALS ARE
WASHED.
1
If the tin is so impure that it cracks when struck with the hammer, it
is not immediately made into lattice-like bars, but into the cakes which I have
spoken of before, and these are refined by melting again on a hearth. This
hearth consists of sandstones, which slope toward the centre and a little
toward a dipping-pot; at their joints they are covered with lute. Dry
logs are arranged on each side, alternately upright and lengthwise, and more
closely in the middle; on this wood are placed five or six cakes of tin which
all together weigh about six centumpondia; the wood having been kindled,
228[Figure 228]
A—HEARTHS. B—DIPPING-POTS. C—WOOD. D—CAKES. E—LADLE. F—COPPER
PLATE. G—LATTICE-SHAPED BARS. H—IRON DIES. I—WOODEN MALLET. K—MASS
OF TIN BARS. L—SHOVEL.
the tin drips down and flows continuously into the dipping-pot which
is on the floor. The impure tin sinks to the bottom of this dipping-pot
and the pure tin floats on the top; then both are ladled out by the master,
who first takes out the pure tin, and by pouring it over thick plates of copper
makes lattice-like bars. Afterward he takes out the impure tin from which
he makes cakes; he discriminates between them, when he ladles and pours,
by the ease or difficulty of the flow. One centumpondium of the lattice-like
bare sells for more than a centumpondium of cakes, for the price of the former
1exceeds the price of the latter by a gold coin54. These lattice-like bars are
lighter than the others, and when five of them are pounded and amalgamated
with a wooden mallet, a mass is made which is stamped with an iron die.
There are some who do not make a dipping-pot on the floor for the tin to run
into, but in the hearth itself; out of this the master, having removed the
charcoal, ladles the tin and pours it over the copper-plate. The dross which
adheres to the wood and the charcoal, having been collected, is re-smelted
in the furnace.
229[Figure 229]
A—FURNACE. B—BELLOWS. C—IRON DISC. D—NOZZLE. E—WOODEN DISC.
F—BLOW-HOLE. G—HANDLE. H—HAFT. I—HOOPS. K—MASSES OF TIN.
Some of the Lusitanians melt tin from tin-stone in small furnaces. They
use round bellows made of leather, of which the fore end is a round iron disc
and the rear end a disc of wood; in a hole in the former is fixed the nozzle,
in the middle of the latter the blow-hole. Above this is the handle or haft,
which draws open the round bellows and lets in the air, or compresses it and
drives the air out. Between the discs are several iron hoops to which the
leather is fastened, making such folds as are to be seen in paper lanterns that
1are folded together. Since this kind of bellows does not give a vigorous blast,
because they are drawn apart and compressed slowly, the smelter is not
able during a whole day to smelt much more than half a centumpondium of
tin.
Very good iron ore is smelted55 in a furnace almost like the cupellation
furnace. The hearth is three and a half feet high, and five feet long and
wide; in the centre of it is a crucible a foot deep and one and a half feet
wide, but it may be deeper or shallower, wider or narrower, according to whether
more or less ore is to be made into iron. A certain quantity of iron ore is
given to the master, out of which he may smelt either much or little iron.
He being about to expend his skill and labour on this matter, first throws
charcoal into the crucible, and sprinkles over it an iron shovel-ful of crushed
iron ore mixed with unslaked lime. Then he repeatedly throws on charcoal
and sprinkles it with ore, and continues this until he has slowly built up a
heap; it melts when the charcoal has been kindled and the fire violently
stimulated by the blast of the bellows, which are skilfully fixed in a pipe.
1He is able to complete this work sometimes in eight hours, sometimes in ten,
and again sometimes in twelve. In order that the heat of the fire should not
burn his face, he covers it entirely with a cap, in which, however, there are
holes through which he may see and breathe. At the side of the hearth is a
bar which he raises as often as is necessary, when the bellows blow too violent
a blast, or when he adds more ore and charcoal. He also uses the bar
to draw off the slags, or to open or close the gates of the sluice, through
which the waters flow down on to the wheel which turns the axle that com­
presses the bellows. In this sensible way, iron is melted out and a mass
weighing two or three centumpondia may be made, providing the iron ore
was rich. When this is done the master opens the slag-vent with the tapping­
bar, and when all has run out he allows the iron mass to cool. Afterward
he and his assistant stir the iron with the bar, and then in order to chip off
the slags which had until then adhered to it, and to condense and flatten it,
they take it down from the furnace to the floor, and boat it with large wooden
mallets having slender handles five feet long. Thereupon it is immediately
1 230[Figure 230]
A—HEARTH. B—HEAP. C—SLAG-VENT. D—IRON MASS. E—WOODEN MALLETS.
F—HAMMER. G—ANVIL.
1placed on the anvil, and repeatedly beaten by the large iron hammer that is
raised by the cams of an axle turned by a water-wheel. Not long afterward
it is taken up with tongs and placed under the same hammer, and cut up with
a sharp iron into four, five, or six pieces, according to whether it is large or
small. These pieces, after they have been re-heated in the blacksmith's forge
and again placed on the anvil, are shaped by the smith into square bars or into
ploughshares or tyres, but mainly into bars. Four, six, or eight of these bars
weigh one-fifth of a centumpondium, and from these they make various imple­
ments. During the blows from the hammer by which it is shaped by the smith,
a youth pours water with a ladle on to the glowing iron, and this is why the
blows make such a loud sound that they may be heard a long distance from
the works. The masses, if they remain and settle in the crucible of the
furnace in which the iron is smelted, become hard iron which can only be
hammered with difficulty, and from these they make the iron-shod heads for
the stamps, and such-like very hard articles.
But to iron ore which is cupriferous, or which when heated56 melts
with difficulty, it is necessary for us to give a fiercer fire and more labour;
because not only must we separate the parts of it in which there is metal from
those in which there is no metal, and break it up by dry stamps, but we must
also roast it, so that the other metals and noxious juices may be exhaled;
and we must wash it, so that the lighter parts may be separated from it.
Such ores are smelted in a furnace similar to the blast furnace, but much
wider and higher, so that it may hold a great quantity of ore and much
charcoal; mounting the stairs at the side of the furnace, the smelters fill
it partly with fragments of ore not larger than nuts, and partly with
charcoal; and from this kind of ore once or twice smelted they make iron
which is suitable for re-heating in the blacksmith's forge, after it is flattened
out with the large iron hammer and cut into pieces with the sharp iron.
By skill with fire and fluxes is made that kind of iron from which steel
is made, which the Greeks call στόμωμα. Iron should be selected which
is easy to melt, is hard and malleable. Now although iron may be
smelted from ore which contains other metals, yet it is then either soft
or brittle; such (iron) must be broken up into small pieces when it is
1 231[Figure 231]
A—FURNACE. B—STAIRS. C—ORE. D—CHARCOAL.
1 232[Figure 232]
A—FORGE. B—BELLOWS. C—TONGS. D—HAMMER. E—COLD STREAM.
1hot, and then mixed with crushed stone which melts. Then a crucible
is made in the hearth of the smith's furnace, from the same moistened
powder from which are made the forehearths in front of the furnaces in
which ores of gold or silver are smelted; the width of this crucible is
about one and a half feet and the depth one foot. The bellows are so
placed that the blast may be blown through the nozzle into the middle
of the crucible. Then the whole of the crucible is filled with the best
charcoal, and it is surrounded by fragments of rock to hold in place the pieces
of iron and the superimposed charcoal. As soon as all the charcoal
is kindled and the crucible is glowing, a blast is blown from the bellows
and the master pours in gradually as much of the mixture of iron and flux
as he wishes. Into the middle of this, when it is melted, he puts four iron
masses each weighing thirty pounds, and heats them for five or six hours in a
fierce fire; he frequently stirs the melted iron with a bar, so that the small
pores in each mass absorb the minute particles, and these particles by their
own strength consume and expand the thick particles of the masses, which they
render soft and similar to dough. Afterward the master, aided by his
assistant, takes out a mass with the tongs and places it on the anvil, where
it is pounded by the hammer which is alternately raised and dropped by
means of the water-wheel; then, without delay, while it is still hot, he
throws it into water and tempers it; when it is tempered, he places it again
on the anvil, and breaks it with a blow from the same hammer. Then at
once examining the fragments, he decides whether the iron in some part or
other, or as a whole, appears to be dense and changed into steel; if so, he seizes
one mass after another with the tongs, and taking them out he breaks them
into pieces. Afterward he heats the mixture up again, and adds a portion
afresh to take the place of that which has been absorbed by the masses. This
restores the energy of that which is left, and the pieces of the masses are again
put back into the crucible and made purer. Each of these, after having
been heated, is seized with the tongs, put under the hammer and shaped
into a bar. While they are still glowing, he at once throws them into the very
coldest nearby running water, and in this manner, being suddenly condensed,
they are changed into pure steel, which is much harder and whiter than iron.
The ores of the other metals are not smelted in furnaces. Quicksilver
ores and also antimony are melted in pots, and bismuth in troughs.
I will first speak of quicksilver. This is collected when found in pools
formed from the outpourings of the veins and stringers; it is cleansed with
vinegar and salt, and then it is poured into canvas or soft leather, through
which, when squeezed and compressed, the quicksilver runs out into a pot or
pan. The ore of quicksilver is reduced in double or single pots. If in double
pots, then the upper one is of a shape not very dissimilar to the glass ampullas
used by doctors, but they taper downward toward the bottom, and the
lower ones are little pots similar to those in which men and women make
cheese, but both are larger than these; it is necessary to sink the lower
pots up to the rims in earth, sand, or ashes. The ore, broken up into small
pieces is put into the upper pots; these having been entirely closed up
1with moss, are placed upside down in the openings of the lower pots, where they
are joined with lute, lest the quicksilver which takes refuge in them should
be exhaled. There are some who, after the pots have been buried, do not fear
to leave them uncemented, and who boast that they are able to produce no
less weight of quicksilver than those who do cement them, but nevertheless
cementing with lute is the greatest protection against exhalation. In this
manner seven hundred pairs of pots are set together in the ground or on a
hearth. They must be surrounded on all sides with a mixture consisting of
crushed earth and charcoal, in such a way that the upper pots protrude to a
height of a palm above it. On both sides of the hearth rocks are first laid,
and upon them poles, across which the workmen place other poles transversely;
these poles do not touch the pots, nevertheless the fire heats the quick­
silver, which fleeing from the heat is forced to run down through the moss
into the lower pots. If the ore is being reduced in the upper pots, it flees
from them, wherever there is an exit, into the lower pots, but if the ore on
the contrary is put in the lower pots the quicksilver rises into the upper pot
or into the operculum, which, together with the gourd-shaped vessels, are
cemented to the upper pots.
233[Figure 233]
A—HEARTH. B—POLES. C—HEARTH WITHOUT FIRE IN WHICH THE POTS ARE PLACED.
D—ROCKS. E—ROWS OF POTS. F—UPPER POTS. G—LOWER POTS.
1
The pots, lest they should become defective, are moulded from the best
potters' clay, for if there are defects the quicksilver flies out in the fumes.
If the fumes give out a very sweet odour it indicates that the quicksilver is
being lost, and since this loosens the teeth, the smelters and others standing by,
warned of the evil, turn their backs to the wind, which drives the fumes in
the opposite direction; for this reason, the building should be open around
the front and the sides, and exposed to the wind. If these pots are made
of cast copper they last a long time in the fire. This process for reducing the
ores of quicksilver is used by most people.
In a similar manner the antimony ore,57 if free from other metals, is reduced
in upper pots which are twice as large as the lower ones. Their size, however,
depends on the cakes, which have not the same weight everywhere; for in
some places they are made to weigh six librae, in other places ten, and else­
where twenty. When the smelter has concluded his operation, he extin­
guishes the fire with water, removes the lids from the pots, throws earth mixed
with ash around and over them, and when they have cooled, takes out the
cakes from the pots.
1
Other methods for reducing quicksilver are given below. Big-bellied
pots, having been placed in the upper rectangular open part of a furnace,
are filled with the crushed ore. Each of these pots is covered with a lid
with a long nozzle—commonly called a campana—in the shape of a bell, and
they are cemented. Each of the small earthenware vessels shaped like a
gourd receives two of these nozzles, and these are likewise cemented. Dried
234[Figure 234]
A—POTS. B—OPERCULA. C—NOZZLES. D—GOURD-SHAPED EARTHENWARE VESSELS.
wood having been placed in the lower part of the furnace and kindled, the
ore is heated until all the quicksilver has risen into the operculum which is
over the pot; it then flows from the nozzle and is caught in the earthenware
gourd-shaped vessel.
1
Others build a hollow vaulted chamber, of which the paved floor is made
concave toward the centre. Inside the thick walls of the chamber are the
furnaces. The doors through which the wood is put are in the outer part of the
same wall. They place the pots in the furnaces and fill them with crushed
ore, then they cement the pots and the furnaces on all sides with lute, so that
none of the vapour may escape from them, and there is no entrance to the
235[Figure 235]
A—ENCLOSED CHAMBER. B—DOOR. C—LITTLE WINDOWS. D—MOUTHS THROUGH THE
WALLS. E—FURNACE IN THE ENCLOSED CHAMBER. F—POTS.
furnaces except through their mouths. Between the dome and the paved
floor they arrange green trees, then they close the door and the little windows,
and cover them on all sides with moss and lute, so that none of the quick­
silver can exhale from the chamber. After the wood has been kindled the
1ore is heated, and exudes the quicksilver; whereupon, impatient with the
heat, and liking the cold, it escapes to the leaves of the trees, which
have a cooling power. When the operation is completed the smelter
extinguishes the fire, and when all gets cool he opens the door and the
windows, and collects the quicksilver, most of which, being heavy, falls of
its own accord from the trees, and flows into the concave part of the floor;
if all should not have fallen from the trees, they are shaken to make it fall.
The following is the fourth method of reducing ores of quicksilver. A
larger pot standing on a tripod is filled with crushed ore, and over the ore is
put sand or ashes to a thickness of two digits, and tamped; then in
the mouth of this pot is inserted the mouth of another smaller pot and
cemented with lute, lest the vapours are emitted. The ore heated by the fire
exhales the quicksilver, which, penetrating through the sand or the ashes,
takes refuge in the upper pot, where condensing into drops it falls back into
the sand or the ashes, from which the quicksilver is washed and collected.
236[Figure 236]
A—LARGER POT. B—SMALLER. C—TRIPOD. D—TUB IN WHICH THE SAND IS WASHED.
The fifth method is not very unlike the fourth. In the place of these
pots are set other pots, likewise of earthenware, having a narrow bottom
and a wide mouth. These are nearly filled with crushed ore, which is likewise
covered with ashes to a depth of two digits and tamped in. The pots are
1covered with lids a digit thick, and they are smeared over on the inside with
liquid litharge, and on the lid are placed heavy stones. The pots are set on
the furnace, and the ore is heated and similarly exhales quicksilver, which
fleeing from the heat takes refuge in the lid; on congealing there, it falls
back into the ashes, from which, when washed, the quicksilver is collected.
237[Figure 237]
A—POTS. B—LIDS. C—STONES. D—FURNACE.
By these five methods quicksilver may be made, and of these not one is
to be despised or repudiated; nevertheless, if the mine supplies a great
abundance of ore, the first is the most expeditious and practical, because a
large quantity of ore can be reduced at the same time without great expense.58
1
Bismuth59 ore, free from every kind of silver, is smelted by various
methods. First a small pit is dug in the dry ground; into this pulverised
charcoal is thrown and tamped in, and then it is dried with burning charcoal.
Afterward, thick dry pieces of beech wood are placed over the pit, and the
bismuth ore is thrown on it. As soon as the kindled wood burns, the heated
ore drips with bismuth, which runs down into the pit, from which when cooled
the cakes are removed. Because pieces of burnt wood, or often charcoal
and occasionally slag, drop into the bismuth which collects in the pit, and
make it impure, it is put back into another kind of crucible to be melted,
so that pure cakes may be made. There are some who, bearing these things
in mind, dig a pit on a sloping place and below it put a forehearth, into
which the bismuth continually flows, and thus remains clean; then they
take it out with ladles and pour it into iron pans lined inside with lute, and
make cakes of it. They cover such pits with flat stones, whose joints are
besmeared with a lute of mixed dust and crushed charcoal, lest the joints
should absorb the molten bismuth. Another method is to put the ore in
troughs made of fir-wood and placed on sloping ground; they place small
firewood over it, kindling it when a gentle wind blows, and thus the ore is
heated. In this manner the bismuth melts and runs down from the troughs
into a pit below, while there remains slag, or stones, which are of a yellow
colour, as is also the wood laid across the pit. These are also sold.
1 238[Figure 238]
A—PIT ACROSS WHICH WOOD IS PLACED. B—FOREHEARTH. C—LADLE. D—IRON
MOULD. E—CAKES. F—EMPTY POT LINED WITH STONES IN LAYERS. G—TROUGHS.
H—PITS DUG AT THE FOOT OF THE TROUGHS. I—SMALL WOOD LAID OVER THE TROUGHS.
K—WIND.
1
Others reduce the ore in iron pans as next described. They lay small
pieces of dry wood alternately straight and transversely upon bricks, one and
a half feet apart, and set fire to it. Near it they put small iron pans lined
on the inside with lute, and full of broken ore; then when the wind
blows the flame of the fierce fire over the pans, the bismuth drips out of the
ore; wherefore, in order that it may run, the ore is stirred with the tongs; but
when they decide that all the bismuth is exuded, they seize the pans with
the tongs and remove them, and pour out the bismuth into empty pans, and
by turning many into one they make cakes. Others reduce the ore, when it is
not mixed with cadmía,60 in a furnace similar to the iron furnace. In this
case they make a pit and a crucible of crushed earth mixed with pulverised
239[Figure 239]
A—WOOD. B—BRICKS. C—PANS. D—FURNACE. E—CRUCIBLE. F—PIPE.
G—DIPPING-POT.
charcoal, and into it they put the broken ore, or the concentrates from
washing, from which they make more bismuth. If they put in ore,
they reduce it with charcoal and small dried wood mixed, and if concentrates,
they use charcoal only; they blow both materials with a gentle blast from
1a bellows. From the crucible is a small pipe through which the molten
bismuth runs down into a dipping-pot, and from this cakes are made.
On a dump thrown up from the mines, other people construct a hearth
exposed to the wind, a foot high, three feet wide, and four and a half feet
long. It is held together by four boards, and the whole is thickly coated at
the top with lute. On this hearth they first put small dried sticks of fir wood,
then over them they throw broken ore; then they lay more wood over it,
and when the wind blows they kindle it. In this manner the bismuth drips
out of the ore, and afterward the ashes of the wood consumed by the fire and
the charcoals are swept away. The drops of bismuth which fall down into
the hearth are congealed by the cold, and they are taken away with the
tongs and thrown into a basket. From the melted bismuth they make
cakes in iron pans.
240[Figure 240]
A—HEARTH IN WHICH ORE IS MELTED. B—HEARTH ON WHICH LIE DROPS OF BISMUTH.
C—TONGS. D—BASKET. E—WIND.
Others again make a box eight feet long, four feet wide, and two feet high,
which they fill almost full of sand and cover with bricks, thus making
the hearth. The box has in the centre a wooden pivot, which turns in a hole
in two beams laid transversely one upon the other; these beams are hard and
thick, are sunk into the ground, both ends are perforated, and through
1these holes wedge-shaped pegs are driven, in order that the beams may remain
fixed, and that the box may turn round, and may be turned toward the wind
from whichever quarter of the sky it may blow. In such a hearth they put
241[Figure 241]
A—BOX. B—PIVOT. C—TRANSVERSE WOOD BEAMS. D—GRATE. E—ITS FEET.
F—BURNING WOOD. G—STICK. H—PANS IN WHICH THE BISMUTH IS MELTED.
I—PANS FOR MOULDS. K—CAKES. L—FORK. M—BRUSH.
an iron grate, as long and wide as the box and threequarters of a foot high;
it has six feet, and there are so many transverse bars that they almost touch
one another. On the grate they lay pine-wood and over it broken ore, and over
this they again lay pine-wood. When it has been kindled the ore melts, out
of which the bismuth drips down; since very little wood is burned, this is the
most profitable method of smelting the bismuth. The bismuth drips through
the grate on to the hearth, while the other things remain upon the grate with
the charcoal. When the work is finished, the workman takes a stick from the
hearth and overturns the grate, and the things which have accumulated on
it; with a brush he sweeps up the bismuth and collects it in a basket, and
then he melts it in an iron pan and makes cakes. As soon as possible after
it is cool, he turns the pans over, so that the cakes may fall out, using for
this purpose a two-pronged fork of which one prong is again forked. And
immediately afterward he returns to his labours.
END OF BOOK IX.
1 242[Figure 242]
1
BOOK X.
Questions as to the methods of smelting ores and
of obtaining metals I discussed in Book IX.
Following this, I should explain in what manner the
precious metals are parted from the base metals, or
on the other hand the base metals from the precious1.
Frequently two metals, occasionally more than
two, are melted out of one ore, because in
nature generally there is some amount of gold in
silver and in copper, and some silver in gold, copper,
lead, and iron; likewise some copper in gold, silver, lead, and iron, and
some lead in silver; and lastly, some iron in copper2. But I will begin with
gold.
Gold is parted from silver, or likewise the latter from the former, whether
it be mixed by nature or by art, by means of aqua valens3, and by powders
which consist of almost the same things as this aqua. In order to preserve the
sequence, I will first speak of the ingredients of which this aqua is made, then
of the method of making it, then of the manner in which gold is parted from
silver or silver from gold. Almost all these ingredients contain vitriol or
alum, which, by themselves, but much more when joined with saltpetre, are
powerful to part silver from gold. As to the other things that are added to
them, they cannot individually by their own strength and nature separate
those metals, but joined they are very powerful. Since there are many
combinations, I will set out a few. In the first, the use of which is common
and general, there is one líbra of vitriol and as much salt, added to a third of a
líbra of spring water. The second contains two líbrae of vitriol, one of salt­
petre, and as much spring or river water by weight as will pass away whilst
the vitriol is being reduced to powder by the fire. The third consists of four
líbrae of vitriol, two and a half librae of saltpetre, half a líbra of alum, and one
and a half líbrae of spring water. The fourth consists of two líibrae of vitriol,
as many líbrae of saltpetre, one quarter of a líbra of alum, and three-quarters
of a líbra of spring water. The fifth is composed of one líbra of saltpetre,

1three librae of alum, half a libra of brick dust, and three-quarters of a líbra
of spring water. The sixth consists of four librae of vitriol, three librae of
saltpetre, one of alum, one libra likewise of stones which when thrown into a
fierce furnace are easily liquefied by fire of the third order, and one and a
half librae of spring water. The seventh is made of two librae of vitriol, one
and a half librae of saltpetre, half a libra of alum, and one libra of stones
which when thrown into a glowing furnace are easily liquefied by fire of the
third order, and five-sixths of a líbra of spring water. The eighth is made of
two líbrae of vitriol, the same number of librae of saltpetre, one and a
half librae of alum, one libra of the lees of the aqua which parts gold from
silver; and to each separate líbra a sixth of urine is poured over it. The
ninth contains two líbrae of powder of baked bricks, one libra of vitriol,
likewise one líbra of saltpetre, a handful of salt, and three-quarters of a libra
of spring water. Only the tenth lacks vitriol and alum, but it contains three
librae of saltpetre, two librae of stones which when thrown into a hot furnace
are easily liquefied by fire of the third order, half a libra each of verdigris4,
of stibium, of iron scales and filings, and of asbestos5, and one and one-sixth
librae of spring water.
All the vitriol from which the aqua is usually made is first reduced to
powder in the following way. It is thrown into an earthen crucible lined on
the inside with litharge, and heated until it melts; then it is stirred with a
copper wire, and after it has cooled it is pounded to powder. In the same
manner saltpetre melted by the fire is pounded to powder when it has cooled.
Some indeed place alum upon an iron plate, roast it, and make it into powder.
Although all these aquae cleanse gold concentrates or dust from
impurities, yet there are certain compositions which possess singular power.
1The first of these consists of one libra of verdigris and three-quarters of
a líbra of vitriol. For each libra there is poured over it one-sixth of a libra
of spring or river water, as to which, since this pertains to all these com­
pounds, it is sufficient to have mentioned once for all. The second com­
position is made from one líbra of each of the following, artificial orpiment,
vitriol, lime, alum, ash which the dyers of wool use, one quarter of a libra
of verdigris, and one and a half unciae of stibium. The third consists of three
librae of vitriol, one of saltpetre, half a libra of asbestos, and half a libra of
baked bricks. The fourth consists of one libra of saltpetre, one libra of alum,
and half a líbra of sal-ammoniac.6
The furnace in which aqua valens is made7 is built of bricks, rectangular,
two feet long and wide, and as many feet high and a half besides. It is
covered with iron plates supported with iron rods; these plates are smeared
on the top with lute, and they have in the centre a round hole, large enough to
hold the earthen vessel in which the glass ampulla is placed, and on each side of
the centre hole are two small round air-holes. The lower part of the furnace,
in order to hold the burning charcoal, has iron plates at the height of a palm,
likewise supported by iron rods. In the middle of the front there is the
mouth, made for the purpose of putting the fire into the furnace; this mouth
is half a foot high and wide, and rounded at the top, and under it is the
draught opening. Into the earthen vessel set over the hole is placed clean
sand a digit deep, and in it the glass ampulla is set as deeply as it is smeared
with lute. The lower quarter is smeared eight or ten times with nearly liquid
lute, each time to the thickness of a blade, and each time it is dried again,
until it has become as thick as the thumb; this kind of lute is well beaten
with an iron rod, and is thoroughly mixed with hair or cotton thread, or with
wool and salt, that it should not crackle. The many things of which the
compounds are made must not fill the ampulla completely, lest when boiling
they rise into the operculum. The operculum is likewise made of glass,
and is closely joined to the ampulla with linen, cemented with wheat flour
and white of egg moistened with water, and then lute free from salt is spread
over that part of it. In a similar way the spout of the operculum is joined
by linen covered with lute to another glass ampulla which receives the distilled
aqua. A kind of thin iron nail or small wooden peg, a little thicker than a
needle, is fixed in this joint, in order that when air seems necessary to the
artificer distilling by this process he can pull it out; this is necessary when
too much of the vapour has been driven into the upper part. The four air­
holes which, as I have said, are on the top of the furnace beside the large
hole on which the ampulla is placed, are likewise covered with lute.
1 243[Figure 243]
A—FURNACE. B—ITS ROUND HOLE. C—AIR-HOLES. D—MOUTH OF THE FURNACE.
E—DRAUGHT OPENING UNDER IT. F—EARTHENWARE CRUCIBLE. G—AMPULLA.
H—OPERCULUM. I—ITS SPOUT. K—OTHER AMPULLA. L—BASKET IN WHICH THIS IS
USUALLY PLACED LEST IT SHOULD BE BROKEN.
All this preparation having been accomplished in order, and the
ingredients placed in the ampulla, they are gradually heated over burning
charcoal until they begin to exhale vapour and the ampulla is seen to trickle
with moisture. But when this, on account of the rising of the vapour, turns
red, and the aqua distils through the spout of the operculum, then one must
work with the utmost care, lest the drops should fall at a quicker rate than
one for every five movements of the clock or the striking of its bell, and
not slower than one for every ten; for if it falls faster the glasses will be
broken, and if it drops more slowly the work begun cannot be completed
within the definite time, that is within the space of twenty-four hours. To
prevent the first accident, part of the coals are extracted by means of an iron
implement similar to pincers; and in order to prevent the second happening,
small dry pieces of oak are placed upon the coals, and the substances in the
ampulla are heated with a sharper fire, and the air-holes on the furnace
are re-opened if need arise. As soon as the drops are being distilled,
the glass ampulla which receives them is covered with a piece of linen
1moistened with water, in order that the powerful vapour which arises may be
repelled. When the ingredients have been heated and the ampulla in which
they were placed is whitened with moisture, it is heated by a fiercer fire until
all the drops have been distilled8. After the furnace has cooled, the aqua is
filtered and poured into a small glass ampulla, and into the same is put half
a drachma of silver9, which when dissolved makes the turbid aqua clear.
This is poured into the ampulla containing all the rest of the aqua, and as
soon as the lees have sunk to the bottom the aqua is poured off, removed, and
reserved for use.
Gold is parted from silver by the following method10. The alloy, with lead
added to it, is first heated in a cupel until all the lead is exhaled, and eight

1ounces of the alloy contain only five drachmae of copper or at most six, for
if there is more copper in it, the silver separated from the gold soon unites
with it again. Such molten silver containing gold is formed into granules,
being stirred by means of a rod split at the lower end, or else is poured into an
iron mould, and when cooled is made into thin leaves. As the process of
making granules from argentiferous gold demands greater care and diligence than
making them from any other metals, I will now explain the method briefly. The
alloy is first placed in a crucible, which is then covered with a lid and placed
in another earthen crucible containing a few ashes. Then they are placed
in the furnace, and after they are surrounded by charcoal, the fire is blown
by the blast of a bellows, and lest the charcoal fall away it is surrounded
by stones or bricks. Soon afterward charcoal is thrown over the upper
crucible and covered with live coals; these again are covered with charcoal,
so that the crucible is surrounded and covered on all sides with it. It
is necessary to heat the crucibles with charcoal for the space of half an hour or
a little longer, and to provide that there is no deficiency of charcoal, lest the
alloy become chilled; after this the air is blown in through the nozzle of the
bellows, that the gold may begin to melt. Soon afterward it is turned
round, and a test is quickly taken to see whether it be melted, and if it is
melted, fluxes are thrown into it; it is advisable to cover up the crucible
again closely that the contents may not be exhaled. The contents are heated
together for as long as it would take to walk fifteen paces, and then the
crucible is seized with tongs and the gold is emptied into an oblong vessel
containing very cold water, by pouring it slowly from a height so that the
granules will not be too big; in proportion as they are lighter, more fine
and more irregular, the better they are, therefore the water is frequently
stirred with a rod split into four parts from the lower end to the middle.
The leaves are cut into small pieces, and they or the silver granules are
put into a glass ampulla, and the aqua is poured over them to a height of a
digit above the silver. The ampulla is covered with a bladder or with waxed
linen, lest the contents exhale. Then it is heated until the silver is dissolved,
the indication of which is the bubbling of the aqua. The gold remains in the
bottom, of a blackish colour, and the silver mixed with the aqua floats above.
Some pour the latter into a copper bowl and pour into it cold water, which
immediately congeals the silver; this they take out and dry, having poured
off the aqua11. They heat the dried silver in an earthenware crucible until
it melts, and when it is melted they pour it into an iron mould.
The gold which remains in the ampulla they wash with warm water,
filter, dry, and heat in a crucible with a little chrysocolla which is called
borax, and when it is melted they likewise pour it into an iron mould.
1
Some workers, into an ampulla which contains gold and silver and the
aqua which separates them, pour two or three times as much of this aqua
valens warmed, and into the same ampulla or into a dish into which all is
poured, throw fine leaves of black lead and copper; by this means the gold
adheres to the lead and the silver to the copper, and separately the lead
from the gold, and separately the copper from the silver, are parted in a
cupel. But no method is approved by us which loses the aqua used to part
gold from silver, for it might be used again12.
A glass ampulla, which bulges up inside at the bottom like a cone, is
covered on the lower part of the outside with lute in the way explained above,
and into it is put silver bullion weighing three and a half Roman librae. The
aqua which parts the one from the other is poured into it, and the ampulla is
placed in sand contained in an earthen vessel, or in a box, that it may be
warmed with a gentle fire. Lest the aqua should be exhaled, the top of the
ampulla is plastered on all sides with lute, and it is covered with a glass
operculum, under whose spout is placed another ampulla which receives the
distilled drops; this receiver is likewise arranged in a box containing sand.
When the contents are heated it reddens, but when the redness no
longer appears to increase, it is taken out of the vessel or box and shaken;
by this motion the aqua becomes heated again and grows red; if this is
done two or three times before other aqua is added to it, the operation is sooner
concluded, and much less aqua is consumed. When the first charge has all
been distilled, as much silver as at first is again put into the ampulla, for if
too much were put in at once, the gold would be parted from it with difficulty.
Then the second aqua is poured in, but it is warmed in order that it and the
ampulla may be of equal temperature, so that the latter may not be cracked
by the cold; also if a cold wind blows on it, it is apt to crack. Then the third
aqua is poured in, and also if circumstances require it, the fourth, that is to
say more aqua and again more is poured in until the gold assumes the colour
of burned brick. The artificer keeps in hand two aquae, one of which is
stronger than the other; the stronger is used at first, then the less strong,
then at the last again the stronger. When the gold becomes of a reddish
yellow colour, spring water is poured in and heated until it boils. The gold is
washed four times and then heated in the crucible until it melts. The water
with which it was washed is put back, for there is a little silver in it; for
this reason it is poured into an ampulla and heated, and the drops first distilled
are received by one ampulla, while those which come later, that is to say
when the operculum begins to get red, fall into another. This latter aqua is
useful for testing the gold, the former for washing it; the former may also
be poured over the ingredients from which the aqua valens is made.
The aqua that was first distilled, which contains the silver, is poured into
an ampulla wide at the base, the top of which is also smeared with lute and
covered by an operculum, and is then boiled as before in order that it may be
separated from the silver. If there be so much aqua that (when boiled) it
1 244[Figure 244]
A—AMPULLAE ARRANGED IN THE VESSELS. B—AN AMPULLA STANDING UPRIGHT BETWEEN
IRON RODS. C—AMPULLAE PLACED IN THE SAND WHICH IS CONTAINED IN A BOX, THE
SPOUTS OF WHICH REACH FROM THE OPERCULA INTO AMPULLAE PLACED UNDER THEM.
D—AMPULLAE LIKEWISE PLACED IN SAND WHICH IS CONTAINED IN A BOX, OF WHICH THE
SPOUT FROM THE OPERCULA EXTENDS CROSSWISE INTO AMPULLAE PLACED UNDER THEM.
E—OTHER AMPULLAE RECEIVING THE DISTILLED aqua AND LIKEWISE ARRANGED IN SAND
CONTAINED IN THE LOWER BOXES. F—IRON TRIPOD, IN WHICH THE AMPULLA IS USUALLY
PLACED WHEN THERE ARE NOT MANY PARTICLES OF GOLD TO BE PARTED FROM THE SILVER.
G—VESSEL.
rises into the operculum, there is put into the ampulla one lozenge or two;
these are made of soap, cut into small pieces and mixed together with
powdered argol, and then heated in a pot over a gentle fire; or else the
contents are stirred with a hazel twig split at the bottom, and in both cases
the aqua effervesces, and soon after again settles. When the powerful vapour
appears, the aqua gives off a kind of oil, and the operculum becomes red. But,
lest the vapours should escape from the ampulla and the operculum in that
part where their mouths communicate, they are entirely sealed all round.
The aqua is boiled continually over a fiercer fire, and enough charcoal must be
put into the furnace so that the live coals touch the vessel. The ampulla is
taken out as soon as all the aqua has been distilled, and the silver, which is dried
by the heat of the fire, alone remains in it; the silver is shaken out and put
in an earthenware crucible, and heated until it melts. The molten glass is
extracted with an iron rod curved at the lower end, and the silver is made
1into cakes. The glass extracted from the crucible is ground to powder, and
to this are added litharge, argol, glass-galls, and saltpetre, and they are
melted in an earthen crucible. The button that settles is transferred to the
cupel and re-melted.
If the silver was not sufficiently dried by the heat of the fire, that which
is contained in the upper part of the ampulla will appear black; this when
melted will be consumed. When the lute, which was smeared round the
lower part of the ampulla, has been removed, it is placed in the crucible and
is re-melted, until at last there is no more appearance of black13.
If to the first aqua the other which contains silver is to be added, it
must be poured in before the powerful vapours appear, and the aqua gives off
the oily substance, and the operculum becomes red; for he who pours in the
aqua after the vapour appears causes a loss, because the aqua generally spurts
out and the glass breaks. If the ampulla breaks when the gold is being parted
from the silver or the silver from the aqua, the aqua will be absorbed by the
sand or the lute or the bricks, whereupon, without any delay, the red hot coals
should be taken out of the furnace and the fire extinguished. The sand and
bricks after being crushed should be thrown into a copper vessel, warm water.
should be poured over them, and they should be put aside for the space of
twelve hours; afterward the water should be strained through a canvas, and
the canvas, since it contains silver, should be dried by the heat of the sun or
the fire, and then placed in an earthen crucible and heated until the silver
melts, this being poured out into an iron mould. The strained water should
be poured into an ampulla and separated from the silver, of which it contains
a minute portion; the sand should be mixed with litharge, glass-galls,
argol, saltpetre, and salt, and heated in an earthen crucible. The button
which settles at the bottom should be transferred to a cupel, and should
be re-melted, in order that the lead may be separated from the silver. The
lute, with lead added, should be heated in an earthen crucible, then
re-melted in a cupel.
We also separate silver from gold by the same method when we assay
them. For this purpose the alloy is first rubbed against a touchstone, in
order to learn what proportion of silver there is in it; then as much silver
as is necessary is added to the argentiferous gold, in a bes of which there
must be less than a semí-uncía or a semí-uncía and a sicilicus14 of copper.
After lead has been added, it is melted in a cupel until the lead and the
copper have exhaled, then the alloy of gold with silver is flattened out, and
little tubes are made of the leaves; these are put into a glass ampulla,
and strong aqua is poured over them two or three times. The tubes after
this are absolutely pure, with the exception of only a quarter of a siliqua,
which is silver; for only this much silver remains in eight uncíae of gold15.
1
As great expense is incurred in parting the metals by the methods that
I have explained, as night vigils are necessary when aqua valens is made,
and as generally much labour and great pains have to be expended on this
matter, other methods for parting have been invented by clever men, which
are less costly, less laborious, and in which there is less loss if through care­
lessness an error is made. There are three methods, the first performed with
sulphur, the second with antimony, the third by means of some compound
which consists of these or other ingredients.
In the first method,16 the silver containing some gold is melted in a
crucible and made into granules. For every libra of granules, there is taken
a sixth of a libra and a sícilicus of sulphur (not exposed to the fire); this,
when crushed, is sprinkled over the moistened granules, and then they are put
into a new carthen pot of the capacity of four sextarií, or into several of them
if there is an abundance of granules. The pot, having been filled, is covered
with an earthen lid and smeared over, and placed within a circle of fire set one
and a half feet distant from the pot on all sides, in order that the sulphur
added to the silver should not be distilled when melted. The pot is opened,
1 245[Figure 245]
A—POT. B—CIRCULAR FIRE. C—CRUCIBLES. D—THEIR LIDS. E—LID OF THE POT.
F—FURNACE. G—IRON ROD.
the black-coloured granules are taken out, and afterward thirty-three librae
of these granules are placed in an earthen crucible, if it has such capacity.
For every líbra of silver granules, weighed before they were sprinkled with
1sulphur, there is weighed out also a sixth of a líbra and a sicílícus of
copper, if each libra consists either of three-quarters of a líbra of silver and
a quarter of a libra of copper, or of three-quarters of a libra and a
semí-uncia of silver and a sixth of a libra and a semí-uncía of copper. If,
however, the silver contains five-sixths of a libra of silver and a sixth of a
líbra of copper, or five-sixths of a líbra and a semí-uncía of silver and an uncía
and a half of copper, then there are weighed out a quarter of a libra of copper
granules. If a líbra contains eleven-twelfths of a líbra of silver and one uncía
of copper, or eleven-twelfths and a semí-uncía of silver and a semí-uncia of
copper, then are weighed out a quarter of a libra and a semi-uncia and a
sícílicus of copper granules. Lastly, if there is only pure silver, then as much
as a third of a líbra and a semí-uncía of copper granules are added. Half
of these copper granules are added soon afterward to the black-coloured
silver granules. The crucible should be tightly covered and smeared over
with lute, and placed in a furnace, into which the air is drawn through the
draught-holes. As soon as the silver is melted, the crucible is opened, and
there is placed in it a heaped ladleful more of granulated copper, and also
a heaped ladleful of a powder which consists of equal parts of litharge, of
granulated lead, of salt, and of glass-galls; then the crucible is again covered
with the lid. When the copper granules are melted, more are put in, together
with the powder, until all have been put in.
A little of the regulus is taken from the crucible, but not from the gold
lump which has settled at the bottom, and a drachma of it is put into each of
the cupels, which contain an uncia of molten lead; there should be many
of these cupels. In this way half a drachma of silver is made. As soon as
the lead and copper have been separated from the silver, a third of it is
thrown into a glass ampulla, and aqua valens is poured over it. By this
method is shown whether the sulphur has parted all the gold from the silver,
or not. If one wishes to know the size of the gold lump which has settled
at the bottom of the crucible, an iron rod moistened with water is covered
with chalk, and when the rod is dry it is pushed down straight into the
crucible, and the rod remains bright to the height of the gold lump; the
remaining part of the rod is coloured black by the regulus, which adheres to
the rod if it is not quickly removed.
If when the rod has been extracted the gold is observed to be
satisfactorily parted from the silver, the regulus is poured out, the gold
button is taken out of the crucible, and in some clean place the regulus is
chipped off from it, although it usually flies apart. The lump itself is reduced
to granules, and for every libra of this gold they weigh out a quarter of a libra
each of crushed sulphur and of granular copper, and all are placed together
in an earthen crucible, not into a pot. When they are melted, in order that
the gold may more quickly settle at the bottom, the powder which I have
mentioned is added.
Although minute particles of gold appear to scintillate in the regulus
of copper and silver, yet if all that are in a libra do not weigh as much as a
single sesterce, then the sulphur has satisfactorily parted the gold from the
1silver; but if it should weigh a sesterce or more, then the regulus is thrown
back again into the earthen crucible, and it is not advantageous to add sulphur,
but only a little copper and powder, by which method a gold lump is again
made to settle at the bottom; and this one is added to the other button which
is not rich in gold.
When gold is parted from sixty-six líbrae of silver, the silver, copper,
and sulphur regulus weighs one hundred and thirty-two librae. To separate
the copper from the silver we require five hundred líbrae of lead, more or
less, with which the regulus is melted in the second furnace. In this
manner litharge and hearth-lead are made, which are re-smelted in the first
furnace. The cakes that are made from these are placed in the third furnace,
so that the lead may be separated from the copper and used again, for it
contains very little silver. The crucibles and their covers are crushed, washed,
and the sediment is melted together with litharge and hearth-lead.
Those who wish to separate all the silver from the gold by this method
leave one part of gold to three of silver, and then reduce the alloy to
granules. Then they place it in an ampulla, and by pouring aqua valens over
it, part the gold from the silver, which process I explained in Book VII.
If sulphur from the lye with which sal artíficiosus is made, is strong
enough to float an egg thrown into it, and is boiled until it no longer emits
fumes, and melts when placed upon glowing coals, then, if such sulphur is
thrown into the melted silver, it parts the gold from it.
Silver is also parted from gold by means of stíbíum17. If in a bes of
gold there are seven, or six, or five double sextulae of silver, then three parts
of stibium are added to one part of gold; but in order that the stibium should
not consume the gold, it is melted with copper in a red hot earthern crucible.
If the gold contains some portion of copper, then to eight unciae of stibium
1a sicilicus of copper is added; and if it contains no copper, then half an
uncia, because copper must be added to stibium in order to part gold from
silver. The gold is first placed in a red hot earthen crucible, and when
melted it swells, and a little stibium is added to it lest it run over; in a
short space of time, when this has melted, it likewise again swells, and
when this occurs it is advisable to put in all the remainder of the stibium,
and to cover the crucible with a lid, and then to heat the mixture for the
time required to walk thirty-five paces. Then it is at once poured out into
an iron pot, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, which was first
heated and smeared over with tallow or wax, and set on an iron or wooden
block. It is shaken violently, and by this agitation the gold lump settles
to the bottom, and when the pot has cooled it is tapped loose, and is again
melted four times in the same way. But each time a less weight of stibium
is added to the gold, until finally only twice as much stibium is added as
there is gold, or a little more; then the gold lump is melted in a cupel. The
stibium is melted again three or four times in an earthen crucible, and each
time a gold lump settles, so that there are three or four gold lumps, and
these are all melted together in a cupel.
To two líbrae and a half of such stíbíum are added two librae of argol
and one libra of glass-galls, and they are melted in an earthen crucible,
where a lump likewise settles at the bottom; this lump is melted in the
cupel. Finally, the stibium with a little lead added, is melted in the cupel,
in which, after all the rest has been consumed by the fire, the silver alone
remains. If the stíbium is not first melted in an earthen crucible with argol
and glass-galls, before it is melted in the cupel, part of the silver is consumed,
and is absorbed by the ash and powder of which the cupel is made.
The crucible in which the gold and silver alloy are melted with stíbíum,
and also the cupel, are placed in a furnace, which is usually of the kind
1 246[Figure 246]
A—FURNACE IN WHICH THE AIR IS DRAWN IN THROUGH HOLES. B—GOLDSMITH'S FORGE.
C—EARTHEN CRUCIBLES. D—IRON POTS. E—BLOCK.
in which the air is drawn in through holes; or else they are placed in a gold­
smith's forge.
Just as aqua valens poured over silver, from which the sulphur has
parted the gold, shows us whether all has been separated or whether
particles of gold remain in the silver; so do certain ingredients, if placed in
the pot or crucible “alternately” with the gold, from which the silver has
been parted by stibíum, and heated, show us whether all have been
separated or not.
We use cements18 when, without stíbíum, we part silver or copper or both
so ingeniously and admirably from gold. There are various cements. Some
1consist of half a libra of brick dust, a quarter of a libra of salt, an uncía of salt­
petre, half an uncia of sal-ammoniac, and half an uncia of rock salt. The bricks
or tiles from which the dust is made must be composed of fatty clays, free from
sand, grit, and small stones, and must be moderately burnt and very old.
Another cement is made of a bes of brick dust, a third of rock salt, an
uncia of saltpetre, and half an uncia of refined salt. Another cement is made
of a bes of brick dust, a quarter of refined salt, one and a half unciae of
saltpetre, an uncia of sal-ammoniac, and half an uncia of rock salt. Another
has one libra of brick dust, and half a libra of rock salt, to which some add a
sixth of a libra and a sicilicus of vitriol. Another is made of half a libra of
brick dust, a third of a libra of rock salt, an uncía and a half of vitriol, and
one uncia of saltpetre. Another consists of a bes of brick dust, a third of
refined salt, a sixth of white vitriol19, half an uncia of verdigris, and likewise
half an uncia of saltpetre. Another is made of one and a third librae of brick
dust, a bes of rock salt, a sixth of a libra and half an uncía of sal-ammoniac,
a sixth and half an uncia of vitriol, and a sixth of saltpetre. Another contains
a libra of brick dust, a third of refined salt, and one and a half uncíae of vitriol.
1
Those ingredients above are peculiar to each cement, but what follows
is common to all. Each of the ingredients is first separately crushed to
powder; the bricks are placed on a hard rock or marble, and crushed with an
iron implement; the other things are crushed in a mortar with a pestle;
each is separately passed through a sieve. Then they are all mixed together,
and are moistened with vinegar in which a little sal-ammoniac has been
dissolved, if the cement does not contain any. But some workers, however,
prefer to moisten the gold granules or gold-leaf instead.
The cement should be placed, alternately with the gold, in new and clean
pots in which no water has ever been poured. In the bottom the cement is
levelled with an iron implement, and afterward the gold granules or leaves
are placed one against the other, so that they may touch it on all sides; then,
again, a handful of the cement, or more if the pots are large, is thrown in and
levelled with an iron implement; the granules and leaves are laid over this
in the same manner, and this is repeated until the pot is filled. Then it is
covered with a lid, and the place where they join is smeared over with
artificial lute, and when this is dry the pots are placed in the furnace.
The furnace has three chambers, the lowest of which is a foot high; into
this lowest chamber the air penetrates through an opening, and into it the
247[Figure 247]
A—FURNACE. B—POT. C—LID. D—AIR-HOLES.
1ashes fall from the burnt wood, which is supported by iron rods, arranged to
form a grating. The middle chamber is two feet high, and the wood is pushed
in through its mouth. The wood ought to be oak, holmoak, or turkey-oak,
for from these the slow and lasting fire is made which is necessary for this
operation. The upper chamber is open at the top so that the pots, for which
it has the depth, may be put into it; the floor of this chamber consists of iron
rods, so strong that they may bear the weight of the pots and the heat of the
fire; they are sufficiently far apart that the fire may penetrate well and may
heat the pots. The pots are narrow at the bottom, so that the fire entering
into the space between them may heat them; at the top the pots are wide,
so that they may touch and hold back the heat of the fire. The upper part
of the furnace is closed in with bricks not very thick, or with tiles and lute,
and two or three air-holes are left, through which the fumes and flames may
escape.
The gold granules or leaves and the cement, alternately placed in the pots,
are heated by a gentle fire, gradually increasing for twenty-four hours, if the
furnace was heated for two hours before the full pots were stood in it, and if
this was not done, then for twenty-six hours. The fire should be increased
in such a manner that the pieces of gold and the cement, in which is the
potency to separate the silver and copper from the gold, may not melt, for in
this case the labour and cost will be spent in vain; therefore, it is ample to
have the fire hot enough that the pots always remain red. After so many
hours all the burning wood should be drawn out of the furnace. Then the
refractory bricks or tiles are removed from the top of the furnace, and the
glowing pots are taken out with the tongs. The lids are removed, and
if there is time it is well to allow the gold to cool by itself, for then there is
less loss; but if time cannot be spared for that operation, the pieces of gold
are immediately placed separately into a wooden or bronze vessel of water
and gradually quenched, lest the cement which absorbs the silver should
exhale it. The pieces of gold, and the cement adhering to them, when cooled
or quenched, are rolled with a little mallet so as to crush the lumps and free
the gold from the cement. Then they are sifted by a fine sieve, which is
placed over a bronze vessel; in this manner the cement containing the
silver or the copper or both, falls from the sieve into the bronze vessel, and the
gold granules or leaves remain on it. The gold is placed in a vessel and
again rolled with the little mallet, so that it may be cleansed from the cement
which absorbs silver and copper.
The particles of cement, which have dropped through the holes of the
sieve into the bronze vessel, are washed in a bowl, over a wooden tub, being
shaken about with the hands, so that the minute particles of gold which have
fallen through the sieve may be separated. These are again washed in a
little vessel, with warm water, and scrubbed with a piece of wood or a twig
broom, that the moistened cement may be detached. Afterward all the gold
is again washed with warm water, and collected with a bristle brush, and should
be washed in a copper full of holes, under which is placed a little vessel.
Then it is necessary to put the gold on an iron plate, under which is a vessel,
1and to wash it with warm water. Finally, it is placed in a bowl, and, when
dry, the granules or leaves are rubbed against a touchstone at the same time
as a touch-needle, and considered carefully as to whether they be pure or
alloyed. If they are not pure enough, the granules or the leaves, together
with the cement which attracts silver and copper, are arranged alternately
in layers in the same manner, and again heated; this is done as often as is
necessary, but the last time it is heated as many hours as are required to
cleanse the gold.
Some people add another cement to the granules or leaves. This cement
lacks the ingredients of metalliferous origin, such as verdigris and vitriol, for
if these are in the cement, the gold usually takes up a little of the base metal;
or if it does not do this, it is stained by them. For this reason some very
rightly never make use of cements containing these things, because brick
dust and salt alone, especially rock salt, are able to extract all the silver and
copper from the gold and to attract it to themselves.
It is not necessary for coiners to make absolutely pure gold, but to heat
it only until such a fineness is obtained as is needed for the gold money which
they are coining.
The gold is heated, and when it shows the necessary golden yellow colour
and is wholly pure, it is melted and made into bars, in which case they are
either prepared by the coiners with chrysocolla, which is called by the Moors
borax, or are prepared with salt of lye made from the ashes of ivy or of
other salty herbs.
The cement which has absorbed silver or copper, after water has been
poured over it, is dried and crushed, and when mixed with hearth-lead and
de-silverized lead, is smelted in the blast furnace. The alloy of silver and
lead, or of silver and copper and lead, which flows out, is again melted in the
cupellation furnace, in order that the lead and copper may be separated from
the silver. The silver is finally thoroughly purified in the refining furnace,
and in this practical manner there is no silver lost, or only a minute quantity.
There are besides this, certain other cements20 which part gold from
silver, composed of sulphur, stibium and other ingredients. One of these
compounds consists of half an uncía of vitriol dried by the heat of the fire
and reduced to powder, a sixth of refined salt, a third of stibium, half a libra
1of prepared sulphur (not exposed to the fire), one sicilicus of glass, likewise
one sícilicus of saltpetre, and a drachma of sal-ammoniac.21 The sulphur
is prepared as follows: it is first crushed to powder, then it is heated
for six hours in sharp vinegar, and finally poured into a vessel and washed
with warm water; then that which settles at the bottom of the vessel is
dried. To refine the salt it is placed in river water and boiled, and again
evaporated. The second compound contains one libra of sulphur (not exposed
to fire) and two librae of refined salt. The third compound is made from one
1libra of sulphur (not exposed to the fire), half a líbra of refined salt, a quarter of
a líbra of sal-ammoniac, and one uncía of red-lead. The fourth compound
consists of one líbra each of refined salt, sulphur (not exposed to the fire) and
argol, and half a libra of chrysocolla which the Moors call borax. The fifth
compound has equal proportions of sulphur (not exposed to the fire), sal­
ammoniac, saltpetre, and verdigris.
The silver which contains some portion of gold is first melted with
lead in an earthen crucible, and they are heated together until the silver
exhales the lead. If there was a libra of silver, there must be six drachmae of
lead. Then the silver is sprinkled with two uncíae of that powdered com-
1pound and is stirred; afterward it is poured into another crucible, first
warmed and lined with tallow, and then violently shaken. The rest is per­
formed according to the process I have already explained.
Gold may be parted without injury from silver goblets and from other
gilt vessels and articles22, by means of a powder, which consists of one part of
sal-ammoniac and half a part of sulphur. The gilt goblet or other article
is smeared with oil, and the powder is dusted on; the article is seized in the
hand, or with tongs, and is carried to the fire and sharply tapped, and by this
means the gold falls into water in vessels placed underneath, while the
goblet remains uninjured.
1
Gold is also parted from silver on gilt articles by means of quicksilver.
This is poured into an earthen crucible, and so warmed by the fire that the
finger can bear the heat when dipped into it; the silver-gilt objects are
placed in it, and when the quicksilver adheres to them they are taken out
and placed on a dish, into which, when cooled, the gold falls, together with the
quicksilver. Again and frequently the same silver-gilt object is placed in
heated quicksilver, and the same process is continued until at last no
more gold is visible on the object; then the object is placed in the fire, and
the quicksilver which adheres to it is exhaled. Then the artificer takes a hare's
foot, and brushes up into a dish the quicksilver and the gold which have
1fallen together from the silver article, and puts them into a cloth made of woven
cotton or into a soft leather; the quicksilver is squeezed through one or the
other into another dish.23 The gold remains in the cloth or the leather, and
when collected is placed in a piece of charcoal hollowed out, and is heated
until it melts, and a little button is made from it. This button is heated with
a little stíbíum in an earthen crucible and poured out into another little
vessel, by which method the gold settles at the bottom, and the stíbíum is
seen to be on the top; then the work is completed. Finally, the gold
button is put in a hollowed-out brick and placed in the fire, and by this
method the gold is made pure. By means of the above methods gold is parted
from silver and also silver from gold.
Now I will explain the methods used to separate copper from gold24.
1The salt which we call sal-artíficíosus,25 is made from a líbra each of vitriol,
alum, saltpetre, and sulphur not exposed to the fire, and half a líbra of sal­
ammoniac; these ingredients when crushed are heated with one part of lye made
from the ashes used by wool dyers, one part of unslaked lime, and four
parts of beech ashes. The ingredients are boiled in the lye until the whole
has been dissolved. Then it is immediately dried and kept in a hot place,
lest it turn into oil; and afterward when crushed, a libra of lead-ash is mixed
with it. With each líbra of this powdered compound one and a half uncíae
of the copper is gradually sprinkled into a hot crucible, and it is stirred
rapidly and frequently with an iron rod. When the crucible has cooled and
been broken up, the button of gold is found.
The second method for parting is the following. Two líbrae of sulphur
not exposed to the fire, and four líbrae of refined salt are crushed and mixed;
a sixth of a libra and half an uncía of this powder is added to a bes of granules
made of lead, and twice as much copper containing gold; they are heated
together in an earthen crucible until they melt. When cooled, the button is
taken out and purged of slag. From this button they again make granules,
to a third of a libra of which is added half a líbra of that powder of which I
have spoken, and they are placed in alternate layers in the crucible; it is
well to cover the crucible and to seal it up, and afterward it is heated over a
gentle fire until the granules melt. Soon afterward, the crucible is taken off
the fire, and when it is cool the button is extracted. From this, when purified
and again melted down, the third granules are made, to which, if they weigh
a sixth of a líbra, is added one half an uncia and a sícílicus of the powder,
and they are heated in the same manner, and the button of gold settles at the
bottom of the crucible.
The third method is as follows. From time to time small pieces of
sulphur, enveloped in or mixed with wax, are dropped into six líbrae of the
molten copper, and consumed; the sulphur weighs half an uncia and a
sícílícus. Then one and a half sicílici of powdered saltpetre are dropped
into the same copper and likewise consumed; then again half an uncía and a
sícílícus of sulphur enveloped in wax; afterward one and a half sícílící of
lead-ash enveloped in wax, or of minium made from red-lead. Then imme­
diately the copper is taken out, and to the gold button, which is now mixed
with only a little copper, they add stibíum to dcuble the amount of the button;
these are heated together until the stibíum is driven off; then the button,
together with lead of half the weight of the button, are heated in a cupel.
1Finally, the gold is taken out of this and quenched, and if there is a
blackish colour settled in it, it is melted with a little of the chrysocolla
which the Moors call borax; if too pale, it is melted with stibium, and
acquires its own golden-yellow colour. There are some who take out the
molten copper with an iron ladle and pour it into another crucible, whose
aperture is sealed up with lute, and they place it over glowing charcoal,
and when they have thrown in the powders of which I have spoken, they
stir the whole mass rapidly with an iron rod, and thus separate the gold
from the copper; the former settles at the bottom of the crucible, the latter
floats on the top. Then the aperture of the crucible is opened with the
red-hot tongs, and the copper runs out. The gold which remains is re-heated
with stibium, and when this is exhaled the gold is heated for the third time
in a cupel with a fourth part of lead, and then quenched.
The fourth method is to melt one and a third librae of the copper
with a sixth of a libra of lead, and to pour it into another crucible smeared on
the inside with tallow or gypsum; and to this is added a powder consisting of
half an uncia each of prepared sulphur, verdigris, and saltpetre, and an uncia
and a half of sal coctus. The fifth method consists of placing in a crucible
one libra of the copper and two librae of granulated lead, with one and a half
unciae of sal-artificíosus; they are at first heated over a gentle fire and then
over a fiercer one. The sixth method consists in heating together a bes of
the copper and one-sixth of a libra each of sulphur, salt, and stibium. The
seventh method consists of heating together a bes of the copper and one-sixth
each of iron scales and filings, salt, stibium, and glass-galls. The eighth
method consists of heating together one libra of the copper, one and a half
librae of sulphur, half a libra of verdigris, and a libra of refined salt. The
ninth method consists of placing in one libra of the molten copper as
much pounded sulphur, not exposed to the fire, and of stirring it rapidly
with an iron rod; the lump is ground to powder, into which quicksilver
is poured, and this attracts to itself the gold.
Gilded copper articles are moistened with water and placed on the fire,
and when they are glowing they are quenched with cold water, and the gold
is scraped off with a brass rod. By these practical methods gold is separated
from copper.
Either copper or lead is separated from silver by the methods which I
will now explain.26 This is carried on in a building near by the works, or
in the works in which the gold or silver ores or alloys are smelted. The
middle wall of such a building is twenty-one feet long and fifteen feet high, and
from this a front wall is distant fifteen feet toward the river; the rear wall
1is nineteen feet distant, and both these walls are thirty-six feet long and
fourteen feet high; a transverse wall extends from the end of the front wall to
the end of the rear wall; then fifteen feet back a second transverse wall
is built out from the front wall to the end of the middle wall. In that space
which is between those two transverse walls are set up the stamps, by means
of which the ores and the necessary ingredients for smelting are broken up.
From the further end of the front wall, a third transverse wall leads to the
other end of the middle wall, and from the same to the end of the rear wall.
The space between the second and third transverse walls, and between the
rear and middle long walls, contains the cupellation furnace, in which lead
1is separated from gold or silver. The vertical wall of its chimney is
erected upon the middle wall, and the sloping chimney-wall rests on the
beams which extend from the second transverse wall to the third; these are
so located that they are at a distance of thirteen feet from the middle long
wall and four from the rear wall, and they are two feet wide and thick.
From the ground up to the roof-beams is twelve feet, and lest the sloping
chimney-wall should fall down, it is partly supported by means of many
iron rods, and partly by means of a few tie-beams covered with lute, which
extend from the small beams of the sloping chimney-wall to the beams of the
vertical chimney-wall. The rear roof is arranged in the same way as the roof
1of the works in which ore is smelted. In the space between the middle and
the front long walls and between the second27 and the third transverse walls are
the bellows, the machinery for depressing and the instrument for raising them.
A drum on the axle of a water-wheel has rundles which turn the toothed
drum of an axle, whose long cams depress the levers of the bellows, and also
another toothed drum on an axle, whose cams raise the tappets of the stamps,
but in the opposite direction. So that if the cams which depress the levers
of the bellows turn from north to south, the cams of the stamps turn from
south to north.
Lead is separated from gold or silver in a cupellation furnace, of
which the structure consists of rectangular stones, of two interior walls of which
the one intersects the other transversely, of a round sole, and of a dome. Its
crucible is made from powder of earth and ash; but I will first speak of the
structure and also of the rectangular stones. A circular wall is built four
feet and three palms high, and one foot thick; from the height of two feet
and three palms from the bottom, the upper part of the interior is cut away
to the width of one palm, so that the stone sole may rest upon it. There are
usually as many as fourteen stones; on the outside they are a foot and a
palm wide, and on the inside narrower, because the inner circle is much
smaller than the outer; if the stones are wider, fewer are required, if
narrower more; they are sunk into the earth to a depth of a foot and a palm.
At the top each one is joined to the next by an iron staple, the points of
which are embedded in holes, and into each hole is poured molten lead. This
stone structure has six air-holes near the ground, at a height of a foot above
the ground; they are two feet and a palm from the bottom of the stones;
each of these air-holes is in two stones, and is two palms high, and a palm and
three digits wide. One of them is on the right side, between the wall which
protects the main wall from the fire, and the channel through which the
litharge flows out of the furnace crucible; the other five air-holes are
distributed all round at equal distances apart; through these escapes the
moisture which the earth exhales when heated, and if it were not for these
openings the crucible would absorb the moisture and be damaged. In such a
case a lump would be raised, like that which a mole throws up from the earth,
and the ash would float on the top, and the crucible would absorb the silver-lead
alloy; there are some who, because of this, make the rear part of the structure
entirely open. The two inner walls, of which one intersects the other, are
built of bricks, and are a brick in thickness. There are four air-holes in
these, one in each part, which are about one digit's breadth higher and wider
than the others. Into the four compartments is thrown a wheelbarrowful
of slag, and over this is placed a large wicker basket full of charcoal dust.
These walls extend a cubit above the ground, and on these, and on the ledge
cut in the rectangular stones, is placed the stone sole; this sole is a palm and
three digits thick, and on all sides touches the rectangular stones; if there
are any cracks in it they are filled up with fragments of stone or brick. The
front part of the sole is sloped so that a channel can be made, through which
1the litharge flows out. Copper plates are placed on this part of the sole-stone
so that the silver-lead or other alloy may be more rapidly heated.
A dome which has the shape of half a sphere covers the crucible. It con­
sists of iron bands and of bars and of a lid. There are three bands, each about
a palm wide and a digit thick; the lowest is at a distance of one foot from the
middle one, and the middle one a distance of two feet from the upper one.
Under them are eighteen iron bars fixed by iron rivets; these bars are of
the same width and thickness as the bands, and they are of such a length, that
curving, they reach from the lower band to the upper, that is two feet and
three palms long, while the dome is only one foot and three palms high. All
the bars and bands of the dome have iron plates fastened on the underside
with iron wire. In addition, the dome has four apertures; the rear one,
which is situated opposite the channel through which the litharge flows out,
is two feet wide at the bottom; toward the top, since it slopes gently, it is
narrower, being a foot, three palms, and a digit wide; there is no bar at
this place, for the aperture extends from the upper band to the middle one,
but not to the lower one. The second aperture is situated above the
248[Figure 248]
A—RECTANGULAR STONES. B—SOLE-STONE. C—AIR-HOLES. D—INTERNAL WALLS.
E—DOME. F—CRUCIBLE. G—BANDS. H—BARS. I—APERTURES IN THE DOME.
K—LID OF THE DOME. L—RINGS. M—PIPES. N—VALVES. O—CHAINS.
1channel, is two and a half feet wide at the bottom, and two feet and a palm
at the top; and there is likewise no bar at this point; indeed, not only does
the bar not extend to the lower band, but the lower band itself does not
extend over this part, in order that the master can draw the litharge out
of the crucible. There are besides, in the wall which protects the principal
wall against the heat, near where the nozzles of the bellows are situated,
two apertures, three palms wide and about a foot high, in the middle
of which two rods descend, fastened on the inside with plates.
Near these apertures are placed the nozzles of the bellows, and through
the apertures extend the pipes in which the nozzles of the bellows are
set. These pipes are made of iron plates rolled up; they are two
palms three digits long, and their inside diameter is three and a half
digits; into these two pipes the nozzles of the bellows penetrate a distance of
three digits from their valves. The lid of the dome consists of an iron band
at the bottom, two digits wide, and of three curved iron bars, which extend
from one point on the band to the point opposite; they cross each other at
the top, where they are fixed by means of iron rivets. On the under side of
the bars there are likewise plates fastened by rivets; each of the plates has
small holes the size of a finger, so that the lute will adhere when the interior
is lined. The dome has three iron rings engaged in wide holes in the heads of
iron claves, which fasten the bars to the middle band at these points. Into
these rings are fastened the hooks of the chains with which the dome is
raised, when the master is preparing the crucible.
On the sole and the copper plates and the rock of the furnace, lute mixed
with straw is placed to a depth of three digits, and it is pounded with a wooden
rammer until it is compressed to a depth of one digit only. The rammer-head
is round and three palms high, two palms wide at the bottom, and tapering
upward; its handle is three feet long, and where it is set into the rammer­
head it is bound around with an iron band. The top of the stonework in
which the dome rests is also covered with lute, likewise mixed with straw,
to the thickness of a palm. All this, as soon as it becomes loosened, must
be repaired.
The artificer who undertakes the work of parting the metals, distributes
the operation into two shifts of two days. On the one morning he sprinkles
a little ash into the lute, and when he has poured some water over it he brushes
it over with a broom. Then he throws in sifted ashes and dampens them
with water, so that they could be moulded into balls like snow. The ashes
are those from which lye has been made by letting water percolate
through them, for other ashes which are fatty would have to be burnt
again in order to make them less fat. When he has made the ashes
smooth by pressing them with his hands, he makes the crucible slope down
toward the middle; then he tamps it, as I have described, with a rammer.
He afterward, with two small wooden rammers, one held in each hand,
forms the channel through which the litharge flows out. The heads of these
small rammers are each a palm wide, two digits thick, and one foot high;
the handle of each is somewhat rounded, is a digit and a half less in
1 249[Figure 249]
A—AN ARTIFICER TAMPING THE CRUCIBLE WITH A RAMMER. B—LARGE RAMMER.
C—BROOM. D—TWO SMALLER RAMMERS. E—CURVED IRON PLATES. F—PART OF
A WOODEN STRIP. G—SIEVE. H—ASHES. I—IRON SHOVEL. K—IRON PLATE.
L—BLOCK OF WOOD. M—ROCK. N—BASKET MADE OF WOVEN TWIGS. O—HOOKED
BAR. P—SECOND HOOKED BAR. Q—OLD LINEN RAG. R—BUCKET. S—DOESKIN.
T—BUNDLES OF STRAW. V—WOOD. X—CAKES OF LEAD ALLOY. Y—FORK.
Z—ANOTHER WORKMAN COVERS THE OUTSIDE OF THE FURNACE WITH LUTE WHERE THE
DOME FITS ON IT. AA—BASKET FULL OF ASHES. BB—LID OF THE DOME. CC—THE
ASSISTANT STANDING ON THE STEPS POURS CHARCOAL INTO THE CRUCIBLE THROUGH THE
HO AT THE TOP OF THE DOME. DD—IRON IMPLEMENT WITH WHICH THE LUTE IS
1diameter than the rammer-head, and is three feet in length; the rammer­
head as well as the handle is made of one piece of wood. Then with shoes on,
he descends into the crucible and stamps it in every direction with his feet,
in which manner it is packed and made sloping. Then he again tamps it
with a large rammer, and removing his shoe from his right foot he draws a circle
around the crucible with it, and cuts out the circle thus drawn with an iron
plate. This plate is curved at both ends, is three palms long, as many digits
wide, and has wooden handles a palm and two digits long, and two digits
thick; the iron plate is curved back at the top and ends, which penetrate
into handles. There are some who use in the place of the plate a strip of
wood, like the rim of a sieve; this is three digits wide, and is cut out at both
ends that it may be held in the hands. Afterward he tamps the channel
through which the litharge discharges. Lest the ashes should fall out, he
blocks up the aperture with a stone shaped to fit it, against which he places
a board, and lest this fall, he props it with a stick. Then he pours in
a basketful of ashes and tamps them with the large rammer; then again and
again he pours in ashes and tamps them with the rammer. When the
channel has been made, he throws dry ashes all over the crucible with a sieve,
and smooths and rubs it with his hands. Then he throws three basketsful
of damp ashes on the margin all round the edge of the crucible, and lets down
the dome. Soon after, climbing upon the crucible, he builds up ashes all
around it, lest the molten alloy should flow out. Then, having raised the lid of
the dome, he throws a basketful of charcoal into the crucible, together with
an iron shovelful of glowing coals, and he also throws some of the latter
through the apertures in the sides of the dome, and he spreads them with the
same shovel. This work and labour is finished in the space of two hours.
An iron plate is set in the ground under the channel, and upon this is
placed a wooden block, three feet and a palm long, a foot and two palms and
as many digits wide at the back, and two palms and as many digits wide in
front; on the block of wood is placed a stone, and over it an iron plate similar
to the bottom one, and upon this he puts a basketful of charcoal, and also
an iron shovelful of burning charcoals. The crucible is heated in an
hour, and then, with the hooked bar with which the litharge is drawn off, he
stirs the remainder of the charcoal about. This hook is a palm long and three
digits wide, has the form of a double triangle, and has an iron handle four
feet long, into which is set a wooden one six feet long. There are some who
use instead a simple hooked bar. After about an hour's time, he stirs the
charcoal again with the bar, and with the shovel throws into the crucible
the burning charcoals lying in the channel; then again, after the space of an
hour, he stirs the burning charcoals with the same bar. If he did not thus
stir them about, some blackness would remain in the crucible and that part
would be damaged, because it would not be sufficiently dried. Therefore
the assistant stirs and turns the burning charcoal that it may be entirely
burnt up, and so that the crucible may be well heated, which takes three
hours; then the crucible is left quiet for the remaining two hours.
1
When the hour of eleven has struck, he sweeps up the charcoal ashes with
a broom and throws them out of the crucible. Then he climbs on to the
dome, and passing his hand in through its opening, and dipping an old linen
rag in a bucket of water mixed with ashes, he moistens the whole of the
crucible and sweeps it. In this way he uses two bucketsful of the mixture,
each holding five Roman sextaríi,28 and he does this lest the crucible,
when the metals are being parted, should break open; after this he rubs the
crucible with a doe skin, and fills in the cracks. Then he places at the left side
of the channel, two fragments of hearth-lead, laid one on the top of the other,
so that when partly melted they remain fixed and form an obstacle, that the
litharge will not be blown about by the wind from the bellows, but remain in
its place. It is expedient, however, to use a brick in the place of the hearth­
lead, for as this gets much hotter, therefore it causes the litharge to form
more rapidly. The crucible in its middle part is made two palms and as
many digits deeper.29
There are some who having thus prepared the crucible, smear it over
with incense30, ground to powder and dissolved in white of egg, soaking
it up in a sponge and then squeezing it out again; there are others who
smear over it a liquid consisting of white of egg and double the amount of
bullock's blood or marrow. Some throw lime into the crucible through a
sieve.
Afterward the master of the works weighs the lead with which the gold
or silver or both are mixed, and he sometimes puts a hundred centumpondía31
into the crucible, but frequently only sixty, or fifty, or much less. After it
has been weighed, he strews about in the crucible three small bundles of
straw, lest the lead by its weight should break the surface. Then he places
in the channel several cakes of lead alloy, and through the aperture at the rear
of the dome he places some along the sides; then, ascending to the opening at
the top of the dome, he arranges in the crucible round about the dome the
cakes which his assistant hands to him, and after ascending again and passing
his hands through the same aperture, he likewise places other cakes inside the
crucible. On the second day those which remain he, with an iron fork,
places on the wood through the rear aperture of the dome.
When the cakes have been thus arranged through the hole at the top of
the dome, he throws in charcoal with a basket woven of wooden twigs. Then
he places the lid over the dome, and the assistant covers over the joints with
lute. The master himself throws half a basketful of charcoal into the crucible
through the aperture next to the nozzle pipe, and prepares the bellows, in
order to be able to begin the second operation on the morning of the following
day. It takes the space of one hour to carry out such a piece of work, and


1at twelve all is prepared. These hours all reckoned up make a sum of eight
hours.
Now it is time that we should come to the second operation. In the
morning the workman takes up two shovelsful of live charcoals and throws
them into the crucible through the aperture next to the pipes of the nozzles;
then through the same hole he lays upon them small pieces of fir-wood or of
pitch pine, such as are generally used to cook fish. After this the water-gates
are opened, in order that the machine may be turned which depresses the levers
of the bellows. In the space of one hour the lead alloy is melted; and when this
has been done, he places four sticks of wood, twelve feet long, through the
hole in the back of the dome, and as many through the channel; these
sticks, lest they should damage the crucible, are both weighted on the ends
and supported by trestles; these trestles are made of a beam, three feet
long, two palms and as many digits wide, two palms thick, and have two
spreading legs at each end. Against the trestle, in front of the channel, there
is placed an iron plate, lest the litharge, when it is extracted from the furnace,
should splash the smelter's shoes and injure his feet and legs. With an iron
shovel or a fork he places the remainder of the cakes through the aperture at
the back of the dome on to the sticks of wood already mentioned.
The native silver, or silver glance, or grey silver, or ruby silver, or any
other sort, when it has been flattened out32, and cut up, and heated in an
iron crucible, is poured into the molten lead mixed with silver, in order that
impurities may be separated. As I have often said, this molten lead mixed
with silver is called stannum33.
When the long sticks of wood are burned up at the fore end, the
master, with a hammer, drives into them pointed iron bars, four feet long and
two digits wide at the front end, and beyond that one and a half digits wide
1and thick with these he pushes the sticks of wood forward and the bars
then rest on the trestles. There are others who, when they separate metals,
put two such sticks of wood into the crucible through the aperture which is
between the bellows, as many through the holes at the back, and one through
the channel; but in this case a larger number of long sticks of wood is
necessary, that is, sixty; in the former case, forty long sticks of wood suffice
to carry out the operation. When the lead has been heated for two hours,
it is stirred with a hooked bar, that the heat may be increased.
If it be difficult to separate the lead from the silver, he throws copper
and charcoal dust into the molten silver-lead alloy. If the alloy of argen­
tiferous gold and lead, or the silver-lead alloy, contains impurities from the
ore, then he throws in either equal portions of argol and Venetian glass or of
sal-ammoniac, or of Venetian glass and of Venetian soap; or else unequal
portions, that is, two of argol and one of iron rust; there are some who
mix a little saltpetre with each compound. To one centumpondium of the
alloy is added a bes or a líbra and a third of the powder, according
to whether it is more or less impure. The powder certainly separates the
impurities from the alloy. Then, with a kind of rabble he draws out through
250[Figure 250]
A—FURNACE. B—STICKS OF WOOD. C—LITHARGE. D—PLATE. E—THE FOREMAN
WHEN HUNGRY EATS BUTTER, THAT THE POISON WHICH THE CRUCIBLE EXHALES MAY NOT
HARM HIM, FOR THIS IS A SPECIAL REMEDY AGAINST THAT POISON.
1the channel, mixed with charcoal, the scum, as one might say, of the lead;
the lead makes this scum when it becomes hot, but that less of it may be
made it must be stirred frequently with the bar.
Within the space of a quarter of an hour the crucible absorbs the lead;
at the time when it penetrates into the crucible it leaps and bubbles. Then
the master takes out a little lead with an iron ladle, which he assays, in order
to find what proportion of silver there is in the whole of the alloy; the
ladle is five digits wide, the iron part of its handle is three feet long and the
wooden part the same. Afterward, when they are heated, he extracts with
a bar the litharge which comes from the lead and the copper, if there be any
of it in the alloy. Wherefore, it might more rightly be called spuma of lead
than of silver34. There is no injury to the silver, when the lead and copper
are separated from it. In truth the lead becomes much purer in the crucible
of the other furnace, in which silver is refined. In ancient times, as the
author Pliny35 relates, there was under the channel of the crucible another
crucible, and the litharge flowed down from the upper one into the lower
one, out of which it was lifted up and rolled round with a stick in order that
it might be of moderate weight. For which reason, they formerly made it
into small tubes or pipes, but now, since it is not rolled round a stick, they
make it into bars.
If there be any danger that the alloy might flow out with the litharge, the
foreman keeps on hand a piece of lute, shaped like a cylinder and pointed at
both ends; fastening this to a hooked bar he opposes it to the alloy so that
it will not flow out.
Now when the colour begins to show in the silver, bright spots appear,
some of them being almost white, and a moment afterward it becomes
absolutely white. Then the assistant lets down the water-gates, so that, the
race being closed, the water-wheel ceases to turn and the bellows are still.
Then the master pours several buckets of water on to the silver to cool it;
others pour beer over it to make it whiter, but this is of no importance since
the silver has yet to be refined. Afterward, the cake of silver is raised with
the pointed iron bar, which is three feet long and two digits wide, and has a
wooden handle four feet long fixed in its socket. When the cake of silver has
been taken from the crucible, it is laid upon a stone, and from part of it the
hearth-lead, and from the other part the litharge, is chipped away with a
hammer; then it is cleansed with a bundle of brass wire dipped in water.
When the lead is separated from the silver, more silver is frequently found
than when it was assayed; for instance, if before there were three uncíae and
as many drachmae in a centumpondíum, they now sometimes find three uncíae
and a half36. Often the hearth-lead remaining in the crucible is a palm
deep; it is taken out with the rest of the ashes and is sifted, and that which
remains in the sieve, since it is hearth-lead, is added to the hearth-lead37.
1 251[Figure 251]
A—CAKE. B—STONE. C—HAMMER. D—BRASS WIRE. E—BUCKET CONTAINING WATER.
F—FURNACE FROM WHICH THE CAKE HAS BEEN TAKEN, WHICH IS STILL SMOKING.
G—LABOURER CARRYING A CAKE OUT OF THE WORKS.
The ashes which pass through the sieve are of the same use as they were
at first, for, indeed, from these and pulverised bones they make the cupels.
Finally, when much of it has accumulated, the yellow pompholyx adhering to
the walls of the furnace, and likewise to those rings of the dome near the
apertures, is cleared away.
I must also describe the crane with which the dome is raised. When
it is made, there is first set up a rectangular upright post twelve feet
long, each side of which measures a foot in width. Its lower pinion turns
in a bronze socket set in an oak sill; there are two sills placed crosswise so
1that the one fits in a mortise in the middle of the other, and the other likewise
fits in the mortise of the first, thus making a kind of a cross; these sills are
three feet long and one foot wide and thick. The crane-post is round at its
upper end and is cut down to a depth of three palms, and turns in a band
fastened at each end to a roof-beam, from which springs the inclined chimney
wall. To the crane-post is affixed a frame, which is made in this way: first, at a
height of a cubit from the bottom, is mortised into the crane-post a small
cross-beam, a cubit and three digits long, except its tenons, and two palms in
width and thickness. Then again, at a height of five feet above it, is another
small cross-beam of equal length, width, and thickness, mortised into the
crane-post. The other ends of these two small cross-beams are mortised
into an upright timber, six feet three palms long, and three-quarters wide
and thick; the mortise is transfixed by wooden pegs. Above, at a height of
three palms from the lower small cross-beam, are two bars, one foot one palm
long, not including the tenons, a palm three digits wide, and a palm thick,
which are mortised in the other sides of the crane-post. In the same manner,
under the upper small cross-beam are two bars of the same size. Also in the
upright timber there are mortised the same number of bars, of the same length
as the preceding, but three digits thick, a palm two digits wide, the two
lower ones being above the lower small cross-beam. From the upright
timber near the upper small cross-beam, which at its other end is mortised
into the crane-post, are two mortised bars. On the outside of this frame,
boards are fixed to the small cross-beams, but the front and back parts of the
frame have doors, whose hinges are fastened to the boards which are fixed
to the bars that are mortised to the sides of the crane-post.
Then boards are laid upon the lower small cross-beam, and at a height
of two palms above these there is a small square iron axle, the sides of which
are two digits wide; both ends of it are round and turn in bronze or iron
bearings, one of these bearings being fastened in the crane-post, the other in
the upright timber. About each end of the small axle is a wooden disc, of three
palms and a digit radius and one palm thick, covered on the rim with an iron
band; these two discs are distant two palms and as many digits from each
1other, and are joined with five rundles; these rundles are two and a half
digits thick and are placed three digits apart. Thus a drum is made, which
is a palm and a digit distant from the upright timber, but further from the
crane-post, namely, a palm and three digits. At a height of a foot and a
palm above this little axle is a second small square iron axle, the thickness of
which is three digits; this one, like the first one, turns in bronze or iron
bearings. Around it is a toothed wheel, composed of two discs a foot three
palms in diameter, a palm and two digits thick: on the rim of this there
are twenty-three teeth, a palm wide and two digits thick; they protrude
a palm from the wheel and are three digits apart. And around this same
axle, at a distance of two palms and as many digits toward the upright
timber, is another disc of the same diameter as the wheel and a palm thick;
this turns in a hollowed-out place in the upright timber. Between this disc
and the disc of the toothed wheel another drum is made, having likewise five
rundles. There is, in addition to this second axle, at a height of a cubit
above it, a small wooden axle, the journals of which are of iron; the ends
are bound round with iron rings so that the journals may remain firmly fixed,
and the journals, like the little iron axles, turn in bronze or iron bearings.
This third axle is at a distance of about a cubit from the upper small cross­
beam; it has, near the upright timber, a toothed wheel two and a half feet
in diameter, on the rim of which are twenty-seven teeth; the other part of
this axle, near the crane-post, is covered with iron plates, lest it should be worn
away by the chain which winds around it. The end link of the chain is fixed
in an iron pin driven into the little axle; this chain passes out of the frame
and turns over a little pulley set between the beams of the crane-arm.
Above the frame, at a height of a foot and a palm, is the crane-arm. This
consists of two beams fifteen feet long, three palms wide, and two thick,
mortised into the crane-post, and they protrude a cubit from the back of the
crane-post and are fastened together. Moreover, they are fastened by means
of a wooden pin which penetrates through them and the crane-post; this
pin has at the one end a broad head, and at the other a hole, through which
is driven an iron bolt, so that the beams may be tightly bound into the crane­
post. The beams of the crane-arm are supported and stayed by means of
two oblique beams, six feet and two palms long, and likewise two palms wide
and thick; these are mortised into the crane-post at their lower ends, and
their upper ends are mortised into the beams of the crane-arm at a point
about four feet from the crane-post, and they are fastened with iron nails.
At the back of the upper end of these oblique beams, toward the crane-post,
is an iron staple, fastened into the lower sides of the beams of the crane-arm, in
order that it may hold them fast and bind them. The outer end of each
beam of the crane-arm is set in a rectangular iron plate, and between these
are three rectangular iron plates, fixed in such a manner that the beams of the
crane-arm can neither move away from, nor toward, each other. The upper
sides of these crane-arm beams are covered with iron plates for a length of
six feet, so that a trolley can move on it.
1 252[Figure 252]
A—CRANE-POST. B—SOCKET. C—OAK CROSS-SILLS. D—BAND. E—ROOF-BEAM.
F—FRAME. G—LOWER SMALL CROSS-BEAM. H—UPRIGHT TIMBER. I—BARS WHICH
COME FROM THE SIDES OF THE CRANE-POST. K—BARS WHICH COME FROM THE SIDES OF
THE UPRIGHT TIMBER. L—RUNDLE DRUMS. M—TOOTHED WHEELS. N—CHAIN.
O—PULLEY. P—BEAMS OF THE CRANE-ARM. Q—OBLIQUE BEAMS SUPPORTING THE BEAMS
OF THE CRANE-ARM. R—RECTANGULAR IRON PLATES. S—TROLLEY. T—DOME OF THE
1
The body of the trolley is made of wood from the Ostrya or any other
hard tree, and is a cubit long, a foot wide, and three palms thick; on both
edges of it the lower side is cut out to a height and width of a palm, so that
the remainder may move backward and forward between the two beams of
the crane-arm; at the front, in the middle part, it is cut out to a width of
two palms and as many digits, that a bronze pulley, around a small iron
axle, may turn in it. Near the corners of the trolley are four holes, in which
as many small wheels travel on the beams of the crane-arm. Since this
trolley, when it travels backward and forward, gives out a sound somewhat
similar to the barking of a dog, we have given it this name38. It is propelled
forward by means of a crank, and is drawn back by means of a chain. There
is an iron hook whose ring turns round an iron pin fastened to the right side
of the trolley, which hook is held by a sort of clavis, which is fixed in the
right beam of the crane-arm.
At the end of the crane-post is a bronze pulley, the iron axle of which is
fastened in the beams of the crane-arm, and over which the chain passes
as it comes from the frame, and then, penetrating through the hollow in the
top of the trolley, it reaches to the little bronze pulley of the trolley, and passing
over this it hangs down. A hook on its end engages a ring, in which are
fixed the top links of three chains, each six feet long, which pass through
the three iron rings fastened in the holes of the claves which are fixed into
the middle iron band of the dome, of which I have spoken.
Therefore when the master wishes to lift the dome by means of the
crane, the assistant fits over the lower small iron axle an iron crank, which
projects from the upright beam a palm and two digits; the end of the little
axle is rectangular, and one and a half digits wide and one digit thick; it is
set into a similar rectangular hole in the crank, which is two digits long and a
little more than a digit wide. The crank is semi-circular, and one foot three
palms and two digits long, as many digits wide, and one digit thick. Its
handle is straight and round, and three palms long, and one and a half digits
thick. There is a hole in the end of the little axle, through which an iron
pin is driven so that the crank may not come off. The crane having four
drums, two of which are rundle-drums and two toothed-wheels, is more easily
moved than another having two drums, one of which has rundles and the
other teeth.
Many, however, use only a simple contrivance, the pivots of whose
crane-post turn in the same manner, the one in an iron socket, the other in a
ring. There is a crane-arm on the crane-post, which is supported by an
oblique beam; to the head of the crane-arm a strong iron ring is fixed,
which engages a second iron ring. In this iron ring a strong wooden lever-bar
is fastened firmly, the head of which is bound by a third iron ring, from which
hangs an iron hook, which engages the rings at the ends of the chains from
the dome. At the other end of the lever-bar is another chain, which, when
it is pulled down, raises the opposite end of the bar and thus the dome; and
when it is relaxed the dome is lowered.
1 253[Figure 253]
A—CHAMBER OF THE FURNACE. B—ITS BED. C—PASSAGES. D—RAMMER.
E—MALLET. F—ARTIFICER MAKING TUBES FROM LITHARGE ACCORDING TO THE ROMAN
METHOD. G—CHANNEL. H—LITHARGE. I—LOWER CRUCIBLE OR HEARTH. K—STICK.
L—TUBES.
1
In certain places, as at Freiberg in Meissen, the upper part of the
cupellation furnace is vaulted almost like an oven. This chamber is four
feet high and has either two or three apertures, of which the first, in
front, is one and a half feet high and a foot wide, and out of this flows
the litharge; the second aperture and likewise the third, if there be three,
are at the sides, and are a foot and a half high and two and a half feet wide,
in order that he who prepares the crucible may be able to creep into the
furnace. Its circular bed is made of cement, it has two passages two feet high
and one foot wide, for letting out the vapour, and these lead directly through
from one side to the other, so that the one passage crosses the other at right
angles, and thus four openings are to be seen; these are covered at the top
by rocks, wide, but only a palm thick. On these and on the other parts
of the interior of the bed made of cement, is placed lute mixed with straw,
to a depth of three digits, as it was placed over the sole and the plates of
copper and the rocks of that other furnace. This, together with the ashes which
are thrown in, the master or the assistant, who, upon his knees, prepares
the crucible, tamps down with short wooden rammers and with mallets
likewise made of wood.
254[Figure 254]
A—FURNACE SIMILAR TO AN OVEN. B—PASSAGE C—IRON BARS. D—HOLE THROUGH
WHICH THE LITHARGE IS DRAWN OUT. E—CRUCIBLE WHICH LACKS A DOME. F—THICK
STICKS. G—BELLOWS
1
The cupellation furnace in Poland and Hungary is likewise vaulted at the
top, and is almost similar to an oven, but in the lower part the bed is solid,
and there is no opening for the vapours, while on one side of the crucible is a
wall, between which and the bed of the crucible is a passage in place of the
opening for vapours; this passage is covered by iron bars or rods extending
from the wall to the crucible, and placed a distance of two digits from each
other. In the crucible, when it is prepared, they first scatter straw, and then
they lay in it cakes of silver-lead alloy, and on the iron bars they lay wood,
which when kindled heats the crucible. They melt cakes to the weight of some­
times eighty centumpondia and sometimes a hundred centumpondia39. They
stimulate a mild fire by means of a blast from the bellows, and throw on to the
bars as much wood as is required to make a flame which will reach into the
crucible, and separate the lead from the silver. The litharge is drawn out
on the other side through an aperture that is just wide enough for the master
to creep through into the crucible. The Moravians and Carni, who very
rarely make more than a bes or five-sixths of a libra of silver, separate
the lead from it, neither in a furnace resembling an oven, nor in the crucible
covered by a dome, but on a crucible which is without a cover and exposed to
the wind; on this crucible they lay cakes of silver-lead alloy, and over them
they place dry wood, and over these again thick green wood. The wood
having been kindled, they stimulate the fire by means of a bellows.
I have explained the method of separating lead from gold or silver. Now
I will speak of the method of refining silver, for I have already explained
the process for refining gold. Silver is refined in a refining furnace,
over whose hearth is an arched chamber built of bricks; this chamber
in the front part is three feet high. The hearth itself is five feet long
an four wide. The walls are unbroken along the sides and back, but
in front one chamber is placed over the other, and above these and the
wall is the upright chimney. The hearth has a round pit, a cubit wide and two
palms deep, into which are thrown sifted ashes, and in this is placed a prepared
earthenware “test,” in such a manner that it is surrounded on all sides
by ashes to a height equal to its own. The earthenware test is filled
with a powder consisting of equal portions of bones ground to powder, and of
ashes taken from the crucible in which lead is separated from gold or silver;
others mix crushed brick with the ashes, for by this method the powder
attracts no silver to itself. When the powder has been made up and
moistened with water, a little is thrown into the earthenware test and tamped
with a wooden pestle. This pestle is round, a foot long, and a palm and a
digit wide, out of which extend six teeth, each a digit thick, and a digit and a
third long and wide, and almost a digit apart; these six teeth form a circle,
and in the centre of them is the seventh tooth, which is round and of the
same length as the others, but a digit and a half thick; this pestle tapers a
little from the bottom up, that the upper part of the handle may be round
and three digits thick. Some use a round pestle without teeth. Then a
1 255[Figure 255]
A—PESTLE WITH TEETH. B—PESTLE WITHOUT TEETH. C—DISH OR TRAY FULL OF ASHES.
D—PREPARED TESTS PLACED ON BOARDS OR SHELVES. E—EMPTY TESTS. F—WOOD.
G—SAW.
little powder is again moistened, and thrown into the test, and tamped; this
work is repeated until the test is entirely full of the powder, which the
master then cuts out with a knife, sharp on both sides, and turned upward at
both ends so that the central part is a palm and a digit long; therefore it is
partly straight and partly curved. The blade is one and a half digits wide,
and at each end it turns upward two palms, which ends to the depth of a
palm are either not sharpened or they are enclosed in wooden handles. The
master holds the knife with one hand and cuts out the powder from the test,
so that it is left three digits thick all round; then he sifts the powder of dried
bones over it through a sieve, the bottom of which is made of closely-woven
bristles. Afterward a ball made of very hard wood, six digits in diameter,
is placed in the test and rolled about with both hands, in order to make the
inside even and smooth; for that matter he may move the ball about with only
one hand. The tests40 are of various capacities, for some of them when prepared
1 256[Figure 256]
A—STRAIGHT KNIFE HAVING WOODEN HANDLES. B—CURVED KNIFE LIKEWISE HAVING
WOODEN HANDLES. C—CURVED KNIFE WITHOUT WOODEN HANDLES. D—SIEVE.
E—BALLS. F—IRON DOOR WHICH THE MASTER LETS DOWN WHEN HE REFINES SILVER, LEST
THE HEAT OF THE FIRE SHOULD INJURE HIS EYES. G—IRON IMPLEMENT ON WHICH THE
WOOD IS PLACED WHEN THE LIQUID SILVER IS TO BE REFINED. H—ITS OTHER PART
PASSING THROUGH THE RING OF ANOTHER IRON IMPLEMENT ENCLOSED IN THE WALL OF THE
FURNACE. I—TESTS IN WHICH BURNING CHARCOAL HAS BEEN THROWN.
hold much less than fifteen librae of silver, others twenty, some thirty, others
forty, and others fifty. All these tests thus prepared are dried in the sun, or
set in a warm and covered place; the more dry and old they are the better.
All of them, when used for refining silver, are heated by means of burning
charcoal placed in them. Others use instead of these tests an iron ring; but
the test is more useful, for if the powder deteriorates the silver remains in
it, while there being no bottom to the ring, it falls out; besides, it is easier to
place in the hearth the test than the iron ring, and furthermore it requires
much less powder. In order that the test should not break and damage the
silver, some bind it round with an iron band.
In order that they may be more easily broken, the silver cakes are placed
upon an iron grate by the refiner, and are heated by burning charcoal
placed under them. He has a brass block two palms and two digits long and
wide, with a channel in the middle, which he places upon a block of hard
wood. Then with a double-headed hammer, he beats the hot cakes of silver
1placed on the brass block, and breaks them in pieces. The head of this
hammer is a foot and two digits long, and a palm wide. Others use for this
purpose merely a block of wood channelled in the top. While the fragments
of the cake are still hot, he seizes them with the tongs and throws them into
a bowl with holes in the bottom, and pours water over them. When the
fragments are cooled, he puts them nicely into the test by placing them so
that they stand upright and project from the test to a height of two palms, and
lest one should fall against the other, he places little pieces of charcoal between
them; then he places live charcoal in the test, and soon two twig basketsful
of charcoal. Then he blows in air with the bellows. This bellows is double,
and four feet two palms long, and two feet and as many palms wide at the
back; the other parts are similar to those described in Book VII. The
nozzle of the bellows is placed in a bronze pipe a foot long, the aperture in
this pipe being a digit in diameter in front and quite round, and at the back
two palms wide. The master, because he needs for the operation of refining
257[Figure 257]
A—GRATE. B—BRASS BLOCK. C—BLOCK OF WOOD. D—CAKES OF SILVER. E—HAMMER.
F—BLOCK OF WOOD CHANNELLED IN THE MIDDLE. G—BOWL FULL OF HOLES.
H—BLOCK OF WOOD FASTENED TO AN IRON IMPLEMENT. I—FIR-WOOD. K—IRON BAR.
L—IMPLEMENT WITH A HOLLOW END. THE IMPLEMENT WHICH HAS A CIRCULAR END IS
SHOWN IN THE NEXT PICTURE. M—IMPLEMENT, THE EXTREMITY OF WHICH IS BENT
UPWARDS. N—IMPLEMENT IN THE SHAPE OF TONGS.
1silver a fierce fire, and requires on that account a vigorous blast, places the
bellows very much inclined, in order that, when the silver has melted, it
may blow into the centre of the test. When the silver bubbles, he presses the
nozzle down by means of a small block of wood moistened with water and
fastened to an iron rod, the outer end of which bends upward. The silver
melts when it has been heated in the test for about an hour; when it is
melted, he removes the live coals from the test and places over it two billets
of fir-wood, a foot and three palms long, a palm two digits wide, one palm
thick at the upper part, and three digits at the lower. He joins them
together at the lower edges, and into the billets he again throws the coals,
for a fierce fire is always necessary in refining silver. It is refined in two or
three hours, according to whether it was pure or impure, and if it is impure it
is made purer by dropping granulated copper or lead into the test at the
same time. In order that the refiner may sustain the great heat from the fire
while the silver is being refined, he lets down an iron door, which is three feet
long and a foot and three palms high; this door is held on both ends in iron
plates, and when the operation is concluded, he raises it again with an iron
shovel, so that its edge holds against the iron hook in the arch, and thus the
door is held open. When the silver is nearly refined, which may be judged
by the space of time, he dips into it an iron bar, three and a half feet
long and a digit thick, having a round steel point. The small drops of silver
that adhere to the bar he places on the brass block and flattens with
a hammer, and from their colour he decides whether the silver is sufficiently
refined or not. If it is thoroughly purified it is very white, and in a bes there
is only a drachma of impurities. Some ladle up the silver with a hollow iron
implement. Of each bes of silver one sicilicus is consumed, or occasionally
when very impure, three drachmae or half an uncia41.
The refiner governs the fire and stirs the molten silver with an iron
implement, nine feet long, a digit thick, and at the end first curved toward
the right, then curved back in order to form a circle, the interior of which is a
palm in diameter; others use an iron implement, the end of which is bent
directly upward. Another iron implement has the shape of tongs, with
which, by compressing it with his hands, he seizes the coals and puts them on
or takes them off; this is two feet long, one and a half digits wide, and the
third of a digit thick.
When the silver is seen to be thoroughly refined, the artificer removes
the coals from the test with a shovel. Soon afterward he draws water in
a copper ladle, which has a wooden handle four feet long; it has a small
hole at a point half-way between the middle of the bowl and the edge, through
which a hemp seed just passes. He fills this ladle three times with water,
and three times it all flows out through the hole on to the silver, and slowly
quenches it; if he suddenly poured much water on it, it would burst asunder
and injure those standing near. The artificer has a pointed iron bar, three
1 258[Figure 258]
A—IMPLEMENT WITH A RING. B—LADLE. C—ITS HOLE. D—POINTED BAR. E—FORKS.
F—CAKE OF SILVER LAID UPON THE IMPLEMENT SHAPED LIKE TONGS. G—TUB OF WATER.
H—BLOCK OF WOOD, WITH A CAKE LAID UPON IT. I—HAMMER. K—SILVER AGAIN
PLACED UPON THE IMPLEMENT RESEMBLING TONGS. L—ANOTHER TUB FULL OF WATER.
M—BRASS WIRES. N—TRIPOD. O—ANOTHER BLOCK. P—CHISEL. Q—CRUCIBLE OF
THE FURNACE. R—TEST STILL SMOKING.
feet long, which has a wooden handle as many feet long, and he puts the end of
this bar into the test in order to stir it. He also stirs it with a hooked iron
bar, of which the hook is two digits wide and a palm deep, and the iron part
of its handle is three feet long and the wooden part the same. Then he
removes the test from the hearth with a shovel or a fork, and turns it over,
and by this means the silver falls to the ground in the shape of half a sphere;
then lifting the cake with a shovel he throws it into a tub of water, where
it gives out a great sound. Or else, having lifted the cake of silver with a
fork, he lays it upon the iron implement similar to tongs, which are placed
across a tub full of water; afterward, when cooled, he takes it from the
tub again and lays it on the block made of hard wood and beats it with a
hammer, in order to break off any of the powder from the test which
adheres to it. The cake is then placed on the implement similar to
tongs, laid over the tub full of water, and cleaned with a bundle of brass wire
1dipped into the water; this operation of beating and cleansing is repeated
until it is all clean. Afterward he places it on an iron grate or tripod; the
tripod is a palm and two digits high, one and a half digits wide, and its span
is two palms wide; then he puts burning charcoal under the tripod or grate,
in order again to dry the silver that was moistened by the water. Finally,
the Royal Inspector42 in the employment of the King or Prince, or the owner,
lays the silver on a block of wood, and with an engraver's chisel he cuts out two
259[Figure 259]
A—MUFFLE. B—ITS LITTLE WINDOWS. C—ITS LITTLE BRIDGE. D—BRICKS. E—IRON
DOOR. F—ITS LITTLE WINDOW. G—BELLOWS. H—HAMMER-CHISEL. I—IRON RING
WHICH SOME USE INSTEAD OF THE TEST. K—PESTLE WITH WHICH THE ASHES PLACED IN
THE RING ARE POUNDED.
small pieces, one from the under and the other from the upper side. These
are tested by fire, in order to ascertain whether the silver is thoroughly refined
or not, and at what price it should be sold to the merchants. Finally he
impresses upon it the seal of the King or the Prince or the owner, and, near
the same, the amount of the weight.
There are some who refine silver in tests placed under iron or earthen­
ware muffles. They use a furnace, on the hearth of which they place the test
containing the fragments of silver, and they place the muffle over it; the
1muffle has small windows at the sides, and in front a little bridge. In order
to melt the silver, at the sides of the muffle are laid bricks, upon which the
charcoal is placed, and burning firebrands are put on the bridge. The
furnace has an iron door, which is covered on the side next to the fire with lute
in order that it may not be injured. When the door is closed it retains the
heat of the fire, but it has a small window, so that the artificers may look
into the test and may at times stimulate the fire with the bellows. Although
by this method silver is refined more slowly than by the other, nevertheless it is
more useful, because less loss is caused, for a gentle fire consumes fewer particles
than a fierce fire continually excited by the blast of the bellows. If, on
account of its great size, the cake of silver can be carried only with difficulty
when it is taken out of the muffle, they cut it up into two or three
pieces while it is still hot, with a wedge or a hammer-chisel; for if they cut
it up after it has cooled, little pieces of it frequently fly off and are lost.
END OF BOOK X.
260[Figure 260]
1
BOOK XI.
Different methods of parting gold from silver,
and, on the other hand, silver from gold, were dis­
cussed in the last book; also the separation of copper
from the latter, and further, of lead from gold as
well as from silver; and, lastly, the methods for
refining the two precious metals. Now I will speak
of the methods by which silver must be separated
from copper, and likewise from iron.1
The officina, or the building necessary for the
purposes and use of those who separate silver from copper, is constructed
in this manner. First, four long walls are built, of which the first, which
is parallel with the bank of a stream, and the second, are both two hundred and
sixty-four feet long. The second, however, stops at one hundred and fifty-one
feet, and after, as it were, a break for a length of twenty-four feet, it continues
again until it is of a length equal to the first wall. The third wall is one
hundred and twenty feet long, starting at a point opposite the sixty-seventh
foot of the other walls, and reaching to their one hundred and eighty-sixth foot.
1The fourth wall is one hundred and fifty-one feet long. The height of each of
these walls, and likewise of the other two and of the transverse walls, of
which I will speak later on, is ten feet, and the thickness two feet and as
many palms. The second long wall only is built fifteen feet high, because
of the furnaces which must be built against it. The first long wall is distant
fifteen feet from the second, and the third is distant the same number of feet
from the fourth, but the second is distant thirty-nine feet from the third.
Then transverse walls are built, the first of which leads from the beginning
of the first long wall to the beginning of the second long wall; and the second
transverse wall from the beginning of the second long wall to the beginning of
the fourth long wall, for the third long wall does not reach so far. Then from
the beginning of the third long wall are built two walls—the one to the
sixty-seventh foot of the second long wall, the other to the same point in
the fourth long wall. The fifth transverse wall is built at a distance of ten
feet from the fourth transverse wall toward the second transverse wall;
1 261[Figure 261]
SIX LONG WALLS: A—THE FIRST. B—THE FIRST PART OF THE SECOND. C—THE
FURTHER PART OF THE SECOND. D—THE THIRD. E—THE FOURTH. F—THE FIFTH.
G—THE SIXTH. FOURTEEN TRANSVERSE WALLS: H—THE FIRST. I—THE SECOND.
K—THE THIRD. L—THE FOURTH. M—THE FIFTH. N—THE SIXTH. O—THE SEVENTH.
P—THE EIGHTH. O—THE NINTH. R—THE TENTH. S—THE ELEVENTH. T—THE
1it is twenty feet long, and starts from the fourth long wall. The sixth
transverse wall is built also from the fourth long wall, at a point distant
thirty feet from the fourth transverse wall, and it extends as far as the back
of the third long wall. The seventh transverse wall is constructed from
the second long wall, where this first leaves off, to the third long wall; and
from the back of the third long wall the eighth transverse wall is built,
extending to the end of the fourth long wall. Then the fifth long wall is built
from the seventh transverse wall, starting at a point nineteen feet from the
second long wall; it is one hundred and nine feet in length; and at a point
twenty-four feet along it, the ninth transverse wall is carried to the third end
of the second long wall, where that begins again. The tenth transverse wall is
built from the end of the fifth long wall, and leads to the further end of the
second long wall; and from there the eleventh transverse wall leads to the
further end of the first long wall. Behind the fifth long wall, and five feet
toward the third long wall, the sixth long wall is built, leading from the
seventh transverse wall; its length is thirty-five feet, and from its further
end the twelfth transverse wall is built to the third long wall, and from it the
thirteenth transverse wall is built to the fifth long wall. The fourteenth
transverse wall divides into equal parts the space which lies between the
seventh transverse wall and the twelfth.
The length, height, breadth, and position of the walls are as above.
Their archways, doors, and openings are made at the same time that the walls
are built. The size of these and the way they are made will be much better
understood hereafter. I will now speak of the furnace hoods and of the roofs.
The first side2 of the hood stands on the second long wall, and is similar in
every respect to those whose structure I explained in Book IX, when I
described the works in whose furnaces are smelted the ores of gold, silver,
and copper. From this side of the hood a roof, which consists of burnt tiles,
extends to the first long wall; and this part of the building contains the
bellows, the machinery for compressing them, and the instruments for
inflating them. In the middle space, which is situated between the second
and third transverse walls, an upright post eight feet high and two feet thick
1and wide, is erected on a rock foundation, and is distant thirteen feet from
the second long wall. On that upright post, and in the second transverse
wall, which has at that point a square hole two feet high and wide, is placed
a beam thirty-four feet and a palm long. Another beam, of the same length,
width, and thickness, is fixed on the same upright post and in the third
transverse wall. The heads of those two beams, where they meet, are joined
together with iron staples. In a similar manner another post is erected, at a
distance of ten feet from the first upright post in the direction of the fourth
wall, and two beams are laid upon it and into the same walls in a similar
way to those I have just now described. On these two beams and on the
fourth long wall are fixed seventeen cross-beams, forty-three feet and three
palms long, a foot wide, and three palms thick; the first of these is laid upon
the second transverse wall, the last lies along the third and fourth transverse
walls; the rest are set in the space between them. These cross-beams are
three feet apart one from the other.
In the ends of these cross-beams, facing the second long wall, are mortised
the ends of the same number of rafters reaching to those timbers which
stand upright on the second long wall, and in this manner is made the inclined
side of the hood in a similar way to the one described in Book IX. To prevent
this from falling toward the vertical wall of the hood, there are iron rods
securing it, but only a few, because the four brick chimneys which have
to be built in that space partly support it. Twelve feet back are likewise
mortised into the cross-beams, which lie upon the two longitudinal beams
and the fourth long wall, the lower ends of as many rafters, whose upper ends
are mortised into the upper ends of an equal number of similar rafters, whose
lower ends are mortised to the ends of the beams at the fourth long wall.
From the first set of rafters4 to the second set of rafters is a distance of twelve
feet, in order that a gutter may be well placed in the middle space. Between
these two are again erected two sets of rafters, the lower ends of which are like­
wise mortised into the beams, which lie on the two longitudinal beams and the
fourth long wall, and are interdistant a cubit. The upper ends of the ones
fifteen feet long rest on the backs of the rafters of the first set; the ends of the
others, which are eighteen feet long, rest on the backs of the rafters of the
second set, which are longer; in this manner, in the middle of the rafters, is
a sub-structure. Upon each alternate cross-beam which is placed upon the
two longitudinal beams and the fourth long wall is erected an upright post,
and that it may be sufficiently firm it is strengthened by means of a slanting
timber. Upon these posts is laid a long beam, upon which rests one set of
middle rafters. In a similar manner the other set of middle rafters rests on a
long beam which is placed upon other posts. Besides this, two feet above
every cross-beam, which is placed on the two longitudinal beams and the
1fourth long wall, is placed a tie-beam which reaches from the first set of
middle rafters to the second set of middle rafters; upon the tie-beams is
placed a gutter hollowed out from a tree. Then from the back of each of
the first set of middle rafters a beam six feet long reaches almost to the gutter;
to the lower end of this beam is attached a piece of wood two feet long;
this is repeated with each rafter of the first set of middle rafters. Similarly
from the back of each rafter of the second set of middle rafters a little beam,
seven feet long, reaches almost to the gutter; to the lower end of it
is likewise attached a short piece of wood; this is repeated on each rafter
of the second set of middle rafters. Then in the upper part, to the first and
second sets of principal rafters are fastened long boards, upon which are
fixed the burnt tiles; and in the same manner, in the middle part, they are
fastened to the first and second sets of middle rafters, and at the lower part to
the little beams which reach from each rafter of the first and second set of
middle rafters almost to the gutter; and, finally, to the little boards fastened
to the short pieces of wood are fixed shingles of pinewood extending into the
gutter, so that the violent rain or melted snow may not penetrate into the
building. The substructures in the interior which support the second set of
rafters, and those on the opposite side which support the third, being not
unusual, I need not explain.
In that part of the building against the second long wall are the
furnaces, in which exhausted liquation cakes which have already been
“dried” are smelted, that they may recover once again the appearance
and colour of copper, inasmuch as they really are copper. The remainder
of the room is occupied by the passage which leads from the door to the
furnaces, together with two other furnaces, in one of which the whole cakes
of copper are heated, and in the other the exhausted liquation cakes are
“dried” by the heat of the fire.
Likewise, in the room between the third and seventh5 transverse walls,
two posts are erected on rock foundation; both of them are eight feet high
and two feet wide and thick. The one is at a distance of thirteen feet from
the second long wall; the other at the same distance from the third long wall;
there is a distance of thirteen feet between them. Upon these two posts and
upon the third transverse wall are laid two longitudinal beams, forty-one feet
and one palm long, and two feet wide and thick. Two other beams of the
same length, width, and thickness are laid upon the upright posts and upon
the seventh transverse wall, and the heads of the two long beams, where they
meet, are joined with iron staples. On these longitudinal beams are again
placed twenty-one transverse beams, thirteen feet long, a foot wide, and three
palms thick, of which the first is set on the third transverse wall, and the last
on the seventh transverse wall; the rest are laid in the space between these
two, and they are distant from one another three feet. Into the ends of
the transverse beams which face the second long wall, are mortised the
ends of the same number of rafters erected toward the upright posts
which are placed upon the second long wall, and in this manner is made
1the second inclined side wall of the hood. Into the ends of the transverse
beams facing the third long wall, are mortised the ends of the same
number of rafters rising toward the rafters of the first inclined side of
the second hood, and in this manner is made the other inclined side of
the second hood. But to prevent this from falling in upon the opposite
inclined side of the hood, and that again upon the opposite vertical one,
there are many iron rods reaching from some of the rafters to those
opposite them; and this is also prevented in part by means of a few tie-beams,
extending from the back of the rafters to the back of those which are behind
them. These tie-beams are two palms thick and wide, and have holes made
through them at each end; each of the rafters is bound round with iron
bands three digits wide and half a digit thick, which hold together the ends
of the tie-beams of which I have spoken; and so that the joints may be firm,
an iron nail, passing through the plate on both sides, is driven through the
holes in the ends of the beams. Since one weight counter-balances another, the
rafters on the opposite hoods cannot fall. The tie-beams and middle posts
which have to support the gutters and the roof, are made in every particular
as I stated above, except only that the second set of middle rafters are not
longer than the first set of middle rafters, and that the little beams which
reach from the back of each rafter of the second set of middle rafters nearly
to the gutter are not longer than the little beams which reach from the back
of each rafter of the first set of middle rafters almost to the gutter. In this
part of the building, against the second long wall, are the furnaces in which
copper is alloyed with lead, and in which “slags” are re-smelted. Against
the third long wall are the furnaces in which silver and lead are liquated from
copper. The interior is also occupied by two cranes, of which one deposits
on the ground the cakes of copper lifted out of the moulding pans; the other
lifts them from the ground into the second furnace.
On the third and the fourth long walls are set twenty-one beams eighteen
feet and three palms long. In mortises in them, two feet behind the third long
wall, are set the ends of the same number of rafters erected opposite to the
rafters of the other inclined wall of the second furnace hood, and in this
manner is made the third inclined wall, exactly similar to the others. The
ends of as many rafters are mortised into these beams where they are fixed in
the fourth long wall; these rafters are erected obliquely, and rest against the
backs of the preceding ones and support the roof, which consists entirely of
burnt tiles and has the usual substructures. In this part of the building
there are two rooms, in the first of which the cakes of copper, and in the other
the cakes of lead, are stored.
In the space enclosed between the ninth and tenth transverse walls and
the second and fifth long walls, a post twelve feet high and two feet wide and
thick is erected on a rock foundation; it is distant thirteen feet from the
second long wall, and six from the fifth long wall. Upon this post and upon
the ninth transverse wall is laid a beam thirty-three feet and three palms
long, and two palms wide and thick. Another beam, also of the same length,
width and thickness, is laid upon the same post and upon the tenth transverse
1wall, and the ends of these two beams where they meet are joined by means
of iron staples. On these beams and on the fifth long wall are placed ten
cross-beams, eight feet and three palms long, the first of which is placed on
the ninth transverse wall, the last on the tenth, the remainder in the space
between them; they are distant from one another three feet. Into the
ends of the cross-beams facing the second long wall, are mortised the ends of
the same number of rafters inclined toward the posts which stand vertically
upon the second long wall. This, again, is the manner in which the inclined
side of the furnace hood is made, just as with the others; at the top
where the fumes are emitted it is two feet distant from the vertical side.
The ends of the same number of rafters are mortised into the cross-beams,
where they are set in the fifth long wall; each of them is set up obliquely and
rests against the back of one of the preceding set; they support the roof,
made of burnt tiles. In this part of the building, against the second long
wall, are four furnaces in which lead is separated from silver, together with
the cranes by means of which the domes are lifted from the crucibles.
In that part of the building which lies between the first long wall and
the break in the second long wall, is the stamp with which the copper cakes
are crushed, and the four stamps with which the accretions that are chipped
off the walls of the furnace are broken up and crushed to powder, and likewise
the bricks on which the exhausted liquation cakes of copper are stood to
be “dried.” This room has the usual roof, as also has the space between
the seventh transverse wall and the twelfth and thirteenth transverse walls.
At the sides of these rooms are the fifth, the sixth, and the third long
walls. This part of the building is divided into two parts, in the first of
which stand the little furnaces in which the artificer assays metals; and the
bone ash, together with the other powders, are kept here. In the other room
is prepared the powder from which the hearths and the crucibles of the fur­
naces are made. Outside the building, at the back of the fourth long wall,
near the door to the left as you enter, is a hearth in which smaller
masses of lead are melted from large ones, that they may be the more easily
weighed; because the masses of lead, just as much as the cakes of copper,
ought to be first prepared so that they can be weighed, and a definite weight
can be melted and alloyed in the furnaces. To begin with, the hearth in
which the masses of lead are liquefied is six feet long and five wide; it is
protected on both sides by rocks partly sunk into the earth, but a palm higher
than the hearth, and it is lined in the inside with lute. It slopes toward the
middle and toward the front, in order that the molten lead may run down
and flow out into the dipping-pot. There is a wall at the back of the hearth
which protects the fourth long wall from damage by the heat; this wall,
which is made of bricks and lute, is four feet high, three palms thick, and five
feet long at the bottom, and at the top three feet and two palms long; there­
fore it narrows gradually, and in the upper part are laid seven bricks, the
middle ones of which are set upright, and the end ones inclined; they are all
thickly coated with lute. In front of the hearth is a dipping-pot, whose pit is
a foot deep, and a foot and three palms wide at the top, and gradually narrows.
1 262[Figure 262]
A—HEARTH. B—ROCKS SUNK INTO THE GROUND. C—WALLS WHICH PROTECT THE
FOURTH LONG WALL FROM DAMAGE BY FIRE. D—DIPPING-POT. E—MASSES OF LEAD.
F—TROLLEY. G—ITS WHEELS. H—CRANE. I—TONGS. K—WOOD. L—MOULDS.
M—LADLE. N—PICK. O—CAKES.
1When the masses of lead are to be melted, the workman first places the wood
in the hearth so that one end of each billet faces the wall, and the other end
the dipping-pot. Then, assisted by other workmen, he pushes the mass
of lead forward with crowbars on to a low trolley, and draws it to the
crane. The trolley consists of planks fastened together, is two and one-half
feet wide and five feet long, and has two small iron axles, around which at
each end revolve small iron wheels, two palms in diameter and as many digits
wide. The trolley has a tongue, and attached to this is a rope, by which it is
drawn to the crane. The crane is exactly similar to those in the second part
of the works, except that the crane-arm is not so long. The tongs in whose
jaws6 the masses of lead are seized, are two feet a palm and two digits long;
both of the jaws, when struck with a hammer, impinge upon the mass and are
driven into it. The upper part of both handles of the tongs are curved back,
the one to the right, the other to the left, and each handle is engaged in one
of the lowest links of two short chains, which are three links long. The upper
links are engaged in a large round ring, in which is fixed the hook of a chain
let down from the pulley of the crane-arm. When the crank of the crane
is turned, the mass is lifted and is carried by the crane-arm to the hearth and
placed on the wood. The workmen wheel up one mass after another and
place them in a similar manner on the wood of the hearth; masses which
weigh a total of about a hundred and sixty centumpondía7 are usually placed
upon the wood and melted at one time. Then a workman throws charcoal
on the masses, and all are made ready in the evening. If he fears that it may
rain, he covers it up with a cover, which may be moved here and there; at the
back this cover has two legs, so that the rain which it collects may flow down
the slope on to the open ground. Early in the morning of the following day,
he throws live coals on the charcoal with a shovel, and by this method the
masses of lead melt, and from time to time charcoal is added. The lead, as
soon as it begins to run into the dipping-pot, is ladled out with an iron ladle
into copper moulds such as the refiners generally use. If it does not cool
immediately he pours water over it, and then sticks the pointed pick into
it and pulls it out. The pointed end of the pick is three palms long and
the round end is two digits long. It is necessary to smear the moulds with a
wash of lute, in order that, when they have been turned upside down and
struck with the broad round end of the pick, the cakes of lead may fall out
easily. If the moulds are not washed over with the lute, there is a risk that
they may be melted by the lead and let it through. Others take hold of a
billet of wood with their left hand, and with the heavy lower end of it they
pound the mould, and with the right hand they stick the point of the pick
into the cake of lead, and thus pull it out. Then immediately the workman
pours other lead into the empty moulds, and this he does until the work of
melting the lead is finished. When the lead is melted, something similar to
litharge is produced; but it is no wonder that it should be possible to make
1it in this case, when it used formerly to be produced at Puteoli from lead
alone when melted by a fierce fire in the cupellation furnace.8 Afterward
these cakes of lead are carried into the lead store-room.
The cakes of copper, put into wheelbarrows, are carried into the third
part of the building, where each is laid upon a saddle, and is broken up by
the impact of successive blows from the iron-shod stamp. This machine
is made by placing upon the ground a block of oak, five feet long and three feet
263[Figure 263]
A—BLOCK OF WOOD. B—UPRIGHT POSTS. C—TRANSVERSE BEAMS. D—HEAD OF THE
STAMP. E—ITS TOOTH. F—THE HOLE IN THE STAMP-STEM. G—IRON BAR. H—MASSES
OF LEAD. I—THE BRONZE SADDLE. K—AXLE. L—ITS ARMS. M—LITTLE IRON AXLE.
N—BRONZE PIPE.
wide and thick; it is cut out in the middle for a length of two feet and two
palms, a width of two feet, and a depth of three palms and two digits, and is
open in front; the higher part of it is at the back, and the wide part lies flat
in the block. In the middle of it is placed a bronze saddle. Its base
is a palm and two digits wide, and is planted between two masses of
lead, and extends under them to a depth of a palm on both sides.
The whole saddle is three palms and two digits wide, a foot long, and
1two palms thick. Upon each end of the block stands a post, a cubit wide
and thick, the upper end of which is somewhat cut away and is mortised into
the beams of the building. At a height of four feet and two digits above the
block there are joined to the posts two transverse beams, each of which is
three palms wide and thick; their ends are mortised into the upright posts,
and holes are bored through them; in the holes are driven iron claves,
horned in front and so driven into the post that one of the horns of each
points upward and the other downward; the other end of each clavis is
perforated, and a wide iron wedge is inserted and driven into the holes, and
thus holds the transverse beams in place. These transverse beams have in the
middle a square opening three palms and half a digit wide in each
direction, through which the iron-shod stamp passes. At a height of three
feet and two palms above these transverse beams there are again two beams
of the same kind, having also a square opening and holding the same stamp.
This stamp is square, eleven feet long, three palms wide and thick; its iron
shoe is a foot and a palm long; its head is two palms long and wide, a palm
two digits thick at the top, and at the bottom the same number of digits, for
it gradually narrows. But the tail is three palms long; where the head
begins is two palms wide and thick, and the further it departs from the same
the narrower it becomes. The upper part is enclosed in the stamp-stem, and
it is perforated so that an iron bolt may be driven into it; it is bound by three
rectangular iron bands, the lowest of which, a palm wide, is between the iron
shoe and the head of the stamp; the middle band, three digits wide, follows
next and binds round the head of the stamp, and two digits above is the
upper one, which is the same number of digits wide. At a distance of two
feet and as many digits above the lowest part of the iron shoe, is a rectangular
tooth, projecting from the stamp for a distance of a foot and a palm; it is
two palms thick, and when it has extended to a distance of six digits from the
stamp it is made two digits narrower. At a height of three palms upward
from the tooth there is a round hole in the middle of the stamp-stem, into
which can be thrust a round iron bar two feet long and a digit and a half in
diameter; in its hollow end is fixed a wooden handle two palms and the same
number of digits long. The bar rests on the lower transverse beam, and holds
up the stamp when it is not in use. The axle which raises the stamp
has on each side two arms, which are two palms and three digits distant
from each other, and which project from the axle a foot, a palm and two
digits; penetrating through them are bolts, driven in firmly; the arms are
each a palm and two digits wide and thick, and their round heads, for a foot
downward on either side, are covered with iron plates of the same width as
the arms and fastened by iron nails. The head of each arm has a round
hole, into which is inserted an iron pin, passing through a bronze pipe; this
little axle has at the one end a wide head, and at the other end a perforation
through which is driven an iron nail, lest this little axle should fall out of the
arms. The bronze pipe is two palms long and one in diameter; the little
iron axle penetrates through its round interior, which is two digits in diameter.
The bronze pipe not only revolves round the little iron axle, but it also
1rotates with it; therefore, when the axle revolves, the little axle and
the bronze tube in their turn raise the tooth and the stamp. When the
little iron axle and the bronze pipe have been taken out of the arms, the tooth
of the stamps is not raised, and other stamps may be raised without this one.
Further on, a drum with spindles fixed around the axle of a water-wheel
moves the axle of a toothed drum, which depresses the sweeps of the bellows
in the adjacent fourth part of the building; but it turns in the contrary
direction; for the axis of the drum which raises the stamps turns toward
the north, while that one which depresses the sweeps of the bellows turns
toward the south.
Those cakes which are too thick to be rapidly broken by blows from
the iron-shod stamp, such as are generally those which have settled in the
bottom of the crucible,9 are carried into the first part of the building. They
are there heated in a furnace, which is twenty-eight feet distant from the
second long wall and twelve feet from the second transverse wall. The three
sides of this furnace are built of rectangular rocks, upon which bricks are laid;
the back furnace wall is three feet and a palm high, and the rear of the side
walls is the same; the side walls are sloping, and where the furnace is open in
front they are only two feet and three palms high; all the walls are a foot and
a palm thick. Upon these walls stand upright posts not less thick, in order
that they may bear the heavy weight placed upon them, and they are covered
with lute; these posts support the sloping chimney and penetrate through
the roof. Moreover, not only the ribs of the chimney, but also the rafters,
are covered thickly with lute. The hearth of the furnace is six feet
long on each side, is sloping, and is paved with bricks. The cakes of copper
are placed in the furnace and heated in the following way. They are first of
all placed in the furnace in rows, with as many small stones the size of an egg
between, so that the heat of the fire can penetrate through the spaces between
them; indeed, those cakes which are placed at the bottom of the crucible are
each raised upon half a brick for the same reason. But lest the last row,
which lies against the mouth of the furnace, should fall out, against the mouth
are placed iron plates, or the copper cakes which are the first taken from the
crucible when copper is made, and against them are laid exhausted liquation
cakes or rocks. Then charcoal is thrown on the cakes, and then live coals;
at first the cakes are heated by a gentle fire, and afterward more charcoal is
added to them until it is at times three-quarters of a foot deep. A fiercer fire
is certainly required to heat the hard cakes of copper than the fragile ones.
When the cakes have been sufficiently heated, which usually occurs within
the space of about two hours, the exhausted liquation cakes or the rocks
and the iron plate are removed from the mouth of the furnace. Then the
hot cakes are taken out row after row with a two-pronged rabble, such as the
one which is used by those who “dry” the exhausted liquation cakes.
Then the first cake is laid upon the exhausted liquation cakes, and beaten by
two workmen with hammers until it breaks; the hotter the cakes are, the
1sooner they are broken up; the less hot, the longer it takes, for now and
then they bend into the shape of copper basins. When the first cake has
been broken, the second is put on to the other fragments and beaten until it
breaks into pieces, and the rest of the cakes are broken up in the same manner
in due order. The head of the hammer is three palms long and one wide,
and sharpened at both ends, and its handle is of wood three feet long.
When they have been broken by the stamp, if cold, or with hammers if hot,
the fragments of copper or the cakes are carried into the store-room for
copper.
264[Figure 264]
A—BACK WALL. B—WALLS AT THE SIDES. C—UPRIGHT POSTS. D—CHIMNEY.
E—THE CAKES ARRANGED. F—IRON PLATES. G—ROCKS. H—RABBLE WITH TWO
PRONGS. I—HAMMERS.
The foreman of the works, according to the different proportions of
silver in each centumpondíum of copper, alloys it with lead, without which
he could not separate the silver from the copper.10 If there be a moderate
1amount of silver in the copper, he alloys it fourfold; for instance, if in three­
quarters of a centumpondium of copper there is less than the following pro­
portions, í.e.: half a libra of silver, or half a líbra and a sícílícus, or half a líbra
and a semí-uncía, or half a libra and semí-uncía and a sícílícus, then rich
lead—that is, that from which the silver has not yet been separated—is
added, to the amount of half a centumpondíum or a whole centumpondíum, or
a whole and a half, in such a way that there may be in the copper-lead alloy
some one of the proportions of silver which I have just mentioned, which is
the first alloy. To this “first” alloy is added such a weight of de-silverized
lead or litharge as is required to make out of all of these a single liquation cake
that will contain approximately two centumpondía of lead; but as usually
from one hundred and thirty líbrae of litharge only one hundred líbrae of lead
are made, a greater proportion of litharge than of de-silverized lead is added
as a supplement. Since four cakes of this kind are placed at the same time
into the furnace in which the silver and lead is liquated from copper, there
will be in all the cakes three centumpondía of copper and eight centumpondía
of lead. When the lead has been liquated from the copper, it weighs six
centumpondía, in each centumpondíum of which there is a quarter of a líbra
and almost a sícílícus of silver. Only seven uncíae of the silver remain in the
exhausted liquation cakes and in that copper-lead alloy which we call
“liquation thorns”; they are not called by this name so much because they
have sharp points as because they are base. If in three-quarters of a centum­
pondíum of copper there are less than seven uncía and a semí-uncía or a bes
of silver, then so much rich lead must be added as to make in the copper and
lead alloy one of the proportions of silver which I have already mentioned.
This is the “second” alloy. To this is again to be added as great a weight
1of de-silverized lead, or of litharge, as will make it possible to obtain from that
alloy a liquation cake containing two and a quarter centumpondía of lead,
in which manner in four of these cakes there will be three centumpondía of
copper and nine centumpondía of lead. The lead which liquates from these
cakes weighs seven centumpondia, in each centumpondíum of which there is
a quarter of a líbra of silver and a little more than a sícílícus. About seven
uncíae of silver remain in the exhausted liquation cakes and in the liquation
thorns, if we may be allowed to make common the old name (spínae=thorns)
and bestow it upon a new substance. If in three-quarters of a centumpondíum
of copper there is less than three-quarters of a líbra of silver, or three-quarters
and a semí-uncía, then as much rich lead must be added as will produce one
of the proportions of silver in the copper-lead alloy above mentioned; this
is the “third” alloy. To this is added such an amount of de-silverized lead
or of litharge, that a liquation cake made from it contains in all two and
three-quarters centumpondía of lead. In this manner four such cakes will
contain three centumpondía of copper and eleven centumpondía of lead.
The lead which these cakes liquate, when they are melted in the furnace,
weighs about nine centumpondía, in each centumpondíum of which there is
a quarter of a líbra and more than a sícílícus of silver; and seven uncíae of
silver remain in the exhausted liquation cakes and in the liquation thorns.
If, however, in three-quarters of a centumpondíum of copper there is less than
ten-twelfths of a líbra or ten-twelfths of a libra and a semí-uncía of silver,
then such a proportion of rich lead is added as will produce in the copper-lead
alloy one of the proportions of silver which I mentioned above; this is the
“fourth” alloy. To this is added such a weight of de-silverized lead or of
litharge, that a liquation cake made from it contains three centumpondía of
1lead, and in four cakes of this kind there are three centumpondía of copper and
twelve centumpondía of lead. The lead which is liquated therefrom weighs
about ten centumpondía, in each centumpondíum of which there is a quarter
of a libra and more than a semí-uncía of silver, or seven uncíae; a bes, or
seven uncíae and a semí-uncía, of silver remain in the exhausted liquation
cakes and in the liquation thorns.
Against the second long wall in the second part of the building, whose
area is eighty feet long by thirty-nine feet wide, are four furnaces in which
the copper is alloyed with lead, and six furnaces in which “slags” are re­
smelted. The interior of the first kind of furnace is a foot and three palms wide,
two feet three digits long; and of the second is a foot and a palm wide and a foot
three palms and a digit long. The side walls of these furnaces are the same
height as the furnaces in which gold or silver ores are smelted. As the whole
room is divided into two parts by upright posts, the front part must have,
first, two furnaces in which “slags” are re-melted; second, two furnaces in
which copper is alloyed with lead; and third, one furnace in which “slags” are
re-melted. The back part of the room has first, one furnace in which “slags”
are re-melted; next, two furnaces in which copper is alloyed with lead; and
third, two furnaces in which “slags” are re-melted. Each of these is six feet
distant from the next; on the right side of the first is a space of three feet
and two palms, and on the left side of the last one of seven feet. Each pair of
furnaces has a common door, six feet high and a cubit wide, but the first and
the tenth furnace each has one of its own. Each of the furnaces is set in an arch
of its own in the back wall, and in front has a forehearth pit; this is filled with
a powder compound rammed down and compressed in order to make a crucible.
Under each furnace is a hidden receptacle for the moisture,11 from which a
vent is made through the back wall toward the right, which allows the
vapour to escape. Finally, to the right, in front, is the copper mould into
which the copper-lead alloy is poured from the forehearth, in order that
liquation cakes of equal weight may be made. This copper mould is a digit
thick, its interior is two feet in diameter and six digits deep. Behind the
second long wall are ten pairs of bellows, two machines for compressing them,
and twenty instruments for inflating them. The way in which these should
be made may be understood from Book IX.
The smelter, when he alloys copper with lead, with his hand throws into
the heated furnace, first the large fragments of copper, then a basketful of
charcoal, then the smaller fragments of copper. When the copper is melted
and begins to run out of the tap-hole into the forehearth, he throws litharge
into the furnace, and, lest part of it should fly away, he first throws
charcoal over it, and lastly lead. As soon as he has thrown into the furnace
the copper and the lead, from which alloy the first liquation cake is made, he
again throws in a basket of charcoal, and then fragments of copper are thrown
over them, from which the second cake may be made. Afterward with a
rabble he skims the “slag” from the copper and lead as they flow into the
forehearth. Such a rabble is a board into which an iron bar is fixed; the
1board is made of elder-wood or willow, and is ten digits long, six wide, and one
and a half digits thick; the iron bar is three feet long, and the wooden
handle inserted into it is two and a half feet long. While he purges the
alloy and pours it out with a ladle into the copper mould, the fragments of
copper from which he is to make the second cake are melting. As soon as
this begins to run down he again throws in litharge, and when he has put on
more charcoal he adds the lead. This operation he repeats until thirty
liquation cakes have been made, on which work he expends nine hours, or at
most ten; if more than thirty cakes must be made, then he is paid for
another shift when he has made an extra thirty.
At the same time that he pours the copper-lead alloy into the copper
mould, he also pours water slowly into the top of the mould. Then, with a
cleft stick, he takes a hook and puts its straight stem into the molten cake.
The hook itself is a digit and a half thick; its straight stem is two palms
long and two digits wide and thick. Afterward he pours more water over the
cakes. When they are cold he places an iron ring in the hook of the chain
265[Figure 265]
A—FURNACE IN WHICH “SLAGS” ARE RE-SMELTED. B—FURNACE IN WHICH COPPER IS
ALLOYED WITH LEAD. C—DOOR. D—FORE-HEARTHS ON THE GROUND. E—COPPER
MOULDS. F—RABBLE. G—HOOK. H—CLEFT STICK. I—ARM OF THE CRANE.
K—THE HOOK OF ITS CHAIN.
1let down from the pulley of the crane arm; the inside diameter of this ring
is six digits, and it is about a digit and a half thick; the ring is then engaged
in the hook whose straight stem is in the cake, and thus the cake is raised from
the mould and put into its place.
The copper and lead, when thus melted, yield a small amount of “slag”12
and much litharge. The litharge does not cohere, but falls to pieces like the
residues from malt from which beer is made. Pompholyx adheres to the walls
in white ashes, and to the sides of the furnace adheres spodos.
In this practical manner lead is alloyed with copper in which there is but
a moderate portion of silver. If, however, there is much silver in it, as, for
instance, two líbrae, or two líbrae and a bes, to the centumpondium,—which
weighs one hundred and thirty-three and a third líbrae, or one hundred and
forty-six librae and a bes,13—then the foreman of the works adds to a centum­
pondíum of such copper three centumpondía of lead, in each centumpondium
of which there is a third of a líbra of silver, or a third of a libra and a semí­
uncía. In this manner three liquation cakes are made, which contain
altogether three centumpondía of copper and nine centumpondía of lead.14 The
lead, when it has been liquated from the copper, weighs seven centumpondia;
and in each centumpondíum—if the centumpondium of copper contain two
líbrae of silver, and the lead contain a third of a líbra—there will be a líbra
and a sixth and more than a semí-uncía of silver; while in the exhausted
liquation cakes, and in the liquation thorns, there remains a third of a líbra.

1If a centumpondíum of copper contains two líbrae and a bes of silver, and
the lead a third of a libra and a semí-uncía, there will be in each liquation
cake one and a half líbrae and a semí-uncia, and a little more than a sicilicus
of silver. In the exhausted liquation cakes there remain a third of a libra
and a semi-uncia of silver.
If there be in the copper only a minute proportion of silver, it cannot be
separated easily until it has been re-melted in other furnaces, so that in
the “bottoms” there remains more silver and in the “tops” less.15 This
266[Figure 266]
A—FURNACE. B—FOREHEARTH. C—DIPPING-POT. D—CAKES.
furnace, vaulted with unbaked bricks, is similar to an oven, and also to the
cupellation furnace, in which the lead is separated from silver, which I described
in the last book. The crucible is made of ashes, in the same manner as
1in the latter, and in the front of the furnace, three feet above the floor of
the building, is the mouth out of which the re-melted copper flows into a
forehearth and a dipping-pot. On the left side of the mouth is an aperture,
through which beech-wood may be put into the furnace to feed the fire. If
in a centumpondíum of copper there were a sixth of a líbra and a semí-uncía of
silver, or a quarter of a libra, or a quarter of a líbra and a semi-uncia—there is
re-melted at the same time thirty-eight centumpondía of it in this furnace, until
there remain in each centumpondíum of the copper “bottoms” a third of a
líbra and a semí-uncía of silver. For example, if in each centumpondium of
copper not yet re-melted, there is a quarter of a libra and a semi-uncia of silver,
then the thirty-eight centumpondia that are smelted together must contain a
total of eleven líbrae and an uncía of silver. Since from fifteen centumpondía
of re-melted copper there was a total of four and a third líbrae and a semi-uncia
of silver, there remain only two and a third librae. Thus there is left in the
“bottoms,” weighing twenty-three centumpondía, a total of eight and three­
quarter líbrae of silver. Therefore, each centumpondíum of this contains a
third of a libra and a semí-uncía, a drachma, and the twenty-third part of a
drachma of silver; from such copper it is profitable to separate the silver.
In order that the master may be more certain of the number of centumpondía
of copper in the “bottoms,” he weighs the “tops” that have been drawn
off from it; the “tops” were first drawn off into the dipping-pot, and cakes
were made from them. Fourteen hours are expended on the work of thus
dividing the copper. The “bottoms,” when a certain weight of lead has
been added to them, of which alloy I shall soon speak, are melted in
the blast furnace; liquation cakes are then made, and the silver is afterward
separated from the copper. The “tops” are subsequently melted
in the blast furnace, and re-melted in the refining furnace, in order that
red copper shall be made16; and the “tops” from this are again smelted in
the blast furnace, and then again in the refining furnace, that therefrom
1shall be made caldaríum copper. But when the copper, yellow or red or caldar­
íum is re-smelted in the refining furnace, forty centumpondía are placed in
it, and from it they make at least twenty, and at most thirty-five, centum­
pondía. About twenty-two centumpondía of exhausted liquation cakes and
ten of yellow copper and eight of red, are simultaneously placed in this latter
furnace and smelted, in order that they may be made into refined copper.
The copper “bottoms” are alloyed in three different ways with lead.17
First, five-eights of a centumpondíum of copper and two and three­
quarters centumpondia of lead are taken; and since one liquation cake is made
from this, therefore two and a half centumpondía of copper and eleven cen­
tumpondía of lead make four liquation cakes. Inasmuch as in each centumpon­
dium of copper there is a third of a líbra of silver, there would be in the whole
of the copper ten-twelfths of a líbra of silver; to these are added four centum­
pondía of lead re-melted from “slags,” each centumpondíum of which contains
a sícilícus and a drachma of silver, which weights make up a total of an uncía
and a half of silver. There is also added seven centumpondía of de-silverized
lead, in each centumpondíum of which there is a drachma of silver; therefore
in the four cakes of copper-lead alloy there is a total of a líbra, a sicílícus and
a drachma of silver. In each single centumpondíum of lead, after it has been
liquated from the copper, there is an uncía and a drachma of silver, which alloy
we call “poor” argentiferous lead, because it contains but little silver. But
as five cakes of that kind are placed together in the furnace, they liquate
from them usually as much as nine and three-quarters centumpondía of poor
1argentiferous lead, in each centumpondíum of which there is an uncía and a
drachma of silver, or a total of ten uncíae less four drachmae. Of the liquation
thorns there remain three centumpondía, in each centumpondíum of which
there are three sícilící of silver; and there remain four centumpondía of
exhausted liquation cakes, each centumpondíum of which contains a semí­
uncía or four and a half drachmae. Inasmuch as in a centumpondíum of copper
“bottoms” there is a third of a líbra and a semí-uncía of silver, in five of those
cakes there must be more than one and a half uncíae and half a drachma of
silver.
Then, again, from another two and a half centumpondía of copper
“bottoms,” together with eleven centumpondía of lead, four liquation cakes
are made. If in each centumpondium of copper there was a third of a líbra of
silver, there would be in the whole of the centumpondía of base metal five­
sixths of a líbra of the precious metal. To this copper is added eight centum­
pondía of poor argentiferous lead, each centumpondíum of which contains an
uncía and a drachma of silver, or a total of three-quarters of a líbra of silver.
There is also added three centumpondía of de-silverized lead, in each centum­
pondíum of which there is a drachma of silver. Therefore, four liquation
cakes contain a total of a líbra, seven uncíae, a sícílícus and a drachma of silver;
thus each centumpondíum of lead, when it has been liquated from the copper,
contains an uncía and a half and a sícílícus of silver, which alloy we call
“medium” silver-lead.
Then, again, from another two and a half centumpondía of copper
“bottoms,” together with eleven centumpondía of lead, they make four
liquation cakes. If in each centumpondium of copper there were likewise a
third of a líbra of silver, there will be in all the weight of the base metal five­
sixths of a libra of the precious metal. To this is added nine centumpondía
of medium silver-lead, each centumpondíum of which contains an uncía and
a half and a sícílícus of silver; or a total of a libra and a quarter and a semí­
uncía and a sícílícus of silver. And likewise they add two centumpondía of
poor silver-lead, in each of which there is an uncía and a drachma of silver.
Therefore the four liquation cakes contain two and a third líbrae of silver.
Each centumpondíum of lead, when it has been liquated from the copper,
contains a sixth of a líbra and a semí-uncía and a drachma of silver. This
alloy we call “rich” silver-lead; it is carried to the cupellation furnace,
in which lead is separated from silver. I have now mentioned in how many
ways copper containing various proportions of silver is alloyed with lead,
and how they are melted together in the furnace and run into the casting pan.
Now I will speak of the method by which lead is liquated from copper
simultaneously with the silver. The liquation cakes are raised from the
ground with the crane, and placed on the copper plates of the furnaces. The
hook of the chain let down from the arm of the crane, is inserted in a
ring of the tongs, one jaw of which has a tooth; a ring is engaged in each
of the handles of the tongs, and these two rings are engaged in a third, in
which the hook of the chain is inserted. The tooth on the one jaw of the
tongs is struck by a hammer, and driven into the hole in the cake, at the point
1where the straight end of the hook was driven into it when it was lifted out
of the copper mould; the other jaw of the tongs, which has no tooth,
squeezes the cake, lest the tooth should fall out of it; the tongs are one and
a half feet long, each ring is a digit and a half thick, and the inside is a palm
and two digits in diameter. Those cranes by which the cakes are lifted out
of the copper pans and placed on the ground, and lifted up again from there
and placed in the furnaces, are two in number—one in the middle space
between the third transverse wall and the two upright posts, and the other in
267[Figure 267]
A—CRANE. B—DRUM CONSISTING OF RUNDLES. C—TOOTHED DRUM. D—TROLLEY
AND ITS WHEELS. E—TRIANGULAR BOARD. F—CAKES. G—CHAIN OF THE CRANE.
H—ITS HOOK. I—RING. K—THE TONGS.
the middle space between the same posts and the seventh transverse wall.
The rectangular crane-post of both of these is two feet wide and thick, and
is eighteen feet from the third long wall, and nineteen from the second long
wall. There are two drums in the framework of each—one drum consisting
of rundles, the other being toothed. The crane-arm of each extends seventeen
feet, three palms and as many digits from the post. The trolley of each
crane is two feet and as many palms long, a foot and two digits wide, and a
palm and two digits thick; but where it runs between the beams of the
crane-arm it is three digits wide and a palm thick; it has five notches, in
1which turn five brass wheels, four of which are small, and the fifth much
larger than the rest. The notches in which the small wheels turn are two
palms long and as much as a palm wide; those wheels are a palm wide and
a palm and two digits in diameter; four of the notches are near the four
corners of the trolley; the fifth notch is between the two front ones, and
it is two palms back from the front. Its pulley is larger than the rest, and
turns in its own notch; it is three palms in diameter and one palm wide,
and grooved on the circumference, so that the iron chain may run in the
groove. The trolley has two small axles, to the one in front are fastened
three, and to the one at the back, the two wheels; two wheels run on the
one beam of the crane-arm, and two on the other; the fifth wheel, which is
larger than the others, runs between those two beams. Those people who
have no cranes place the cakes on a triangular board, to which iron cleats
are affixed, so that it will last longer; the board has three iron chains,
which are fixed in an iron ring at the top; two workmen pass a pole through
the ring and carry it on their shoulders, and thus take the cake to the furnace
in which silver is separated from copper.
From the vicinity of the furnaces in which copper is mixed with lead and
the “slags” are re-melted, to the third long wall, are likewise ten furnaces,
in which silver mixed with lead is separated from copper. If this space is
eighty feet and two palms long, and the third long wall has in the centre a
door three feet and two palms wide, then the spaces remaining at either side
of the door will be thirty-eight feet and two palms; and if each of the furnaces
occupies four feet and a palm, then the interval between each furnace and
the next one must be a foot and three palms; thus the width of the five
furnaces and four interspaces will be twenty-eight feet and a palm. There­
fore, there remain ten feet and a palm, which measurement is so divided
that there are five feet and two digits between the first furnace and
the transverse wall, and as many feet and digits between the fifth furnace
and the door; similarly in the other part of the space from the door to the
sixth furnace, there must be five feet and two digits, and from the tenth
furnace to the seventh transverse wall, likewise, five feet and two digits.
The door is six feet and two palms high; through it the foreman of the officína
and the workmen enter the store-room in which the silver-lead alloy is kept.
Each furnace has a bed, a hearth, a rear wall, two sides and a front,
and a receiving-pit. The bed consists of two sole-stones, four rectangular
stones, and two copper plates; the sole-stones are five feet and a palm
long, a cubit wide, a foot and a palm thick, and they are sunk into the ground,
so that they emerge a palm and two digits; they are distant from each other
about three palms, yet the distance is narrower at the back than the front.
Each of the rectangular stones is two feet and as many palms long, a cubit
wide, and a cubit thick at the outer edge, and a foot and a palm thick on the
inner edge which faces the hearth, thus they form an incline, so that there is a
slope to the copper plates which are laid upon them. Two of these rectang­
ular stones are placed on one sole-stone; a hole is cut in the upper edge of
each, and into the holes are placed iron clamps, and lead is poured in; they
1are so placed on the sole-stones that they project a palm at the sides, and at the
front the sole-stones project to the same extent; if rectangular stones are
not available, bricks are laid in their place. The copper plates are four feet
two palms and as many digits long, a cubit wide, and a palm thick; each
edge has a protuberance, one at the front end, the other at the back; these
are a palm and three digits long, and a palm wide and thick. The plates are
so laid upon the rectangular stones that their rear ends are three digits from
the third long wall; the stones project beyond the plate the same number
of digits in front, and a palm and three digits at the sides. When the plates
have been joined, the groove which is between the protuberances is a palm
and three digits wide, and four feet long, and through it flows the silver-lead
which liquates from the cakes. When the plates are corroded either by the
fire or by the silver-lead, which often adheres to them in the form of stalac­
tites, and is chipped off, they are exchanged, the right one being placed to the
left, and the left one, on the contrary, to the right; but the left side of the
plates, which, when the fusion of the copper took place, came into contact
with the copper, must lie flat; so that when the exchange of the plates has
been carried out, the protuberances, which are thus on the underside, raise
the plate from the stones, and they have to be partially chipped off, lest they
should prove an impediment to the work; and in each of their places is
laid a piece of iron, three palms long, a digit thick at both ends, and a palm
thick in the centre for the length of a palm and three digits.
The passage under the plates between the rectangular stones is a foot
wide at the back, and a foot and a palm wide at the front, for it gradually
widens out. The hearth, which is between the sole-stones, is covered with a
bed of hearth-lead, taken from the crucible in which lead is separated from
silver. The rear end is the highest, and should be so high that it reaches to
within six digits of the plates, from which point it slopes down evenly to the
front end, so that the argentiferous lead alloy which liquates from the cakes
can flow into the receiving-pit. The wall built against the third long wall
in order to protect it from injury by fire, is constructed of bricks joined
together with lute, and stands on the copper plates; this wall is two feet, a
palm and two digits high, two palms thick, and three feet, a palm and three
digits wide at the bottom, for it reaches across both of them; at the top it is
three feet wide, for it rises up obliquely on each side. At each side of this wall,
at a height of a palm and two digits above the top of it, there is inserted in a
hole in the third long wall a hooked iron rod, fastened in with molten lead;
the rod projects two palms from the wall, and is two digits wide and one
digit thick; it has two hooks, the one at the side, the other at the end.
Both of these hooks open toward the wall, and both are a digit thick, and
both are inserted in the last, or the adjacent, links of a short iron chain. This
chain consists of four links, each of which is a palm and a digit long and half
a digit thick; the first link is engaged in the first hole in a long iron rod, and
one or other of the remaining three links engages the hook of the hooked rod.
The two long rods are three feet and as many palms and digits long, two
digits wide, and one digit thick; both ends of both of these rods have holes,
1 268[Figure 268]
A—SOLE-STONES. B—RECTANGULAR STONES. C—COPPER PLATES. D—FRONT PANEL.
E—SIDE PANELS. F—BAR. G—FRONT END OF THE LONG IRON RODS. H—SHORT CHAIN.
I—HOOKED ROD. K—WALL WHICH PROTECTS THE THIRD LONG WALL FROM INJURY BY
FIRE. L—THIRD LONG WALL. M—FEET OF THE PANELS. N—IRON BLOCKS. O—CAKES.
P—HEARTH. Q—RECEIVING-PIT.
1the back one of which is round and a digit in diameter, and in this is engaged
the first link of the chain as I have stated; the hole at the front end is two
digits and a half long and a digit and a half wide. This end of each rod
is made three digits wide, while for the rest of its length it is only two digits,
and at the back it is two and a half digits. Into the front hole of each rod is
driven an iron bar, which is three feet and two palms long, two digits wide
and one thick; in the end of this bar are five small square holes, two-thirds
of a digit square; each hole is distant from the other half a digit, the first
being at a distance of about a digit from the end. Into one of these holes the
refiner drives an iron pin; if he should desire to make the furnace narrower,
then he drives it into the last hole; if he should desire to widen it, then into
the first hole; if he should desire to contract it moderately, then into one
of the middle holes. For the same reason, therefore, the hook is sometimes
inserted into the last link of the chain, and sometimes into the third or the
second. The furnace is widened when many cakes are put into it, and con­
tracted when there are but few, but to put in more than five is neither usual
nor possible; indeed, it is because of thin cakes that the walls are contracted.
The bar has a hump, which projects a digit on each side at the back, of the
same width and thickness as itself. These humps project, lest the bar should
slip through the hole of the right-hand rod, in which it remains fixed when
it, together with the rods, is not pressing upon the furnace walls.
There are three panels to the furnace—two at the sides, one in front
and another at the back. Those which are at the sides are three feet
and as many palms and two digits long, and two feet high; the front one is
two feet and a palm and three digits long, and, like the side ones, two feet
high. Each consists of iron bars, of feet, and of iron plates. Those which are
at the side have seven bars, the lower and upper of which are of the same
length as the panels; the former holds up the upright bars; the latter is
placed upon them; the uprights are five in number, and have the same height
as the panels; the middle ones are inserted into holes in the upper and lower
bars; the outer ones are made of one and the same bar as the lower and
upper ones. They are two digits wide and one thick. The front panel has
five bars; the lower one holds similar uprights, but there are three of them
only; the upper bar is placed on them. Each of these panels has two feet
fixed at each end of the lower bar, and these are two palms long, one wide,
and a digit thick. The iron plates are fastened to the inner side of the bars
with iron wire, and they are covered with lute, so that they may last longer
and may be uninjured by the fire. There are, besides, iron blocks three palms
long, one wide, and a digit and a half thick; the upper surface of these is
somewhat hollowed out, so that the cakes may stand in them; these iron
blocks are dipped into a vessel in which there is clay mixed with water, and
they are used only for placing under the cakes of copper and lead alloy made
in the furnaces. There is more silver in these than in those which are
made of liquation thorns, or furnace accretions, or re-melted “slags.” Two
iron blocks are placed under each cake, in order that, by raising it up, the fire
may bring more force to bear upon it; the one is put on the right bed-plate,
1 269[Figure 269]
A—FURNACE IN WHICH THE OPERATION OF LIQUATION IS BEING PERFORMED.
B—FURNACE IN WHICH IT IS NOT BEING PERFORMED. C—RECEIVING-PIT. D—MOULDS.
E—CAKES. F—LIQUATION THORNS.
1the other on the left. Finally, outside the hearth is the receiving-pit, which
is a foot wide and three palms deep; when this is worn away it is restored
with lute alone, which easily retains the lead alloy.
If four liquation cakes are placed on the plates of each furnace, then the
iron blocks are laid under them; but if the cakes are made from copper
“bottoms,” or from liquation thorns, or from the accretions or “slags,” of
which I have partly written above and will further describe a little later,
there are five of them, and because they are not so large and heavy, no blocks
are placed under them. Pieces of charcoal six digits long are laid between the
cakes, lest they should fall one against the other, or lest the last one should
fall against the wall which protects the third long wall from injury by fire. In
the middle empty spaces, long and large pieces of charcoal are likewise laid.
Then when the panels have been set up, and the bar has been closed, the
furnace is filled with small charcoal, and a wicker basket full of charcoal is
thrown into the receiving-pit, and over that are thrown live coals; soon
afterward the burning coal, lifted up in a shovel, is spread over all parts of
the furnace, so that the charcoal in it may be kindled; any charcoal which
remains in the receiving-pit is thrown into the passage, so that it may likewise
be heated. If this has not been done, the silver-lead alloy liquated from the
cakes is frozen by the coldness of the passage, and does not run down into the
receiving-pit.
After a quarter of an hour the cakes begin to drip silver-lead alloy,18
which runs down through the openings between the copper plates into the
passage. When the long pieces of charcoal have burned up, if the cakes
lean toward the wall, they are placed upright again with a hooked bar, but
if they lean toward the front bar they are propped up by charcoal; more­
over, if some cakes shrink more than the rest, charcoal is added to the former
and not to the others. The silver drips together with the lead, for both melt
more rapidly than copper. The liquation thorns do not flow away, but remain
in the passage, and should be turned over frequently with a hooked bar, in
order that the silver-lead may liquate away from them and flow down into
the receiving pit; that which remains is again melted in the blast furnace,
while that which flows into the receiving pit is at once carried with the remain­
1ing products to the cupellation furnace, where the lead is separated from the
silver. The hooked bar has an iron handle two feet long, in which is set a
wooden one four feet long. The silver-lead which runs out into the receiving­
pit is poured out by the refiner with a bronze ladle into eight copper moulds,
which are two palms and three digits in diameter; these are first smeared
with a lute wash so that the cakes of silver-lead may more easily fall out
when they are turned over. If the supply of moulds fails because the silver­
lead flows down too rapidly into the receiving-pit, then water is poured on them,
in order that the cakes may cool and be taken out of them more rapidly;
thus the same moulds may be used again immediately; if no such necessity
urges the refiner, he washes over the empty moulds with a lute wash. The
ladle is exactly similar to that which is used in pouring out the metals that
are melted in the blast furnace. When all the silver-lead has run down from
the passage into the receiving-pit, and has been poured out into copper
moulds, the thorns are drawn out of the passage into the receiving-pit
with a rabble; afterward they are raked on to the ground from the receiving­
pit, thrown with a shovel into a wheelbarrow, and, having been conveyed
away to a heap, are melted once again. The blade of the rabble is two palms
and as many digits long, two palms and a digit wide, and joined to its
back is an iron handle three feet long; into the iron handle is inserted a
wooden one as many feet in length.
The residue cakes, after the silver-lead has been liquated from the
copper, are called “exhausted liquation cakes” (fathíscentes), because when
thus smelted they appear to be dried up. By placing a crowbar under the
cakes they are raised up, seized with tongs, and placed in the wheelbarrow;
they are then conveyed away to the furnace in which they are “dried.”
The crowbar is somewhat similar to those generally used to chip off the
accretions that adhere to the walls of the blast furnace. The tongs are two
and a half feet long. With the same crowbar the stalactites are chipped off
from the copper plates from which they hang, and with the same instrument
the iron blocks are struck off the exhausted liquation cakes to which they
adhere. The refiner has performed his day's task when he has liquated the
silver-lead from sixteen of the large cakes and twenty of the smaller ones;
if he liquates more than this, he is paid separately for it at the price for
extraordinary work.
Silver, or lead mixed with silver, which we call stannum, is separated by
the above method from copper. This silver-lead is carried to the cupellation
furnace, in which lead is separated from silver; of these methods I will
mention only one, because in the previous book I have explained them in
detail. Amongst us some years ago only forty-four centumpondía of silver­
lead and one of copper were melted together in the cupellation furnaces,
but now they melt forty-six centumpondía of silver-lead and one and a half
centumpondía of copper; in other places, usually a hundred and twenty
centumpondía of silver-lead alloy and six of copper are melted, in which
manner they make about one hundred and ten centumpondía more or less of
litharge and thirty of hearth-lead. But in all these methods the silver which
1is in the copper is mixed with the remainder of silver; the copper itself,
equally with the lead, will be changed partly into litharge and partly into
hearth-lead.19 The silver-lead alloy which does not melt is taken from the
margin of the crucible with a hooked bar.
The work of “drying” is distributed into four operations, which are
performed in four days. On the first—as likewise on the other three days—the
master begins at the fourth hour of the morning, and with his assistant chips
270[Figure 270]
A—CAKES. B—HAMMER.
off the stalactites from the exhausted liquation cakes. They then carry the
cakes to the furnace, and put the stalactites upon the heap of liquation
thorns. The head of the chipping hammer is three palms and as many digits
1long; its sharp edge is a palm wide; the round end is three digits thick; the
wooden handle is four feet long.
The master throws pulverised earth into a small vessel, sprinkles water
over it, and mixes it; this he pours over the whole hearth, and sprinkles
charcoal dust over it to the thickness of a digit. If he should neglect this,
the copper, settling in the passages, would adhere to the copper bed-plates,
from which it can be chipped off only with difficulty; or else it would adhere
to the bricks, if the hearth was covered with them, and when the copper is
chipped off these they are easily broken. On the second day, at the same
time, the master arranges bricks in ten rows; in this manner twelve
passages are made. The first two rows of bricks are between the first and
the second openings on the right of the furnace; the next three rows are
between the second and third openings, the following three rows are
between the third and the fourth openings, and the last two rows between
the fourth and fifth openings. These bricks are a foot and a palm long, two
palms and a digit wide, and a palm and two digits thick; there are seven of
these thick bricks in a row, so there are seventy all together. Then on the
first three rows of bricks they lay exhausted liquation cakes and a layer five
digits thick of large charcoal; then in a similar way more exhausted
liquation cakes are laid upon the other bricks, and charcoal is thrown upon
them; in this manner seventy centumpondia of cakes are put on the
hearth of the furnace. But if half of this weight, or a little more, is to be
“dried,” then four rows of bricks will suffice. Those who dry exhausted
liquation cakes20 made from copper “bottoms” place ninety or a hundred
centumpondia21 into the furnace at the same time. A place is left in the front
part of the furnace for the topmost cakes removed from the forehearth in
which copper is made, these being more suitable for supporting the exhausted
liquation cakes than are iron plates; indeed, if the former cakes drip copper
from the heat, this can be taken back with the liquation thorns to the first
furnace, but melted iron is of no use to us in these matters. When the cakes
of this kind have been placed in front of the exhausted liquation cakes, the
workman inserts the iron bar into the holes on the inside of the wall, which
are at a height of three palms and two digits above the hearth; the hole to
the left penetrates through into the wall, so that the bar may be pushed back
1and forth. This bar is round, eight feet long and two digits in diameter;
on the right side it has a haft made of iron, which is about a foot from the
right end; the aperture in this haft is a palm wide, two digits high, and a
digit thick. The bar holds the exhausted liquation cakes opposite, lest they
should fall down. When the operation of “drying” is completed, a work­
man draws out this bar with a crook which he inserts into the haft, as I will
explain hereafter.
In order that one should understand those things of which I have spoken,
and concerning which I am about to speak, it is necessary for me to give some
information beforehand about the furnace and how it is to be made. It stands
nine feet from the fourth long wall, and as far from the wall which is between
the second and fourth transverse walls. It consists of walls, an arch, a chimney,
an interior wall, and a hearth; the two walls are at the sides; and they are
eleven feet three palms and two digits long, and where they support the
chimney they are eight feet and a palm high. At the front of the arch they
are only seven feet high; they are two feet three palms and two digits
thick, and are made either of rock or of bricks; the distance between them
is eight feet, a palm and two digits. There are two of the arches, for the
space at the rear between the walls is also arched from the ground, in order
that it may be able to support the chimney; the foundations of these
arches are the walls of the furnace; the span of the arch has the same
length as the space between the walls; the top of the arch is five feet, a palm
and two digits high. In the rear arch there is a wall made of bricks joined
with lime; this wall at a height of a foot and three palms from the ground
has five vent-holes, which are two palms and a digit high, a palm and a digit
wide, of which the first is near the right interior wall, and the last near the
left interior wall, the remaining three in the intervening space; these vent­
holes penetrate through the interior of the wall which is in the arch.
Half-bricks can be placed over the vent-holes, lest too much air should be
drawn into the furnace, and they can be taken out at times, in order that he
who is “drying” the exhausted liquation cakes may inspect the passages,
as they are called, to see whether the cakes are being properly “dried.”
The front arch is three feet two palms distant from the rear one; this arch
is the same thickness as that of the rear arch, but the span is six feet wide;
1 271[Figure 271]
A—SIDE WALLS. B—FRONT ARCH. C—REAR ARCH. D—WALL IN THE REAR ARCH.
E—INNER WALL. F—VENT HOLES. G—CHIMNEY. H—HEARTH. I—TANK. K—PIPE.
L—PLUG. M—IRON DOOR. N—TRANSVERSE BARS. O—UPRIGHT BARS. P—PLATES.
Q—RINGS OF THE BARS. R—CHAINS. S—ROWS OF BRICKS. T—BAR. V—ITS HAFT.
X—COPPER BED-PLATES.
1the interior of the aoh itself is of the same height as the walls. A chimney
is built upon the arches and the walls, and is made of bricks joined
together with lime; it is thirty-six feet high and penetrates through the
roof. The interior wall is built against the rear arch and both the side
walls, from which it juts out a foot; it is three feet and the same number
of palms high, three palms thick, and is made of bricks joined together
with lute and smeared thickly with lute, sloping up to the height of
a foot above it. This wall is a kind of shield, for it protects the exterior
walls from the heat of the fire, which is apt to injure them; the latter can­
not be easily re-made, while the former can be repaired with little work.
The hearth is made of lute, and is covered either with copper plates,
such as those of the furnaces in which silver is liquated from copper, although
they have no protuberances, or it may be covered with bricks, if the owners
are unwilling to incur the expense of copper plates. The wider part of the
hearth is made sloping in such a manner that the rear end reaches as high as
the five vent-holes, and the front end of the hearth is so low that the back
of the front arch is four feet, three palms and as many digits above it,
and the front five feet, three palms and as many digits. The hearth beyond
the furnaces is paved with bricks for a distance of six feet. Near the
furnace, against the fourth long wall, is a tank thirteen feet and a palm
long, four feet wide, and a foot and three palms deep. It is lined on all sides
with planks, lest the earth should fall into it; on one side the water flows
in through pipes, and on the other, if the plug be pulled out, it soaks into the
earth; into this tank of water are thrown the cakes of copper from which
the silver and lead have been separated. The fore part of the front furnace
arch should be partly closed with an iron door; the bottom of this door is
six feet and two digits wide; the upper part is somewhat rounded, and at
the highest point, which is in the middle, it is three feet and two palms high.
It is made of iron bars, with plates fastened to them with iron wire, there
being seven bars—three transverse and four upright—each of which is two
digits wide and half a digit thick. The lowest transverse bar is six feet and
two palms long; the middle one has the same length; the upper one is
curved and higher at the centre, and thus longer than the other two. The
upright bars are two feet distant from one another; both the outer ones are
two feet and as many palms high; but the centre ones are three feet and two
palms. They project from the upper curved transverse bar and have holes,
in which are inserted the hooks of small chains two feet long; the topmost
links of these chains are engaged in the ring of a third chain, which, when
extended, reaches to one end of a beam which is somewhat cut out. The chain
then turns around the beam, and again hanging down, the hook in the other end
is fastened in one of the links. This beam is eleven feet long, a palm and two
digits wide, a palm thick, and turns on an iron axle fixed in a near-by timber;
the rear end of the beam has an iron pin, which is three palms and a digit long,
and which penetrates through it where it lies under a timber, and projects
from it a palm and two digits on one side, and three digits on the other side.
At this point the pin is perforated, in order that a ring may be fixed in it
1and hold it, lest it should fall out of the beam; that end is hardly a digit
thick, while the other round end is thicker than a digit. When the door is
to be shut, this pin lies under the timber and holds the door so that it cannot
fall; the pin likewise prevents the rectangular iron band which encircles the
end of the beam, and into which is inserted the ring of a long hook, from
falling from the end. The lowest link of an iron chain, which is six feet long,
is inserted in the ring of a staple driven into the right wall of the furnace,
and fixed firmly by filling in with molten lead. The hook suspended at the
top from the ring should be inserted in one of these lower links, when the
door is to be raised; when the door is to be let down, the hook is taken out
of that link and put into one of the upper links.
On the third day the master sets about the principal operation. First
he throws a basketful of charcoals on to the ground in front of the hearth,
and kindles them by adding live coals, and having thrown live coals on to the
cakes placed within, he spreads them equally all over with an iron shovel.
The blade of the shovel is three palms and a digit long, and three palms wide;
its iron handle is two palms long, and the wooden one ten feet long, so that
it can reach to the rear wall of the furnace. The exhausted liquation cakes
become incandescent in an hour and a half, if the copper was good and hard,
272[Figure 272]
A—THE DOOR LET DOWN. B—BAR. C—EXHAUSTED LIQUATION CAKES. D—BRICKS.
E—TONGS.
1or after two hours, if it was soft and fragile. The workman adds charcoal to
them where he sees it is needed, throwing it into the furnace through the
openings on both sides between the side walls and the closed door. This open­
ing is a foot and a palm wide. He lets down the door, and when the “slags”
begin to flow he opens the passages with a bar; this should take place after
five hours; the door is let down over the upper open part of the arch for
two feet and as many digits, so that the master can bear the violence of the
heat. When the cakes shrink, charcoal should not be added to them lest
they should melt. If the cakes made from poor and fragile copper are
“dried” with cakes made from good hard copper, very often the copper
so settles into the passages that a bar thrust into them cannot penetrate
them. This bar is of iron, six feet and two palms long, into which a wooden
handle five feet long is inserted. The refiner draws off the “slags” with a
rabble from the right side of the hearth. The blade of the rabble is made
of an iron plate a foot and a palm wide, gradually narrowing toward the
handle; the blade is two palms high, its iron handle is two feet long, and
the wooden handle set into it is ten feet long.
When the exhausted liquation cakes have been “dried,” the master
273[Figure 273]
A—THE DOOR RAISED. B—HOOKED BAR. C—TWO-PRONGED RAKE. D—TONGS.
E—TANK.
1raises the door in the manner I have described, and with a long iron hook
inserted into the haft of the bar he draws it through the hole in the left wall
from the hole in the right wall; afterward he pushes it back and replaces it.
The master then takes out the exhausted liquation cakes nearest to him with
the iron hook; then he pulls out the cakes from the bricks. This hook is
two palms high, as many digits wide, and one thick; its iron handle is two
feet long, and the wooden handle eleven feet long. There is also a two­
pronged rake with which the “dried” cakes are drawn over to the left side so
that they may be seized with tongs; the prongs of the rake are pointed,
and are two palms long, as many digits wide, and one digit thick; the iron
part of the handle is a foot long, the wooden part nine feet long. The
“dried” cakes, taken out of the hearth by the master and his assistants,
are seized with other tongs and thrown into the rectangular tank, which is
almost filled with water. These tongs are two feet and three palms long,
both the handles are round and more than a digit thick, and the ends are
bent for a palm and two digits; both the jaws are a digit and a half wide
in front and sharpened; at the back they are a digit thick, and then gradually
taper, and when closed, the interior is two palms and as many digits wide.
The “dried” cakes which are dripping copper are not immediately dipped
into the tank, because, if so, they burst in fragments and give out a sound
like thunder. The cakes are afterward taken out of the tank with the
tongs, and laid upon the two transverse planks on which the workmen stand;
the sooner they are taken out the easier it is to chip off the copper that
has become ash-coloured. Finally, the master, with a spade, raises up the
bricks a little from the hearth, while they are still warm. The blade of the
spade is a palm and two digits long, the lower edge is sharp, and is a palm
and a digit wide, the upper end a palm wide; its handle is round, the iron
part being two feet long, and the wooden part seven and a half feet long.
On the fourth day the master draws out the liquation thorns which
have settled in the passages; they are much richer in silver than those
that are made when the silver-lead is liquated from copper in the liquation
furnace. The “dried” cakes drip but little copper, but nearly all their
remaining silver-lead and the thorns consist of it, for, indeed, in one
centumpondium of “dried” copper there should remain only half an uncía
of silver, and there sometimes remain only three drachmae.22 Some smelters
chip off the metal adhering to the bricks with a hammer, in order that it
may be melted again; others, however, crush the bricks under the stamps
and wash them, and the copper and lead thus collected is melted again. The
master, when he has taken these things away and put them in their places,
has finished his day's work.
The assistants take the “dried” cakes out of the tank on the
next day, place them on an oak block, and first pound them with rounded
hammers in order that the ash-coloured copper may fall away from them,
1and then they dig out with pointed picks the holes in the cakes, which contain
the same kind of copper. The head of the round hammer is three palms and
a digit long; one end of the head is round and two digits long and thick;
the other end is chisel-shaped, and is two digits and a half long. The sharp
pointed hammer is the same length as the round hammer, but one end is
pointed, the other end is square, and gradually tapers to a point.
274[Figure 274]
A—TANK. B—BOARD. C—TONGS. D—“DRIED” CAKES TAKEN OUT OF THE TANKS.
E—BLOCK. F—ROUNDED HAMMER. G—POINTED HAMMER.
The nature of copper is such that when it is “dried” it becomes ash
coloured, and since this copper contains silver, it is smelted again in the
blast furnaces.23
I have described sufficiently the method by which exhausted liquation
cakes are “dried”; now I will speak of the method by which they are made
into copper after they have been “dried.” These cakes, in order that
they may recover the appearance of copper which they have to some extent
lost, are melted in four furnaces, which are placed against the second long
wall in the part of the building between the second and third transverse
walls. This space is sixty-three feet and two palms long, and since each of
1these furnaces occupies thirteen feet, the space which is on the right
side of the first furnace, and on the left of the fourth, are each three feet and
three palms wide, and the distance between the second and third furnace is
six feet. In the middle of each of these three spaces is a door, a foot and
a half wide and six feet high, and the middle one is common to the master
of each of the furnaces. Each furnace has its own chimney, which rises
between the two long walls mentioned above, and is supported by two arches
and a partition wall. The partition wall is between the two furnaces, and
is five feet long, ten feet high, and two feet thick; in front of it is a pillar
belonging in common to the front arches of the furnace on either side, which
is two feet and as many palms thick, three feet and a half wide. The front
arch reaches from this common pillar to another pillar that is common to the
side arch of the same furnace; this arch on the right spans from the second
long wall to the same pillar, which is two feet and as many palms wide and
thick at the bottom. The interior of the front arch is nine feet and a palm
wide, and eight feet high at its highest point; the interior of the arch which
is on the right side, is five feet and a palm wide, and of equal height to the
other, and both the arches are built of the same height as the partition wall.
Imposed upon these arches and the partition wall are the walls of the chimney;
these slope upward, and thus contract, so that at the upper part, where the
fumes are emitted, the opening is eight feet in length, one foot and three
palms in width. The fourth wall of the chimney is built vertically upon the
second long wall. As the partition wall is common to the two furnaces, so its
superstructure is common to the two chimneys. In this sensible manner
the chimney is built. At the front each furnace is six feet two palms long,
and three feet two palms wide, and a cubit high; the back of each furnace
is against the second long wall, the front being open. The first furnace is open
and sloping at the right side, so that the slags may be drawn out; the left
side is against the partition wall, and has a little wall built of bricks cemented
together with lute; this little wall protects the partition wall from injury by
the fire. On the contrary, the second furnace has the left side open and
the right side is against the partition wall, where also it has its own little wall
which protects the partition wall from the fire. The front of each furnace is
built of rectangular rocks; the interior of it is filled up with earth. Then in
each of the furnaces at the rear, against the second long wall, is an aperture
through an arch at the back, and in these are fixed the copper pipes. Each
furnace has a round pit, two feet and as many palms wide, built three feet
away from the partition wall. Finally, under the pit of the furnace, at a
depth of a cubit, is the hidden receptacle for moisture, similar to the others,
whose vent penetrates through the second long wall and slopes upward to
the right from the first furnace, and to the left from the second. If copper
is to be made the next day, then the master cuts out the crucible with a
spatula, the blade of which is three digits wide and as many palms long, the
iron handle being two feet long and one and a half digits in diameter; the
wooden handle inserted into it is round, five feet long and two digits
in diameter. Then, with another cutting spatula, he makes the crucible
1smooth; the blade of this spatula is a palm wide and two palms long; its
handle, partly of iron, partly of wood, is similar in every respect to the first
one. Afterward he throws pulverised clay and charcoal into the crucible, pours
water over it, and sweeps it over with a broom into which a stick is fixed.
Then immediately he throws into the crucible a powder, made of two
wheelbarrowsful of sifted charcoal dust, as many wheelbarrowsful of
275[Figure 275]
A—HEARTH OF THE FURNACE. B—CHIMNEY. C—COMMON PILLAR. D—OTHER PILLARS.
THE PARTITION WALL IS BEHIND THE COMMON PILLAR AND NOT TO BE SEEN. E—ARCHES.
F—LITTLE WALLS WHICH PROTECT THE PARTITION WALL FROM INJURY BY THE FIRE.
G—CRUCIBLES. H—SECOND LONG WALL. I—DOOR. K—SPATULA. L—THE OTHER
SPATULA. M—THE BROOM IN WHICH IS INSERTED A STICK. N—PESTLES. O—WOODEN
MALLET. P—PLATE. Q—STONES. R—IRON ROD.
pulverised clay likewise sifted, and six basketsful of river sand which has
passed through a very fine sieve. This powder, like that used by smelters,
is sprinkled with water and moistened before it is put into the crucible, so
that it may be fashioned by the hands into shapes similar to snowballs.
When it has been put in, the master first kneads it and makes it smooth with
his hands, and then pounds it with two wooden pestles, each of which is a
cubit long; each pestle has a round head at each end, but one of these is
a palm in diameter, the other three digits; both are thinner in the middle,
so that they may be held in the hand. Then he again throws moistened
1powder into the crucible, and again makes it smooth with his hands, and
kneads it with his fists and with the pestles; then, pushing upward and
pressing with his fingers, he makes the edge of the crucible smooth. After the
crucible has been made smooth, he sprinkles in dry charcoal dust, and again
pounds it with the same pestles, at first with the narrow heads, and afterward
with the wider ones. Then he pounds the crucible with a wooden mallet
two feet long, both heads of which are round and three digits in diameter;
its wooden handle is two palms long, and one and a half digits in diameter.
Finally, he throws into the crucible as much pure sifted ashes as both hands
can hold, and pours water into it, and, taking an old linen rag, he smears
the crucible over with the wet ashes. The crucible is round and sloping. If
copper is to be made from the best quality of “dried” cakes, it is made two
feet wide and one deep, but if from other cakes, it is made a cubit wide and
two palms deep. The master also has an iron band curved at both ends,
two palms long and as many digits wide, and with this he cuts off the edges
of the crucible if they are higher than is necessary. The copper pipe is
inclined, and projects three digits from the wall, and has its upper end and
both sides smeared thick with lute, that it may not be burned; but the under­
side of the pipe is smeared thinly with lute, for this side reaches almost to the
edge of the crucible, and when the crucible is full the molten copper touches
it. The wall above the pipe is smeared over with lute, lest that should be
damaged. He does the same to the other side of an iron plate, which is a
foot and three palms long and a foot high; this stands on stones near the
crucible at the side where the hearth slopes, in order that the slag may run
out under it. Others do not place the plates upon stones, but cut out
of the plate underneath a small piece, three digits long and three digits
wide; lest the plate should fall, it is supported by an iron rod fixed in the
wall at a height of two palms and the same number of digits, and it projects
from the wall three palms.
Then with an iron shovel, whose wooden handle is six feet long, he
throws live charcoal into the crucible; or else charcoal, kindled by means
of a few live coals, is added to them. Over the live charcoal he lays “dried”
cakes, which, if they were of copper of the first quality, weigh all together
three centumpondia, or three and a half centumpondía; but if they were
of copper of the second quality, then two and a half centumpondía; if they
were of the third quality, then two centumpondía only; but if they were
of copper of very superior quality, then they place upon it six centumpondía,
and in this case they make the crucible wider and deeper.24 The lowest
“dried” cake is placed at a distance of two palms from the pipe, the rest at
a greater distance, and when the lower ones are melted the upper ones fall
down and get nearer to the pipe; if they do not fall down they must
be pushed with a shovel. The blade of the shovel is a foot long, three palms
and two digits wide, the iron part of the handle is two palms long, the
1wooden part nine feet. Round about the “dried” cakes are placed large
long pieces of charcoal, and in the pipe are placed medium-sized pieces.
When all these things have been arranged in this manner, the fire must be
more violently excited by the blast from the bellows. When the copper is
melting and the coals blaze, the master pushes an iron bar into the middle
of them in order that they may receive the air, and that the flame can force
its way out. This pointed bar is two and a half feet long, and its wooden
handle four feet long. When the cakes are partly melted, the master, passing
out through the door, inspects the crucible through the bronze pipe, and if he
should find that too much of the “slag” is adhering to the mouth of the pipe,
and thus impeding the blast of the bellows, he inserts the hooked iron bar
into the pipe through the nozzle of the bellows, and, turning this about the
mouth of the pipe, he removes the “slags” from it. The hook on this bar
is two digits high; the iron part of the handle is three feet long; the wooden
part is the same number of palms long. Now it is time to insert the bar
under the iron plate, in order that the “slags” may flow out. When the
cakes, being all melted, have run into the crucible, he takes out a sample of
copper with the third round bar, which is made wholly of iron, and is three feet
long, a digit thick, and has a steel point lest its pores should absorb the copper.
276[Figure 276]
A—POINTED BAR. B—THIN COPPER LAYER. C—ANVIL. D—HAMMER.
1When he has compressed the bellows, he introduces this bar as quickly as
possible into the crucible through the pipe between the two nozzles, and
takes out samples two, three, or four times, until he finds that the copper is
perfectly refined. If the copper is good it adheres easily to the bar, and
two samples suffice; if it is not good, then many are required. It is
necessary to smelt it in the crucible until the copper adhering to the bar is
seen to be of a brassy colour, and if the upper as well as the lower part of
the thin layer of copper may be easily broken, it signifies that the copper
is perfectly melted; he places the point of the bar on a small iron anvil,
and chips off the thin layer of copper from it with a hammer.25
If the copper is not good, the master draws off the “slags” twice, or
three times if necessary—the first time when some of the cakes have been
melted, the second when all have melted, the third time when the copper has
been heated for some time. If the copper was of good quality, the “slags”
are not drawn off before the operation is finished, but at the time they are to be
drawn off, he depresses the bar over both bellows, and places over both a
stick, a cubit long and a palm wide, half cut away at the upper part, so that it
may pass under the iron pin fixed at the back in the perforated wood. This
he does likewise when the copper has been completely melted. Then the
assistant removes the iron plate with the tongs; these tongs are four feet
three palms long, their jaws are about a foot in length, and their straight part
measures two palms and three digits, and the curved a palm and a digit.
The same assistant, with the iron shovel, throws and heaps up the larger
pieces of charcoal into that part of the hearth which is against the little wall
which protects the other wall from injury by fire, and partly extinguishes
them by pouring water over them. The master, with a hazel stick inserted
1into the crucible, stirs it twice. Afterward he draws off the slags with a
rabble, which consists of an iron blade, wide and sharp, and of alder-wood;
the blade is a digit and a half in width and three feet long; the wooden handle
inserted in its hollow part is the same number of feet long, and the alder-wood
in which the blade is fixed must have the figure of a rhombus; it must be
three palms and a digit long, a palm and two digits wide, and a palm thick.
Subsequently he takes a broom and sweeps the charcoal dust and small coal
over the whole of the crucible, lest the copper should cool before it flows
together; then, with a third rabble, he cuts off the slags which may adhere
to the edge of the crucible. The blade of this rabble is two palms long and
a palm and one digit wide, the iron part of the handle is a foot and three palms
long, the wooden part six feet. Afterward he again draws off the slags
from the crucible, which the assistant does not quench by pouring water
upon them, as the other slags are usually quenched, but he sprinkles over
them a little water and allows them to cool. If the copper should bubble,
he presses down the bubbles with the rabble. Then he pours water on the wall
and the pipes, that it may flow down warm into the crucible, for, the
copper, if cold water were to be poured over it while still hot, would spatter
about. If a stone, or a piece of lute or wood, or a damp coal should then fall
into it, the crucible would vomit out all the copper with a loud noise like
thunder, and whatever it touches it injures and sets on fire. Subsequently he
lays a curved board with a notch in it over the front part of the crucible; it
is two feet long, a palm and two digits wide, and a digit thick. Then
the copper in the crucible should be divided into cakes with an iron wedge­
shaped bar; this is three feet long, two digits wide, and steeled on the end
for the distance of two digits, and its wooden handle is three feet long. He
places this bar on the notched board, and, driving it into the copper, moves
1 277[Figure 277]
A—CRUCIBLE. B—BOARD. C—WEDGE-SHAPED BAR. D—CAKES OF COPPER MADE BY
SEPARATING THEM WITH THE WEDGE-SHAPED BAR. E—TONGS. F—TUB.
1it forward and back, and by this means the water flows into the vacant
space in the copper, and he separates the cake from the rest of the mass.
If the copper is not perfectly smelted the cakes will be too thick, and can­
not be taken out of the crucible easily. Each cake is afterward seized by
the assistant with the tongs and plunged into the water in the tub; the first
one is placed aside so that the master may re-melt it again immediately, for,
since some “slags” adhere to it, it is not as perfect as the subsequent ones;
indeed, if the copper is not of good quality, he places the first two cakes aside.
Then, again pouring water over the wall and the pipes, he separates out the
second cake, which the assistant likewise immerses in water and places on
the ground together with the others separated out in the same way, which
he piles upon them. These, if the copper was of good quality, should be
thirteen or more in number; if it was not of good quality, then fewer. If the
copper was of good quality, this part of the operation, which indeed is dis­
tributed into four parts, is accomplished by the master in two hours; if of
mediocre quality, in two and a half hours; if of bad quality, in three. The
“dried” cakes are re-melted, first in the first crucible and then in the
second. The assistant must, as quickly as possible, quench all the cakes
with water, after they have been cut out of the second crucible. Afterward
with the tongs he replaces in its proper place the iron plate which was in front
of the furnace, and throws the charcoal back into the crucible with a shovel.
Meanwhile the master, continuing his work, removes the wooden stick from
the bars of the bellows, so that in re-melting the other cakes he may accom­
plish the third part of his process; this must be carefully done, for if a particle
from any iron implement should by chance fall into the crucible, or should
be thrown in by any malevolent person, the copper could not be made until
the iron had been consumed, and therefore double labour would have to be
expended upon it. Finally, the assistant extinguishes all the glowing coals,
and chips off the dry lute from the mouth of the copper pipe with a hammer;
one end of this hammer is pointed, the other round, and it has a wooden handle
five feet long. Because there is danger that the copper would be scattered if
the pompholyx and spodos, which adhere to the walls and the hood erected
upon them, should fall into the crucible, he cleans them off in the meantime.
Every week he takes the copper flowers out of the tub, after having poured off
the water, for these fall into it from the cakes when they are quenched.26
1
The bellows which this master uses differ in size from the others, for the
boards are seven and a half feet long; the back part is three feet wide;
the front, where the head is joined on is a foot, two palms and as many digits.
The head is a cubit and a digit long; the back part of it is a cubit and a
palm wide, and then becomes gradually narrower. The nozzles of the bellows
are bound together by means of an iron chain, controlled by a thick
bar, one end of which penetrates into the ground against the back of the long
wall, and the other end passes under the beam which is laid upon the
foremost perforated beams. These nozzles are so placed in a copper pipe
that they are at a distance of a palm from the mouth; the mouth should be
made three digits in diameter, that the air may be violently expelled through
this narrow aperture.
There now remain the liquation thorns, the ash-coloured copper, the
“slags,” and the cadmía.27 Liquation cakes are made from thorns in the
following manner.28 There are taken three-quarters of a centumpondium of
thorns, which have their origin from the cakes of copper-lead alloy when
lead-silver is liquated, and as many parts of a centumpondíum of the thorns
derived from cakes made from once re-melted thorns by the same method,
and to them are added a centumpondíum of de-silverized lead and half a
centumpondíum of hearth-lead. If there is in the works plenty of litharge, it
is substituted for the de-silverized lead. One and a half centumpondía of
litharge and hearth-lead is added to the same weight of primary thorns,
and half a centumpondíum of thorns which have their origin from liquation
cakes composed of thorns twice re-melted by the same method (tertiary
thorns), and a fourth part of a centumpondíum of thorns which are pro­
1duced when the exhausted liquation cakes are “dried.” By both methods
one single liquation cake is made from three centumpondia. In this manner
the smelter makes every day fifteen liquation cakes, more or less; he takes
great care that the metallic substances, from which the first liquation cake is
made, flow down properly and in due order into the fore-hearth, before the
material of which the subsequent cake is to be made. Five of these liquation
cakes are put simultaneously into the furnace in which silver-lead is liquated
from copper, they weigh almost fourteen centumpondía, and the “slags”
made therefrom usually weigh quite a centumpondium. In all the liquation
cakes together there is usually one líbra and nearly two uncíae of silver, and
in the silver-lead which drips from those cakes, and weighs seven and a half
centumpondía, there is in each an uncia and a half of silver. In each of the
three centumpondia of liquation thorns there is almost an uncia of silver, and
in the two centumpondia and a quarter of exhausted liquation cakes there
is altogether one and a half unciae; yet this varies greatly for each variety of
thorns, for in the thorns produced from primary liquation cakes made of
copper and lead when silver-lead is liquated from the copper, and those
produced in “drying” the exhausted liquation cakes, there are almost two
uncíae of silver; in the others not quite an uncía. There are other thorns
besides, of which I will speak a little further on.
Those in the Carpathian Mountains who make liquation cakes from the
copper “bottoms” which remain after the upper part of the copper is
divided from the lower, in the furnace similar to an oven, produce thorns when
the poor or mediocre silver-lead is liquated from the copper. These, together
with those made of cakes of re-melted thorns, or made with re-melted litharge,
are placed in a heap by themselves; but those that are made from cakes
melted from hearth-lead are placed in a heap separate from the first, and
likewise those produced from “drying” the exhausted liquation cakes are
placed separately; from these thorns liquation cakes are made. From the
first heap they take the fourth part of a centumpondíum, from the second
the same amount, from the third a centumpondíum,—to which thorns are
added one and a half centumpondía of litharge and half a centumpondíum of
hearth-lead, and from these, melted in the blast furnace, a liquation cake is
made; each workman makes twenty such cakes every day. But of theirs
enough has been said for the present; I will return to ours.
The ash-coloured copper29 which is chipped off, as I have stated, from
the “dried” cakes, used some years ago to be mixed with the thorns produced
from liquation of the copper-lead alloy, and contained in themselves, equally
with the first, two uncíae of silver; but now it is mixed with the concentrates
washed from the accretions and the other material. The inhabitants of the
Carpathian Mountains melt this kind of copper in furnaces in which are re­
melted the “slags” which flow out when the copper is refined; but as this
soon melts and flows down out of the furnace, two workmen are required for
1the work of smelting, one of whom smelts, while the other takes out the
thick cakes from the forehearth. These cakes are only “dried,” and from
the “dried” cakes copper is again made.
The “slags”30 are melted continually day and night, whether they have
been drawn off from the alloyed metals with a rabble, or whether they adhered
to the forehearth to the thickness of a digit and made it smaller and
were taken off with spatulas. In this manner two or three liquation cakes
are made, and afterward much or little of the “slag,” skimmed from the
molten alloy of copper and lead, is re-melted. Such liquation cakes should
weigh up to three centumpondia, in each of which there is half an uncia of
silver. Five cakes are placed at the same time in the furnace in which
argentiferous lead is liquated from copper, and from these are made lead
which contains half an uncia of silver to the centumpondium. The exhausted
liquation cakes are laid upon the other baser exhausted liquation cakes, from
both of which yellow copper is made. The base thorns thus obtained are
re-melted with a few baser “slags,” after having been sprinkled with con­
centrates from furnace accretions and other material, and in this manner six
or seven liquation cakes are made, each of which weighs some two centum­
pondia. Five of these are placed at the same time in the furnace in which
silver-lead is liquated from copper; these drip three centumpondia of
lead, each of which contains half an uncia of silver. The basest thorns
thus produced should be re-melted with only a little “slag.” The copper
alloyed with lead, which flows down from the furnace into the fore­
hearth, is poured out with a ladle into oblong copper moulds; these cakes
are “dried” with base exhausted liquation cakes. The thorns they produce
are added to the base thorns, and they are made into cakes according to the
method I have described. From the “dried” cakes they make copper, of
which some add a small portion to the best “dried” cakes when copper is
made from them, in order that by mixing the base copper with the good it
may be sold without loss. The “slags,” if they are utilisable, are re-melted
a second and a third time, the cakes made from them are “dried,” and from
the “dried” cakes is made copper, which is mixed with the good copper. The
“slags,” drawn off by the master who makes copper out of “dried” cakes,
are sifted, and those which fall through the sieve into a vessel placed under­
neath are washed; those which remain in it are emptied into a wheelbarrow
and wheeled away to the blast furnaces, and they are re-melted together
with other “slags,” over which are sprinkled the concentrates from washing
the slags or furnace accretions made at this time. The copper which flows out
1of the furnace into the forehearth, is likewise dipped out with a ladle into
oblong copper moulds; in this way nine or ten cakes are made, which are
“dried,” together with bad exhausted liquation cakes, and from these
“dried” cakes yellow31 copper is made.
The cadmia,32 as it is called by us, is made from the “slags” which the
master, who makes copper from “dried” cakes, draws off together with other
re-melted base “slags”; for, indeed, if the copper cakes made from such
“slags” are broken, the fragments are called cadmia; from this and yellow
copper is made caldarium copper in two ways. For either two parts of cadmia
are mixed with one of yellow copper in the blast furnaces, and melted; or, on
the contrary, two parts of yellow copper with one of cadmia, so that the
cadmía and yellow copper may be well mixed; and the copper which flows down
from the furnace into the forehearth is poured out with a ladle into oblong
copper moulds heated beforehand. These moulds are sprinkled over with char­
coal dust before the caldarium copper is to be poured into them, and the same
dust is sprinkled over the copper when it is poured in, lest the cadmia and
yellow copper should freeze before they have become well mixed. With a
piece of wood the assistant cleanses each cake from the dust, when it is
turned out of the mould. Then he throws it into the tub containing hot water,
for the caldarium copper is finer if quenched in hot water. But as I have
so often made mention of the oblong copper moulds, I must now speak of
them a little; they are a foot and a palm long, the inside is three palms and a
digit wide at the top, and they are rounded at the bottom.
The concentrates are of two kinds—precious and base.33 The first are
obtained from the accretions of the blast furnace, when liquation cakes are
made from copper and lead, or from precious liquation thorns, or from the
better quality “slags,” or from the best grade of concentrates, or from the
sweepings and bricks of the furnaces in which exhausted liquation cakes are
“dried”; all of these things are crushed and washed, as I explained in Book
VIII. The base concentrates are made from accretions formed when cakes
are cast from base thorns or from the worst quality of slags. The smelter
who makes liquation cakes from the precious concentrates, adds to them
three wheelbarrowsful of litharge and four barrowsful of hearth-lead and
one of ash-coloured copper, from all of which nine or ten liquation cakes
are melted out, of which five at a time are placed in the furnace in which
silver-lead is liquated from copper; a centumpondium of the lead which drips
from these cakes contains one uncia of silver. The liquation thorns are

1 278[Figure 278]
A—FURNACE. B—FOREHEARTH. C—OBLONG MOULDS.
placed apart by themselves, of which one basketful is mixed with the precious
thorns to be re-melted. The exhausted liquation cakes are “dried” at the
same time as other good exhausted liquation cakes.
The thorns which are drawn off from the lead, when it is separated from
silver in the cupellation furnace34, and the hearth-lead which remains in the
crucible in the middle part of the furnaces, together with the hearth material
which has become defective and has absorbed silver-lead, are all melted
together with a little slag in the blast furnaces. The lead, or rather the
silver-lead, which flows from the furnace into the fore-hearth, is poured out
into copper moulds such as are used by the refiners; a centumpondium of
such lead contains four uncíae of silver, or, if the hearth was defective, it
contains more. A small portion of this material is added to the copper and
lead when liquation cakes are made from them, if more were to be added
the alloy would be much richer than it should be, for which reason the wise
1foreman of the works mixes these thorns with other precious thorns. The
hearth-lead which remains in the middle of the crucible, and the hearth
material which absorbs silver-lead, is mixed with other hearth-lead which
remains in the cupellation furnace crucible; and yet some cakes, made rich
in this manner, may be placed again in the cupellation furnaces, together
with the rest of the silver-lead cakes which the refiner has made.
The inhabitants of the Carpathian Mountains, if they have an abundance
of finely crushed copper35 or lead either made from “slags,” or collected
from the furnace in which the exhausted liquation cakes are dried, or
litharge, alloy them in various ways. The “first” alloy consists of two
centumpondia of lead melted out of thorns, litharge, and thorns made
from hearth-lead, and of half a centumpondium each of lead collected in
the furnace in which exhausted liquation cakes are “dried,” and of copper
mínutum, and from these are made liquation cakes; the task of the smelter is
finished when he has made forty liquation cakes of this kind. The
“second” alloy consists of two centumpondia of litharge, of one and a
quarter centumpondia of de-silverized lead or lead from “slags,” and of half
a centumpondium of lead made from thorns, and of as much copper minutum.
The “third” alloy consists of three centumpondía of litharge and of half a
centumpondium each of de-silverized lead, of lead made from thorns, and of
copper mínutum contusum. Liquation cakes are made from all these alloys; the
task of the smelters is finished when they have made thirty cakes.
The process by which cakes are made among the Tyrolese, from which
they separate the silver-lead, I have explained in Book IX.
Silver is separated from iron in the following manner. Equal portions of
iron scales and filings and of stibium are thrown into an earthenware crucible
which, when covered with a lid and sealed, is placed in a furnace, into
which air is blown. When this has melted and again cooled, the crucible
is broken; the button that settles in the bottom of it, when taken out,
is pounded to powder, and the same weight of lead being added, is mixed
and melted in a second crucible; at last this button is placed in a cupel
and the lead is separated from the silver.36
There are a great variety of methods by which one metal is separated
from other metals, and the manner in which the same are alloyed I have
explained partly in the eighth book of De Natura Fossilium, and partly I will
explain elsewhere. Now I will proceed to the remainder of my subject.
END OF BOOK XI.
1
BOOK XII.
Previously I have dealt with the methods of
separating silver from copper. There now remains
the portion which treats of solidified juices; and
whereas they might be considered as alien to things
metallic, nevertheless, the reasons why they should
not be separated from it I have explained in the
second book.
Solidified juices are either prepared from waters
in which nature or art has infused them, or they are
produced from the liquid juices themselves, or from stony minerals. Sagacious
people, at first observing the waters of some lakes to be naturally full of juices
which thickened on being dried up by the heat of the sun and thus became
solidified juices, drew such waters into other places, or diverted them
into low-lying places adjoining hills, so that the heat of the sun should
likewise cause them to condense. Subsequently, because they observed that
in this wise the solidified juices could be made only in summer, and then
not in all countries, but only in hot and temperate regions in which it seldom
rains in summer, they boiled them in vessels over a fire until they began to
thicken. In this manner, at all times of the year, in all regions, even the
coldest, solidified juices could be obtained from solutions of such juices,
whether made by nature or by art. Afterward, when they saw juices
drip from some roasted stones, they cooked these in pots in order to obtain
solidified juices in this wise also. It is worth the trouble to learn the pro­
portions and the methods by which these are made.
I will therefore begin with salt, which is made from water either salty
by nature, or by the labour of man, or else from a solution of salt, or
from lye, likewise salty. Water which is salty by nature, is condensed and
converted into salt in salt-pits by the heat of the sun, or else by the heat
of a fire in pans or pots or trenches. That which is made salty by
art, is also condensed by fire and changed into salt. There should be as
many salt-pits dug as the circumstance of the place permits, but there should
not be more made than can be used, although we ought to make as much
salt as we can sell. The depth of salt-pits should be moderate, and the
bottom should be level, so that all the water is evaporated from the salt by
the heat of the sun. The salt-pits should first be encrusted with salt, so
that they may not suck up the water. The method of pouring or leading
sea-water into salt-pits is very old, and is still in use in many places. The
method is not less old, but less common, to pour well-water into salt-pits, as
was done in Babylon, for which Pliny is the authority, and in Cappadocia,
where they used not only well-water, but also spring-water. In all hot
countries salt-water and lake-water are conducted, poured or carried into
salt-pits, and, being dried by the heat of the sun, are converted into
1salt.1 While the salt-water contained in the salt-pits is being heated by the sun,
if they be flooded with great and frequent showers of rain the evaporation is
hindered. If this happens rarely, the salt acquires a disagreeable2 flavour, and
in this case the salt-pits have to be filled with other sweet water.
Salt from sea-water is made in the following manner. Near that part
of the seashore where there is a quiet pool, and there are wide, level plains
which the inundations of the sea do not overflow, three, four, five, or six
trenches are dug six feet wide, twelve feet deep, and six hundred feet long,
or longer if the level place extends for a longer distance; they are two hundred
feet distant from one another; between these are three transverse trenches.
Then are dug the principal pits, so that when the water has been raised from
the pool it can flow into the trenches, and from thence into the salt-pits,
of which there are numbers on the level ground between the trenches. The
salt-pits are basins dug to a moderate depth; these are banked round with
the earth which was dug in sinking them or in cleansing them, so that between
the basins, earth walls are made a foot high, which retain the water let into
them. The trenches have openings, through which the first basins receive
the water; these basins also have openings, through which the water flows
again from one into the other. There should be a slight fall, so that the
water may flow from one basin into the other, and can thus be replenished.
All these things having been done rightly and in order, the gate is raised that
opens the mouth of the pool which contains sea-water mixed with rain-water
or river-water; and thus all of the trenches are filled. Then the gates of the
first basins are opened, and thus the remaining basins are filled with the
water from the first; when this salt-water condenses, all these basins are
incrusted, and thus made clean from earthy matter. Then again the first
basins are filled up from the nearest trench with the same kind of water,
and left until much of the thin liquid is converted into vapour by the heat
of the sun and dissipated, and the remainder is considerably thickened. Then
their gates being opened, the water passes into the second basins; and
when it has remained there for a certain space of time the gates are opened,
so that it flows into the third basins, where it is all condensed into salt.
After the salt has been taken out, the basins are filled again and again with
sea-water. The salt is raked up with wooden rakes and thrown out with
shovels.
Salt-water is also boiled in pans, placed in sheds near the wells from
which it is drawn. Each shed is usually named from some animal or other
thing which is pictured on a tablet nailed to it. The walls of these sheds
are made either from baked earth or from wicker work covered with thick
1 279[Figure 279]
A—SEA. B—POOL. C—GATE. D—TRENCHES. E—SALT BASINS. F—RAKE.
G—SHOVEL.
1mud, although some may be made of stones or bricks. When of brick they
are often sixteen feet high, and if the roof rises twenty-four feet high, then
the walls which are at the ends must be made forty feet high, as likewise
the interior partition walls. The roof consists of large shingles four feet long,
one foot wide, and two digits thick; these are fixed on long narrow planks
placed on the rafters, which are joined at the upper end and slope in opposite
directions. The whole of the under side is plastered one digit thick with
straw mixed with lute; likewise the roof on the outside is plastered one
and a half feet thick with straw mixed with lute, in order that the shed
should not run any risk of fire, and that it should be proof against rain, and
be able to retain the heat necessary for drying the lumps of salt. Each shed
is divided into three parts, in the first of which the firewood and straw are
placed; in the middle room, separated from the first room by a partition, is
the fireplace on which is placed the caldron. To the right of the caldron is
a tub, into which is emptied the brine brought into the shed by the porters;
to the left is a bench, on which there is room to lay thirty pieces of salt.
In the third room, which is in the back part of the house, there is made a pile
of clay or ashes eight feet higher than the floor, being the same height as the
bench. The master and his assistants, when they carry away the lumps of
salt from the caldrons, go from the former to the latter. They ascend from
the right side of the caldron, not by steps, but by a slope of earth. At the
top of the end wall are two small windows, and a third is in the roof, through
which the smoke escapes. This smoke, emitted from both the back and the
front of the furnace, finds outlet through a hood through which it makes
its way up to the windows; this hood consists of boards projecting one
beyond the other, which are supported by two small beams of the roof.
Opposite the fireplace the middle partition has an open door eight feet high
and four feet wide, through which there is a gentle draught which drives the
smoke into the last room; the front wall also has a door of the same height
and width. Both of these doors are large enough to permit the firewood or
straw or the brine to be carried in, and the lumps of salt to be carried out;
these doors must be closed when the wind blows, so that the boiling will
not be hindered. Indeed, glass panes which exclude the wind but transmit the
light, should be inserted in the windows in the walls.
They construct the greater part of the fireplace of rock-salt and of clay
mixed with salt and moistened with brine, for such walls are greatly
hardened by the fire. These fireplaces are made eight and a half feet long,
seven and three quarters feet wide, and, if wood is burned in them, nearly
four feet high; but if straw is burned in them, they are six feet high. An
iron rod, about four feet long, is engaged in a hole in an iron foot, which
stands on the base of the middle of the furnace mouth. This mouth is three
feet in width, and has a door which opens inward; through it they throw
in the straw.
The caldrons are rectangular, eight feet long, seven feet wide, and half a
foot high, and are made of sheets of iron or lead, three feet long and of the
same width, all but two digits. These plates are not very thick, so that the
1 280[Figure 280]
A—SHED. B—PAINTED SIGNS. C—FIRST ROOM. D—MIDDLE ROOM. E—THIRD
ROOM. F—TWO LITTLE WINDOWS IN THE END WALL. G—THIRD LITTLE WINDOW IN THE
ROOF. H—WELL. I—WELL OF ANOTHER KIND. K—CASK. L—POLE. M—FORKED
STICKS IN WHICH THE PORTERS REST THE POLE WHEN THEY ARE TIRED.
1water is heated more quickly by the fire, and is boiled away rapidly. The
more salty the water is, the sooner it is condensed into salt. To prevent
the brine from leaking out at the points where the metal plates are fastened
with rivets, the caldrons are smeared over with a cement made of ox-liver
and ox-blood mixed with ashes. On each side of the middle of the furnace
two rectangular posts, three feet long, and half a foot thick and wide are
set into the ground, so that they are distant from each other only one and
a half feet. Each of them rises one and a half feet above the caldron. After
the caldron has been placed on the walls of the furnace, two beams of the
same width and thickness as the posts, but four feet long, are laid on these
posts, and are mortised in so that they shall not fall. There rest trans­
versely upon these beams three bars, three feet long, three digits wide, and
two digits thick, distant from one another one foot. On each of these hang
three iron hooks, two beyond the beams and one in the middle; these are a
foot long, and are hooked at both ends, one hook turning to the right, the other
to the left. The bottom hook catches in the eye of a staple, whose ends are
fixed in the bottom of the caldron, and the eye projects from it. There are
besides, two longer bars six feet long, one palm wide, and three digits thick,
which pass under the front beam and rest upon the rear beam. At the rear end
of each of the bars there is an iron hook two feet and three digits long, the
lower end of which is bent so as to support the caldron. The rear end of the
caldron does not rest on the two rear corners of the fireplace, but is distant
from the fireplace two thirds of a foot, so that the flame and smoke can escape;
this rear end of the fireplace is half a foot thick and half a foot higher than
the caldron. This is also the thickness and height of the wall between the
caldron and the third room of the shed, to which it is adjacent. This back
wall is made of clay and ashes, unlike the others which are made of rock-salt.
The caldron rests on the two front corners and sides of the fireplace, and is
cemented with ashes, so that the flames shall not escape. If a dipperful
of brine poured into the caldron should flow into all the corners, the caldron
is rightly set upon the fireplace.
The wooden dipper holds ten Roman sextarii, and the cask holds eight
dippers full3. The brine drawn up from the well is poured into such casks
and carried by porters, as I have said before, into the shed and poured into a
tub, and in those places where the brine is very strong it is at once trans­
ferred with the dippers into the caldron. That brine which is less strong is
thrown into a small tub with a deep ladle, the spoon and handle of which
are hewn out of one piece of wood. In this tub rock-salt is placed in order
1 281[Figure 281]
A—FIREPLACE. B—MOUTH OF FIREPLACE. C—CALDRON. D—POSTS SUNK INTO THE
GROUND. E—CROSS-BEAMS. F—SHORTER BARS. G—IRON HOOKS. H—STAPLES.
I—LONGER BARS. K—IRON ROD BENT TO SUPPORT THE CALDRON.
1that the water should be made more salty, and it is then run off through a
launder which leads into the caldron. From thirty-seven dippersful of brine
the master or his deputy, at Halle in Saxony,4 makes two cone-shaped pieces
of salt. Each master has a helper, or in the place of a helper his wife assists
him in his work, and, in addition, a youth who throws wood or straw under
the caldron. He, on account of the great heat of the workshop, wears
a straw cap on his head and a breech cloth, being otherwise quite naked.
As soon as the master has poured the first dipperful of brine into the caldron
the youth sets fire to the wood and straw laid under it. If the firewood is
bundles of faggots or brushwood, the salt will be white, but if straw is burned,
then it is not infrequently blackish, for the sparks, which are drawn up with
the smoke into the hood, fall down again into the water and colour it black.
In order to accelerate the condensation of the brine, when the master
has poured in two casks and as many dippersful of brine, he adds about a
Roman cyathus and a half of bullock's blood, or of calf's blood, or buck's
blood, or else he mixes it into the nineteenth dipperful of brine, in order that
it may be dissolved and distributed into all the corners of the caldron; in other
places the blood is dissolved in beer. When the boiling water seems to be
mixed with scum, he skims it with a ladle; this scum, if he be working with
rock-salt, he throws into the opening in the furnace through which the smoke
escapes, and it is dried into rock-salt; if it be not from rock-salt, he pours
it on to the floor of the workshop. From the beginning to the boiling and
skimming is the work of half-an-hour; after this it boils down for another
quarter-of-an-hour, after which time it begins to condense into salt. When
it begins to thicken with the heat, he and his helper stir it assiduously with a
wooden spatula, and then he allows it to boil for an hour. After this he pours
in a cyathus and a half of beer. In order that the wind should not blow
into the caldron, the helper covers the front with a board seven and a half
feet long and one foot high, and covers each of the sides with boards three and
three quarters feet long. In order that the front board may hold more
firmly, it is fitted into the caldron itself, and the sideboards are fixed on the
front board and upon the transverse beam. Afterward, when the boards
have been lifted off, the helper places two baskets, two feet high and as many
wide at the top, and a palm wide at the bottom, on the transverse beams,
and into them the master throws the salt with a shovel, taking half-an-hour
to fill them. Then, replacing the boards on the caldron, he allows the brine
to boil for three quarters of an hour. Afterward the salt has again to be
removed with a shovel, and when the baskets are full, they pile up the salt in
heaps.
In different localities the salt is moulded into different shapes. In the
baskets the salt assumes the form of a cone; it is not moulded in baskets
alone, but also in moulds into which they throw the salt, which are made in
1 282[Figure 282]
A—WOODEN DIPPER. B—CASK. C—TUB. D—MASTER. E—YOUTH. F—WIFE.
G—WOODEN SPADE. H—BOARDS. I—BASKETS. K—HOE. L—RAKE. M—STRAW.
N—BOWL. O—BUCKET CONTAINING THE BLOOD. P—TANKARD WHICH CONTAINS BEER.
1the likeness of many objects, as for instance tablets. These tablets and
cones are kept in the higher part of the third room of the house, or else on
the flat bench of the same height, in order that they may dry better in the
warm air. In the manner I have described, a master and his helper continue
one after the other, alternately boiling the brine and moulding the salt,
day and night, with the exception only of the annual feast days. No caldron
is able to stand the fire for more than half a year. The master pours in water
and washes it out every week; when it is washed out he puts straw under
it and pounds it; new caldrons he washes three times in the first two
weeks, and afterward twice. In this manner the incrustations fall from
the bottom; if they are not cleared off, the salt would have to be made
more slowly over a fiercer fire, which requires more brine and burns the
plates of the caldron. If any cracks make their appearance in the caldron
they are filled up with cement. The salt made during the first two weeks is
not so good, being usually stained by the rust at the bottom where incrusta­
tions have not yet adhered.
Although salt made in this manner is prepared only from the brine of
283[Figure 283]
A—POOL. B—POTS. C—LADLE. D—PANS. E—TONGS.
1springs and wells, yet it is also possible to use this method in the case of
river-, lake-, and sea-water, and also of those waters which are artificially
salted. For in places where rock-salt is dug, the impure and the broken pieces
are thrown into fresh water, which, when boiled, condenses into salt. Some,
indeed, boil sea-salt in fresh water again, and mould the salt into the little
cones and other shapes.
Some people make salt by another method, from salt water which
flows from hot springs that issue boiling from the earth. They set earthen­
ware pots in a pool of the spring-water, and into them they pour water scooped
up with ladles from the hot spring until they are half full. The perpetual
heat of the waters of the pool evaporates the salt water just as the heat of
the fire does in the caldrons. As soon as it begins to thicken, which happens
when it has been reduced by boiling to a third or more, they seize the pots
with tongs and pour the contents into small rectangular iron pans, which have
also been placed in the pool. The interior of these pans is usually three feet
long, two feet wide, and three digits deep, and they stand on four heavy legs,
so that the water flows freely all round, but not into them. Since the water
flows continuously from the pool through the little canals, and the spring
284[Figure 284]
A—POTS. B—TRIPOD. C—DEEP LADLE.
1always provides a new and copious supply, always boiling hot, it condenses
the thickened water poured into the pans into salt; this is at once taken
out with shovels, and then the work begins all over again. If the salty water
contains other juices, as is usually the case with hot springs, no salt should
be made from them.
Others boil salt water, and especially sea-water, in large iron pots;
this salt is blackish, for in most cases they burn straw under them. Some
people boil in these pots the brine in which fish is pickled. The salt which
they make tastes and smells of fish.
285[Figure 285]
A—TRENCH. B—VAT INTO WHICH THE SALT WATER FLOWS. C—LADLE. D—SMALL
BUCKET WITH POLE FASTENED INTO IT.
Those who make salt by pouring brine over firewood, lay the wood in
trenches which are twelve feet long, seven feet wide, and two and one half
feet deep, so that the water poured in should not flow out. These trenches
are constructed of rock-salt wherever it is to be had, in order that they should
not soak up the water, and so that the earth should not fall in on the front,
back and sides. As the charcoal is turned into salt at the same time as the
1 286[Figure 286]
A—LARGE VAT. B—PLUG. C—SMALL TUB. D—DEEP LADLE. E—SMALL VAT.
F—CALDRON.
1salt liquor, the Spaniards think, as Pliny writes5, that the wood itself turns
into salt. Oak is the best wood, as its pure ash yields salt; elsewhere hazel­
wood is lauded. But with whatever wood it be made, this salt is not
greatly appreciated, being black and not quite pure; on that account this
method of salt-making is disdained by the Germans and Spaniards.
The solutions from which salt is made are prepared from salty earth or
from earth rich in salt and saltpetre. Lye is made from the ashes of reeds
and rushes. The solution obtained from salty earth by boiling, makes salt
only; from the other, of which I will speak more a little later, salt and salt­
petre are made; and from ashes is derived lye, from which its own salt is
obtained. The ashes, as well as the earth, should first be put into a large
vat; then fresh water should be poured over the ashes or earth, and it should
be stirred for about twelve hours with a stick, so that it may dissolve the
salt. Then the plug is pulled out of the large vat; the solution of salt or the
lye is drained into a small tub and emptied with ladles into small vats;
finally, such a solution is transferred into iron or lead caldrons and boiled,
until the water having evaporated, the juices are condensed into salt. The
above are the various methods for making salt. (Illustration p. 557.)
Nítrum6 is usually made from nitrous waters, or from solutions or from
lye. In the same manner as sea-water or salt-water is poured into salt-pits
and evaporated by the heat of the sun and changed into salt, so the nítrous
Nile is led into nítrum pits and evaporated by the heat of the sun and con­
1 287[Figure 287]
A—NILE. B—NITRUM-PITS, SUCH AS I CONJECTURE THEM TO BE.7
verted into nítrum. Just as the sea, in flowing of its own will over the soil
of this same Egypt, is changed into salt, so also the Nile, when it overflows
in the dog days, is converted into nitrum when it flows into the nítrum pits.
The solution from which nitrum is produced is obtained from fresh water
percolating through nitrous earth, in the same manner as lye is made from
fresh water percolating through ashes of oak or hard oak. Both solutions
are taken out of vats and poured into rectangular copper caldrons, and are
boiled until at last they condense into nitrum.
1
Native as well as manufactured nítrum is mixed in vats with urine
and boiled in the same caldrons; the decoction is poured into vats in which
are copper wires, and, adhering to them, it hardens and becomes chrysocolla,
which the Moors call borax. Formerly nitrum was compounded with
Cyprian verdigris, and ground with Cyprian copper in Cyprian mortars, as
Pliny writes. Some chrysocolla is made of rock-alum and sal-ammoniac.8
1 288[Figure 288]
A—VAT IN WHICH THE SODA IS MIXED. B—CALDRON. C—TUB IN WHICH chrysocolla IS
CONDENSED. D—COPPER WIRES. E—MORTAR.
Saltpetre9 is made from a dry, slightly fatty earth, which, if it be re­
tained for a while in the mouth, has an acrid and salty taste. This earth,
together with a powder, are alternately put into a vat in layers a palm deep.
The powder consists of two parts of unslaked lime and three parts of ashes of
oak, or holmoak, or Italian oak, or Turkey oak, or of some similar kind. Each
vat is filled with alternate layers of these to within three-quarters of a foot
of the top, and then water is poured in until it is full. As the water percolates
through the material it dissolves the saltpetre; then, the plug being pulled
out from the vat, the solution is drained into a tub and ladled out into small
1vats. If when tested it tastes very salty, and at the same time acrid, it is
good; but, if not, then it is condemned, and it must be made to percolate
again through the same material or through a fresh lot. Even two or three
waters may be made to percolate through the same earth and become full
of saltpetre, but the solutions thus obtained must not be mixed together
unless all have the same taste, which rarely or never happens. The first of
these solutions is poured into the first vat, the next into the second, the third
into the third vat; the second and third solutions are used instead of plain
water to percolate through fresh material; the first solution is made in
this manner from both the second and third. As soon as there is an abun­
dance of this solution it is poured into the rectangular copper caldron and
evaporated to one half by boiling; then it is transferred into a vat covered
with a lid, in which the earthy matter settles to the bottom. When the
solution is clear it is poured back into the same pan, or into another, and
re-boiled. When it bubbles and forms a scum, in order that it should
not run over and that it may be greatly purified, there is poured into it three
or four pounds of lye, made from three parts of oak or similar ash and one of
unslaked lime. But in the water, prior to its being poured in, is dissolved rock­
alum, in the proportion of one hundred and twenty librae of the former to five
1librae of the latter. Shortly afterward the solution will be found to be clear
and blue. It is boiled until the waters, which are easily volatile (subtiles), are
evaporated, and then the greater part of the salt, after it has settled at the
bottom of the pan, is taken out with iron ladles. Then the concentrated
solution is transferred to the vat in which rods are placed horizontally and
vertically, to which it adheres when cold, and if there be much, it is condensed
in three or four days into saltpetre. Then the solution which has not con­
gealed, is poured out and put on one side or re-boiled. The saltpetre being
cut out and washed with its own solution, is thrown on to boards that it may
drain and dry. The yield of saltpetre will be much or little in proportion
to whether the solution has absorbed much or little; when the saltpetre
has been obtained from lye, which purifies itself, it is somewhat clear and
pure.
The purest and most transparent, because free from salt, is made if it is
drawn off at the thickening stage, according to the following method. There
289[Figure 289]
A—CALDRON. B—LARGE VAT INTO WHICH SAND IS THROWN. C—PLUG. D—TUB.
E—VAT CONTAINING THE RODS.
1are poured into the caldron the same number of amphorae of the solution as of
congíi of the lye of which I have already spoken, and into the same caldron
is thrown as much of the already made saltpetre as the solution and lye will
dissolve. As soon as the mixture effervesces and forms scum, it is trans­
ferred to a vat, into which on a cloth has been thrown washed sand obtained
from a river. Soon afterward the plug is drawn out of the hole at the
bottom, and the mixture, having percolated through the sand, escapes into
a tub. It is then reduced by boiling in one or another of the caldrons, until
the greater part of the solution has evaporated; but as soon as it is well
boiled and forms scum, a little lye is poured into it. Then it is transferred to
another vat in which there are small rods, to which it adheres and congeals in
two days if there is but little of it, or if there is much in three days, or
at the most in four days; if it does not condense, it is poured back into the
caldron and re-boiled down to half; then it is transferred to the vat to cool.
The process must be repeated as often as is necessary.
Others refine saltpetre by another method, for with it they fill a pot
made of copper, and, covering it with a copper lid, set it over live coals, where
it is heated until it melts. They do not cement down the lid, but it has
a handle, and can be lifted for them to see whether or not the melting has taken
place. When it has melted, powdered sulphur is sprinkled in, and if the pot
set on the fire does not light it, the sulphur kindles, whereby the thick, greasy
matter floating on the saltpetre burns up, and when it is consumed the salt­
petre is pure. Soon afterward the pot is removed from the fire, and later, when
cold, the purest saltpetre is taken out, which has the appearance of white
marble, the earthy residue then remains at the bottom. The earths from
which the solution was made, together with branches of oak or similar trees,
are exposed under the open sky and sprinkled with water containing saltpetre.
After remaining thus for five or six years, they are again ready to be made
into a solution.
Pure saltpetre which has rested many years in the earth, and that which
exudes from the stone walls of wine cellars and dark places, is mixed with the
first solution and evaporated by boiling.
Thus far I have described the methods of making nítrum, which are not
less varied or multifarious than those for making salt. Now I propose to
describe the methods of making alum,10 which are likewise neither all alike,
nor simple, because it is made from boiling aluminous water until it con­
denses to alum, or else from boiling a solution of alum which is obtained
from a kind of earth, or from rocks, or from pyrites, or other minerals.
1
This kind of earth having first been dug up in such quantity as would
make three hundred wheelbarrow loads, is thrown into two tanks; then the
water is turned into them, and if it (the earth) contains vitriol it must be
diluted with urine. The workmen must many times a day stir the
ore with long, thick sticks in order that the water and urine may be
mixed with it; then the plugs having been taken out of both tanks, the
solution is drawn off into a trough, which is carved out of one or two trees.
If the locality is supplied with an abundance of such ore, it should not
immediately be thrown into the tanks, but first conveyed into open spaces
and heaped up, for the longer it is exposed to the air and the rain, the better it
is; after some months, during which the ore has been heaped up in open
spaces into mounds, there are generated veinlets of far better quality than
the ore. Then it is conveyed into six or more tanks, nine feet in length
and breadth and five in depth, and afterward water is drawn into them
of similar solution. After this, when the water has absorbed the alum, the
plugs are pulled out, and the solution escapes into a round reservoir forty
feet wide and three feet deep. Then the ore is thrown out of the tanks
into other tanks, and water again being run into the latter and the urine
added and stirred by means of poles, the plugs are withdrawn and
the solution is run off into the same reservoir. A few days afterward,
the reservoirs containing the solution are emptied through a small launder,
and run into rectangular lead caldrons; it is boiled in them until the
1greater part of the water has evaporated. The earthy sediment deposited
at the bottom of the caldron is composed of fatty and aluminous matter, which
usually consists of small incrustations, in which there is not infrequently found
a very white and very light powder of asbestos or gypsum. The solution now
seems to be full of meal. Some people instead pour the partly evaporated
solution into a vat, so that it may become pure and clear; then pouring it
back into the caldron, they boil it again until it becomes mealy. By which­
ever process it has been condensed, it is then poured into a wooden tub
sunk into the earth in order to cool it. When it becomes cold it is poured
into vats, in which are arranged horizontal and vertical twigs, to which the
alum clings when it condenses; and thus are made the small white trans­
parent cubes, which are laid to dry in hot rooms.
If vitriol forms part of the aluminous ore, the material is dissolved in
water without being mixed with urine, but it is necessary to pour that into
the clear and pure solution when it is to be re-boiled. This separates the
vitriol from the alum, for by this method the latter sinks to the bottom of the
caldron, while the former floats on the top; both must be poured separately
into smaller vessels, and from these into vats to condense. If, however, when
the solution was re-boiled they did not separate, then they must be poured
from the smaller vessels into larger vessels and covered over; then the vitriol
separating from the alum, it condenses. Both are cut out and put to dry in
the hot room, and are ready to be sold; the solution which did not congeal in
1 290[Figure 290]
A—TANKS. B—STIRRING POLES. C—PLUG. D—TROUGH. E—RESERVOIR. F—LAUNDER.
G—LEAD CALDRON. H—WOODEN TUBS SUNK INTO THE EARTH. I—VATS IN WHICH
TWIGS ARE FIXED.
1the vessels and vats is again poured back into the caldron to be re-boiled.
The earth which settled at the bottom of the caldron is carried back to the
tanks, and, together with the ore, is again dissolved with water and urine.
The earth which remains in the tanks after the solution has been drawn off
is emptied in a heap, and daily becomes more and more aluminous in the
same way as the earth from which saltpetre was made, but fuller of its juices,
wherefore it is again thrown into the tanks and percolated by water.
Aluminous rock is first roasted in a furnace similar to a lime kiln. At
the bottom of the kiln a vaulted fireplace is made of the same kind of rock;
the remainder of the empty part of the kiln is then entirely filled with the
same aluminous rocks. Then they are heated with fire until they are red
hot and have exhaled their sulphurous fumes, which occurs, according to their
divers nature, within the space of ten, eleven, twelve, or more hours. One
thing the master must guard against most of all is not to roast the rock
either too much or too little, for on the one hand they would not soften when
sprinkled with water, and on the other they either would be too hard or
would crumble into ashes; from neither would much alum be obtained, for
the strength which they have would be decreased. When the rocks are cooled
they are drawn out and conveyed into an open space, where they are piled one
upon the other in heaps fifty feet long, eight feet wide, and four feet high,
which are sprinkled for forty days with water carried in deep ladles. In
spring the sprinkling is done both morning and evening, and in summer at
1noon besides. After being moistened for this length of time the rocks begin
to fall to pieces like slaked lime, and there originates a certain new material
of the future alum, which is soft and similar to the liquidae medullae found
in the rocks. It is white if the stone was white before it was roasted, and
rose-coloured if red was mixed with the white; from the former, white
alum is obtained, and from the latter, rose-coloured. A round furnace is
made, the lower part of which, in order to be able to endure the force of
the heat, is made of rock that neither melts nor crumbles to powder by the
fire. It is constructed in the form of a basket, the walls of which are two
feet high, made of the same rock. On these walls rests a large round caldron
made of copper plates, which is concave at the bottom, where it is eight feet
in diameter. In the empty space under the bottom they place the wood to be
kindled with fire. Around the edge of the bottom of the caldron, rock
is built in cone-shaped, and the diameter of the bottom of the rock structure
is seven feet, and of the top ten feet; it is eight feet deep. The inside,
after being rubbed over with oil, is covered with cement, so that it may be
able to hold boiling water; the cement is composed of fresh lime, of
which the lumps are slaked with wine, of iron-scales, and of sea-snails,
ground and mixed with the white of eggs and oil. The edges of the caldron
are surmounted with a circle of wood a foot thick and half a foot high,
on which the workmen rest the wooden shovels with which they cleanse
the water of earth and of the undissolved lumps of rock that remain at
1the bottom of the caldron. The caldron, being thus prepared, is entirely
filled through a launder with water, and this is boiled with a fierce fire
until it bubbles. Then little by little eight wheelbarrow loads of the
material, composed of roasted rock moistened with water, are gradually
emptied into the caldron by four workmen, who, with their shovels which
reach to the bottom, keep the material stirred and mixed with water, and
by the same means they lift the lumps of undissolved rock out of the
caldron. In this manner the material is thrown in, in three or four lots, at
intervals of two or three hours more or less; during these intervals, the
water, which has been cooled by the rock and material, again begins to boil.
The water, when sufficiently purified and ready to congeal, is ladled out and
run off with launders into thirty troughs. These troughs are made of oak,
holm oak, or Turkey oak; their interior is six feet long, five feet deep, and
four feet wide. In these the water congeals and condenses into alum, in the
spring in the space of four days, and in summer in six days. Afterward the
holes at the bottom of the oak troughs being opened, the water which has
not congealed is drawn off into buckets and poured back into the caldron;
or it may be preserved in empty troughs, so that the master of the workmen,
having seen it, may order his helpers to pour it into the caldron, for the water
which is not altogether wanting in alum, is considered better than that which
has none at all. Then the alum is hewn out with a knife or a chisel. It is
thick and excellent according to the strength of the rock, either white or
pink according to the colour of the rock. The earthy powder, which remains
three to four digits thick as the residue of the alum at the bottom of the
trough is again thrown into the caldron and boiled with fresh aluminous
material. Lastly, the alum cut out is washed, and dried, and sold.
Alum is also made from crude pyrites and other aluminous mixtures.
It is first roasted in an enclosed area: then, after being exposed for some
1 291[Figure 291]
A—FURNACE. B—ENCLOSED SPACE. C—ALUMINOUS ROCK. D—DEEP LADLE.
E—CALDRON. F—LAUNDER. G—TROUGHS.
1months to the air in order to soften it, it is thrown into vats and dissolved.
After this the solution is poured into the leaden rectangular pans and boiled
until it condenses into alum. The pyrites and other stones which are not
mixed with alum alone, but which also contain vitriol, as is most usually the
case, are both treated in the manner which I have already described. Finally,
if metal is contained in the pyrites and other rock, this material must be dried,
and from it either gold, silver, or copper is made in a furnace.
Vitriol11 can be made by four different methods; by two of these methods
1from water containing vitriol; by one method from a solution of melantería,
sory and chalcítís; and by another method from earth or stones mixed with
vitriol.
The vitriol water is collected into pools, and if it cannot be drained into
them, it must be drawn up and carried to them in buckets by a workman.
1 292[Figure 292]
A—TUNNEL. B—BUCKET. C—PIT.
In hot regions or in summer, it is poured into out-of-door pits which have
been dug to a certain depth, or else it is extracted from shafts by pumps
and poured into launders, through which it flows into the pits, where it is
condensed by the heat of the sun. In cold regions and in winter these vitriol
waters are boiled down with equal parts of fresh water in rectangular leaden
caldrons; then, when cold, the mixture is poured into vats or into tanks,
which Pliny calls wooden fish-tanks. In these tanks light cross-beams are
fixed to the upper part, so that they may be stationary, and from them hang
ropes stretched with little stones; to these the contents of the thickened
solutions congeal and adhere in transparent cubes or seeds of vitriol, like
bunches of grapes.
1 293[Figure 293]
A—CALDRON. B—TANK. C—CROSS-BARS. D—ROPES. E—LITTLE STONES.
By the third method vitriol is made out of melanteria and sory. If
the mines give an abundant supply of melanteria and sory, it is better to
reject the chalcítís, and especially the mísy, for from these the vitriol is impure,
particularly from the misy. These materials having been dug and thrown
into the tanks, they are first dissolved with water; then, in order to recover
the pyrites from which copper is not rarely smelted and which forms a sedi­
ment at the bottom of the tanks, the solution is transferred to other vats,
which are nine feet wide and three feet deep. Twigs and wood which float
on the surface are lifted out with a broom made of twigs, and afterward all the
sediment settles at the bottom of this vat. The solution is poured into a
rectangular leaden caldron eight feet long, three feet wide, and the same in
depth. In this caldron it is boiled until it becomes thick and viscous, when
it is poured into a launder, through which it runs into another leaden caldron
of the same size as the one described before. When cold, the solution is
drawn off through twelve little launders, out of which it flows into as many
wooden tubs four and a half feet deep and three feet wide. Upon these tubs
are placed perforated crossbars distant from each other from four to six
digits, and from the holes hang thin laths, which reach to the bottom, with
1pegs or wedges driven into them. The vitriol adheres to these laths, and
within the space of a few days congeals into cubes, which are taken away
and put into a chamber having a sloping board floor, so that the moisture
which drips from the vitriol may flow into a tub beneath. This solution is
re-boiled, as is also that solution which was left in the twelve tubs, for, by
reason of its having become too thin and liquid, it did not congeal, and was
thus not converted into vitriol.
294[Figure 294]
A—WOODEN TUB. B—CROSS-BARS. C—LATHS. D—SLOPING FLOOR OF THE CHAMBER.
E—TUB PLACED UNDER IT.
The fourth method of making vitriol is from vitriolous earth or stones.
Such ore is at first carried and heaped up, and is then left for five or six months
exposed to the rain of spring and autumn, to the heat of summer, and to the
rime and frost of winter. It must be turned over several times with shovels,
so that the part at the bottom may be brought to the top, and it is thus
ventilated and cooled; by this means the earth crumbles up and loosens,
and the stone changes from hard to soft. Then the ore is covered with a roof,
or else it is taken away and placed under a roof, and remains in that place
six, seven, or eight months. Afterward as large a portion as is required is
thrown into a vat, which is half-filled with water; this vat is one hundred
1feet long, twenty-four feet wide, eight feet deep. It has an opening at the
bottom, so that when it is opened the dregs of the ore from which the vitriol
comes may be drawn off, and it has, at the height of one foot from the bottom,
three or four little holes, so that, when closed, the water may be retained,
and when opened the solution flows out. Thus the ore is mixed with water,
stirred with poles and left in the tank until the earthy portions sink to the
bottom and the water absorbs the juices. Then the little holes are opened,
the solution flows out of the vat, and is caught in a vat below it; this vat is
of the same length as the other, but twelve feet wide and four feet deep. If
the solution is not sufficiently vitriolous it is mixed with fresh ore; but if it
contains enough vitriol, and yet has not exhausted all of the ore rich in vitriol,
it is well to dissolve the ore again with fresh water. As soon as the solution
becomes clear, it is poured into the rectangular leaden caldron through
launders, and is boiled until the water is evaporated. Afterward as many thin
strips of iron as the nature of the solution requires, are thrown in, and then
it is boiled again until it is thick enough, when cold, to congeal into vitriol.
Then it is poured into tanks or vats, or any other receptacle, in which all of it
that is apt to congeal does so within two or three days. The solution which
does not congeal is either poured back into the caldron to be boiled again, or
295[Figure 295]
A—CALDRON. B—MOULDS. C—CAKES
1it is put aside for dissolving the new ore, for it is far preferable to fresh water.
The solidified vitriol is hewn out, and having once more been thrown into the
caldron, is re-heated until it liquefies; when liquid, it is poured into
moulds that it may be made into cakes. If the solution first poured out is
not satisfactorily thickened, it is condensed two or three times, and each
time liquefied in the caldron and re-poured into the moulds, in which
manner pure cakes, beautiful to look at, are made from it.
The vitriolous pyrites, which are to be numbered among the mixtures
(mistura), are roasted as in the case of alum, and dissolved with water, and
the solution is boiled in leaden caldrons until it condenses into vitriol. Both
alum and vitriol are often made out of these, and it is no wonder, for these
juices are cognate, and only differ in the one point,—that the former is less, the
latter more, earthy. That pyrites which contains metal must be smelted in the
furnace. In the same manner, from other mixtures of vitriolic and metallifer­
ous material are made vitriol and metal. Indeed, if ores of vitriolous pyrites
abound, the miners split small logs down the centre and cut them off in lengths
as long as the drifts and tunnels are wide, in which they lay them down trans­
versely; but, that they may be stable, they are laid on the ground with the wide
side down and the round side up, and they touch each other at the bottom,
but not at the top. The intermediate space is filled with pyrites, and the same
crushed are scattered over the wood, so that, coming in or going out, the
road is flat and even. Since the drifts or tunnels drip with water, these
pyrites are soaked, and from them are freed the vitriol and cognate things. If
the water ceases to drip, these dry and harden, and then they are raised
from the shafts, together with the pyrites not yet dissolved in the water, or
they are carried out from the tunnels; then they are thrown into vats or
tanks, and boiling water having been poured over them, the vitriol is freed
and the pyrites are dissolved. This green solution is transferred to other vats
or tanks, that it may be made clear and pure; it is then boiled in the lead
caldrons until it thickens; afterward it is poured into wooden tubs, where
it condenses on rods, or reeds, or twigs, into green vitriol.
Sulphur is made from sulphurous waters, from sulphurous ores, and
from sulphurous mixtures. These waters are poured into the leaden caldrons
and boiled until they condense into sulphur. From this latter, heated
together with iron-scales, and transferred into pots, which are afterward
covered with lute and refined sulphur, another sulphur is made, which we
call caballinum.12
The ores13 which consist mostly of sulphur and of earth, and rarely of
other minerals, are melted in big-bellied earthenware pots. The furnaces,
1 296[Figure 296]
A—POTS HAVING SPOUTS. B—POTS WITHOUT SPOUTS. C—LIDS.
which hold two of these pots, are divided into three parts; the lowest part is a
foot high, and has an opening at the front for the draught; the top of this is
covered with iron plates, which are perforated near the edges, and these
support iron rods, upon which the firewood is placed. The middle part of the
furnace is one and a half feet high, and has a mouth in front, so that the wood
may be inserted; the top of this has rods, upon which the bottom of the pots
stand. The upper part is about two feet high, and the pots are also two feet
high and one digit thick; these have below their mouths a long, slender spout.
In order that the mouth of the pot may be covered, an earthenware lid is
made which fits into it. For every two of these pots there must be one pot
1of the same size and shape, and without a spout, but having three holes, two of
which are below the mouth and receive the spouts of the two first pots; the
third hole is on the opposite side at the bottom, and through it the sulphur
flows out. In each furnace are placed two pots with spouts, and the furnace
must be covered by plates of iron smeared over with lute two digits thick; it is
thus entirely closed in, but for two or three ventholes through which the mouths
of the pots project. Outside of the furnace, against one side, is placed the pot
without a spout, into the two holes of which the two spouts of the other pots
penetrate, and this pot should be built in at both sides to keep it steady. When
the sulphur ore has been placed in the pots, and these placed in the furnace,
they are closely covered, and it is desirable to smear the joint over with lute,
so that the sulphur will not exhale, and for the same reason the pot below is
covered with a lid, which is also smeared with lute. The wood having been
kindled, the ores are heated until the sulphur is exhaled, and the vapour,
arising through the spout, penetrates into the lower pot and thickens into
sulphur, which falls to the bottom like melted wax. It then flows out
through the hole, which, as I said, is at the bottom of this pot; and the work­
man makes it into cakes, or thin sticks or thin pieces of wood are dipped in it.
Then he takes the burning wood and glowing charcoal from the furnace, and
when it has cooled, he opens the two pots, empties the residues, which, if the
ores were composed of sulphur and earth, resemble naturally extinguished
ashes; but if the ores consisted of sulphur and earth and stone, or sulphur
and stone only, they resemble earth completely dried or stones well roasted.
Afterward the pots are re-filled with ore, and the whole work is repeated.
The sulphurous mixture, whether it consists of stone and sulphur only,
or of stone and sulphur and metal, may be heated in similar pots, but with
perforated bottoms. Before the furnace is constructed, against the “second”
wall of the works two lateral partitions are built seven feet high, three feet
long, one and a half feet thick, and these are distant from each other twenty­
seven feet. Between them are seven low brick walls, that measure but
two feet and the same number of digits in height, and, like the other walls,
are three feet long and one foot thick; these little walls are at equal
distances from one another, consequently they will be two and one half feet
apart. At the top, iron bars are fixed into them, which sustain iron plates
three feet long and wide and one digit thick, so that they can bear not only
the weight of the pots, but also the fierceness of the fire. These plates have
in the middle a round hole one and a half digits wide; there must not be
more than eight of these, and upon them as many pots are placed. These
pots are perforated at the bottom, and the same number of whole pots are
placed underneath them; the former contain the mixture, and are covered
with lids; the latter contain water, and their mouths are under the holes
in the plates. After wood has been arranged round the upper pots and
ignited, the mixture being heated, red, yellow, or green sulphur drips
from it and flows down through the hole, and is caught by the pots placed
underneath the plates, and is at once cooled by the water. If the mixture
contains metal, it is reserved for smelting, and, if not, it is thrown away.
1 297[Figure 297]
A—LONG WALL. B—HIGH WALLS. C—LOW WALLS. D—PLATES. E—UPPER POTS.
F—LOWER POTS.
The sulphur from such a mixture can best be extracted if the upper pots are
placed in a vaulted furnace, like those which I described among other
metallurgical subjects in Book VIII., which has no floor, but a grate inside;
under this the lower pots are placed in the same manner, but the plates
must have larger holes.
Others bury a pot in the ground, and place over it another pot with a
hole at the bottom, in which pyrites or cadmia, or other sulphurous stones
are so enclosed that the sulphur cannot exhale. A fierce fire heats the
sulphur, and it drips away and flows down into the lower pot, which contains
water. (Illustration p. 582).
Bitumen14 is made from bituminous waters, from liquid bitumen, and
from mixtures of bituminous substances. The water, bituminous as well as
1 298[Figure 298]
A—LOWER POT. B—UPPER POT. C—LID.
salty, at Babylon, as Pliny writes, was taken from the wells to the salt works
and heated by the great heat of the sun, and condensed partly into liquid
bitumen and partly into salt. The bitumen being lighter, floats on the top,
while the salt being heavier, sinks to the bottom. Liquid bitumen, if there
is much floating on springs, streams and rivers, is drawn up in buckets or
other vessels; but, if there is little, it is collected with goose wings, pieces
1 299[Figure 299]
A—BITUMINOUS SPRING. B—BUCKET. C—POT. D—LID.
of linen, ralla, shreds of reeds, and other things to which it easily adheres,
and it is boiled in large brass or iron pots by fire and condensed. As this
bitumen is put to divers uses, some mix pitch with the liquid, others old
cart-grease, in order to temper its viscosity; these, however long they are
1boiled in the pots, cannot be made hard. The mixtures containing bitumen
are also treated in the same manner as those containing sulphur, in pots
having a hole in the bottom, and it is rare that such bitumen is not highly
esteemed.
Since all solidified juices and earths, if abundantly and copiously mixed
with the water, are deposited in the beds of springs, streams or rivers, and the
stones therein are coated by them, they do not require the heat of the sun or
fire to harden them. This having been pondered over by wise men, they dis­
covered methods by which the remainder of these solidified juices and unusual
earths can be collected. Such waters, whether flowing from springs or
tunnels, are collected in many wooden tubs or tanks arranged in consecutive
order, and deposit in them such juices or earths; these being scraped off
every year, are collected, as chrysocolla15 in the Carpathians and as ochre in
the Harz.
There remains glass, the preparation of which belongs here, for the
reason that it is obtained by the power of fire and subtle art from certain
solidified juices and from coarse or fine sand. It is transparent, as are certain
solidified juices, gems, and stones; and can be melted like fusible stones and
metals. First I must speak of the materials from which glass is made;
then of the furnaces in which it is melted; then of the methods by which it
is produced.
It is made from fusible stones and from solidified juices, or from other
juicy substances which are connected by a natural relationship. Stones
which are fusible, if they are white and translucent, are more excellent than
1 300[Figure 300]
A—MOUTH OF THE TUNNEL. B—TROUGH. C—TANKS. D—LITTLE TROUGH.
the others, for which reason crystals take the first place. From these, when
pounded, the most excellent transparent glass was made in India, with which
no other could be compared, as Pliny relates. The second place is accorded
to stones which, although not so hard as crystal, are yet just as white and
transparent. The third is given to white stones, which are not transparent.
It is necessary, however, first of all to heat all these, and afterward they are
subjected to the pestle in order to break and crush them into coarse sand,
and then they are passed through a sieve. If this kind of coarse or fine sand
is found by the glass-makers near the mouth of a river, it saves them much
labour in burning and crushing. As regards the solidified juices, the first
place is given to soda; the second to white and translucent rock-salt; the third
to salts which are made from lye, from the ashes of the musk ivy, or from
other salty herbs. Yet there are some who give to this latter, and not to the
former, the second place. One part of coarse or fine sand made from fusible
stones should be mixed with two parts of soda or of rock-salt or of herb
salts, to which are added minute particles of magnes.16 It is true that in our
1day, as much as in ancient times, there exists the belief in the singular
power of the latter to attract to itself the vitreous liquid just as it does iron,
and by attracting it to purify and transform green or yellow into white; and
afterward fire consumes the magnes. When the said juices are not to be had,
two parts of the ashes of oak or holmoak, or of hard oak or Turkey oak,
or if these be not available, of beech or pine, are mixed with one part
of coarse or fine sand, and a small quantity of salt is added, made from salt
water or sea-water, and a small particle of magnes; but these make a less
white and translucent glass. The ashes should be made from old trees, of
which the trunk at a height of six feet is hollowed out and fire is put in, and
thus the whole tree is consumed and converted into ashes. This is done in
winter when the snow lies long, or in summer when it does not rain, for the
showers at other times of the year, by mixing the ashes with earth, render
them impure; for this reason, at such times, these same trees are cut up
into many pieces and burned under cover, and are thus converted into ashes.
Some glass-makers use three furnaces, others two, others only one.
Those who use three, melt the material in the first, re-melt it in the second,
1 301[Figure 301]
A—LOWER CHAMBER OF THE FIRST FURNACE. B—UPPER CHAMBER. C—VITREOUS MASS.
and in the third they cool the glowing glass vessels and other articles. Of
these the first furnace must be vaulted and similar to an oven. In the upper
chamber, which is six feet long, four feet wide, and two feet high, the
mixed materials are heated by a fierce fire of dry wood until they melt
and are converted into a vitreous mass. And if they are not satisfactorily
purified from dross, they are taken out and cooled and broken into pieces;
and the vitreous pieces are heated in pots in the same furnace.
The second furnace is round, ten feet in diameter and eight feet high,
and on the outside, so that it may be stronger, it is encompassed by five
arches, one and one half feet thick; it consists in like manner of two
chambers, of which the lower one is vaulted and is one and one half feet thick.
In front this chamber has a narrow mouth, through which the wood
can be put into the hearth, which is on the ground. At the top and in the
middle of its vault, there is a large round hole which opens to the upper
chamber, so that the flames can penetrate into it. Between the arches in
the walls of the upper chamber are eight windows, so large that the big­
bellied pots may be placed through them on to the floor of the chamber,
around the large hole. The thickness of these pots is about two digits, their
height the same number of feet, and the diameter of the belly one and a half
1feet, and of the mouth and bottom one foot. In the back part of the furnace
is a rectangular hole, measuring in height and width a palm, through which
the heat penetrates into a third furnace which adjoins it.
This third furnace is rectangular, eight feet long and six feet wide; it
also consists of two chambers, of which the lower has a mouth in front, so that
firewood may be placed on the hearth which is on the ground. On each side of
this opening in the wall of the lower chamber is a recess for oblong earthen­
ware receptacles, which are about four feet long, two feet high, and one and
a half feet wide. The upper chamber has two holes, one on the right side,
the other on the left, of such height and width that earthenware receptacles
may be conveniently placed in them. These latter receptacles are three
feet long, one and a half feet high, the lower part one foot wide, and the
upper part rounded. In these receptacles the glass articles, which have been
blown, are placed so that they may cool in a milder temperature; if they were
not cooled slowly they would burst asunder. When the vessels are taken
from the upper chamber, they are immediately placed in the receptacles
to cool.
302[Figure 302]
A—ARCHES OF THE SECOND FURNACE. B—MOUTH OF THE LOWER CHAMBER.
C—WINDOWS OF THE UPPER CHAMBER. D—BIG-BELLIED POTS. E—MOUTH OF THE
THIRD FURNACE. F—RECESSES FOR THE RECEPTACLES. G—OPENINGS IN THE UPPER
CHAMBER. H—OBLONG RECEPTACLES.
1 303[Figure 303]
A—LOWER CHAMBER OF THE OTHER SECOND FURNACE. B—MIDDLE ONE. C—UPPER ONE.
D—ITS OPENING. E—ROUND OPENING. F—RECTANGULAR OPENING.
1
Some who use two furnaces partly melt the mixture in the first, and
not only re-melt it in the second, but also replace the glass articles there.
Others partly melt and re-melt the material in different chambers of the
second furnace. Thus the former lack the third furnace, and the latter,
the first. But this kind of second furnace differs from the other second
furnace, for it is, indeed, round, but the interior is eight feet in diameter
and twelve feet high, and it consists of three chambers, of which the lowest is
not unlike the lowest of the other second furnace. In the middle chamber
wall there are six arched openings, in which are placed the pots to be heated,
and the remainder of the small windows are blocked up with lute. In the
middle top of the middle chamber is a square opening a palm in length
and width. Through this the heat penetrates into the upper chamber,
of which the rear part has an opening to receive the oblong earthenware
receptacles, in which are placed the glass articles to be slowly cooled. On
this side, the ground of the workshop is higher, or else a bench is placed there,
so that the glass-makers may stand upon it to stow away their products
more conveniently.
Those who lack the first furnace in the evening, when they have accom­
plished their day's work, place the material in the pots, so that the heat during
the night may melt it and turn it into glass. Two boys alternately, during
night and day, keep up the fire by throwing dry wood on to the hearth. Those
who have but one furnace use the second sort, made with three chambers.
Then in the evening they pour the material into the pots, and in the morning,
having extracted the fused material, they make the glass objects, which they
place in the upper chamber, as do the others.
The second furnace consists either of two or three chambers, the first of
which is made of unburnt bricks dried in the sun. These bricks are made of a
kind of clay that cannot be easily melted by fire nor resolved into powder;
this clay is cleaned of small stones and beaten with rods. The bricks are
laid with the same kind of clay instead of lime. From the same clay the
potters also make their vessels and pots, which they dry in the shade. These
two parts having been completed, there remains the third.
The vitreous mass having been made in the first furnace in the manner
I described, is broken up, and the assistant heats the second furnace, in order
that the fragments may be re-melted. In the meantime, while they are doing
this, the pots are first warmed by a slow fire in the first furnace, so that the
vapours may evaporate, and then by a fiercer fire, so that they become red
in drying. Afterward the glass-makers open the mouth of the furnace, and,
seizing the pots with tongs, if they have not cracked and fallen to pieces,
quickly place them in the second furnace, and they fill them up with the
fragments of the heated vitreous mass or with glass. Afterward they close
up all the windows with lute and bricks, with the exception that in each
there are two little windows left free; through one of these they inspect the
glass contained in the pot, and take it up by means of a blow-pipe; in the
other they rest another blow-pipe, so that it may get warm. Whether it
is made of brass, bronze, or iron, the blow-pipe must be three feet long.
1 304[Figure 304]
A—BLOW-PIPE. B—LITTLE WINDOW. C—MARBLE. D—FORCEPS. E—MOULDS BY
MEANS OF WHICH THE SHAPES ARE PRODUCED.
1In front of the window is inserted a lip of marble, on which rests the
heaped-up clay and the iron shield. The clay holds the blow-pipe when it
is put into the furnace, whereas the shield preserves the eyes of the glass-maker
from the fire. All this having been carried out in order, the glass-makers
bring the work to completion. The broken pieces they re-melt with dry wood,
which emits no smoke, but only a flame. The longer they re-melt it, the purer
and more transparent it becomes, the fewer spots and blisters there are, and
therefore the glass-makers can carry out their work more easily. For this
reason those who only melt the material from which glass is made for one
night, and then immediately make it up into glass articles, make them less
pure and transparent than those who first produce a vitreous mass and then
re-melt the broken pieces again for a day and a night. And, again, these make
a less pure and transparent glass than do those who melt it again for two days
and two nights, for the excellence of the glass does not consist solely in the
material from which it is made, but also in the melting. The glass-makers
often test the glass by drawing it up with the blowpipes; as soon as they
observe that the fragments have been re-melted and purified satisfactorily,
each of them with another blow-pipe which is in the pot, slowly stirs and takes
up the glass which sticks to it in the shape of a ball like a glutinous, coagulated
gum. He takes up just as much as he needs to complete the article he wishes
to make; then he presses it against the lip of marble and kneads it round and
round until it consolidates. When he blows through the pipe he blows as
he would if inflating a bubble; he blows into the blow-pipe as often as it is
necessary, removing it from his mouth to re-fill his cheeks, so that his breath
does not draw the flames into his mouth. Then, twisting the lifted blow-pipe
round his head in a circle, he makes a long glass, or moulds the same in a
hollow copper mould, turning it round and round, then warming it again,
blowing it and pressing it, he widens it into the shape of a cup or vessel, or of
any other object he has in mind. Then he again presses this against the
marble to flatten the bottom, which he moulds in the interior with his other
blow-pipe. Afterward he cuts out the lip with shears, and, if necessary, adds
feet and handles. If it so please him, he gilds it and paints it with various
colours. Finally, he lays it in the oblong earthenware receptacle, which is
placed in the third furnace, or in the upper chamber of the second furnace,
that it may cool. When this receptacle is full of other slowly-cooled articles,
he passes a wide iron bar under it, and, carrying it on the left arm, places it
in another recess.
The glass-makers make divers things, such as goblets, cups, ewers, flasks,
dishes, plates, panes of glass, animals, trees, and ships, all of which excellent and
wonderful works I have seen when I spent two whole years in Venice some
time ago. Especially at the time of the Feast of the Ascension they were on
sale at Morano, where are located the most celebrated glass-works. These I
saw on other occasions, and when, for a certain reason, I visited Andrea
Naugerio in his house which he had there, and conversed with him and
Francisco Asulano.
END OF BOOK XII.
1
APPENDIX A.
AGRICOLA'S WORKS.
Georgius agricola was not only the author of
works on Mining and allied subjects, usually asso­
ciated with his name, but he also interested himself
to some extent in political and religious subjects.
For convenience in discussion we may, therefore,
divide his writings on the broad lines of (1) works on
mining, geology, mineralogy, and allied subjects; (2)
works on other subjects, medical, religious, critical,
political, and historical. In respect especially to the
first division, and partially with regard to the others, we find three principal
cases: (a) Works which can be authenticated in European libraries to-day;
(b) references to editions of these in bibliographies, catalogues, etc., which we
have been unable to authenticate; and (c) references to works either un­
published or lost. The following are the short titles of all of the published
works which we have been able to find on the subjects allied to mining,
arranged according to their present importance:—De Re Metallíca, first
edition, 1556; De Natura Fossílíum, first edition, 1546; De Ortu et Causis
Subterraneorum, first edition, 1546; Bermannus, first edition, 1530; Rerum
Metallicarum Interpretatio, first edition, 1546; De Mensuris et Ponderibus,
first edition, 1533; De Precio Metallorum et Monetís, first edition, 1550; De
Veteribus et Novis Metallis, first edition, 1546; De Natura eorum quae Effluunt
ex Terra, first edition, 1546; De Animantibus Subterraneis, first edition, 1549.
Of the “lost” or unpublished works, on which there is some evidence,
the following are the most important:—De Metallicis et Machinís, De Ortu
Metallorum Defensio ad Jacobum Scheckium, De Jure et Legíbus Metallicis,
De Varía Temperie síve Constitutione Aerís, De Terrae Motu, and Commen­
tariorum, Librí VI.
The known published works upon other subjects are as follows:—Latin
Grammar, first edition, 1520; Two Religious Tracts, first edition, 1522;
Galen (Joint Revision of Greek Text), first edition, 1525; De Bello adversus
Turcam, first edition, 1528; De Peste, first edition, 1554.
The lost or partially completed works on subjects unrelated to mining,
of which some trace has been found, are:—De Medicatís Fontibus, De Putre­
díne solidas partes, etc., Castigationes in Híppocratem, Typographia Mysnae
et Toringiae, De Tradítioníbus Apostolícis, Oratío de rebus gestis Ernesti et
Alberti, Ducum Saxoniae.
REVIEW OF PRINCIPAL WORKS.
Before proceeding with the bibliographical detail, we consider it desirable
to review briefly the most important of the author's works on subjects related
to mining.
1
De Natura Fossílium. This is the most important work of Agricola,
excepting De Re Metallica. It has always been printed in combination with
other works, and first appeared at Basel, 1546. This edition was considerably
revised by the author, the amended edition being that of 1558, which we have
used in giving references. The work comprises ten “books” of a total of
217 folio pages. It is the first attempt at systematic mineralogy, the minerals1
being classified into (1) “earths” (clay, ochre, etc.), (2) “stones properly so­
called” (gems, semi-precious and unusual stones, as distinguished from rocks),
(3) “solidified juices” (salt, vitriol, alum, etc.), (4) metals, and (5) “com­
pounds” (homogeneous “mixtures” of simple substances, thus forming
such minerals as galena, pyrite, etc.). In this classification Agricola en­
deavoured to find some fundamental basis, and therefore adopted solubility,
fusibility, odour, taste, etc., but any true classification without the atomic
theory was, of course, impossible. However, he makes a very creditable
performance out of their properties and obvious characteristics. All of the
external characteristics which we use to-day in discrimination, such as colour,
hardness, lustre, etc., are enumerated, the origin of these being attributed to
the proportions of the Peripatetic elements and their binary properties.
Dana, in his great work2, among some fourscore minerals which he identifies
as having been described by Agricola and his predecessors, accredits a score to
Agricola himself. It is our belief, however, that although in a few cases
Agricola has been wrongly credited, there are still more of which priority in
description might be assigned to him. While a greater number than four­
score of so-called species are given by Agricola and his predecessors, many
of these are, in our modern system, but varieties; for instance, some eight
or ten of the ancient species consist of one form or another of silica.
Book I. is devoted to mineral characteristics—colour, brilliance, taste,
shape, hardness, etc., and to the classification of minerals; Book II.,
“earths”—clay, Lemnian earth, chalk, ochre, etc.; Book III., “solidified
juices”—salt, nitrum (soda and potash), saltpetre, alum, vitriol, chrysocolla,
caeruleum (part azurite), orpiment, realgar, and sulphur; Book IV., camphor,
bitumen, coal, bituminous shales, amber; Book V., lodestone, bloodstone,
gypsum, talc, asbestos, mica, calamine, various fossils, geodes, emery, touch­
stones, pumice, fluorspar, and quartz; Book VI., gems and precious stones;
Book VII., “rocks”—marble, serpentine, onyx, alabaster, limestone, etc.;
Book VIII., metals—gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, tin, antimony,
bismuth, iron, and alloys, such as electrum, brass, etc.; Book IX., various
furnace operations, such as making brass, gilding, tinning, and products such
as slags, furnace accretions, pompholyx (zinc oxide), copper flowers, litharge,
hearth-lead, verdigris, white-lead, red-lead, etc.; Book X., “compounds,”
embracing the description of a number of recognisable silver, copper, lead,
quicksilver, iron, tin, antimony, and zinc minerals, many of which we set
out more fully in Note 8, page 108.
De Ortu et Causis Subterraneorum. This work also has always been
published in company with others. The first edition was printed at Basel,
11546; the second at Basel, 1558, which, being the edition revised and added to
by the author, has been used by us for reference. There are five “books,” and
in the main they contain Agricola's philosophical views on geologic phenomena.
The largest portion of the actual text is occupied with refutations of the
ancient philosophers, the alchemists, and the astrologers; and these portions,
while they exhibit his ability in observation and in dialectics, make but dull
reading. Those sections of the book which contain his own views, however,
are of the utmost importance in the history of science, and we reproduce
extensively the material relating to ore deposits in the footnotes on pages 43
to 52. Briefly, Book I. is devoted to discussion of the origin and distribution
of ground waters and juices. The latter part of this book and a portion of
Book II. are devoted to the origin of subterranean heat, which he assumes
is in the main due to burning bitumen—a genus which with him embraced
coal—and also, in a minor degree, to friction of internal winds and to
burning sulphur. The remainder of Book II. is mainly devoted to the dis­
cussion of subterranean “air”, “vapour”, and “exhalations”, and he con­
ceives that volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are due to their agency, and
in these hypotheses he comes fairly close to the modern theory of eruptions
from explosions of steam. “Vapour arises when the internal heat of the
earth or some hidden fire burns earth which is moistened with vapour.
When heat or subterranean fire meets with a great force of vapour which
cold has contracted and encompassed in every direction, then the vapour,
finding no outlet, tries to break through whatever is nearest to it, in order
to give place to the insistent and urgent cold. Heat and cold cannot abide
together in one place, but expel and drive each other out of it by turns”.
As he was, we believe, the first to recognise the fundamental agencies
of mountain sculpture, we consider it is of sufficient interest to warrant a
reproduction of his views on this subject: “Hills and mountains are pro­
duced by two forces, one of which is the power of water, and the other the
strength of the wind. There are three forces which loosen and demolish
the mountains, for in this case, to the power of the water and the strength
of the wind we must add the fire in the interior of the earth. Now we can
plainly see that a great abundance of water produces mountains, for the
torrents first of all wash out the soft earth, next carry away the harder
earth, and then roll down the rocks, and thus in a few years they excavate
the plains or slopes to a considerable depth; this may be noticed in moun­
tainous regions even by unskilled observers. By such excavation to a
great depth through many ages, there rises an immense eminence on each
side. When an eminence has thus arisen, the earth rolls down, loosened by
constant rain and split away by frost, and the rocks, unless they are exceed­
ingly firm, since their seams are similarly softened by the damp, roll down
into the excavations below. This continues until the steep eminence is
changed into a slope. Each side of the excavation is said to be a mountain,
just as the bottom is called a valley. Moreover, streams, and to a far greater
extent rivers, effect the same results by their rushing and washing; for this
reason they are frequently seen flowing either between very high mountains
1which they have created, or close by the shore which borders them. . . .
Nor did the hollow places which now contain the seas all formerly exist,
nor yet the mountains which check and break their advance, but in many
parts there was a level plain, until the force of winds let loose upon it a
tumultuous sea and a scathing tide. By a similar process the impact of
water entirely overthrows and flattens out hills and mountains. But
these changes of local conditions, numerous and important as they are, are
not noticed by the common people to be taking place at the very moment
when they are happening, because, through their antiquity, the time, place,
and manner in which they began is far prior to human memory. The wind
produces hills and mountains in two ways: either when set loose and free
from bonds, it violently moves and agitates the sand; or else when, after
having been driven into the hidden recesses of the earth by cold, as into a
prison, it struggles with a great effort to burst out. For hills and mountains
are created in hot countries, whether they are situated by the sea coasts or
in districts remote from the sea, by the force of winds; these no longer held
in check by the valleys, but set free, heap up the sand and dust, which they
gather from all sides, to one spot, and a mass arises and grows together. If
time and space allow, it grows together and hardens, but if it be not allowed
(and in truth this is more often the case), the same force again scatters the
sand far and wide. . . . Then, on the other hand, an earthquake
either rends and tears away part of a mountain, or engulfs and devours the
whole mountain in some fearful chasm. In this way it is recorded the
Cybotus was destroyed, and it is believed that within the memory of man
an island under the rule of Denmark disappeared. Historians tell us that
Taygetus suffered a loss in this way, and that Therasia was swallowed up
with the island of Thera. Thus it is clear that water and the powerful
winds produce mountains, and also scatter and destroy them. Fire only
consumes them, and does not produce at all, for part of the mountains—
usually the inner part—takes fire.”
The major portion of Book III. is devoted to the origin of ore channels,
which we reproduce at some length on page 47. In the latter part of Book
III., and in Books IV. and V., he discusses the principal divisions of the mineral
kingdom given in De Natura Fossilium, and the origin of their characteristics.
It involves a large amount of what now appears fruitless tilting at the Peripa­
tetics and the alchemists; but nevertheless, embracing, as Agricola did, the
fundamental Aristotelian elements, he must needs find in these same ele­
ments and their subordinate binary combinations cause for every variation in
external character.
Bermannus. This, Agricola's first work in relation to mining, was appa­
rently first published at Basel, 1530. The work is in the form of a dialogue
between “Bermannus,” who is described as a miner, mineralogist, and “a
student of mathematics and poetry,” and “Nicolaus Ancon” and “Johannes
Neavius,” both scholars and physicians. Ancon is supposed to be of philoso­
phical turn of mind and a student of Moorish literature, Naevius to be par­
ticularly learned in the writings of Dioscorides, Pliny, Galen, etc. “Berman-
1nus” was probably an adaptation by Agricola of the name of his friend Lorenz
Berman, a prominent miner. The book is in the main devoted to a correla­
tion of the minerals mentioned by the Ancients with those found in the Saxon
mines. This phase is interesting as indicating the natural trend of Agricola's
scholastic mind when he first comes into contact with the sciences to which
he devoted himself. The book opens with a letter of commendation from
Erasmus, of Rotterdam, and with the usual dedication and preface by the
author. The three conversationalists are supposed to take walks among the
mines and to discuss, incidentally, matters which come to their attention;
therefore the book has no systematic or logical arrangement. There are
occasional statements bearing on the history, management, titles, and methods
used in the mines, and on mining lore generally. The mineralogical part, while
of importance from the point of view of giving the first description of several
minerals, is immensely improved upon in De Natura Fossílíum, published
15 years later. It is of interest to find here the first appearance of the names
of many minerals which we have since adopted from the German into our own
nomenclature. Of importance is the first description of bismuth, although,
as pointed out on page 433, the metal had been mentioned before. In the
revised collection of collateral works published in 1558, the author makes
many important changes and adds some new material, but some of the later
editions were made from the unrevised older texts.
Rerum Metallícarum Interpretatío. This list of German equivalents
for Latin mineralogical terms was prepared by Agricola himself, and first
appears in the 1546 collection of De Ortu et Causis, De Natura Fossilium, etc.,
being repeated in all subsequent publications of these works. It consists of
some 500 Latin mineralogical and metallurgical terms, many of which are of
Agricola's own coinage. It is of great help in translation and of great value
in the study of mineralogic nomenclature.
De Mensuris et Ponderibus. This work is devoted to a discussion of the
Greek and Roman weights and measures, with some correlation to those used
in Saxony. It is a careful work still much referred to by students of these
subjects. The first edition was published at Paris in 1533, and in the 1550
edition at Basel appears, for the first time, De Precío Metallorum et Monetís.
De Veteribus et Novís Metallís. This short work comprises 31 folio
pages, and first appears in the 1546 collection of collateral works. It consists
mainly of historical and geographical references to the occurrence of metals
and mines, culled from the Greek and Latin classics, together with some
information as to the history of the mines in Central Europe. The latter
is the only original material, and unfortunately is not very extensive. We
have incorporated some of this information in the footnotes.
De Animantibus Subterraneis. This short work was first printed in
Basel, 1549, and consists of one chapter of 23 folio pages. Practically the whole
is devoted to the discussion of various animals who at least a portion of their
time live underground, such as hibernating, cave-dwelling, and burrowing
animals, together with cave-dwelling birds, lizards, crocodiles, serpents,
etc. There are only a few lines of remote geological interest as to migration
1of animals imposed by geologic phenomena, such as earthquakes, floods, etc.
This book also discloses an occasional vein of credulity not to be expected from
the author's other works, in that he apparently believes Aristotle's story of
the flies which were born and lived only in the smelting furnace; and further,
the last paragraph in the book is devoted to underground gnomes. This we
reproduce in the footnote on page 217.
De Natura eorum quae Effluunt ex Terra. This work of four books,
comprising 83 folio pages, first appears in the 1546 collection. As the title
indicates, the discussion is upon the substances which flow from the earth,
such as water, bitumen, gases, etc. Altogether it is of microscopic value and
wholly uninteresting. The major part refers to colour, taste, temperature,
medicinal uses of water, descriptions of rivers, lakes, swamps, and aqueducts.
305[Figure 305]
1
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
For the following we have mainly to thank Miss Kathleen Schlesinger, who has been
employed many months in following up every clue, and although the results display
very considerable literary activity on the part of the author, they do not by any means
indicate Miss Schlesinger's labours. Agricola's works were many of them published at
various times in combination, and therefore to set out the title and the publication of each
work separately would involve much repetition of titles, and we consequently give the titles
of the various volumes arranged according to dates. For instance, De Natura Fossilium, De
Ortu et Causis, De Veteribus et Novis Metallis, De Natura eorum quae Effluunt ex Terra, and
Interpretatio have always been published together, and the Latin and Italian editions of
these works always include Bermannus as well. Moreover, the Latin De Re Metallica of
1657 includes all of these works.
We mark with an asterisk the titles to editions which we have been able to authen­
ticate by various means from actual books. Those unmarked are editions which we are
satisfied do exist, but the titles of which are possibly incomplete, as they are taken from
library catalogues, etc. Other editions to which we find reference and of which we are not
certain are noted separately in the discussion later on.3
*1530 (8vo).
Georgii Agricolae Medici, Bermannus sive de re Metallica.
(Froben's mark).
Basileae in aedibus Frobenianis Anno. MDXXX.
Bound with this edition is (p. 131-135), at least occasionally, Rerum metallicarum
appellationes juxta vernaculam Germanorum linguam, autori Plateano.
Basileae in officina Frobeniana, Anno. MDXXX.
*1533 (8vo):
Georgii Agricolae Medici libri quinque de Mensuris et Ponderibus: in quibus plaeraque
à Budaeo et Portio parum animadversa diligenter excutiuntur. Opus nunc primum in lucem
aeditum.
(Wechelus's Mark).
Parisiis. Excudebat Christianus Wechelus, in vico Iacobaeo, sub scuto Basileiensi, Anno
MDXXXIII.
261 pages and index of 5 pages.
1
*1533 (4to):
Georgii Agricolae Medici Libri quinque. De Mensuris et Ponderibus: In quibus
pleraque à Budaeo et Portio parum animadversa diligenter excutiuntur.
(Foben's Mark).
Basileae ex Officina Frobeniana Anno MDXXXIII. Cum gratia et privilegio Caesareo
ad sex annos.
1534 (4to):
Georgii Agricolae. Epistola ad Plateanum, cui sunt adiecta aliquot loca castigata in
libris de mensuris et ponderibus nuper editis.
Froben, Basel, 1534.
*1535 (8vo):
Georgii Agricolae Medici libri V. de Mensuris et Ponderibus: in quibus pleraque à
Budaeo et Portio parum animadversa diligenter excutiuntur.
(Printer's Mark).
At the end of Index: Venitüs per Joan Anto. de Nicolinis de Sabio, sumptu vero et
requisitione Dnni Melchionis Sessae. Anno. Dnni MDXXXV. Mense Julii. 116 folios.
On back of title page is given: Liber primus de mensuris Romanis, Secundus de men­
suris Graecis, Tertius de rerum quas metimur pondere, Quartus de ponderibus Romanis,
Quintus de ponderibus Graecis.
*1541 (8vo):
Georgii Agricolae Medici Bermannus sive de re metallica.
Parisiis. Apud Hieronymum Gormontiú. In Vico Jacobeo sub signotrium coronarum.
1541.
*1546 (8vo):
Georgii Agricolae medici Bermannus, sive de metallica ab accurata autoris recognitione
et emendatione nunc primum editus cum nomenclalura rerum metallicarum.
Eorum Lipsiae In officina Valentini Papae Anno. MDXLVI.
*1546 (folio):
Georgii Agricolae De ortu et causis subterraneorum Lib. V. De natura eorum quae
effluunt ex terra Lib. IIII. De natura fossilium Lib. X. De veteribus et novis metallis, Lib. II.
Bermannus sive De re Metallica dialogus. Interpretatio Germanica vocum rei metallicae addito
Indice faecundissimo.
Apud Hieron Frobenium et Nicolaum Episcopium Basileae, MDXLVI. Cum privilegio
Imp. Maiestatis ad quinquennium.
*1549 (8vo):
Georgii Agricolae de animantibus subterraneis Liber.
Froben, Basel, MDXLIX.
*1550 (8vo):
Di Georgio Agricola De la generatione de le cose, che sotto la terra sono, e de le cause de'
loro effetti e natura, Lib. V. De La Natura di quelle cose, che de la terra scorrono Lib. IIII. De
La Natura de le cose Fossili, e che sotto la terra si Cavano Lib. X. De Le Minere antiche e
moderne Lib. II. Il Bermanno, ò de le cose Metallice Dialogo, Recato tutto hora dal Latino
in Buona Lingua volgare.
(Vignette of Sybilla surrounded by the words)—Qv Al Piv Fermo E Il Mio Foglio È Il
Mio Presaggio.
Col Privilegio del Sommo Pontefice Papa Giulio III. Et del Illustriss. Senato Veneto per
anni. XX.
(Colophon). In Vinegia per Michele Tramezzino, MDL.
*1550 (folio):
Georgii Agricolae. De Mensuris et ponderibus Rom. atque Graec. lib. V. De externis
mensuris et ponderibus Lib. II. Ad ea quae Andreas Alciatus denuo disputavit De Men­
suris et Ponderibus brevis defensio Lib. I. De Mensuris quibus intervalla metimur Lib. I.
De restituendis ponderibus atque mensuris. Lib. I. De precio metallorum et monetis. Lib.
III.
Basileae. Froben. MDL. Cum privilegio Imp. Maiestatis ad quinquennium.4
*1556 (folio):
Georgii Agricolae De Re Metallica Libri XII. quibus Officia, Instrumenta, Machinae, ac
omnia denique ad Metallicam spectantia, non modo luculentissime describuntur, sed et per effigies,
suis locis insertas, adjunctis Latinis, Germanicisque appellationibus ita ob oculos ponuntur,
ut clarius tradi non possint Eiusdem De Animantibus Subterraneis Liber, ab Autore recognitus:
cum Indicibus diversis, quicquid in opere tractatum est, pulchre demonstrantibus.
(Froben's Mark).
Basileae MDLVI. Cum Privilegio Imperatoris in annos V. et Galliarum Regis ad
Sexennium.
Folio 538 pages and preface, glossary and index amounting to 86 pages. This is the
first edition of De Re Metallica. We reproduce this title-page on page XIX.
1
*1557 (folio):
Vom Bergkwerck xii Bücher darinn alle Empter, Instrument, Gezeuge, unnd Alles zu disem
Handel gehörig, mitt schönen figuren vorbildet, und Klärlich beschriben seindt erstlich in
Lateinischer Sprach durch den Hochgelerten und weittberümpten Herrn Georgium Agricolam,
Doctorn und. Bürgermeistern der Churfürstlichen statt Kempnitz, jezundt aber verteüscht durch
den Achtparen, unnd Hochgelerten Herrn Philippum Bechium, Philosophen, Artzer und in der
Loblichen Universitet zu Basel Professorn.
Gedruckt zu Basel durch Jeronymus Froben Und Niclausen Bischoff im 1557 Jar mitt
Keiserlicher Freyheit.
*1558 (folio):
Georgii Agricolac De ortu et causis subterraneorum Lib. V. De natura eorum quae
effluunt ex terra Lib. IV. De natura fossilium Lib. X. De veteribus et novis meiallis Lib. II.
Bermannus, sive De Re Metallica Dialogus Liber. Interpretatio Germanica vocum rei metallicae,
addito duplici Indice, altero rerum, altero locorum Omnia ab ipso authore, cum haud poenitenda
accessione, recens recognita.
Froben, et Episcop. Basileae MDLVIII. Cum Imp. Maiestatis renovato privilegio ad quin­
quennium.
270 pages and index. As the title states, this is a revised edition by the author, and
as the changes are very considerable it should be the one used. The Italian translation
and the 1612 Wittenberg edition, mentioned below, are taken from the 1546 edition, and are,
therefore, very imperfect.
*1561 (folio):
Second edition of De Re Metallica including De Animantibus Subterraneis, with same
title as the first edition except the addition, after the body of the title, of the words Atque
omnibus nunc iterum ad archetypum diligenter restitutis et castigatis and the year MDLXI. 502
pages and 72 pages of glossary and index.
*1563 (folio):
Opera di Giorgio Agricola de L'arte de Metalli Partita in XII. libri, ne quali si descrivano
tutte le sorti, e qualità de gli uffizii, de gli strumenti, delle macchine, e di tutte l'altre cose attenenti
a cotal arte, non pure con parole chiare ma eziandio si mettano a luoghi loro le figure di dette
cose, ritratte al naturale, con l'aggiunta de nomi di quelle, cotanto chiari, e spediti, che meglio non
si puo desiderare, o havere.
Aggiugnesi il libro del medesimo autore, che tratta de gl' Animali di sottoterra da lui stesso
corretto et riveduto. Tradotti in lingua Toscana da M. Michelangelo Florio Fiorentino.
Con l'Indice di tutte le cose piu notabili alla fine (Froben's mark) in Basilea per Hieronimo
Frobenio et Nicolao Episcopio, MDLXIII.
542 pages with 6 pages of index.
*1580 (folio):
Bergwerck Buch: Darinn nicht Allain alle Empte Instrument Gezeug und alles so zu
diesem Handel gehörig mit figuren vorgebildet und klärlich beschriben, etc. Durch den Hoch­
gelehrten . . . . Herrn Georgium Agricolam der Artzney Doctorn und Burgermeister
der Churfürstlichen Statt Kemnitz erstlich mit grossem fleyss mühe und arbeit in Latein beschriben
und in zwölff Bücher abgetheilt: Nachmals aber durch den Achtbarn und auch Hochgelehrten
Philippum Bechium Philosophen Artzt und in der Löblichen Universitet zu Basel Professorn
mit sonderm fleyss Teutscher Nation zu gut verteutscht und an Tag geben. Allen Berckherrn
Gewercken Berckmeistern Geschwornen Schichtmeistern Steigern Berckheuwern Wäschern
und Schmeltzern nicht allein nützlich und dienstlich sondern auch zu wissem hochnotwendig.
Mit Römischer Keys. May Freyheit nicht nachzutrucken.
Getruckt in der Keyserlichen Reichsstatt, Franckfort am Mayn, etc. Im Jahr MDLXXX.
*1612 (12mo):
Georgii Agricolae De ortu et causis subterraneorum Lib. V. De natura eorum quae
effluunt ex terra, Lib. IV. De natura fossilium Lib. X. De veteribus et novis metallis Lib. II.
Bermannus, sive de re metallica Dialogus. Interpretatio Germanica vocum rei metallicae.
Addito Indice faecundissimo, Plurimos jam annos à Germanis, et externarum quoque
nationum doctissimis viris, valde desiderati et expetiti.
Nunc vero in rei metallicae studiosorum gratiam recensiti, in certa capita distributi,
capitum argumentis, et nonnullis scholiis marginalibus illustrati à Johanne Sigfrido Philos: et
Medicinae Doctore et in illustri Julia Professore ordinario.
Accesserunt De metallicis rebus et nominibus observationes variae et eruditae, ex schedis
Georgii Fabricii, quibus ea potissimum explicantur, quae Georgius Agricola praeteriit.
Wittebergae Sumptibus Zachariae Schüreri Bibliopolae Typis Andreae Rüdingeri, 1612.
There are 970 pages in the work of Agricola proper, the notes of Fabricius comprising
a further 44 pages, and the index 112 pages.
*1614 (8vo):
Georgii Agricolae De Animantibus Subterraneis Liber Hactenus à multis desideratus,
nunc vero in gratiam studiosorum seorsim editus, in certa capita divisus, capitum argumentis et
nonnullis marginalibus exornatus à Johanne Sigfrido, Phil. & Med. Doctore, etc.
Wittebergae, Typis Meisnerianis: Impensis Zachariae. Schureri Bibliop. Anno.
MDCXIV.
1
*1621 (folio):
Georgii Agricolae Kempuicensis Medici ac Philosophi Clariss. De Re Metallica Libri XII
Quibus Officia, Instrumenta, Machinae, ac omnia denique ad metallicam spectantia, non modo
Luculentissimè describuntur; sed et per effigies, suis locis insertas adjunctis Latinis. German­
icisque; appellationibus, ita ob oculos ponuntur, ut clarius tradi non possiut.
Ejusdem De Animantibus Subterrancis Liber, ab Autore recognitus cum Indicibus diversis
quicquid in Opere tractatum est, pulchrè demonstrantibus.
(Vignette of man at assay furnace).
Basileae Helvet. Sumptibus itemque typis chalcographicis Ludovici Regis Anno MDCXXI.
502 pages and 58 pages glossary and mdices.
*1621 (folio):
Bergwerck Buch Darinnen nicht allein alle Empter Instrument Gezeug und alles so zu
disem Handel gehörig mit Figuren vorgchildet und klärlich beschrieben: . . . . Durch
den Hochgelehrten und weitberühmten Herrn Georgium Agricolam, der Artzney Doctorn und
Burgermeister der Churfürstlichen Statt Kemnitz Erstlich mit grossem fleiss mühe und arbeit in
Latein beschrieben und in zwölſſ Bücher abgetheilt: Nachmals aber durch den Achtbarn und
auch Hochgelehrten Philippum Bechium. Philosophen, Artzt, und in der loblichen Universitet zu
Basel Professorn mit sonderm fleiss Teutscher Nation zu gut verteutscht und an Tag geben und
nun zum andern mal getruckt.
Allen Bergherrn Gewercken Bergmeistern Geschwornen Schichtmeistern Steigern
Berghäwern Wäschern unnd Schmeltzern nicht allein nutzlich und dienstlich sondern auch zu
wissen hochnohtwendig.
(Vignette of man at assay furnace).
Getruckt zu Basel inverlegung Ludwig Königs Im Jahr, MDCXXI.
491 pages 5 pages glossary—no index.
*1657 (folio):
Georgii Agricolae Kempnicensis Medici ac Philosophi Clariss. De Re Metallica Libri
XII. Quibus Officia, instrumenta, machinae, ac omnia denique ad metallicam spectantia, non
modo luculentissimè describuntur: sed et per effigies, suis locis insertas, adjunctis Latinis,
Germanicisque appellationibus, ita ob oculos ponuntur, ut clarius tradi non possint. Quibus
accesserunt hac ultima editione, Tractatus ejusdem argumenti, ab eodem conscripti, sequentes.
De Animantibus Subterraneis Lib. I., De Ortu et Causis Subterraneorum Lib. V., De
Natura eorum quae effluunt ex Terra Lib. IV., De Natura Fossilium Lib. X., De Veteribus et
Novis Metallis Lib. II., Bermannus sive de Re Metallica, Dialogus Lib. I.
Cum Indicibus diversis, quicquid in Opere tractatum est, pulchrè demonstrantibus.
(Vignette of assayer and furnace).
Basileae Sumptibus et Typis Emanuelis König. Anno MDCLVII.
Folio, 708 pages and 90 pages of glossary and indices. This is a very serviceable
edition of all of Agricola's important works, and so far as we have noticed there are but few
typographical errors.
*1778 (8vo):
Gespräch vom Bergwesen, wegen seiner Fürtrefflich keit aus dem Lateinischen in das
Deutsche übersetzet, mit nützl. Anmerkungen erläutert. u. mit einem ganz neuen Zusatze von
Zlüglicher Anstellung des Bergbaues u. von der Zugutemachung der Erze auf den Hüttenwerken
versehen von Johann Gottlieb Stör.
Rotenburg a. d. Fulda, Hermstädt 1778. 180 pages.
*1806 (8vo):
Georg Agricola's Bermannus eine Einleitung in die metallurgischen Schriften desselben,
übersetzt und mit Exkursionen herausgegeben von Friedrich August Schmid. Haushalts-und
Befahrungs-Protokollist im Churf. vereinigten Bergamte zu St. Annaberg.
Freyberg 1806. Bey Craz und Gerlach.
*1807-12 (8vo):
Georg Agrikola's Mineralogische Schriften übersetzt und mit erläuternden Anmerkungen.
Begleitet von Ernst Lehmann Bergamts-Assessor, Berg-Gegen-und Receszschreiber in Dem
Königl. Sächs. Bergamte Voigtsberg der jenaischen Societät für die gesammte Mineralogie
Ehrenmitgliede.
Freyberg, 1807-12. Bey Craz und Gerlach.
This German translation consists of four parts: the first being De Ortu et Causis,
the second De Natura eorum quae effluunt ex terra, and the third in two volumes De Natura
Fossilium, the fourth De Veteribus et Novis Metallis; with glossary and index to the four
parts.
We give the following notes on other possible prints, as a great many references to the
above works occur in various quarters, of date other than the above. Unless otherwise
convinced it is our belief that most of these refer to the prints given above, and are due to
error in giving titles or dates. It is always possible that such prints do exist and have escaped
our search.
1
De Re Metallica. Leupold, Richter, Schmid, van der Linden, Mercklinus and Eloy
give an 8vo edition of De Re Metallica without illustrations, Schweinfurt, 1607. We have
found no trace of this print. Leupold, van der Linden, Richter, Schmid and Eloy mention
an 8vo edition, Wittenberg, 1614. It is our belief that this refers to the 1612 Wittenberg
edition of the selected works, which contains a somewhat similar title referring in reality
to Bermannus, which was and is still continually confused with De Re Metallica. Ferguson
mentions a German edition, Schweinfurt, 8vo, 1687. We can find no trace of this; it may
refer to the 1607 Schweinfurt edition mentioned above.
De Natura Fossilium. Leupold and Gatter refer to a folio edition of 1550. This was
probably an error for either the 1546 or the 1558 editions. Watt refers to an edition of 1561
combined with De Medicatis Fonlibus. We find no trace of such edition, nor even that the
latter work was ever actually printed. He also refers to an edition of 1614 and one of 1621,
this probably being an error for the 1612 edition of the subsidiary works and the De Re
Metallica of 1621. Leupold also refers to an edition of 1622, this probably being an error for
1612.
De Ortu et Causis. Albinus, Hofmann, Jacobi, Schmid, Richter, and Reuss mention
an edition of 1544. This we believe to be an error in giving the date of the dedication instead
of that of the publication (1546). Albinus and Ferguson give an edition of 1555, which date
is, we believe, an error for 1558. Ferguson gives an edition of the Italian translation as
1559; we believe this should be 1550. Draud gives an edition of 1621; probably this
should be 1612.
Bermannus. Albinus, Schmid, Reuss, Richter, and Weinart give the first edition as
1528. We have been unable to learn of any actual copy of that date, and it is our belief that
the date is taken from the dedication instead of from the publication, and should be 1530.
Leupold, Schmid, and Reuss give an edition by Froben in 1549; we have been unable to
confirm this. Leupold also gives an edition of 1550 (folio), and Jöcher gives an edition of
Geneva 1561 (folio); we have also been unable to find this, and believe the latter to be a
confusion with the De Re Metallica of 1561, as it is unlikely that Bermannus would be pub­
lished by itself in folio. The catalogue of the library at Siena (Vol. III., p. 78) gives Il
Bermanno, Vinegia, 1550, 8vo. We have found no trace of this edition elsewhere.
De Mensuris et Ponderibus. Albinus and Schmid mention an edition of 1539, and one
of 1550. The Biographie Universelle, Paris, gives one of 1553, and Leupold one of 1714, all
of which we have been unable to find. An epitome of this work was published at various
times, sometimes in connection with editions of Vitruvius; so far as we are aware on the
following dates, 1552, 1585, 1586, 1829. There also appear extracts in relation to liquid
measures in works entitled Vocabula rei numariae ponderum et mensurarum, etc. Paul Eber
and Caspar Peucer, Lipsiae, 1549, and in same Wittenberg, 1552.
De Veteribus et Novis Metallis. Watt gives an edition, Basel, 1530, and Paris, 1541;
we believe this is incorrect and refers to Bermannus. Reuss mentions a folio print of Basel,
1550. We consider this very unlikely.
De Natura eorum quae Effluunt ex Terra. Albinus, Hofmann, Schmid, Jacobi,
Richter, Reuss, and Weinart give an edition of 1545. We believe this is again the dedication
instead of the publication date (1546).
De Animantibus Subterraneis. Van der Linden gives an edition at Schweinfurt,
8vo, 1607. Although we have been unable to find a copy, this slightly confirms the
possibility of an octavo edition of De Re Metallica of this date, as they were usually published
together. Leupold gives assurance that he handled an octavo edition of Wittenberg, 1612,
cum notis Johann Sigfridi. We think he confused this with Bermannus sive de re metallica
of that date and place. Schmid, Richter, and Draud all refer to an edition similarly annotated,
Leipzig, 1613, 8vo. We have no trace of it otherwise.
UNPUBLISHED WORKS ON SUBJECTS RELATED TO MINING.
Agricola apparently projected a complete series of works covering the whole range of
subjects relating to minerals: geology, mineralogy, mining, metallurgy, history of metals,
their uses, laws, etc. In a letter5 from Fabricius to Meurer (March, 1553), the former states
that Agricola intended writing about 30 books (chapters) in addition to those already pub­
lished, and to the twelve books De Re Metallica which he was about to publish. Apparently
a number of these works were either unfinished or unpublished at Agricola's death, for his
friend George Fabricius seems to have made some effort to secure their publication, but did
not succeed, through lack of sympathy on the part of Agricola's family. Hofmann6 states on
this matter: “His intentions were frustrated mainly through the lack of support with which
he was met by the heirs of the Mineralogist. These, as he complains to a Councillor of the
Electorate, Christopher von Carlovitz, in 1556, and to Paul Eber in another letter, adopted
a grudging and ungracious tone with regard to his proposal to collect all Agricola's works
left behind, and they only consented to communicate to him as much as they were obliged
1by express command of the Prince. At the Prince's command they showed him a little,
but he supposed that there was much more that they had suppressed or not preserved.
The attempt to purchase some of the works—the Elector had given Fabricius money for
the purpose (30 nummos unciales)—proved unavailing, owing to the disagreeableness of
Agricola's heirs. It is no doubt due to these regrettable circumstances that all the works
of the industrious scholar did not come down to us.” The “disagreeableness” was pro­
bably due to the refusal of the Protestant townsfolk to allow the burial of Agricola in the
Cathedral at Chemnitz. So far as we know the following are the unpublished or lost works.
De Jure et Legibus Metallicis. This work on mining law is mentioned at the end of
Book IV. of De Re Metallica, and it is referred to by others apparently from that source. We
have been unable to find any evidence that it was ever published.
De Varia temperie sive Constitutione Aeris. In a letter7 to Johann Naevius, Agricola
refers to having a work in hand of this title.
De Metallis et Machinis. Hofmann8 states that a work of this title by Agricola, dated
Basel 1543, was sold to someone in America by a Frankfort-on-Main bookseller in 1896.
This is apparently the only reference to it that we know of, and it is possibly a confusion of
titles or a “separate” of some chapters from De Re Metallica.
De Ortu Metallorum Defensio ad Jacobum Scheckium. Referred to by Fabricius in a
letter9 to Meurer. If published was probably only a tract.
De Terrae Motu. In a letter10 from Agricola to Meurer (Jan. 1, 1544) is some reference
which might indicate that he was formulating a work on earthquakes under this title, or
perhaps may be only incidental to the portions of De Ortu et Causis dealing with this subject.
Commentariorum in quibus utriusque linguae scriptorum locos difficiles de rebus
subterraneis explicat, Libri VI. Agricola apparently partially completed a work under some
such title as this, which was to embrace chapters entitled De Methodis and De Demonstratione.
The main object seems to have been a commentary on the terms and passages in the classics
relating to mining, mineralogy, etc. It is mentioned in the Preface of De Veteribus et Novis
Metallis, and in a letter11 from one of Froben's firm to Agricola in 1548, where it is suggested
that Agricola should defer sending his new commentaries until the following spring. The
work is mentioned by Albinus12, and in a letter from Georg Fabricius to Meurer on the 2nd
Jan. 1548,13 in another from G. Fabricius, to his brother Andreas on Oct. 28, 1555,14 and in
a third from Fabricius to Melanchthon on December 8th, 155515, in which regret is expressed
that the work was not completed by Agricola.
306[Figure 306]
1
WRITINGS NOT RELATED TO MINING, INCLUDING LOST OR UNPUBLISHED
WORKS.
Latin Grammar. This was probably the first of Agricola's publications, the full title
to which is Georgii Agricolae Glaucii Libellus de prima ac simplici institutione grammatica.
Excusum Lipsiae in Officina Melchioris Lottheri. Anno MDXX. (4to), 24 folios.16 There is
some reason to believe that Agricola also published a Greek grammar, for there is a letter17
from Agricola dated March 18th, 1522, in which Henicus Camitianus is requested to send a
copy to Stephan Roth.
Theological Tracts. There are preserved in the Zwickau Rathsschul Library18 copies
by Stephan Roth of two tracts, the one entitled, Deum non esse auctorem Peccati, the
other. Religioso patri Petri Fontano, sacre theologie Doctori eximio Georgius Agricola salutem
dicit in Christo. The former was written from Leipzig in 1522, and the latter, although
not dated, is assigned to the same period. Both are printed in Zwei theologische Abhandlungen
des Georg Agricola, an article by Otto Clemen, Neuen Archiv für Sächsische Geschichte, etc.,
Dresden, 1900. There is some reason (from a letter of Fabricius to Melanchthon, Dec. 8th,
1555) to believe that Agricola had completed a work on the unwritten traditions concerning
the Church. There is no further trace of it.
Galen. Agricola appears to have been joint author with Andreas Asulanus and J. B.
Opizo of a revision of this well-known Greek work. It was published at Venice in 1525,
under the title of Galeni Librorum, etc., etc. Agricola's name is mentioned in a prefatory
letter to Opizo by Asulanus.
De Bello adversus Turcam. This political tract, directed against the Turks, was written in
Latin and first printed by Froben, Basel, 1528. It was translated into German apparently
by Agricola's friend Laurenz Berman, and published under the title Oration Anrede Und
Vormanunge . . . . widder den Türcken by Frederich Peypus, Nuremberg, in 1531
(8vo), and either in 1530 or 1531 by Wolfgang Stöckel, Dresden, 4to. It was again printed
in Latin by Froben, Basel, 1538, 4to; by H. Grosius, Leipzig, 1594, 8vo; it was included
among other works published on the same subject by Nicholas Reusnerus, Leipzig, 1595;
by Michael Lantzenberger, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1597, 4to. Further, there is reference by
Watt to an edition at Eisleben, 1603, of which we have no confirmation. There is another
work on the subject, or a revision by the author mentioned by Albinus19 as having been,
after Agricola's death, sent to Froben by George Fabricius to be printed; nothing further
appears in this matter however.
De Peste. This work on the Plague appears to have been first printed by Froben,
Basel, 1554, 8vo. The work was republished at Schweinfurt, 1607, and at Augsburg in
1614, under various editors. It would appear from Albinus20 that the work was revised by
Agricola and in Froben's hands for publication after the author's death.
De Medicatis Fontibus. This work is referred to by Agricola himself in De Natura
Eorum,21 in the prefatory letter in De Veteribus et Novis Metallis; and Albinus22 quotes a
letter of Agricola to Sebastian Munster on the subject. Albinus states (Bergchronik, p. 193)
that to his knowledge it had not yet been published. Conrad Gesner, in his work Excerp­
torum et observationum de Thermis, which is reprinted in De Balneis, Venice, 1553, after
Agricola's De Natura Eorum, states23 concerning Agricola in libris quos de medicatis fontibus
instituerit copiosus se dicturum pollicetur. Watts mentions it as having been published in 1549,
1561, 1614, and 1621. He, however, apparently confuses it with De Natura Eorum. We
are unable to state whether it was ever printed or not. A note of inquiry to the principal
libraries in Germany gave a negative result.
De Putredine solidas partes humani corporis corrumpente. This work, according to
Albinus was received by Fabricius a year after Agricola's death, but whether it was published
or not is uncertain.24
Castigationes in Hippocratem et Galenum. This work is referred to by Agricola in the
preface of Bermannus, and Albinus25 mentions several letters referring to the preparation
of the work. There is no evidence of publication.
Typographia Mysnae et Toringiae. It seems from Agricola's letter26 to Munster that
Agricola prepared some sort of a work on the history of Saxony and of the Royal Family









1thereof at the command of the Elector and sent it to him when finished, but it was never
published as written by Agricola. Albinus, Hofmann, and Struve give some details of letters
in reference to it. Fabricius in a letter27 dated Nov. 11, 1536 asks Meurer to send Agricola
some material for it; in a letter from Fabricius to Meurer dated Oct. 30, 1554, it appears
that the Elector had granted Agricola 200 thalers to assist in the work. After Agricola's
death the material seems to have been handed over to Fabricius, who made use of it (as he
states in the preface) in preparing the work he was commissioned by the Elector to write,
the title of which was, Originum illustrissimae stirpis Saxonicae Libri, and was published in
Leipzig, 1597. It includes on page 880 a fragment of a work entitled Oratio de rebus Gestis
Ernesti et Alberti Ducum Saxoniae, by Agricola.
WORKS WRONGLY ATTRIBUTED TO GEORGIUS AGRICOLA.
The following works have been at one time or another wrongly attributed to Georgius
Agricola:—
Galerazeya sive Revelator Secretorum De Lapide Philosophorum, Cologne, 1531 and
1534, by one Daniel Agricola, which is merely a controversial book with a catch-title, used
by Catholics for converting heretics.
Rechter Gebrauch der Alchimey, a book of miscellaneous receipts which treats very
slightly of transmutation.28
Chronik der Stadt Freiberg by a Georg Agricola (died 1630), a preacher at Freiberg.
Dominatores Saxonici, by the same author.
Breviarum de Asse by Guillaume Bude.
De Inventione Dialectica by Rudolph Agricola.
307[Figure 307]
1
APPENDIX B.
ANCIENT AUTHORS.
We give the following brief notes on early works containing some reference to miner­
alogy, mining, or metallurgy, to indicate the literature available to Agricola and for historical
notes bearing upon the subject. References to these works in the footnotes may be most
easily consulted through the personal index.
GREEK AUTHORS.—Only a very limited Greek literature upon subjects allied to
mining or natural science survives. The whole of the material of technical interest could be
reproduced on less than twenty of these pages. Those of most importance are: Aristotle
(384-322 B.C.), Theophrastus (371-288 B.C.), Diodorus Siculus (1st Century B.C.), Strabo
(64 B.C.—25 A.D.), and Dioscorides (1st Century A.D.).
Aristotle, apart from occasional mineralogical or metallurgical references in De Mira­
bilibus, is mostly of interest as the author of the Peripatetic theory of the elements and the
relation of these to the origin of stones and metals. Agricola was, to a considerable measure,
a follower of this school, and their views colour much of his writings. We, however, discuss
elsewhere1 at what point he departed from them. Especially in De Ortu et Causis does he
quote largely from Aristotle's Meteorologica, Physica, and De Coelo on these subjects. There
is a spurious work on stones attributed to Aristotle of some interest to mineralogists. It was
probably the work of some Arab early in the Middle Ages.
Theophrastus, the principal disciple of Aristotle, appears to have written at least two
works relating to our subject—one “On Stones”, and the other on metals, mining or metal­
lurgy, but the latter is not extant. The work “On Stones” was first printed in Venice in
1498, and the Greek text, together with a fair English translation by Sir John Hill, was
published in London in 1746 under the title “Theophrastus on Stones”; the translation is,
however, somewhat coloured with Hill's views on mineralogy. The work comprises 120
short paragraphs, and would, if reproduced, cover but about four of these pages. In the
first paragraphs are the Peripatetic view of the origin of stones and minerals, and upon the
foundation of Aristotle he makes some modifications. The principal interest in Theophrastus'
work is the description of minerals; the information given is, however, such as might be pos­
sessed by any ordinary workman, and betrays no particular abilities for natural philosophy.
He enumerates various exterior characteristics, such as colour, tenacity, hardness, smooth­
ness, density, fusibility, lustre, and transparence, and their quality of reproduction, and then
proceeds to describe various substances, but usually omits his enumerated characteristics.
Apart from the then known metals and certain “earths” (ochre, marls, clay, etc.), it is possible
to identify from his descriptions the following rocks and minerals:—marble, pumice, onyx,
gypsum, pyrites, coal, bitumen, amber, azurite, chrysocolla, realgar, orpiment, cinnabar,
quartz in various forms, lapis lazuli, emerald, sapphire, diamond, and ruby. Altogether there
are some sixteen distinct mineral species. He also describes the touchstone and its uses, the
making of white-lead and verdigris, and of quicksilver from cinnabar.
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek native of Sicily. His “historical library” consisted of
some 40 books, of which parts of 15 are extant. The first print was in Latin, 1472, and in
Greek in 1539; the first translation into English was by Thomas Stocker, London, 1568, and
later by G. Booth, 1700. We have relied upon Booth's translation, but with some amend­
ments by friends, to gain more literal statement. Diodorus, so far as relates to our subject,
gives merely the occasional note of a traveller. The most interesting paragraphs are his
quotation from Agatharchides on Egyptian mining and upon British tin.
Strabo was also a geographer. His work consists of 17 books, and practically all
survive. We have relied upon the most excellent translation of Hamilton and Falconer,
London, 1903, the only one in English. Mines and minerals did not escape such an acute
geographer, and the matters of greatest interest are those with relation to Spanish mines.
Dioscorides was a Greek physician who wrote entirely from the standpoint of materia
medica, most of his work being devoted to herbs; but Book V. is devoted to minerals and
rocks, and their preparation for medicinal purposes. The work has never been translated
into English, and we have relied upon the Latin translation of Matthioli, Venice, 1565, and notes
upon the Greek text prepared for us by Mr. C. Katopodes. In addition to most of the sub­
stances known before, he, so far as can be identified, adds schist, cadmia (blende or calamine),
chalcitis (copper sulphide), misy, melanteria, sory (copper or iron sulphide oxidation minerals).
He describes the making of certain artificial products, such as copper oxides, vitriol, litharge,
pompholyx, and spodos (zinc and / or arsenical oxides). His principal interest for us, however,
lies in the processes set out for making his medicines.
Occasional scraps of information relating to the metals or mines in some connection
are to be found in many other Greek writers, and in quotations by them from others which are
not now extant, such as Polybius, Posidonius, etc. The poets occasionally throw a gleam
1of light on ancient metallurgy, as for instance in Homer's description of Vulcan's foundry:
while the historians, philosophers, statesmen, and physicians, among them Herodotus,
Xenophon, Demosthenes, Galen, and many others, have left some incidental references to the
metals and mining, helpful to gleaners from a field, which has been almost exhausted by time.
Even Archimedes made pumps, and Hero surveying instruments for mines.
ROMAN AUTHORS.—Pre-eminent among all ancient writers on these subjects is, of
course. Pliny, and in fact, except some few lines by Vitruvius, there is practically little else
in extant Roman literature of technical interest, for the metallurgical metaphors of the poets
and orators were threadbare by this time, and do not excite so much interest as upon their
first appearance among the Greeks and Hebrews.
Pliny (Caius Plinius Secundus) was born 23 A.D., and was killed by eruption of Vesuvius
79 A.D. His Natural History should be more properly called an encyclopædia, the whole
comprising 37 books; but only portions of the last four books relate to our subject, and over
one-half of the material there is upon precious stones. To give some rough idea of the small
quantity of even this, the most voluminous of ancient works upon our subject, we have made
an estimate that the portions of metallurgical character would cover, say, three pages of
this text, on mining two pages, on building and precious stones about ten pages. Pliny
and Dioscorides were contemporaries, and while Pliny nowhere refers to the Greek, internal
evidence is most convincing, either that they drew from the same source, or that Pliny drew
from Dioscorides. We have, therefore, throughout the text given precedence in time to the
Greek author in matters of historical interest. The works of Pliny were first printed at Venice
in 1469. They have passed dozens of editions in various languages, and have been twice
translated into English. The first translation by Philemon Holland, London, 1601, is quite
impossible. The second translation, by Bostock and Riley, London, 1855, was a great
advance, and the notes are most valuable, but in general the work has suffered from a freedom
justifiable in the translation of poetry, but not in science. We have relied upon the Latin
edition of Janus, Leipzig, 1870. The frequent quotations in our footnotes are sufficient
indication of the character of Pliny's work. In general it should be remembered that he was
himself but a compiler of information from others, and, so far as our subjects are concerned,
of no other experience than most travellers. When one considers the reliability of such
authors to-day on technical subjects, respect for Pliny is much enhanced. Further, the text
is no doubt much corrupted through the generations of transcription before it was set in type.
So far as can be identified with any assurance, Pliny adds but few distinct minerals to those
enumerated by Theophrastus and Dioscorides. For his metallurgical and mining information
we refer to the footnotes, and in general it may be said that while those skilled in metallurgy
can dimly see in his statements many metallurgical operations, there is little that does not
require much deduction to arrive at a conclusion. On geology he offers no new philosophical
deductions of consequence; the remote connection of building stones is practically all that
can be enumerated, lest one build some assumption of a knowledge of ore-deposits on the
use of the word “vein”. One point of great interest to this work is that in his search for Latin
terms for technical purposes Agricola relied almost wholly upon Pliny, and by some devotion
to the latter we have been able to disentangle some very puzzling matters of nomenclature
in De Re Metallica, of which the term molybdaena may be cited as a case in point.
Vitruvius was a Roman architect of note of the 1st Century B.C. His work of ten
books contains some very minor references to pumps and machinery, building stones, and the
preparation of pigments, the latter involving operations from which metallurgical deductions
can occasionally be safely made. His works were apparently first printed in Rome in 1496.
There are many editions in various languages, the first English translation being from the
French in 1692. We have relied upon the translation of Joseph Gwilt, London, 1875, with
such alterations as we have considered necessary.
MEDIÆVAL AUTHORS. For convenience we group under this heading the writers
of interest from Roman times to the awakening of learning in the early 16th Century.
Apart from Theophilus, they are mostly alchemists; but, nevertheless, some are of great
importance in the history of metallurgy and chemistry. Omitting a horde of lesser lights
upon whom we have given some data under the author's preface, the works principally con­
cerned are those ascribed to Avicenna, Theophilus, Geber, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon,
and Basil Valentine. Judging from the Preface to De Re Metallica, and from quotations in his
subsidiary works, Agricola must have been not only familiar with a wide range of alchemistic
material, but also with a good deal of the Arabic literature, which had been translated into
Latin. The Arabs were, of course, the only race which kept the light of science burning
during the Dark Ages, and their works were in considerable vogue at Agricola's time.
Avicenna (980-1037) was an Arabian physician of great note, a translator of the Greek
classics into Arabic, and a follower of Aristotle to the extent of attempting to reconcile the
Peripatetic elements with those of the alchemists. He is chiefly known to the world through
the works which he compiled on medicine, mostly from the Greek and Latin authors. These
works for centuries dominated the medical world, and were used in certain European Univer­
sities until the 17th century. A great many works are attributed to him, and he is copiously
quoted by Agricola, principally in his De Ortu et Causis, apparently for the purpose of
exposure.
1
Theophilus was a Monk and the author of a most illuminating work, largely upon
working metal and its decoration for ecclesiastical purposes. An excellent translation, with
the Latin text, was published by Robert Hendrie, London, 1847, under the title “An Essay
upon various Arts, in three books, by Theophilus, called also Rugerus, Priest and Monk.”
Hendrie, for many sufficient reasons, places the period of Theophilus as the latter half of the
11th century. The work is mainly devoted to preparing pigments, making glass, and working
metals, and their conversion into ecclesiastical paraphernalia, such as mural decoration,
pictures, windows, chalices, censers, bells, organs, etc. However, he incidentally describes
the making of metallurgical furnaces, cupellation, parting gold and silver by cementation
with salt, and by melting with sulphur, the smelting of copper, liquating lead from it, and the
refining of copper under a blast with poling.
Geber was until recent years considered to be an Arab alchemist of a period somewhere
between the 7th and 12th centuries. A mere bibliography of the very considerable literature
which exists in discussion of who, where, and at what time the author was, would fill pages.
Those who are interested may obtain a start upon such references from Hermann Kopp's Bei­
träge zur Geschichte der Chemie, Braunschweig, 1875, and in John Ferguson's Bibliotheca Chemica,
Glasgow, 1906. Berthelot, in his Chimie au Moyen Age, Paris, 1893, considers the works under
the name of Geber were not in the main of Arabic origin, but composed by some Latin scholar
in the 13th century. In any event, certain works were, under this name, printed in Latin as
early as 1470-80, and have passed innumerable editions since. They were first translated into
English by Richard Russell, London, 1678, and we have relied upon this and the Nuremberg
edition in Latin of 1541. This work, even assuming Berthelot's view, is one of the most
important in the history of chemistry and metallurgy, and is characterised by a directness
of statement unique among alchemists. The making of the mineral acids—certainly nitric and
aqua regia, and perhaps hydrochloric and sulphuric—are here first described. The author
was familiar with saltpetre, sal-ammoniac, and alkali, and with the acids he prepared many
salts for the first time. He was familiar with amalgamation, cupellation, the separation of
gold and silver by cementation with salt and by nitric acid. His views on the primary com­
position of bodies dominated the alchemistic world for centuries. He contended that all
metals were composed of “spiritual” sulphur (or arsenic, which he seems to consider a special
form of sulphur) and quicksilver, varying proportions and qualities yielding different metals.
The more the quicksilver, the more “perfect” the metal.
Albertus Magnus (Albert von Bollstadt) was a Dominican Monk, afterwards Bishop,
born about 1205, and died about 1280. He was rated the most learned man of his time, and
evidence of his literary activities lies in the complete edition of his works issued by Pierre
Jammy, Lyons, 1651, which comprises 21 folio volumes. However, there is little doubt that
a great number of works attributed to him, especially upon alchemy, are spurious. He
covered a wide range of theology, logic, alchemy, and natural science, and of the latter the
following works which concern our subject are considered genuine:—De Rebus Metallicis et
Mineralibus, De Generatione et Corruptione, and De Meteoris. They are little more than
compilations and expositions of the classics muddled with the writings of the Arabs, and in
general an attempt to conciliate the Peripatetic and Alchemistic schools. His position in the
history of science has been greatly over-estimated. However, his mineralogy is, except for
books on gems, the only writing of any consequence at all on the subject between Pliny and
Agricola, and while there are but two or three minerals mentioned which are not to be found
in the ancient authors, this work, nevertheless, deserves some place in the history of science,
especially as some attempt at classification is made. Agricola devotes some thousands of
words to the refutation of his “errors.”
Roger Bacon (1214-1294) was a Franciscan Friar, a lecturer at Oxford, and a man of
considerable scientific attainments for his time. He was the author of a large number of
mathematical, philosophical, and alchemistic treatises. The latter are of some importance
in the history of chemistry, but have only minute bearing upon metallurgy, and this chiefly
as being one of the earliest to mention saltpetre.
Basil Valentine is the reputed author of a number of alchemistic works, of which none
appeared in print until early in the 17th century. Internal evidence seems to indicate that
the “Triumphant Chariot of Antimony” is the only one which may possibly be authentic,
and could not have been written prior to the end of the 15th or early 16th century, although
it has been variously placed as early as 1350. To this work has been accredited the first
mention of sulphuric and hydrochloric acid, the separation of gold and silver by the use of
antimony (sulphide), the reduction of the antimony sulphide to the metal, the extraction of
copper by the precipitation of the sulphate with iron, and the discovery of various antimonial
salts. At the time of the publication of works ascribed to Valentine practically all these
things were well known, and had been previously described. We are, therefore, in much doubt
as to whether this author really deserves any notice in the history of metallurgy.
EARLY 16TH CENTURY WORKS. During the 16th century, and prior to De Re
Metallica, there are only three works of importance from the point of view of mining tech­
nology—the Nützlich Bergbüchlin, the Probierbüchlein, and Biringuccio's De La Pirotechnia.
There are also some minor works by the alchemists of some interest for isolated statements,
particularly those of Paracelsus. The three works mentioned, however, represent such a
1stride of advance over anything previous, that they merit careful consideration.
Eyn Nützlich Bergbüchlin. Under this title we frequently refer to a little booklet on
veins and ores, published at the beginning of the 16th century. The title page of our copy is
as below:—
Einm nüb lith Berg
büchlin von allen Metal
len/als Golt/Silber/Zcyn/Rupfer
erts/iſen ſtein/Bleyerts/nd
om Quecſilber.
308[Figure 308]
This book is small 8vo, comprises 24 folios without pagination, and has no typographical
indications upon the title page, but the last line in the book reads: Gedruckt zu Erffurd durch
Johan Loersfelt, 1527. Another edition in our possession, that of “Frankfurt am Meyn”,
1533, by Christian Egenolph, is entitled Bergwerk und Probierbüchlin, etc., and contains,
besides the above, an extract and plates from the Probierbüchlein (referred to later on), and a few
recipes for assay tests. All of these booklets, of which we find mention, comprise instructions
from Daniel, a skilled miner, to Knappius, “his mining boy”. Although the little books of
this title are all anonymous, we are convinced, largely from the statement in the Preface of
De Re Metallica, that one Calbus of Freiberg was the original author of this work. Agricola
says: “Two books have been written in our tongue: the one on the assaying of mineral sub­
stances and metals, somewhat confused, whose author is unknown; the other ‘On Veins’,
of which Pandulfus Anglus 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 he had
begun.” He again refers to Calbus at the end of Book III.2 of De Re Metallica, and gives
an almost verbatim quotation from the Nützlich Bergbüchlin. Jacobi3 says: “Calbus
Fribergius, so called by Agricola himself, is certainly no other than the Freiberg doctor,
Rühlein von C(K)albe.” There are also certain internal evidences that support Agricola's
statement, for the work was evidently written in Meissen, and the statement of Agricola that
the book was unfinished is borne out by a short dialogue at the end of the earlier editions,
designed to introduce further discussion. Calbus (or Dr. Ulrich Rühlein von Kalbe) was a very
active citizen of Freiberg, having been a town councillor in 1509, burgomaster in 1514, a
mathematician, mining surveyor, founder of a school of liberal arts, and in general a physician.
He died in 1523.4 The book possesses great literary interest, as it is, so far as we are aware,

1undoubtedly the first work on mining geology, and in consequence we have spent some effort
in endeavour to find the date of its first appearance. Through the courtesy of M. Polain,
who has carefully examined for us the Nützlich Bergbüchlein described in Marie Pellechet's
Catalogue Général des Incunables des Bibliothèques Publiques de France,5 we have ascertained
that it is similar as regards text and woodcuts to the Erfurt edition, 1527. This copy in the
Bibliothèque Nationale is without typographical indications, and M. Polain considers it
very possible that it is the original edition printed at the end of the fifteenth or begininng of
the sixteenth centuries. Mr. Bennett Brough,6 quoting Hans von Dechen,7 states that the
first edition was printed at Augsburg in 1505, no copy of which seems to be extant. The
Librarian at the School of Mines at Freiberg has kindly furnished us with the following notes
as to the titles of the copies in that Institution:—(1) Eyn Wolgeordent und Nützlich Bergbüch­
lein, etc., Worms, 15128 and 15189 (the place and date are written in); (2) the same as ours
(1527); (3) the same, Heinrich Steyner, Augsburg, 1534; (4) the same, 1539. On comparing
these various editions (to which may be added one probably published in Nürnberg by Fried­
rich Peypus in 153210) we find that they fall into two very distinct groups, characterised by
their contents and by two entirely different sets of woodcuts.
GROUP I.
(a) Eyn Nützlich Bergbüchlein (in Bibl. Nat., Paris) before 1500 (?).
(b) Ditto, Erfurt, 1527.
GROUP II.
(c) Wolgeordent Nützlich Bergbüchlein, Worms, Peter Schöfern, 1512.
(d) Wolgeordent Nützlich Bergbüchlein, Worms, Peter Schöfern, 1518.
(e) Bergbüchlin von Erkantnus der Berckwerck, Nürnberg, undated, 1532 (?).
(f) Bergwerckbuch & Probirbuch, Christian Egenolph, Frankfurt-am-Meyn, 1533.
(g) Wolgeordent Nützlich Bergbüchlein, Augsburg, Heinrich Steyner, 1534.
(h) Wolgeordent Nützlich Bergbüchlein, Augsburg, Heinrich Steyner, 1539.
There are also others of later date toward the end of the sixteenth century.
The Büchlein of Group I. terminate after the short dialogue between Daniel and Knappius
with the words: Mitt welchen das kleinspeissig ertz geschmeltzt soll werden; whereas in those of
Group II. these words are followed by a short explanation of the signs used in the woodcuts,
and by directions for colouring the woodcuts, and in some cases by several pages containing
definitions of some 92 mining terms. In the editions of Group I. the woodcut on the title page
represents a miner hewing ore in a vein and two others working a windlass. In those of
Group II. the woodcut on the title page represents one miner hewing on the surface, another to
the right carting away ore in a handcart, and two others carrying between them a heavy
timber. In our opinion Group I. represents the older and original work of Calbus; but as we
have not seen the copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale, and the Augsburg edition of 1505 has only
so far been traced to Veith's catalogue,11 the question of the first edition cannot be considered
settled at present. In any event, it appears that the material grafted on in the second group
was later, and by various authors.
The earliest books comprise ten chapters, in which Daniel delivers about 6,000 words
of instruction. The first four chapters are devoted to the description of veins and the origin
of the metals, of the remaining six chapters one each to silver, gold, tin, copper, iron,
lead, and quicksilver. Among the mining terms are explained the meaning of country rock
(zechstein), hanging and footwalls (hangends and liegends), the strike (streichen), dip (fallen),
and outcrop (ausgehen). Of the latter two varieties are given, one of the “whole vein,”
the other of the gesteins, which may be the ore-shoot. Various veins are illustrated, and also
for the first time a mining compass. The account of the origin of the metals is a muddle
of the Peripatetics, the alchemists, and the astrologers, for which acknowledgment to Albertus
Magnus is given. They are represented to originate from quicksilver and sulphur through
heat, cold, dampness, and dryness, and are drawn out as exhalations through the veins, each
metal owing its origin to the special influence of some planet; the Moon for silver, Saturn for
lead, etc. Two types of veins are mentioned, “standing” (stehendergang) and flat (flach­
gang). Stringers are given the same characteristics as veins, but divided into hanging, foot­
wall, and other varieties. Prominence is also given to the geschick (selvage seams or joints?).





1The importance of the bearing of the junctions of veins and stringers on enrichment is elabor­
ated upon, and veins of east-west strike lying upon a south slope are considered the best.
From the following notes it will be seen that two or three other types of deposits besides veins
are referred to.
In describing silver veins, of peculiar interest is the mention of the association of bismuth
(wismuth), this being, we believe, the first mention of that metal, galena (glantz), quartz (quertz),
spar (spar), hornstone (hornstein), ironstone and pyrites (kies), are mentioned as gangue
materials, “according to the mingling of the various vapours.” The term glasertz is used,
but it is difficult to say if silver glance is meant; if so, it is the first mention of this mineral.
So far as we know, this is the first use of any of the terms in print. Gold alluvial is described,
part of the gold being assumed as generated in the gravel. The best alluvial is in streams
running east and west. The association of gold with pyrites is mentioned, and the pyrites is
found “in some places as a complete stratum carried through horizontally, and is called a
schwebender gang.” This sort of occurrence is not considered very good “because the work
of the heavens can be but little completed on account of the unsuitability of the position.”
Gold pyrites that comes in veins is better. Tin is mentioned as found in alluvial, and also in
veins, the latter being better or worse, according to the amount of pyrites, although the latter
can be burned off. Tin-stone is found in masses, copper ore in schist and in veins sometimes
with pyrites. The ore from veins is better than schist. Iron ore is found in masses, and
sometimes in veins; the latter is the best. “The iron veins with good hanging-and foot­
walls are not to be despised, especially if their strike be from east to west, their dip to the
south, the foot-wall and outcrop to the north, then if the ironstone is followed down, the
vein usually reveals gold or other valuable ore”. Lead ore is found in schwebenden gang
and stehenden gang. Quicksilver, like other ore, is sometimes found in brown earth, and
sometimes, again, in caves where it has run out like water. The classification of veins is the
same as in De Re Metallica.12 The book generally, however, seems to have raised Agricola's
opposition, for the quotations are given in order to be demolished.
Probierbüchlein. Agricola refers in the Preface of De Re Metallica to a work in German
on assaying and refining metals, and it is our belief that it was to some one of the little assay
books published early in the 16th century. There are several of them, seemingly revised
editions of each other; in the early ones no author's name appears, although among the
later editions various names appear on the title page. An examination of these little books
discloses the fact that their main contents are identical, for they are really collections of
recipes after the order of cookery books, and intended rather to refresh the memory of those
Probier büch
lein/auff Bold/Silber/tupffer/
vnd Sley/Unch allerlay Metall
wie mandie zů nus arbayten vnm
Probierenſoll.
llem Müngmayſtern/Warbeytt/Bdt
wercern/Bercleuten/vnntauff leütem
er Metall zů nus mitgroſſem fleyhzů
ſamengebracht.
309[Figure 309]
1already skilled than to instruct the novice. The books appear to have grown by accretions
from many sources, for a large number of methods are given over and over again in the same
book with slight variations. We reproduce the title page of our earliest copy.
The following is a list of these booklets so far as we have been able to discover actual
copies:—
Date. Place. Publisher. Title (Short). Author. Un-known Unknown Unknown Probierbüchlein Anon. (Undated; but catalogue of British Museum suggests Augsburg, 1510.) 1524 Magdeburg Probirbüchleyn tzu Gotteslob Anon. 1531 Augsburg Unknown Probierbuch aller Sachsischer Ertze Anon. 1533 Frankfurt a. Meyn Bergwerck und Probierbüch-lein Anon. 1534 Augsburg Heinrich Stey-ner, 8vo. Probirbüchlein Anon. 1546 Augsburg Ditto, ditto Probirbüchlein Anon. 1549 Augsburg Ditto, ditto Probirbüchlein Anon. 1564 Augsburg Math. Francke, 4to Probirbüchlein Zach. Lochner 1573 Augsburg 8vo. Probirbuch Sam. Zimmermann 1574 Franckfurt a. Meyn Probierbüchlein Anon. 1578 Ditto Probierbüchlein Fremde und subtile Kunst Cyriacus Schreittmann 1580 Ditto Probierbüchlein Anon. 1595 Ditto Probierbüchlein darinn gründ-licher Bericht Modestin Fachs 1607 Dresden 4to Metallische Probier Kunst Bericht vom Ursprung und Erkenntniss der Metallis-chen erze C. C. Schindler 1669 Amsterdam Probierbüchlein darinn gründ-licher Bericht Modestin Fachs 1678 Leipzig Probierbüchlein darinn gründ-licher Bericht Modestin Fachs 1689 Leipzig Probierbüchlein darinn gründ-licher Bericht Modestin Fachs 1695 Nürnberg 12mo. Deutliche Vorstellung der Pro-bier Kunst Anon. 1744 Lübeck 8vo. Neu-eröffnete Probier Buch Anon. 1755 Frankfurt and Leipzig 8vo. Scheid-Künstler . . . alle Ertz und Metalle . . . probiren Anon. 1782 Rotenburg an der Fulde 8vo. Probierbuch aus Erfahrung aufgesetzt K. A. Scheidt
As mentioned under the Nützlich Bergbüchlein, our copy of that work, printed in 1533,
contains only a portion of the Probierbüchlein. Ferguson13 mentions an edition of 1608, and the
Freiberg School of Mines Catalogue gives also Frankfort, 1608, and Nürnberg, 1706. The
British Museum copy of earliest date, like the title page reproduced, contains no date. The
title page woodcut, however, in the Museum copy is referred from that above, possibly indi­
cating an earlier date of the Museum copy.
The booklets enumerated above vary a great deal in contents, the successive prints
representing a sort of growth by accretion. The first portion of our earliest edition is devoted
to weights, in which the system of “lesser weights” (the principle of the “assay ton”) is
explained. Following this are exhaustive lists of touch-needles of various composition.
Directions are given with regard to assay furnaces, cupels, muffles, scorifiers, and crucibles,
granulated and leaf metals, for washing, roasting, and the preparation of assay charges.
Various reagents, including glass-gall, litharge, salt, iron filings, lead, “alkali”, talc, argol,
saltpetre, sal-ammoniac, alum, vitriol, lime, sulphur, antimony, aqua fortis, or scheid­
wasser, etc., are made use of. Various assays are described and directions given for crucible,
scorification, and cupellation tests. The latter part of the book is devoted to the refining
and parting of precious metals. Instructions are given for the separation of silver from iron,
from lead, and from antimony; of gold from silver with antimony (sulphide) and sulphur, or
with sulphur alone, with “scheidwasser,” and by cementation with salt; of gold from copper
with sulphur and with lead. The amalgamation of gold and silver is mentioned.
1
The book is diffuse and confused, and without arrangement or system, yet a little
consideration enables one of experience to understand most statements. There are over 120
recipes, with, as said before, much repetition; for instance, the parting of gold and silver
by use of sulphur is given eight times in different places. The final line of the book is: “Take
this in good part, dear reader, after it, please God, there will be a better.” In truth, however,
there are books on assaying four centuries younger that are worse. This is, without doubt,
the first written word on assaying, and it displays that art already full grown, so far as con­
cerns gold and silver, and to some extent copper and lead; for if we eliminate the words
dependent on the atomic theory from modern works on dry assaying, there has been but very
minor progress. The art could not, however, have reached this advanced stage but by slow
accretion, and no doubt this collection of recipes had been handed from father to son long
before the 16th century. It is of wider interest that these booklets represent the first milestone
on the road to quantitative analysis, and in this light they have been largely ignored by the
historians of chemistry. Internal evidence in Book VII. of De Re Metallica, together with
the reference in the Preface, leave little doubt that Agricola was familiar with these book­
lets. His work, however, is arranged more systematically, each operation stated more clearly,
with more detail and fresh items; and further, he gives methods of determining copper and
lead which are but minutely touched upon in the Probierbüchlein, while the directions as to tin,
bismuth, quicksilver, and iron are entirely new.
Biringuccio (Vanuccio). We practically know nothing about this author. From the
preface to the first edition of his work it appears he was styled a mathematician, but in the
text^{14} he certainly states that he was most of his time engaged in metallurgical operations,
and that in pursuit of such knowledge he had visited Germany. The work was in Italian,
published at Venice in 1540, the title page of the first edition as below:—
310[Figure 310]
1
It comprises ten chapters in 168 folios demi-octavo. Other Italian editions of which
we find some record are the second at Venice, 1552; third, Venice, 1558; fourth, Venice,
1559: fifth, Bologna, 1678. A French translation, by Jacques Vincent, was published in
Paris, 1556, and this translation was again published at Rouen in 1627. Of the ten chapters the
last six are almost wholly devoted to metal working and founding, and it is more largely for
this description of the methods of making artillery, munitinons of war and bells that the book
is celebrated. In any event, with the exception of a quotation which we give on page 297 on
silver amalgamation, there is little of interest on our subject in the latter chapters. The
first four chapters are undoubtedly of importance in the history of metallurgical literature,
and represent the first work on smelting. The descriptions are, however, very diffuse, difficult
to follow, and lack arrangement and detail. But like the Probierbüchlein, the fact that it was
written prior to De Re Metallica demands attention for it which it would not otherwise receive.
The ores of gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, and iron are described, but much interrupted with
denunciations of the alchemists. There is little of geological or mineralogical interest, he too
holding to a muddle of the classic elements astrology and alchemy. He has nothing of con­
sequence to say on mining, and dismisses concentration with a few words. Upon assaying
his work is not so useful as the Probierbüchlein. On ore smelting he describes the reduction
of iron and lead ores and cupriferous silver or gold ores with lead. He gives the barest
description of a blast furnace, but adds an interesting account of a reverbero furnace. He
describes liquation as consisting of one operation; the subsequent treatment of the copper
by refining with an oxidising blast, but does not mention poling; the cupellation of argen­
tiferous lead and the reduction of the litharge; the manufacture of nitric acid and that
method of parting gold and silver. He also gives the method of parting with antimony and
sulphur, and by cementation with common salt. Among the side issues, he describes the
method of making brass with calamine; of making steel; of distilling quicksilver; of melting
out sulphur; of making vitriol and alum. He states that arsenico and orpimento and etrisa­
gallio (realgar) are the same substance, and are used to colour copper white.
In general, Biringuccio should be accredited with the first description (as far as we
are aware) of silver amalgamation, of a reverberatory furnace, and of liquation, although the
description is not complete. Also he is, so far as we are aware, the first to mention cobalt
blue (Zaffre) and manganese, although he classed them as “half” metals. His descriptions
are far inferior to Agricola's; they do not compass anything like the same range of metal­
lurgy, and betray the lack of a logical mind.
Other works. There are several works devoted to mineralogy, dating from the fifteenth
and early sixteenth centuries, which were, no doubt, available to Agricola in the compilation of
his De Natura Fossilium. They are, however, practically all compiled from the jeweller's point
of view rather than from that of the miner. Among them we may mention the poem on
precious stones by Marbodaeus, an author who lived from 1035 to 1123, but which was first
printed at Vienna in 1511; Speculum Lapidum, a work on precious stones, by Camilli Leonardi,
first printed in Venice in 1502. A work of wider interest to mineralogists is that by Christoph
Entzelt (or Enzelius, Encelio, Encelius, as it is variously given), entitled De Re Metallica,
and first printed in 1551. The work is five years later than De Natura Fossilium, but contains
much new material and was available to Agricola prior to his revised editions.
311[Figure 311]
1
APPENDIX C.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
As stated in the preface, the nomenclature to be adopted for weights and measures
has presented great difficulty. Agricola uses, throughout, the Roman and the Romanized
Greek scales, but in many cases he uses these terms merely as lingual equivalents for the
German quantities of his day. Moreover the classic language sometimes failed him, where­
upon he coined new Latin terms adapted from the Roman scale, and thus added further
confusion. We can, perhaps, make the matter clearer by an illustration of a case in weights.
The Roman centúmpondium, composed of 100 librae, the old German centner of 100 pfundt,
and the English hundredweight of 112 pounds can be called lingual equivalents. The first
weighs about 494,600 Troy grains, the second 721,900, and the third 784,000. While the
divisions of the centumpondium and the centner are the same, the libra is divided into 12 unciae
and the pfundt into 16 untzen, and in most places a summation of the units given proves that
the author had in mind the Roman ratios. However, on p. 509 he makes the direct statement
that the centumpondium weighs 146 librae, which would be about the correct weight if the
centumpondium referred to was a centner. If we take an example such as “each centum­
pondium of lead contains one uncia of silver”, and reduce it according to purely lingual equiva­
lents, we should find that it runs 24.3 Troy ounces per short ton, on the basis of Roman
values, and 18.25 ounces per short ton, on the basis of old German. If we were to trans­
late these into English lingual equivalents of one ounce per hundredweight, then the value
would be 17.9 ounces per short ton.
Several possibilities were open in translation: first, to calculate the values accur­
ately in the English units; second, to adopt the nearest English lingual equivalent; third,
to introduce the German scale of the period; or, fourth, to leave the original Latin in the
text. The first would lead to an indefinite number of decimals and to constant doubt as to
whether the values, upon which calculations were to be based, were Roman or German. The
second, that is the substitution of lingual equivalents, is objectionable, not only because
it would indicate values not meant by the author, but also because we should have, like
Agricola, to coin new terms to accommodate the lapses in the scales, or again to use decimals.
In the third case, that is in the use of the old German scale, while it would be easier to adapt
than the English, it would be more unfamiliar to most readers than the Latin, and not so
expressive in print, and further, in some cases would present the same difficulties of cal­
culation as in using the English scale. Nor does the contemporary German translation of De
Re Metallica prove of help, for its translator adopted only lingual equivalents, and in conse­
quence the summation of his weights often gives incorrect results. From all these possibilities
we have chosen the fourth, that is simply to reproduce the Latin terms for both weights and
measures. We have introduced into the footnotes such reductions to the English scale as we
considered would interest readers. We have, however, digressed from the rule in two cases,
in the adoption of “foot” for the Latin pes, and “fathom” for passus. Apart from the fact
that these were not cases where accuracy is involved, Agricola himself explains (p. 77)
that he means the German values for these particular terms, which, fortunately, fairly closely
approximate to the English. Further, we have adopted the Anglicized words “digit”,
“palm”, and “cubit”, instead of their Latin forms.
For purposes of reference, we reproduce the principal Roman and old German scales,
in so far as they are used by Agricola in this work, with their values in English. All students
of weights and measures will realize that these values are but approximate, and that this is
not an occasion to enter upon a discussion of the variations in different periods or by different
authorities. Agricola himself is the author of one of the standard works on Ancient Weights
and Measures (see Appendix A), and further gives fairly complete information on contem­
porary scales of weight and fineness for precious metals in Book VII. p. 262 etc., to which
we refer readers.
ROMAN SCALES OF WEIGHTS.
1 Troy Grains. 1 Siliqua = .. .. 2.87 6 Siliquae = 1 Scripulum .. 17.2 4 Scripula = 1 Sextula .. 68.7 6 Sextulae = 1 Uncia .. 412.2 12 Unciae = 1 Libra .. 4946.4 100 Librae = 1 Centumpondium .. 494640.0 Also 1 Scripulum = .. .. 17.2 3 Scripula = 1 Drachma .. 51.5 2 Drachmae = 1 Sicilicus .. 103.0 4 Sicilici = 1 Uncia .. 412.2 8 Unciae = 1 Bes .. .. 3297.6
SCALE OF FINENESS
(AGRICOLA'S ADAPTATION).
4 Siliquae = 1 Unit of Siliquae 3 Units of Siliquae = 1 Semi-sextula 4 Semi-sextulae = 1 Duella 24 Duellae = 1 Bes
OLD GERMAN SCALE OF WEIGHTS.
Troy Grains. 1 Pfennig = .. .. 14.1 4 Pfennige = 1 Quintlein .. 56.4 4 Quintlein = 1 Loth .. 225.6 2 Loth = 1 Untzen .. 451.2 8 Untzen = 1 Mark .. 3609.6 2 Mark = 1 Pfundt .. 7219.2 100 Pfundt = 1 Centner .. 721920.0
SCALE OF FINENESS.
3 Grenlin = 1 Gran 4 Gran = 1 Krat 24 Krat = 1 Mark
ROMAN LONG MEASURE.
Inches. 1 Digitus = .. .. .726 4 Digiti = 1 Palmus .. 2.90 4 Palmi = 1 Pes .. 11.61 1 1/2 Pedes = 1 Cubitus .. 17.41 5 Pedes = 1 Passus .. 58.1
Also
1 Roman Uncia = .. .97 12 Unciae = Pes .. 11.61
GREEK LONG MEASURE.
1 Dactylos = .. .. .758 4 Dactyloi = 1 Palaiste .. 3.03 4 Palaistai = 1 Pous .. 12.135 1 1/2 Pous 1 Pechus .. 18.20 6 Pous = 1 Oryguia .. 72.81
OLD GERMAN LONG MEASURE.
Inches. 1 Querfinger = .. .. .703 16 Querfinger = 1 Werckschuh .. 11.247 2 Werckschuh = 1 Elle .. 22.494 3 Elle = 1 Lachter .. 67.518
Also
1 Zoll = .. .. .85 12 Zoll = 1 Werkschuh
ROMAN LIQUID MEASURE.
Cubic inches. Pints. 1 Quartarius = .. 8.6 .. .247 4 Quartarii = 1 Sextarius .. 31.4 .. .991 6 Sextarii = 1 Congius .. 206.4 .. 5.947 16 Sextarii = 1 Modius .. 550.4 .. 15.867 8 Congii = 1 Amphora .. 1650.0 .. 47.577
(Agricola nowhere uses the Saxon liquid measures, nor do they fall into units comparable
with the Roman).
1 312[Figure 312]
1
GENERAL INDEX.
NOTE.—The numbers in heavy type refer to the Text;
those in plain type to the Footnotes, Appendices, etc.
PAGE ABANDONMENT OF MINES 217 ABERTHAM. Mines at 74; 92; 74 ABOLITE 113 Abstrich 465; 492 ABYDOS. Gold mines of 26; 27 Lead figure from 390 Abrug 464; 465; 475 Achates (see AGATE). ACCIDENTS TO MINERS 214—218 ACCOUNTS (Mining) 96—98 ADIT 101 Aeris flos (see Copper Flowers). Aeris squama (see Copper Scales). Aes caldarium 109 Aes luteum 109 Aes nigrum 109 Aes purum fossile (see Native Copper). Aes rude plumbei coloris (see Copper Glance). Aes ustum (see Roasted Copper). Aetites 2 AFRICA. Iron 420 Tin 412 AGATE 114 AGRICULTURE. Mining compared with 5 AILMENTS OF MINERS (see Maladies of Miners). AIR CURRENTS IN MINES 121; 200 ALABASTER 114 ALCHEMISTS XXVII—XXX; 44; 608 Agricola's opinion of XII; XXVII. Amalgamation 297 Assaying 248; 219 Discovery of acids 439; 460 Distillation 441 ALJUSTREL TABLET 83—84 ALKALI 558 ALLOYS. ASSAYING OF 247—252 ALLUVIAL MINING 321—348; 330—332 ALSTON MOOR. 84 ALTENBERG XXXI; VI. Collapse of mine 216 Miners poisoned 214 Tin working appliances 290; 304; 318 ALUM 564—568; 564—570 A solidified juice 1 Elizabethan Charter 283 In roasted pyrites 350 In Sal artificiosus 463 Latin and German terms 220; 221 Papal monopoly 570 Use in making nitric acid 439; 460 AMALGAM. Parting the gold from 298; 297 AMALGAMATION 297 Of gilt objects 461 Mills 295—299 AMBER 34; 35 AMETHYST 114 Amiantus (see Asbestos). AMPULLA 445—447; 220 ANNABERG VI; XXI; 42; 75; 75 Profits 92 ANT, VENOMOUS 216 ANTIMONY 220; 428; 354 Minerals 110 Smelting of 440; 428 Use as type-metal 2; 429 ANTIMONY SULPHIDE 220; 428; 451 Parting gold and silver with 451; 451; 461 Parting gold from copper 463 Parting silver and iron 544 ANTWERP, SCALE OF WEIGHTS 263 APEX LAW 81; 83—86 Aqua regia 439; 441; 354 Aqua valeus (see also Nitric Acid) 439—443; 439; 220 Clarification with silver 443; 443 Cleansing gold-dust with 396 Parting precious metals with 443—447 Arbores dissectae (Lagging) 101 ARCHIMEDES, SCREW OF 149 ARCHITECTURE. Knowledge necessary for miners 4 Area fodinarum (see Meer). ARGENTIFEROUS COPPER ORES, SMELTING OF 404—407 ARGENTITE 109 Argentum purum in venis (see Native Silver). Argentum rude plumbei coloris (seeSilver Glance). Argentum rude rubrum translucidum(see Ruby Silver). ARGOL 234; 220 As a flux 234; 238; 243 Use in melting silver nitrate 447 Use in smelting gold dust 396—398 ARGONAUTS 330 ARITHMETICAL SCIENCE. Knowledge necessary for miners 4 ARMENIA, STONE OF 115 ARSENIC (see also Orpiment andRealgar) 111; 214 Arsenicum 111 ARSENOPYRITE 111 ASBESTOS 440; 440; 114 ASH-COLOURED COPPER 539—540; 540; 523—524; 492 From liquation 529—530 ASHES WHICH WOOL DYERS USE (see also Potash) 233; 559; 220 Use in assaying 236—238 ASH OF LEAD 237—238; 237; 220 ASH OF MUSK IVY (see also Potash and Nitrum) 236—238; 220 ASPHALT 581 Asphaltites (see Dead Sea). ASSAY BALANCES (see Balances). ASSAY FLUXES (see Fluxes). ASSAY FURNACES 224—228; 220 Crucible 226—227 Muffle 224—228; 239 ASSAYING (see also Probierbüchlein) 219; 219; 220; 354 Amalgamation 243 Bismuth 247 Copper 244 Cupellation 240 Gold and silver alloys 248 Gold ore 242—244 Iron ore 247 Lead 245—246 Silver 242—245 Silver and copper alloys 249—250 Tin 246 Tin and silver alloys 251 ASSAY MUFFLES (see Muffles). ASSAY TON 261; 242 ASSYRIAN COPPER 402 ASTHMA 214 ASTRONOMY. Knowledge necessary for miners 4 ATARNEA. Mines near 26; 27 ATHENS. Mining law 83 Sea power and mines 27
1 ATHENS. Silver mines (see Mt. Laurion, Mines of). Atramentum Sutorium (see also Vitriol) 572; 110 Atramentum Sutorium candidum 113 Atramentum Sutorium rubrum 274; 274 Aurichalcum 409; 404 Auripigmentum (see Orpiment). AZURE 1; 109; 220 An indication of copper 116 An indication of gold 117 Colour of flame 235 AZURITE 109; 220; 402 BABEL, TOWER OF 582 BABYLONIA. Bitumen in 582 Use of lead 391 BABYTACE. Gold buried by inhabitants 9; 15 BAEBELO 42; 42 BALANCES 224; 264—265 BARITE 115 BARMASTER, OF HIGH PEAK 77 BARS, FOR FURNACE WORK 382 BASKETS, FOR HOISTING 153 BATEA 156 BEER 230; 220 BELL, TO CALL WORKMEN 100 BELLOWS 362—373; 419 Ancient use of 354; 355; 362 Assay furnace 226; 245 Mine ventilation with 207—210 BENI HASSEN, INSCRIPTIONS AT 586 Berg-geel 111 BERGMEISTER 33; 81; 95; 77; 77; 78 Deals with forfeited shares 92—93 Jurors 96 BERGMEISTER'S CLERK 95; 78 Bergzinober (see Quicksilver). BERMIUS (BERMIUM), MT. (see Mt. Bermius). BISMUTH 433; 354; 220 Assaying ores of 247 Indication of silver 116 Minerals 2; 111 Smelting of 433—437; 400 The “roof of silver” 117; 433 Zaffre 112 BITUMEN. Ancient knowledge of 220; 581—582; 354 Colour of fumes 235 Dead Sea 33 Distillation 581 From springs 582 Harmful to metals 273 Roasting from ore 273; 276; 351 Solidified juice 1 Bituminosa cadmia (see Cadmia bituminosa). BLAST, REGULATION OF 380; 386 BLASTING 119 BLENDE 113 BLEYBERG 239 BLOODSTONE 111; 2 BLOOM 420 Blutstein (see Ironstone). BOHEMIA. Antimony sulphide 428 Pestilential vapours 216 Sifting ore in 293 Smelting 384 BONE-ASH 230; 466 BORAX 560; 221; 110 Method of manufacture 560 Use in gold smelting 444; 457; 464 Use in assaying 245; 246 BORNITE 109 BOUNDARY STONES 87; 129 BOUNDARIES 77; 147 BOWLS FOR ALLUVIAL WASHING 322; 324; 334; 336 BRASS 410; 354; 2 Ancient methods of making 404—405; 112 BREAKING ORE 117—119 BRICK DUST. Used in cementation 454; 454 Used in making nitric acid 440 BRINE (see also Salt). Evaporation of 547—548 BRITAIN. Lead-silver smelting 392 Miners mentioned by Pliny 83 Tin trade 411—413 BRITISH MUSEUM. Egyptian gold-mining 399 Egyptian lead 390 Egyptian steel 402 BROMYRITE 109 BRONZE. Historical notes 411; 402; 354 BRONZE AGE. 355; 402; 411 BRYLE (Outcrop). 101 BUCKETS, FOR HOISTING ORE 153—154; 157 BUDDLE 281; 282; 267 Divided 302—303 Simple 300—302; 312—315 BULLION, POURING INTO BARS 382 BURNING ORE 231; 273; 267 BURNT ALUM 233; 565; 221 Cadmia (see also Zinc, Pompholy,and Cobalt) 542; 542; 112—113 Ancient ore of brass 410 From dust chambers 394 From liquation 539; 542 From roasting matte 349 Poisonous to miners 214; 214 Roasting 276 Smelting for gold and silver 410 Cadmia bituminosa 276; 273; 113 Cadmia fornacis (see Furnace Accre-tions). Cadmia fossilis (see Calamine andBlende). Cadmia metallica (see also Cobalt) 403; 113 Caeruleum (see Azure). CAKES OF MELTED PYRITES 379; 222 A flux 234 Roasting of 349—351 Use in smelting 379 CALAËM (see also Zinc) 409 CALAMINE 112; 113; 409; 410 CALCITE 114 CALCSPAR 116; 114 Caldarium COPPER 512; 542; 404; 511 CALDRONS, FOR EVAPORATING SALTS 548 Calmei (see Calamine). CAMEROS. Zinc found at 409 CAMPHOR 238; 238; 221 CAM-SHAFT 282—283; 267 Canales (Ore Channels) 43; 46; 47 Ore shoots in 117 CANNON 11 CARDINAL POINTS 57; 58 CARNELIAN 114 Carneol (see Carnelian). Carni 390 Cupellation 483 Smelting of lead ores 390 CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS. Liquation practice in 540; 544 Sieves 289 Stamp-milling 319 CARTHAGE. Mines in Spain 27 CASTULO (Cazlona) 42 CEMENTATION (see also Parting Gold from Silver) 453—457; 453; 458 Centumpondium 616; 242; 509 Scale of weights 260—261 CERAGURITE 109 Cerussa (see White-lead). CERUSSITE 110 CHAIN PUMPS 171—175 CHALCANTHITE 110 Chalcanthum (see also Vitriol) 109; 572
1 CHALCEDONY 114 Chal 573; 109 Indication of copper 116 CHALCOCITE 109; 402 CHALCOPYRITE 109 CHALDEAN ANTIMONY 429 CHEMISTRY. Origin XXVII; 220 CHEMNITZ. Agricola appointed city physician VII. Agricola elected burgomaster VIII; IX. Quarrel over Agricola's burial XI. CHINA, GRAND CANAL OF 129 CHINESE. Early copper smelting 402 Early iron 421 Early silver metallurgy 391 Early zinc smelting 409 Chrysocolla (see also Borax) 110; 221; 584; 1 Collection in vats 584 Colour of fumes 235 Indication of copper 116 Indication of gold 117 Mineral 109 Smelting of 401 CHURCH, SHARE IN MINES 91 CIMOLITE 31 CINNABAR (see Quicksilver and Minium). CLAIM, IN AMERICAN TITLE 77 CLOTH. Lining sluices 322 Ventilation by shaking 210 COAL 34 COBALT 354; 542; 112—113 Cobalt-blue 112; 433 From lead smelting 408 King Hiram's experience with 214 Poisonous to miners 214 Relation to cadmia 112 Relation to bismuth 435 Smelting ores of 401 COBALT-ARSENIC MINERALS (seeArsenic). COBALTITE 113 Cobaltum cineraceum (see Smallite). Cobaltum ferri colore (see Cobaltite). Cobaltum nigrum (see Abolite). COINERS 95; 78 COINS 251—253; 457 COLCHIS. Alluvial gold washing 330 COLOGNE. Scale of weights 263 COMPANIES, MINING 89—93; 90 Fraudulent dealing 22 Investment in 29 COMPASS 141—142; 56; 129 Divisions of the 56; 57 Swiss 145; 137 CONCENTRATES. From washing liquation products 542 Sintering of 401 Smelting of 394; 396—399; 401 CONCENTRATION 267—348; 279; 354 Congius 153; 172; 617 CONSTANTINOPLE, ALUM TRADE 569 CONSUMPTION. Miners liable to 214 Conterfei (see Zinc). CONTRACTS, METHOD OF SETTING 96 COPIAPITE 111 COPPER (see also Liquation) 109; 402; 511 Assay of 244; 249 Granulation of 250 Indications of 116 Parting from gold 462—464 Parting gold from silver 448—451; 448 Ratio in liquation cakes 505; 506 Residues from liquation 521 Rosette 538 COPPER-FILINGS 233; 233; 221 COPPER FLOWERS 538; 110; 233; 538 Pliny's description 404 COPPER GLANCE 401; 109 COPPER MATTE. Roasting 350 Smelting 404—407 COPPER ORE (see also Copper Smelting, etc.) 109 Assaying 244—245 COPPER PYRITES 117; 109 COPPER REFINING 530—538; 354; 492; 535—536 Breaking cakes 501—503 Enrichment of silver by settling 510 Roman method 404 Rosette copper 535 COPPER SCALES 110; 221; 233; 539 Use in assaying 245 COPPER SCHISTS (see also Mannsfeld Copper Slates) 127 Method of smelting 408 COPPER SMELTING 388—390; 401; 404; 402 Invention of appliances 353—354 CORNWALL. Ancient tin mining 413 Early German miners 282 Early mining law 85 Early ore dressing 282 Influence on German mining 283 “Knockers” 217 Mining terms 77; 101; 267; 282 Royal Geol. Soc. Transactions 84 Coticula (see Touchstone). Counterfeht (see Zinc). CRANE. For cupellation furnaces 476—477 For lead cakes 500 For liquation cakes 514 CREMNITZ. Age of mines 5 Width of veins 52 CRINOID STEMS 115 CROPPINGS 37; 37 CROSSCUTS 106 CROWBARS 152 CRUCIBLE. Assay 228; 230; 241; 245; 221 Of blast furnaces 376; 377 Crudaria 65 CRUSHING MILLS (see Stamp-mill andMills). CRUSHING ORE 231; 279—287; 279 CRYSTAL (Crystallum) 114 CUMBERLAND. Early report on ores of 267 Roman lead furnaces 392 CUP-BEARER. Right to a meer 81 CUPELLATION 464—483; 465—466 Buildings and furnaces 464—472; 492 Brightening of the silver 241; 475 In assaying 240 In “tests” 483 Latin and German terms 221; 492 Litharge 475 CUPELS 228—230; 221; 466 Drying of 240 Moulds 231 CUPRIC OXIDE 221 CUPRITE 109; 402 Cyanus (see also Azurite) 110 CYPRUS. Ancient copper smelting 402 Dach 127 Dactylos 617; 78 DANGERS TO MINERS 214—218 Darrlinge 492 Darrofen 492 Darrsöhle 492 DAWLING, OF A VEIN 101 DEAD SEA. Bitumen in 33 DECEMVIRAL COLLEGE 96 Decumanus (see Tithe Gatherer). Demensum (see Measure). DEMONS (see also Gnomes) 217; 217
1 DERBYSHIRE (see also High Peak). Early ore washing 281 Introduction jigging sieve 283 Mining law 77; 84—85 DESCENT INTO MINES 212 DEVON. Mining law 85 DILLEUGHER 267 DIOPTRA 129 Diphrygum 404 DIP OF VEINS 65—75 DIPPAS 101 DIPPERS 157 Of pumps 172 Discretores (see Sorters). DISTILLATION 441 For making nitric acid 441 Of amalgam 244 Of quicksilver 426—432 Distributor 78 DIVINING ROD 38—40; 38; 40 DIVISIONS OF THE COMPASS 56; 57 DRAINAGE OF MINES 121; 171—198 With buckets 171 With chain pumps 172 With rag and chain pumps 188 With suction pumps 172 With water bags 198 DRAWING. Knowledge necessary for miners 4 DRIFTS 104; 105; 101 Timbering of 125 DRUSY VEINS 107; 107 “DRYING” LIQUATION RESIDUES (see also Liquation) 527—529; 491; 492 Furnaces for 521; 526; 492 Silver extracted by 529 Slags from 523 DUMPS, WORKING OF 30 DUST CHAMBERS 394; 416; 354 DUTINS (Timbers) 101 DYNAMITE 119 “EARTHS.” Agricola's view of 1; 46; 48 Extraordinary 115 Peripatetic view of 46; 47 EGYPTIANS. Alluvial mining 330 Antimony 428 Bronze 402; 411 Copper smelting 402 Crushing and concentration 279 Furnaces 355 Glass making 586 Gold mining 399 Iron 421 Maps 129 Mining law 83 Silver and lead metallurgy 390 Tin 411; 412 EGYPTIAN SCREW (see Archimedes, Screw of). EIFEL. Spalling ore 272 Eisenertz (see Ironstone). Eisenglantz (see Ironstone). EISLEBEN. Heap roasting 279; 274 Electrum 458; 2; 35 ELEMENTS, PERIPATETIC THEORY OF 44 EMERY 115 ERBISDORFF. Tin strakes 304 Excoctores (see Smelters). EXHALATIONS. From veins 38; 44 EXHAUSTED LIQUATION CAKES (seeLiquation Cakes, Exhausted). FANS, VENTILATION 203—207 FATHOM 616; 77; 78 Federwis (see also Asbestos) 114; 274 FELDSPAR 114 Ferrugo (see Iron-rust). Ferrum purum (see Native Iron). Fibræ (see Stringers). FINENESS, SCALES OF 253; 617 FIRE-SETTING 118—120; 118—119 FIRSTUM MINES (see Fürst). FISSURE VEIN (see Vena profunda). FLAME. Determination of metal by 235 Determination of required flux by 235 FLINT, AS A FLUX 380 FLOAT, FROM VEINS 37 FLOOKAN 101 FLUE-DUST 394—396 Fluores (see Fluorspar). FLUORSPAR 115; 380; 381 Indication of ore 116 Flüsse (see Fluorspar). FLUXES (see also Argol, Saltpetre, Limestone, Stones which easily melt, etc.) 232—239; 232; 237; 380; 221 Basic 237 De-sulphurizing 236; 237 For smelting 379; 380; 386; 390 Reducing 236; 237 Stock fluxes for assaying 236 Sulphurizing 236; 237 FOOTWALL 68; 117 FOREHEARTH 356; 375—378; 386; 355 For tin furnaces 411; 413 FOREMAN (see Mining Foreman). FOREST-FIRES 36; 36 FOREST OF DEAN 84 FOREST OF MENDIP 84 Formae 101 Fossa latens (see also Drifts) 101 Fossa latens transversa (see alsoCrosscuts) 101 Fossores (see Miners). FOUNDERS' HOARDS 355; 402 FRACTIONAL MEERS 80 FRANCE. Mediæval mining law 84 FREE MINING CITIES 84 FREIBERG XXXI. Age of the mines 5 Bergmeister 95 Division of shares 81; 90; 91 First discovery of veins 35; 36 Flooding of mines 218 Method of cupellation 482 FULLERS' EARTH 115 FUMES. From heated ore 235 Poisonous 215—216 Fundamentum (see also Footwall) 101 Fundgrube (see also Meer) 77 FURNACES 374—378; 386; 388; 355; 492 Assaying (see Assay Furnaces). Bismuth smelting 433—437 Burning tin concentrates 349 Cementation 455 Copper smelting 401—408 Cupellation 467—468; 482—483 “Drying” liquated copper 522—526 Enriching copper bottoms 510 Gold and silver ores 382—384 Heating copper cakes 503 Iron smelting 420—421; 420 Latin and German terms 220 Lead ores 408—410 Liquation of silver 515 Melting lead cakes 498 Nitric acid making 441 Parting precious metals with anti-mony 452—453 Quicksilver distillation 426—432 Refining copper 531—533 Refining silver 483; 489 Refining tin 418 Roasting 276—277 Smelting liquation slags 507 Tin smelting 411—413; 419
1 FURNACE ACCRETIONS 113; 221; 492 Removal of 376 FURNACE HOODS 494 FORST. Mines of 24; 24 Gaarherd (see Refining-hearth). Gaarmachen (see Copper Refining). GAD 150 GALENA 51; 109; 110; 221 Bismuth distinguished from 3 Smelting of 400—401 GANGUE MINERALS 48 GARLIC. Magnet weakened by 39 GARNETS 334 GASES (see also Fumes) From fire-setting 120 Gedigen eisen, silher, etc. (see Native Iron, Silver, etc.). Gel atrament (see Misy). GEMS 115; 1 GEOLOGY. Agricola's views 595 GERMANS. English mining influenced by 283 Mining men imported into England 282 Ore-dressing methods 281—282 Geschwornen (in Saxon mines) 77 GEYER XXXI; 42; VI. Shafts 102 Tin-strakes 304 GILDING 460 Removal from objects 460; 464 GIPS (see Gypsum). GITTELDE. Smelting of lead ore 391 Glantz (see Galena). Glasertz (see Silver Glance). Glasköpfe (see Ironstone). GLASS 534—592 Blowing 592 Furnaces 586—590 From sand 380 GLASS-GALLS 235; 221 As a flux 235; 238; 243; 246 Use in parting gold from copper 464 Use in smelting gold concentrates 397; 398 Glette (see Litharge). Glimmer (see Mica). GNOMES. In mines 217; 112; 214; 217 GOBLINS (see Gnomes). GOD'S GIFT MINE (see Gottsgaab Mine). GOLD (see also Gold Ores, Parting, Smelting, Stamp-Mill, etc.). Alluvial mining 321—336; 330 Alluvial streams 75 Amalgamation 297 Gold-dust 396 Historical notes 399; 354 Indications of 108; 116 Lust for, not the fault of the metal 16 Minerals 108 Minerals associated with 108—109 Smelting of ores 381—382; 386; 388; 390; 396 Wickedness caused by 9—10 GOLD CONCENTRATES 396—399; 398 GOLDEN FLEECE 330; 330 GOLD ORES 107—108 Amalgamation 295—299; 297 Assay by amalgamation 243—244 Assay by fire 242—243 Flux used in assaying 235 Flux used in smelting 398 Smelting in blast furnace 398—400 Smelting cupriferous ores 404—407 Smelting in lead bath 399 Smelting pyritiferous ore 398—401 Stamp-milling 321 Goldstein (see Touchstone). GOSLAR 5; 37; 37 Lead smelting 408 Native zine vitriol 572 Roasting ores 274; 274 Spalling hard ore 271 GOSLARITE 113; 572 GOTTSGAAB MINE VI; VII; 74; 74 GOUNCE 267 GRAND CANAL OF CHINA 129 GRANULATION METHODS FOR BULLION 444 GRANULATION OF COPPER 250 GREEKS. Antimony 428 Brass making 410 Copper smelting 403 Iron and steel making 421 Metallurgy from Egypt 402 Mining law 83 Ore dressing 281 Quicksilver 432 Silver-lead smelting 391 Smelting appliances 355 GREY ANTIMONY (see also Stibium) 110; 221; 428 GRIFFINS 331 GROOM OF THE CHAMBER. Right to a meer 81 GROOVE (see also Shafts) 101 GROUND SLUICES 336—337 GROUND WATERS 46—48 Grünspan (see Verdigris). Gulden 92; 419 GUNPOWDER. First use for blasting in mines 119 Invention of 562 GYPSUM 114 HADE 101 Haematites (see Ironstone). Halinitrum (see Saltpetre). HALLE, SALT INDUSTRY 552 HAMMERS 151 With water power 423 HANGINGWALL 68; 117 HARZ MINERS. Agricola consulted VII. Antimony sulphide 428 First mining charter 84 First stamp-mill 282 Pumps 194 HAULING APPLIANCES (see also Whims and Windlasses) 160—168; 149 HEAP ROASTING 274—276 HEARTH-LEAD (see also Molybdaena). 475; 476; 110; 221 As a flux 232 Use in smelting 379; 398; 400 HEARTHS. For bismuth smelting 433—437 For melting lead 390; 498 HEAVENLY HOST MINE (see Himmelisch Höz Mine). HEAVY SPAR 115 HEBREWS. Knowledge of antimony 428 Silver-lead smelting 391 Term for tin 412 HEMATITE 111 HEMICYCLE (Hemicyclium) 137—138 Heraclion (see Lodestone). Herdplei (see Hearth-Lead). HIERO, KING 247; 247 HIGH PEAK (Derbyshire). Mining law 84 Nomenclature in mines 77 Saxon customs, connection with 77; 85 Himmelisch Höz MINE 74; 92; 75 HOE 152 HOLIDAYS OF MINERS 99 HORN SILVER 109 HORNS OF DEER 230 HORNSTONE 116; 114 HUNGARY. Cupellation 483
1 Hüttenrauch (see Pompholyx). IGLAU, CHARTER OF 84 INCENSE IN CUPELLATION FURNACES 472 INDICATIONS OF ORE 106; 107; 116 Ingestores (see Shovellers). INDIA. Steel 423 Zinc 409 Intervenium 51; 50 INVESTMENT IN MINES 26—29 IRON 420; 354; 111 Cast 420 Censure of 11 Indications of 116 Malleable 420 Smelting 420—426 Sulphur harmſul to 273 IRON AGE 420 IRON FILINGS (see also Iron-Scales) 221 Use in assaying 234; 238; 246 IRON ORE. Assaying of 247 Smelting of 420—426 IRON-RUST 116; 474; 1; 111 IRON-SCALES 221 Flux 234 Use in smelting gold 398 Use in smelting silver 400 Use in making nitric acid 440 Use in parting gold from copper 464 IRON-SLAG. 221 As a flux 234; 235 IRONSTONE 390; 111 ITALIANS. Alluvial mining in Germany 334 ITALY. Mining formerly forbidden 8 JADE 114 JAPAN. Steel 423 JASPER 111; 2 Jaspis 114 JET 34 JIGGING SIEVE 310; 267; 283 JOACHIMSTHAL VI. First stamp-mill 281 Mining shares and profits 91; 92 Jüdenstein (see Lapis Judaicus). JUICES 1; 47 Agricola's theory 46; 52 From springs and streams 33 Stone juice 46; 49 Tastes of 34 JUICES, SOLIDIFIED. Agricola's view of 1; 49 Extraction of metals from 350 Preparation of 545 JULIAN ALPS. Stamp-milling in 319 JUNCTIONS (see Veins, Intersections of). Jurati (see Jurors). JURORS 22; 92; 96; 78 In English mining custom 85 Relations to Bergmeister 95; 77 JUSTINIAN CODE. Mines 84 Kalchstein (see Limestone). Kammschale 127 KAOLINITE (see Porcelain Clay). Katzensilber (see Mica). KING. Deputy 94 Right to a meer 81 Kinstock (see Liquation Cakes, Exhausted). Kis (see Pyrites). KNOCKERS (see Gnomes). Kobelt (see Cobalt). KÖLERGANG VEIN 42 KÖNIGSBERG. Fire-setting 119 Kupferglas ertz (see Copper Glance). Kupferschiefer (see Copper Schists). KUTTENBLRG. Depths of shafts 102 LABOUR CONDITION IN MINING TITLE. 92; 83—85 LACEDAEMONIANS (see Spartans). Lachter (see Fathom). LADDERWAYS IN SHAFTS 124; 212 LADLE FOR BULLION 382 Lapis aerarius (see Copper Ore). Lapis alabandicus 380 Lapis Judaicus 115; 115 Lapis specularis (see Gypsum). LATHS (Lagging) 101 LA TOLFA. Alum manufacture 565 Discovery of 570 LAURION (LAURIUM), Mr. (see Mr. LAURION, MINES OF). LAUTENTAL, LIQUATION AT 491 LAW (see Mining Law). LAW-SUITS OVER SHARES IN MINES 94 LEAD 354; 390; 110 Censure of 11 Cupellation 464—483 Melting prior to liquation 500 In liquation cakes 505—506; 505; 506 Refining silver 483—490 Smelting of ores 388—392; 400 Use in assaying 232; 239; 242; 244; 249; 251 Washing in sluices 347 LEAD-ASH 237; 237; 221 As a flux 234 Use in parting gold from copper 463 LEAD BATH 381 LEAD-GLASS 236 LEAD GRANULES 239; 463; 221 LEADING (in liquation) 304; 507; 513; 491; 492; 504 Components of the charge 505—509 LEAD OCHRE 232; 110; 221 LEAD ORE. Assay methods 245—246 Roasting 275 Smelting in blast furnace 390; 408 LEASE, IN AUSTRALIAN TITLE 77 LEAVES PREPARATION OF BULLION INTO 444 LEBERTHAL 24 LEES OF aqua WHICH SEPARATES GOLD FROM SILVER 234; 443; 221 As a flux 234; 238 LEES OF VINEGAR (see also Argol) 221 As a flux 234; 236; 243; 234 LEES OF WINE (see Argol). LEMNOS, ISLAND OF 31 LEMNIAN EARTH 31 LEPROSY OF HOUSE WALLS (see Salt-petre). LEVEL (see also Drift) 101 LEVEL, PLUMMET (see Plummet Level) LIMESTONE 114; 221 As a flux 236; 390 LIMONITE 111 LIMP 267 LINARES. Hannibal's mines near 42 LIPARI ISLANDS. Alum from 566 LIQUATED SILVER-LEAD (see Stannum and Silver-lead). LIQUATION 519—521; 491; 519 Ash-coloured copper from 529 Buildings for 491 Furnace 515—518; 492 Historical note on 494 Losses 491; 539 Nomenclature 492 LIQUATION CAKES 505—509; 492; 505; 506 Enrichment of the lead 512; 512 Extraction of silver from 512 From bye-products of liquation 539—540 From copper bottoms 512; 512
1 Proportion of lead in rich silver copper 509 LIQUATION CAKES, EXHAUSTED 521—526; 406; 492; 520 LIQUATION SLAGS 509; 492; 541 Furnaces for 507 Treatment of 541 LIQUATION THORNS 522; 539; 492; 539; 540 From cupellation 543; 543 From “drying” copper residues 529 LITHARGE (see also Cupellation) 475; 232—238; 466; 476; 110; 222 Use in reducing silver nitrate 447 Use in smelting 379; 398; 400 Lithargyrum (see Litharge). LODESTONE 115; 111; 115; 2 Compass 57 Los Pozos de Anibal 42 Lotores (see Washers). LUSITANIA. Gold alluvial 347 Sluices for gold washing 325 Tin smelting 419 LUTE 1 Preparation of for furnace linings 375—376 LYDIA. Mining law 83 The King's mines 27 LYE 558; 221; 233 Use in making fluxes 236 Use in parting 463 Magister Metallicorum (see Bergmeister). Magister Monetariorum (see Master of the Mint). Magnes (see also Lodestone and Man-ganese) 584; 111; 115; 584 MAGNET 247 Garlic 39 Magnetis (see Mica). MAGNETITE 111 MALACHITE 109; 221 MALADIES OF MINERS 214—217 MALTHA 581 MANAGER (see Mine Manager). MANGANESE 586; 354 MANNSFELD COPPER SLATES 126—127; 279; 127; 273 MAP-MAKING 129 MARBLE 115; 2; 114 MARCASITE 111; 112; 409 Marga (see Marl). MARIENBERG XXXI; VI. MARL 114 MARMELSTEIN (see Marble). Marmor (see Marble). Marmor alabastrites (see Alabaster). Marmor glarea 114 MASSICOT (see also Lead Ochre) 110; 221; 232 MASTER OF THE HORSE 81 MASTER OF THE MINT 95; 78 MATTE (see Cakes of Melted Pyrites). MATTE SMELTING 404—407 MEASURE (unit of mining area) 78; 78 MEASURES 616—617; 78; 550 MEDICINE. Knowledge necessary for miners 3 Medulla saxorum (see Porcelain Clay). MEER 77—89 Boundary stones 87 On vena cumulata 87 On vena dilatata 86 MEISSEN. Duraps from mines 312 Melanteria 117; 112; 573 Indication of copper 116 MELANTERITE 111 MELOS, ISLAND OF 566 Menning (see Red-lead). Mergel (see Marl). METALS 2; 44; 51 Advantages and uses 19; 20 Necessity to man XXV; 12—13 Not responsible for evil passions 15 Metreta 153 MEXICO Patio process 297 MICA 114 MIDDLE AGES, MINING LAW OF 84 MILLS FOR GRINDING ORE 294—299; 280 MIMES (see also Gnomes) 217 MINE CAPTAIN 26; 77 MINE MANAGER 97; 98; 77; 78 MINERAL KINGDOM, AGRICOLA'S DIVISIONS OF 1 MINERALS 594; 108; 48; 51 Compound 2; 51 Mixed 2; 51 MINERS 1—4; 25; 78 Duties and punishments 100; 22 Law (see Mining Law). Litigation among 21 Slaves as 23 MINES. Abandonment of 217 Conditions desirable 30—33 Investments in 26—29 Management of 25; 26 Names of 42 MINES ROYAL, COMPANY OF 283 MINING (see also Sett, Lease, Claim, Meer, etc.). Criticisms of 4—12 Harmless and honourable 14; 20; 23 Methods of breaking ore 117—118 Stoping 125 MINING CLERK 93; 95; 96; 78 MINING COMPANIES (see Companies, Mining). MINING FOREMAN 98—99; 78 Frauds by 21—22 MINING LAW 82—86 Boundary stones 87 Drainage requirements 92—93 England 84—86 Europe 84 Forfeiture of title 92—93 France 84 Greek and Roman 83 Middle Ages 84—85 Right of Overlord, Landowner, State and Miner 82 Tunnels 88—89 MINING PREFECT 26; 94; 78 MINING RIGHTS (see Mining Law andMeer). MINING TERMS, OLD ENGLISH 77; 101 MINING TOOLS 149—153 Buckets for ore 153—154 Buckets for water 157 Trucks 156 Wheelbarrows 155 Minium 111 Quicksilver from 433 Red-lead 232 Minium secundarium (see Red-lead). MISPICKEL (Mistpuckel) 111 Misy (the mineral) 573; 111; 403 An indication of copper 116 Use in parting gold and silver 459 Mitlere und obere offenbrüche (seeFurnace Accretions). Modius 617; 405 MOGLITZ. Tin working 318 MOIL 150 Molybdaena 110; 221; 476; 400; 408 Term for lead carbonates 400; 408 Molybdenite 477 Monetarius (see Coiners). MONEY, ASSAYING OF 251—252 MORANO GLASS FACTORIES 592 MORAVIA. Cupellation 483 Stamp-milling 321 Washing gold ore 324 MORDANTS 569 MORTAR-BOX 279—280; 312; 319; 267
1 MOUNTAINS. Formation of 595 MT. BERMIUS. Gold Mines of 26; 27 MT. LAURION, MINES OF 27; 27—29; 391 Crushing and concentration of ores 281 Cupellation 465 Mining law 83 Smelting appliances 355 Xenophon on 6 MT. SINAI. Ancient copper smelting 355; 402 MUFFLE FURNACES 224—228; 239 MUFFLES 227; 239; 222 Refining silver 489—490 MÜHLBERG, BATTLE OF X. Murrhina (see Chalcedony). MUSKETS 11 MYCENAE. Copper 402 Silver-lead smelting 391 NAMES OF MINES 42 NAPHTHA 581 NATIVE COPPER 109 NATIVE IRON 111 NATIVE MINERALS 107 NATIVE SILVER 269; 109 NATRON (see Nitrum). NEOLITHIC FURNACES 355 NEUSOHL, METHOD OF SCREENING ORE 290 NEWBOTTLE ABBEY 35 NITOCRIS, BRIDGE OF 391 NITRIC ACID (see also Aqua valens) 439—443; 460; 439; 354 Assay parting gold and silver 248 Testing silver regulus with 449 Use in cleaning gold dust 396 Nitrum (see also Soda) 558; 110 NOMENCLATURE I; 267 Mining law 77; 78 Mining officials 77; 78 Norici 388 Conveyance of ore 169 NORMANS. Mining Law in England 85 NOTARY 94; 78 NUBIA. Early gold-mining 399 NUREMBERG, SCALE OF WEIGHTS 264 Obolus 25 Ochra nativa 111 OCHRE YELLOW 111 Ofſenbrüche (see Furnace Accretions). OLYNTHUS. Betrayal to Philip of Macedon 9 Operculum 441; 222 Orbis 141; 137 ORE (see various. metals, Assaying, Mining, etc.). ORE CHANNELS (see Canales). ORE DEPOSITS, THEORY OF XIII; 43—53 ORE DRESSING 267—351 Burning 273 Hand spalling 271—272 Sorting 268—271 Orguia 78; 78; 617 Orichalcum (see Aurichalcum) ORPIMENT 111; 1; 222 Colour of fumes 235 Harmful to metals 273 Indication of gold, etc. 116 Roasted from ore 273 Use in assaying 237 OUTCROPS 68; 43 OX-BLOOD IN SALT MAKING 552 PACTOLUS, GOLD SANDS OF 27 PARK'S PROCESS 465 PARTING GOLD FROM COPPER 462—464 PARTING GOLD FROM SILVER 443—460; 458—463 Antimony sulphide 451—452; 451—452; 461 PARTING GOLD FROM SILVER. Cementation 453—457; 453—454; 458 Chlorine gas 458; 462 Electrolysis 458; 462 Nitric acid 443—447; 443; 447; 460 Nitric acid (in assaying) 247—249 Sulphur and copper 448—451; 448; 461 Sulphuric acid 458; 462 PARTITIONS 493 PASSAU, PEACE OF IX. Passus 616; 78 PATIO PROCESS 297—298 PATTINSON'S PROCESS 465 PEAK, THE (see High Peak). Pentremites 115 PERGAMUM. Brazen ox of 11 Mines near 26; 27 PERIPATETICS XII. Theory of ore deposits 47; 44 View of wealth 18 PERSIANS. Ancient mining law 83 Pes 616; 78 PESTLES 231; 483 PETROLEUM 581—582 PHALARIS. BRAZEN BULL OF 11 PHILOSOPHY. Knowledge necessary for miners 3 PHOENICIANS. Copper and bronze 402 In Thasos 24 Tin 411—412 PICKS 152—153 Pickscheifer (see Ash-coloured Copper). PLACER MINING 321—348 Pleigeel (see Lead Ochre). Pleiweis (see White-lead). PLEYGANG VEIN 42 Plumbago 110 Plumbum candidum 110; 3; 473 Plumbum cinereum 111; 3 Plumbum nigrum lutei coloris 110; 3 PLUMMET LEVEL. Standing 143; 137 Suspended 145; 146; 137 POCKETS IN ALLUVIAL STUICES 322—330 POISONOUS FUMES (see Fumes). POLAND. Cupellation 483 Lead ore washing 347 Lead smelting 392 Poletae, TABLETS OF THE 83 POLING COPPER 531—538; 535—536 POMPEIOPOLIS. Arsenic mine at 111 Pompholyx 394; 113—114; 403 From copper refinings 538 From cupellation 476 From dust-chambers 394 From roasting ore 278 Poisonous 214; 215 Used for brass making 410 PORCELAIN CLAY 115 POTASH 558—559; 558; 233; 220 In Sal artificiosus 463 POTTERY, EGYPTIAN 391 POTOSI 298 POZOS DE ANIBAL, LOS 42 Pous 617; 78 Praefectus cuniculi 78 Praefectus fodinae (see Mine Manager). Praefectus metallorum (see Mining Prefect). Praeses cuniculi 78 Praeses fodinae (see Mining Foreman). PRECIOUS AND BASE METALS 439 PRIMGAP 80 Procurator metallorum 83 PROSPECTING 35 PROUSTITE 109 PUMPS 171—200; 149 Chain 171—175 Rag and chain 188—200
1 Suction 175—188 Purgator argents (see Silver Refiner). PURSER 77 PUTROLI 501 PYRARGYRITK 109 Pyriten argenium 408 PYRITES (see also Cakes of Melted Pyrites) 51; 111; 112; 1 As a flux 234 Assay for gold 243 In tin concentrates 348 Latin and German terms 222 Roasting 273—274 Roasting cakes of 349—351 Smelting for gold and silver 399; 401 Used in making vitriol 578 Pyrites aerosus (see Copper Pyrites). Pyrites aurei coloris (see Copper Pyrites). QUARTZ (see also Stones which easily melt) 114 As a flux 380 An indication of ore 116 Material of glass 380 Silver ore 113 Smelting of 401 Quarzum (see Quartz). QUERTZE 380 QUICKSILVER 432; 2; 354; 111 Amalgamation of gilt objects 461 Amalgamation of gold dust 396 Amalgamation of gold ores 297; 297 Assaying methods 247 Ore 426—432 Use in assaying gold ore 243 RAG AND CHAIN PUMPS 188—200 RAKE VEINS 101 RAMMELSBERG. Collapse of mines 216 Discovery 37 Early vitriol making 572 Rauchstein 127 REALGAR 1; 111; 222 Colour of fumes 235 Harmful to metals 273 Indication of ore 116 Roasted from ore 273 Rederstein (see Trochitis). RED-LEAD 232; 110; 222 Use in parting gold from copper 463 Use in parting gold from silver 459 REFINED SALT 454; 463; 233 REFINERY FOR SILVER AND COPPER 491—498 REFINING GOLD FROM COPPER 462—464 REFINING GOLD FROM SILVER 443—458 REFINING-HEARTH 492 REFINING SILVER 483—490; 465; 484 REFINING SILVER FROM LEAD 464 REFORMATION, THE V; VIII. RE-OPENING OF OLD MINES 217 REVIVAL OF LEARNING. Agricola's position in XIII. REWARD LEASE, IN AUSTRALIAN LAW 77 RHAETIA 388 RHAETIAN ALPS. Stamp milling in 319 RING-FIRE 448 RIO TINTO MINES. Roman methods of smelting 405 Roman water-wheels 149 RISKS OF MINING 28—29 RITHER (a horse) 101 ROASTED COPPER 233; 233; 222 ROASTING 273—279; 267 Heap roasting 274—275 In furnaces 276 Mattes 349—351 Prior to assaying 231 ROCKS 119; 2 ROCK-SALT 548; 222 Use in cementation 454 ROMAN ALUM 565 ROMANS. Amalgamation 297 Antimony 428 Brass making 410 Companies 90 Copper smelting 404—405 Mining law 83 Minium Company 232 Quicksilver 433 Roasting 267 Silver-lead smelting 392 Washing of ore 281 ROSETTE COPPER 538; 535 Rosgeel (see Realgar). RUBY COPPER 109; 402 RUBY SILVER 51; 109 Assaying of 244 Cupellation 473 Rudis Ores 108 RUST (see Iron-rust). SABINES 9 Saigerdörner (see Liquation Thorns). Saigerwerk (see Stannum). Salamander har (see Asbestos). Salamis, Battle of 27 Sal-ammoniac 560; 560; 222 In cements for parting gold and silver 454—457 In making aqua valens 441 Uses in cupellation 474 Uses in making aqua regia 460 Uses in parting gold from copper 463 Sal artificiosus 236; 463; 236 In assaying 242 As a flux 234 SALT 545; 556; 546; 233; 222 As a flux 234—238 Pans 545; 546 Solidified juice 1 Use in cementation 454; 454 Use in parting gold from copper 463; 464 Use in smelting ores 396; 400 Wells 546—547 SALT MADE FROM ASHES OF MUSK IVY 560; 233 Sal torrefactus 242; 222; 233 Sal tostus 233; 233; 222 SALTPETRE 561—564; 561; 562; 222 As a flux 233; 236—238; 245; 247 In smelting gold concentrates 398 Uses in cementation 454; 454 Uses in making nitric acid 439; 440; 447; 454 Uses in melting silver nitrate 447 SAMPLING COPPER BULLION 249 SAND 117 Sandaraca (see Realgar). SANDIVER (see Glass-galls). Sarda (see Carnelian). SAXONY. High Peak customs from 77; 85 Political state in Agricola's time. VIII; IX. Reformation IX. Saxum calcis (see Limestone). SCALES OF FINENESS 253; 617 SCAPTE-HYLE, MINES OF 23 SCHEMNITZ. Age of mines 5 Gunpowder for blasting 119 Pumps 194 SCHIST 222 Schistos (see Ironstone). SCHLACKENWALD. Ore washing 304 SCHMALKALDEN LEAGUE IX. SCHMALKALDEN WAR IX; X. SCHNEEBERG XXXI; VI. Cobalt 435 Depth of shafts 102 Ore stamping 281 Shares 91 St. George mine 92; 74; 75 Schwartz-atrament (see Melanteria and Sory).
1 SCORIFICATION ASSAY 239 SCORIFIER 228; 230; 222 Assays in 238; 239 SCREENING ORE (see Sifting Ore). SCREENS (see also Screening) 267 In stamp-mill 315 Scriba fodinarum (see Mining Clerk). Scriba magistri metallicorum (seeBergmeister's Clerk). Scriba partium (see Share Clerk). SCUM OF LEAD FROM CUPELLATION 475 SCYTHIANS. Wealth condemned 9; 15 SEAMS IN THE ROCKS 72; 43; 47 Indications of ore 67; 107 SEA-WATER, SALT FROM 545—546 Sesterce 448 SETT 77 SETTLING PITS 316; 267 SHAFT-HOUSES 102 SHAFTS 102—107; 122—124 Surveys of 129—135 Venae cumulatae 128 SHAKES 101 SHARE CLERK 97; 93; 78 SHARE IN MINES (see Companies, Mining). SHEARS FOR CUTTING NATIVE SILVER 269 SHIFT 99; 92 SHOES (stamp) 285—286; 267 SHOVELLERS 153; 169; 78 Sideritis (see Lodestone). Siegelstein (see Lodestone). SIEVES. For charcoal 375 For crushed ore 287—293; 341 SIFTING ORE 287—293 Signator publicus (see Notary). Silberweis (see Mica). Silex 114; 118 SILVER (see also Assaying, Liquation, Parting, Refining, etc) 390; 354; 109 Amalgamation 297; 300 Assaying 248—251 Cupellation 464—483; 241 “Drying” copper residues from liquation 529 Enrichment in copper bottoms 510; 510 Exhausted liquation cakes 524 Indicated by bismuth, etc. 116 Liquation 505—507; 506; 509; 512 Parting from gold (see Parting Gold and Silver). Parting from iron 544; 544 Precipitation from solution in copper bowl 444 Refining 483—490; 465; 484 Smelting of ores 381—382; 386; 388; 390; 400; 402 Use in clarification of nitric acid 443; 443 SILVER, RUBY (see Ruby Silver). SILVER GLANCE 109 Assaying 244 Cupellation 473 Dressing 269 SILVER-LEAD ALLOY (see Stannum, etc.). SILVER ORES 109; 109 Assaying 242—244 Assaying cupriferous ores 245 Fluxes required in assaying 235 Smelting cupriferous ores 404—407 SILVER-PLATING 460 SILVER REFINER 95; 78 SILVER REFINING (see Refining). SILVER VEINS 117 SINGING BY MINERS 118 SINTERING CONCENTRATES 401 SLAGS (see also Liquation Slags) 222 From blast furnace 379; 381 From liquation 491; 492; 523 SLAVES AS MINERS 23; 83 In Greek mines 25; 25; 28 SLOUGH (tunnel) 101 SLUICES 319; 322—348 SMALLITE 113 SMALT 112 Smega 404 SMELTERS 78 SMELTING (see also various metals) 379—390; 353—355 Assaying compared 220 Building for 355—361 Objects of 353 Smirgel (see Emery). Smiris (see Emery). SMYRNA. Mines near 27 SNAKE-BITES 31 SODA (see also Nitrum) 558; 559; 233; 222 As a flux 233; 234 Historical notes 558; 354 Solidified juice 1 SOLE 101 SOLIDIFIED JUICES (see Juices, Solidified). Solifuga 216; 216 SORTERS 78 SORTING ORE 268—271 Sory 112; 403; 573 Sows 376; 386; 376 SPAIN (see also Lusitania). Ancient silver-lead mines 149; 392 Ancient silver mines of Carthage 27 Ancient tin mines 411—412 SPALLING ORE 271—272 Spangen (see Trochitis). Spanschgrün (see Verdigris). SPARTANS. Gold and silver forbidden 9; 15 Interference with Athenian mines 27 SPAT (see Heavy Spar). SPELTER 409 SPHALERITE 113 Spiauter 409 Spiesglas (see Stibium). SPINES OF FISHES FOR CUPELS 230 Spodos 538; 394; 113; 114 Spuma argenti (see Litharge). STAFFORDSHIRE. First pumping engine 149 STALAGMITES 114 STALL ROASTING 350—351 STAMP 267 For breaking copper cakes 501—503 For crushing crucible lining 373—375 STAMPING REFINED SILVER 489 STAMP-MILL 279—287; 281—282; 267 Wet ore 312—314; 319—321 STANDING PLUMMET LEVEL (seePlummet Level). STANNARIES 85 Stannum 473; 2; 384; 492 STEEL 423—426; 422—423; 354 Steiger 77 Steinmack (see Porcelain Clay). STEMPLE (stull) 101 STEPHANITE 109 STERNEN MINE 92; 75 STEWARD (of High Peak mines) 77 ST. GEORGE MINE (Schneeberg) 92; 74; 75 Stibium (see also Antimony and Anti-mony Sulphide) 110; 428; 2; 221 Flux to be added to 235 In assaying 237—239 In cementation 458—460 Indication of silver 116 In making nitric acid 440 In parting gold and silver 451—452; 459 In parting gold from copper 464 In treatment of gold concentrates 396; 397 STIBNITE 428; 451 ST. LORENTZ MINE 74; 92 STOCKWERKE (see Vena cumulata). STOICS. Views on wealth 18 Stomoma 423 STONE JUICE 46; 49
1 STONES. Agricola's view of 2; 46; 49 Various orders of fusibility 380 “STONES WHICH EASILY MELT” (see also Quartz) 380; 222 As a flux 233; 236; 233 In making nitric acid 440 In smelting 379; 380; 390 Smelting of 401 STOOL (of a drift) 101 STOPE 126 STOPING 125 Venae cumulatae 128 Venae dilatatae 126; 127 STRAKE 303—310; 267; 282 Canvas 307—310; 314; 316; 267 Egyptians 280 Greeks 281 Short 306—307; 267 Washing tin concentrates 341—343 STRATA 126 STREAMING 316—318 STRINGERS 70; 43; 47; 70 Indication of ore 106 Mining method 128 STYRIA 388 SUBTERRANEAN HEAT 46; 595 SUCTION PUMPS 175—188 SULPHIDES 267; 355 SULPHUR 578—581; 579; 222 Colour of fumes 235 Harmful to metals 273 In assaying 235—238 In parting gold from copper 463; 462 In parting gold from silver 448—451; 448; 461 In smelting gold dust 396 Roasted from ores 273; 276 Solidified juice 1 SULPHUR “NOT EXPOSED TO THE FIRE.” 458; 463; 579 SURVEYOR'S FIELD 137; 144; 142 SURVEYING 128—148; 129 Necessary for miners 4 Rod 137—138 SUSPENDED PLUMMET LEVEL (seePlummet Level). SWISS COMPASS 145; 137 SWISS SURVEYORS 145 Symposium 91 TAP-HOLE 378; 386 TAPPETS 282; 319; 267 TAPPING-BAR 381 TARSHISH, TIN TRADE 412 TARTAR (Cream of) 220; 234 Tectum (Hangingwall) 101 Terra sigillata (see Lemnian Earth). “TESTS”, REFINING SILVER IN 483—490; 465; 484 Thaler 92 THASOS, MINES OF 23; 95; 23 Theamedes 115 THEODOSIAN CODE. Mines 84 THORNS (see Liquation Thorns). THURINGIA. Roasting pyrites 276 Sluices of gold washing 327 TIGNA (Wall plate) 101 TIMBERING. Of ladderways and shafts 122; 123; 124 Of stopes 126 Of tunnels and drifts 124—125 TIN 411—413; 354; 110 Alluvial mining 336—340 Assaying ore 246 Assaying for silver 251 Colour of fumes 235 Concentrates 340—342; 348—349 Cornish treatment 282 Refining 418—419 Smelting 411—420 Stamp-milling 312—317 Streaming 316—318 TIN. Washing 298; 302; 304 Tincar or Tincal (see Borax). TITHE GATHERER 81; 95; 98; 78 TITHE ON METALS 81; 82 Toden Kopfſ 235 Tofstein (see Tophus). TOLFA, LA (see La Tolta). TOOLS 149—153 Topfstein (see Tophus). Tophus 233; 114; 222 As a flux 233; 237; 390 TORTURES. With metals 11 Without metals 17 TOUCH-NEEDLES 253—260; 253 TOUCHSTONE 253—253; 252; 354; 458; 222 Mineral 114 Uses 243; 248; 447 TRADE-ROUTES. Salt-deposits influence on 546 TRANSPORT OF ORE 168—169 TRENT, BISHOP OF. Charter (1185) 84 TRIANGLES IN SURVEYING 129—137 TRIPOLI 115 Trochitis 115; 115 TROLLEY 480; 500; 514 TROY. Lead found in 391 TROY WEIGHTS 616; 617; 242 TRUCKS 156 TUNNELS 102; 101 Law 88—93 Surveys of 130—141 Timbering 124 TURIN PAPYRUS 129; 399 TURN (winze) 101 Tuteneque 409 Tuttanego 409 TUTTY 394 TWITCHES OF THE VEIN 101 TWYER 376 TYE 267 TYPE. Stibium used for 2; 429 TYRANTS. Inimical to miners 32 TYROLESE. Smelting 388; 404 ULCERS 214; 31 Uncia (length) 78; 616; 78 Uncia (weight) 616; 242 UNDERCURRENTS (see Sluices). UNITED STATES. Apex law 82 Vectiarii (see Windlass Men). VEINS 43; 64—69; 106—107; 47 Barren 72; 107 Direction of 54—58 Drusy 72; 73; 107 Hardness variable 117 Indications 35—38 Intersections of 65; 66; 67; 106; 107 Vena. Use of term 43; 47 Vena cumulata 46; 49; 70; 43; 47 Mining method 128 Mining rights 87 Vena dilatata 41; 45; 53; 60—61; 43; 47 Junctions with vena profunda 67; 68 Mining method 126—127 Mining rights 83—86 Washing lead ore from 347 Vena profunda 44; 51; 60; 62; 63; 68; 69; 43; 47 Cross veins 65 Functions 65; 66; 67; 68 Mining rights 79—83 VENETIAN GLASS 222 Factories 592 In assaying 238; 245; 246
1 VENETIAN GLASS. In cupellation 474 VENICE. Glass-factories 592 Parting with nitric acid 461 Scale of weights 264 VENTILATION 200—212; 121 With bellows 207—210 With fans 203—207 With linen cloths 210 With windsails 200—203 VERDIGRIS 440; 1; 110; 222 In cementation 454; 457 Indication of ore 116 In making nitric acid 440 In parting gold from copper 464 VERMILION. Adulteration with red-lead 232 Poisonous 215 VILLACENSE LEAD 239; 239 VINEGAR. Use in breaking rocks 119; 118 Use in cleansing quicksilver 426 Use in roasting matte 349 Use in softening ore 231 Virgula divina (see Divining Rod). VITRIOL 571; 572; 403; 222; 1 In assaying 237—238 In cementation 454; 454 Indication of copper 116 In making nitric acid 439—440 In roasted ores 350 In sal artificiosus 463 Native 111 Native blue 109 Native white 113 Red 274 White 454 VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS 595 WASHERS 78 WASHING ORE (see also Concentration, Screening Ore, etc.) 300—310 WATER-BAGS 157—159; 198 WATER-BUCKETS 157—158 WATER-WHEELS 187; 283; 286; 319 WATER-TANK, UNDER BLAST FUR-NACES 356—357 WEALTH 7—20 WEDGES 150 WEIGHTS 260—264; 616—617; 242; 253 Weisser Kis 111 Werckschuh 617; 78 WESTPHALIA. Smelting lead ore 391 Spalling ore 272 WHEELBARROWS 154 WHIMS 164—167 WHITE-LEAD 440; 354; 110; 232 WHITE SCHIST 234; 390; 234; 222 WINDING APPLIANCES (see Hauling Appliances). WINDLASSES 160; 171; 149 WINDLASS MEN 160; 78 WINDS. Greek and Roman names 58 Sailors' names 59; 60 WINDS (winze) 101 WINDSAILS 200—203 WINZES 102 WITTENBERG, CAPITULATION OF IX. WIZARDS. Divining rods 40 WORKMEN 98; 100 WOUGHS 101 Zaffre 112 ZEITZ XI. ZINC (see also Cadmia, and Cobalt). Historical notes 408—410; 354 Minerals 112—113 ZINCK (see Zinc). ZINC OXIDES 113; 354 ZINC SULPHATE (see Vitriol). Zincum (see Zinc). Zoll 617; 78 ZWICKAU VI. Zwitter 110
1
INDEX TO PERSONS AND
AUTHORITIES.
NOTE.—The numbers in heavy type refer to the Text;
those in plain type to the Footnotes, Appendices, etc.
PAGE ACOSTA, JOSEPH DE 298 AESCHYLUS. Amber 35 AESCULAPIUS. Love of gold 9 AFRICANUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII AGATHARCHIDES. Cupellation 465 Egyptian gold mining 279; 391; 399 Fire-setting 118 AGATHOCLES. Money 21 AGATHODAEMON (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII AGRICOLA, DANIEL 606 AGRICOLA, GEORG (a preacher at Freiberg) 606 AGRICOLA, GEORGIUS. Assaying 220 Biography V—XVI Founder of Science XIV Geologist XII; 46; 53 Interest in Gottsgaab mine VII; 74 Mineralogist XII; 108; 594 Paracelsus compared with. XIV Real name V Works Appendix A See also: Bermannus. De Animantibus. De Natura eorum, etc. De Natura Fossilium. De Ortu et Causis. De Peste. De Precio Metallorum. De Re Metallica. De Veteribus Metallis. Etc. AGRICOLA, RUDOLPH 606 ALBERT THE BRAVE, DUKE OF MEISSEN VIII ALBERTUS MAGNUS (Albert von Bollstadt) XXX; 609 Alluvial gold 76 Cementation 460 Metallic arsenic 111 Metals 44 Saltpetre 562 Zinc 409 ALBINUS, PETRUS V; 599 Cuntz von Glück 24 ALPINUS, PROSPER 559 ALYATTES, KING OF LYDIA. Mines owned by 26; 27 AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS 38; 53 ANACHARSIS. Invention of bellows 362 ANACREON OF TEOS. Money despised by 9; 15 ANAXAGORAS. Money despised by 15 ANNA, DAUGHTER OF AGRICOLA VII ANNA, WIFE OF AGRICOLA VII ANTIPHANES. On wealth 19 APOLLODORUS 26 APULEJUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXIX ARCHIMEDES. King Hiero's crown 247 Machines 149 ARDAILLON, EDOUARD. Mt. Laurion 28; 281; 391 ARISTIPPUS. Gold 9; 14 ARISTODEMUS. Money 8 ARISTOTLE XII; 607 Amber 35 Athenian mines 27; 83 Burning springs 583 Coal 34 Cupellation 465 Distillation 441 Lodestone 115 Nitrum 558 Ores of brass 410 Quicksilver 432 Silver from forest fires 36 Theory of ore deposits 44 Wealth of 15 ARNOLD DE VILLA NOVA. (See Villa Nova, Arnold de). ATHENAEUS. Silver from forest fires 36 AUGURELLUS, JOHANNES AURELIUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXX AUGUSTINUS PANTHEUS (alchemist). XXVII AUGUSTUS, ELECTOR OF SAXONY IX Dedication of De Re Metallica XXV Letter to Agricola XV AVICENNA XXX; 608 BACON, ROGER XXX; 609 Saltpetre 460; 562 BADOARIUS, FRANCISCUS XXVII BALBOA, V. N. DE V BALLON, PETER 559 BARBA, ALONSO 300; 1 BARBARUS, HERMOLAUS XXVII BARRETT, W. F. 38 BECHER, J. J. 53 BECHIUS, PHILIP XV BECKMANN, JOHANN. Alumen 565 Amalgamation 297 Nitrum 559 Parting with nitric acid 461 Stamp-mills 281 Stannum 473 Tin 412 Bergbüchlein (see Nützlich Bergbü hlin). Berguerhs Leicon 37; 80; 81 BERMAN, LORENZ VI; 597 Bermannus 596; 599; VI Arsenical minerals 111 Bismuth 3; 433 Cadmia 113 Cobalt 112 Fluorspar 381 Molybdasna 477 Schist 234 Shafts 102 Zinc 409 BERTHRLOT, M. P. E. 429; 609 BERTHIER 492 BIAS OF PRIENE. Wealth 8; 14
1 BIRINGUCCIO, VANNUCCIO 614 Agricola indebted to XXVII Amalgamation of silver ores 297 Assaying 220 Assay ton 242 Brass making 410 Clarifving nitric acid 443 Copper refining 536 Copper smelting 405 Cupellation 466 Liquation 494 Managanese 586 Parting precious metals 451; 461; 462 Roasting 267 Steel making 420 Zaffre 112 BOECKH, AUGUST 28 BOERHAAVE, HERMANN XXIX BORLASE, W. C. Bronze celts 411 BORLASE, WILLIAM. Cornish miners in Germany 283 BORN, IGNAZ EDLER VON 300 BOUSSINGAULT, J. B. 454 BOYLE, ROBERT. Divining rod 38 BROUGH, BENNETT 129 BRUCE, J. C. 392 BRUNSWICK, DUKE HENRY OF. (See Henry, Duke of Brunswick). BUDAEUS, WILLIAM (Guillaume Bude) 461; 606 CADMUS 27 CALBUS (see also Nützlich Bergbüchlin), 610; XXVI; XXVII Alluvial gold 75 CALIGULA. Gold from auripigmentum 111 CALLIDES (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII CALLIMACHUS. On wealth 19 CAMERARIUS VIII CANIDES (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII CAREW, RICHARD. Cornish mining law 85 Cornish ore-dressing 282 CARLYLE, W. A. Ancient Rio Tinto smelting 405 CARNE, JOSEPH. Cornish cardinal points 57 CASIBROTIUS, LEONARDUS VI Castigationes in Hippocratem et Galenum 605 CASTRO, JOHN DE 570 CHABAS, F. J. 129 CHALONER, THOMAS 570 CHANES (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII CHARLES V. OF SPAIN IX Agricola sent on mission to X CHEVREUL, M. E. 38 Chronik der Stadt Freiberg 606 CICERO. Divining rod 38 Wealth of 15 CINCINNATUS L. QUINTIUS 23 CIRCE. Magic rod 40 CLEOPATRA. As an alchemist XXVII; XXIX COLLINS, A. L. 119 COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER V COLUMELLA, MODERATUS XXV; XXVI COMERIUS XXVII; XXIX Commentariorum...Libri VI. 604 CONRAD (Graf Cuntz von Glück) 23; 24 CORDUBA, DON JUAN DE 300 CORTES, HERNANDO V CRAMER, JOHN 236 CRASSUS, MARCUS Love of gold 9 CRATES, THE THEBAN. Money despised by 15 CROESUS, KING OF LYDIA. Mines owned by 26; 27 CTESIAS. Divining rod 38 CTESIBIUS. Machines 149 CURIO, CLAUDIUS. Love of gold 9 CURIUS, MARCUS. Gold of Samnites 9; 15 DANA, J. D. 108 Alum 566 Copiapite 574 Emery 115 Lemnian earth 31 Minerals of Agricola 594 Zinc vitriol 572 DANAE. Jove and 10 D'ARCET, J. Parting with sulphuric acid 462 DAY, ST. JOHN V. Ancient steel making 423 De Animantibus Subterraneis 597; VII Editions 600 Gnomes 217; 217 De Bello adversus Turcam 605 De Inventione Dialectica 606 De Jure et Legibus Metallicis 100; 604 De Medicatis Fontibus 605 De Mensuris et Ponderibus 597 Editions 599 Weights and measures 264; 78 De Metallis et Machinis 604 Democritus (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII DEMOSTHENES. Mt. Laurion mines 27; 83 De Natura eorum quae Effluunt ex Terra 598; 32 Dedication VIII Editions 600 De Natura Fossilium 594; 600; III; XII Alum 565 Amber 35 Antimony 429 Argol 234 Arsenical minerals 111 Asbestos 440 Bismuth 110 Bitumen 581 Borax 560 Brass making 410 Cadmia 113 Caldarium copper 511 Camphor 238 Chrysocolla 584 Coal 35 Cobalt 112 Copper flowers 539; 233 Copper scales 233 Crinoid stems 115 Emery 115 Fluorspar 380 Goslar ores 273 Goslar smelting 408 Iron ores 111 Iron smelting 420 Jet 34 Lapis judaicus 115 Lead minerals 110 Mannsfeld ores 273 Melanteria 573 Mineral Kingdom 1 Misv 573 Molybdaena 476 Native metals 108 Petroleum 581 Pompholv 114; 278 Pyrites 112 Quicksilver 110 Rudis minerals 108 Sal-ammoniac 560 Silver glance 109 Sory 573 Spodos 114 Stannum 473 Stones which easily melt 380 Sulphur 578 Tophus 233 Touchstone 253 White schist 234 Zinc 409
1 De Ortu et Causis Subterraneorum 594; 600; III; VII; XII; XIII Earths 48 Gangue minerals 48 Gold in alluvial 76 Ground waters 48 Juices 52 Metals 51 Solidified juices 49 Stones 49 Touchstone 253 Veins 47 De Ortu Metallorum Defensio ad J. Scheckium 604 De Peste 605; VIII De Precio Metallorum et Monetis 597; 600 Mention by Agricola 252; 264 De Putredine solidas partes, etc. 605 De Re Metallica I; XIII; XIV—XVI Editions 600; XIV Title page XIX DE SOTO, FERNANDES V De Terrae Motu 604 De Varia temperie sive Constitutione Aeris 604 De Veteribus et Novis Metallis 597; 600; VII; XXVI; 5 Agricola's training VI Conrad 24 Discovery of mines 36; 5; 37 Gottsgaab mine 74 DEVOZ (DE VOZ), CORNELIUS 570; 283 DIODORUS SICULUS 607 Alum 566 Bitumen 582 Cupellation 465 Drainage of Spanish mines 149 Egyptian gold mining 279 Fire-setting 118 Lead 391 Silver from forest fires 36 Tin 412 DIOGENES LAERTIUS 7; 9; 10 DIOSCORIDES 607; 608 Alum 566 Antimony 428 Argol 234 Arsenic minerals 111 Asbestos 440 Bitumen 584 Brass making 410 Burned lead 237 Cadmia 112 Chalcitis 573 Copper flowers 233; 538 Copper smelting 403 Cupellation 465 Distillation apparatus 355 Dust-chambers 355; 394 Emery 115 Lead 392 Lead minerals 477 Lemnian earth 31 Litharge 465 Lodestone 115 Melanteria 573 Misy 573 Naphtha 584 Pompholyx 394; 410 Quicksilver 297; 432 Red-lead 232 Sal-ammoniac 560 Sory 573 Spodos 394 Verdigris 440 Vitriol 572 White-lead 440 DIPHILUS 27; 83 DIPHILUS (poet). . Gold 10 Dominatores Saxonici 606 DRAUD, G. 599 DUDAE. Alum trade 569 ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF ENGLAND. Charters to alum makers 283; 570 Dedication of Italian De Re Metal-lica to XV Importation of German miners 283; 570 ELOY, N. F. J. 599 ENTZELT (Enzelius, Encelio) 615 ERASMUS VI; VIII; XIV ERCKER, LAZARUS. Amalgamation 300 Liquation 491; 505 Nitric acid preparation 443 Parting gold and silver 444; 451 ERIPHYLE. Love of gold 9 ERNEST, ELECTOR OF SAXONY VIII EURIPIDES. Amber mentioned by 35 Plutus 8; 7 EZEKIEL, PROPHET. Antimony 428 Cupellation 465 Tin 412 FABRICIUS, GEORGE. Agricola's death X Friendship with Agricola VIII Laudatory poem on Agricola XXI Letters IX; X; XIV; XV Posthumous editor of Agricola 603; 606 FAIRCLOUGH, H. R. III FARINATOR, MATHIAS XXVI FERDINAND, KING OF AUSTRIA. Agricola sent on mission to X Badoarius sent on mission to XXVII FERGUSON, JOHN. Editions of De Re Metallica XVI; 599 FEYRABENDT, SIGMUNDI XV FIGUIER, L. 38 FLACH, JACQUES. Aljustrel tablet 83 FLORIO, MICHELANGELO XV FÖRSTER, JOHANNES VI FRANCIS, COL. GRANT 267; 283 FRANCIS I., KING OF FRANCE IX FREDERICK, ELECTOR OF SAXONY VIII; IX FROBEN, publisher of De Re Metallica XIV; XV FRONTINUS, SEXTUS JULIUS 87 GALEN. Agricola's revision of 605; VI Lemnian earth 31 Mention by Agricola 2 Galerazeya sive Revelator Secretorum, etc. 606 GAMA, VASCO DA V GANSE (GAUNSE), JOACHIM 267; 283 GATTERER, C. W. 599 GEBER XXVII; XXX; 609 Alum 569 Assaying 219 Cementation 459 Cupels 466 Nitric acid 460 Origin of metals 44 Precipitation of silver nitrate 443 Genesis, Book of XII; 43 GEORGE, DUE OF SAXONY IX; 310; 310 GESNER, CONRAD 52 GIBBON, EDWARD 119 GLAUBER, J. R. 410 GLUCK, CUNTZ VON (see Conrad). GMELIN, J. F. 84 GÖCHER, C. G. 599 GODOLPHIN, SIR FRANCIS 282 GOWLAND, WILLIAM. Ancient bronze 410; 411; 421 Early smelting 402 GRAECUS, MARCUS. Saltpetre 562 GROMMESTETTER, PAUL 281 GRYMALDO, LEODIGARIS XVI GYGES, KING OF LYDIA. Mines owned by 26; 27
1 HANNIBAL. Alps broken by vinegar 119 Spanish mines 42; 42 HARDY, WILLIAM 85 HEATH, THOMAS. On Hero 129 HELIODORUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXIX HENCKEL, J. F. 53; 112; 410 HENDRIE, R. 609 HENNEBERT, E. 119 HENRY, DUKE OF BRUNSWICK VII HENRY, DUKE OF MEISSEN IX HERMES (alchemist) XXVI; XXVIII HERMES (Mercury). Magic rod 40 HERO. Underground surveying 129 HERODOTUS. Alum 566 Bitumen 582 Lead 391 Mines of Thrace 23 Nitrum 558 HERTEL, VALENTINE XIV HIERO, KING OF SYRACUSE. Crown 247 HILL, JOHN 607 Auripigmentum 111 HIMILCE, WIFE OF HANNIBAL 42 HIPPOCRATES. Cupellation 391; 465 Lodestone 115 HIRAM, KING OF TYRE. Mines 214 HOFMANN, DR. R. Biography of Agricola V; XI; 599; 603 HOMER. Amber 35 Divining rod 40; 40 Lead 391 Smelting 402 Steel 421 Sulphur 579 Tin 412 HOMMEL, W. Early zinc smelting 409 HORACE. Metals 11 Wealth 15; 17 HORDEBORCH, JOHANNES VII HOUGHSTETTER, DANIEL 283 HOUGHTON, THOMAS 85 HUMPHREY, WILLIAM. Jigging sieve 283 HUNT, ROBERT. Roman lead smelting 392 INAMA-STERNEGG, K. T. VON 84 Interpretatio Rerum Metallicarum.(See Rerum Metall. Interpretatio). IRENE, DAUGHTER OF AGRICOLA VII JACOBI, G. H. Biography of Agricola V; 599 Calbus XXVII; 610 JAGNAUX, RAOUL. Ancient zinc 409 JASON. Golden fleece 330 JEREMIAH. Bellows 362 Cupellation 465 Lead smelting 391 Nitrum 558 JEZEBEL. Use of antimony 428 JOB. Refining silver 465 JOHANNES (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII JOHN, ELECTOR OF SAXONY IX JOHN, KING OF ENGLAND. Mining claims 85 JOHN FREDERICK, ELECTOR OF SAXONY IX JOSEPHUS. Dead Sea bitumen 33 JOVE. Danae legend 10 JUSTIN 36 JUVENAL. Money 10 KARSTEN, K. J. B. Liquation 491; 492; 505; 509; 523; 535 KERL, BRUNO. Liquation 505 KÖNIG, EMANUEL XV KÖNIG, LUDWIG XV KOPP, DR. HERMANN 609; 441 LAMPADIUS, G. A. 462 LASTHENES. Love of gold 9 Latin Grammar (Agricola) 605 LEONARDI, CAMILLI 615 LEUPOLD, JACOB XV; 599 Leviticus. Leprosy of walls 562 LEWIS, G. R. 84 LEWIS 454 LIBAVIS, ANDREW 410 LIEBLEIN, J. D. C. 129 LINNAEUS, CHARLES 559 LIVY. Hannibal's march over the Alps 119 LOHNEYS, G. E. Liquation 491; 505 Parting with antimony 451 Zinc 409; 410 LUCRETIA, DAUGHTER OF AGRICOLA. VII LUCRETIUS. Forest fires melting veins 36 LULLY, RAYMOND XXVII; XXX LUSCINUS, FABRICIUS. Gold 9; 15 LUTHER, MARTIN V; VI; VIII; IX LYCURGUS (Athenian orator). Prosecution of Diphilos 27; 83 LYCURGUS (Spartan legislator). Wealth prohibited by 9; 15 MAGELLAN, F. DE V MALTITZ, SIGISMUND 312 MANLOVE, EDWARD 70; 85 MARBODAEUS 615 MARCELLINUS, AMMIANUS. On Thucydides 23 MARCELLUS, NONIUS XXXI MARIA THE JEWESS XXVII; XXVIII MATHESIUS, JOHANN. Cobalt 214 Conrad mentioned by 24 De Re Metallica XIV King Hiram's mines 214 MATTHEW PARIS. Cornish miners in Germany 283 MAURICE, ELECTOR OF SAXONY. XXV; VIII; IX; X MAWR, J. 70 MAXIMILIAN, EMPEROR 23; 24 MEISSEN, DUKES OF (see under personal names: Albert, Henry, etc.). MELANCHTHON. Relations with Agricola VIII; X MENANDER. Riches 8 MERCKLINUS, G. A. 599 MERCURY (see HERMES). MERLIN (magician) XXVII; XXX MEURER, WOLFGANG. Letters IX; X MEYER, ERNST VON 248; 569 MEYNER, MATTHIAS VII MIDAS, KING OF LYDIA. Mines owned by 26; 27 MILLER, F. B. 462 MINERVA. Magic rod 40 MORRIS, W. O'C 119
1 MOSELLANUS, PETRUS VI MOSES. Bitumen 582 Lead 391 Refining gold 399 Rod of Horeb 38; 40 MÜLLER, MAX. Ancient iron 421 NAEVIUS. Money 20 NASH, W. G. Rio Tinto mine 149 NAUMACHIUS. Gold and silver 8 NECKAM, ALEXANDER Compass 57 NEWCOMEN, THOMAS 149 NICANDER. On coal 34 NICIAS. Sosias and slaves of 25; 25 Nützlich Bergbüchlin 610; XXVI; XXVII Alluvial gold 75 Bismuth 110; 433 Compass 57; 129 Ore-deposits 44 Ore-shoots 43 Veins 43; 46; 73 OLYMPIODORUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXX OPPEL, VAN (see VAN OPPEL). ORUS CHRYSORICHITES (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII OSTHANES (alchemist) XXVII; XXIX OTHO THE GREAT 6 OTHO, PRINCE 6 OVID. Mining censured by 7 PANDULFUS ANGLUS XXVI PANTAENETUS. Demosthenes' oration against 27; 83 PANTHEUS, AUGUSTINUS (alchemist). XXVII PARACELSUS XIV; XXX Divining rod 38 Zinc 112; 409 PARIS, MATTHEW (See MATTHEW PARIS). PEBICHIUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII PELAGIUS (alchemist) XXVII PENNENT, THOMAS 570 PERCY, JOHN. Cementation 454; 459 Cupellation 465 Liquation 491 Parting with antimony 451; 452 PEREGRINUS, PETRUS. Compass 57 PETASIUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII PETRIE, W. M. F. Egyptian iron 421 Mt. Sinai copper 402 PETTUS, SIR JOHN XVI; 283 PHAENIPPUS. Demosthenes' oration against 27; 83 PHAETON'S SISTERS 35 PHERECRATES. XXVI PHILEMON. Riches 7 PHILIP OF MACEDONIA 27 PHILIP. PETER 282 PHILLIPS, J. A. 410 PHILO. Lost work on mining XXVI PHOCION. Bribe of Alexander 9; 15 PHOCYLIDES. Gold 7 PHOTIUS 279 Fire-setting 118 PINDAR. Wealth 19; 252 PIUS II. POPE. Alum maker 570 PIZARRO, F V PLATEANUS, PETRUS XIV PLAUTUS. Gold 10 PLINY (Caius Plinius Secundus) XXVI; 608 Alluvial mining 331; 333 Alum 566 Amalgamation 297 Amber 35 Antimony 428 Argol 234 Arrhenicum 111 Asbestos 440 Bitumen 33; 583 Brass 410 British miners 83 Cadmia 112 Cementation 459 Chrysocolla 560 Copper flowers and scales 233; 538 Copper smelting 404 Cupellation 466 Drainage of Spanish mines 149 Electrum 458 Fire-setting 118 Galena 476 Glass 585; 586 Hannibal's silver mine 42; 42 Hoisting ore 157; 157 Iron 11 Jew-stone 115 Lead 392 Lemnian earth 31 Litharge 475; 466; 501 Lodestone 115 Manganese (?) 586 Metallurgical appliances 355 Misy 573 Molybdaena 466; 476 Naphtha 583 Nitrum 560 Ore-dressing 281 Outcrops 65 Pompholyx 396 Protection from poison 215 Quicksilver 433 Red-lead 232 Roasting 267 Sal-ammoniac 560 Salt from wood 558 Silver-lead smelting 392 Sory 573 Spodos 396 Stannum 473 Tin, Spanish 412 Tophus 233 Touchstone 256; 253 Turfs in sluices 331; 332 Vena 43 Ventilation with wet cloths 210; 210 Verdigris 440 Vitriol 572 White-lead 440 PLUTARCH 25 PLUTO 216 POLYBIUS. Ore washing 281 Silver-lead smelting 392; 465 POLYMNESTOR, KING OF THRACE. Love of gold 9; 16 PÖRTNER, HANS 281 POSEPNY, FRANZ 53 POSIDONIUS. Asphalt and naphtha 584 Drainage of Spanish mines 149 Silver from forest fires 36 PRIAM, KING OF TROY. Gold mines of 26; 27 Probierbüchlein 612; XXVI Amalgamation 297 Antimony 40 Assaying 220 Assay ton 242 Bismuth 433
1 Probierbüchlein. Cementation 454 Nitric acid 439 Parting 461; 462; 463 Precipitation of silver nitrate 443 Residues from distillation of nitric acid 235; 443 Roasting 267 Stock fluxes 235; 236 Touchstone 253 PROPERTIUS. Gold 10 PRYCE, WILLIAM. Adam's fall 353 Divining rod 38 Juices 1 Ore-deposits 53 Stamp-mill 282 Stringers 70 PSALMS. Silver refining 465 PULSIFER, WM. H. 391 PYGMALION. Love of gold 9; 16 RACHAIDIBUS (alchemist) XXVII RAMESES I. Map of mines 129 RAMESES III. Leaden objects dating from 391 RASPE, R. E. 300 RAWLINSON, GEORGE 583 RAY, P. CHANDRA. Indian zinc 409 RAYMOND, ROSSITER W. 38 Rechter Gebrauch der Alchimey 606 Rerum Metallicarum Interpretatio 597; VII; 600 REUSS, F. A. 599 RICHTER, A. D. V; 599 RODIANUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII RÖSSLER, B. 53 ROYAL GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CORNWALL 84 RÜHLEIN VON KALBE (see CALBUS). SALMONEUS. Lightning 11 SANDWICH, EARL OF, trans. Barba's book 300 SAPPHO. Wealth 19 SAVERY, THOMAS 149 SAXONY, DUKES AND ELECTORS OF. (See under personal names: Albert, Ernest, etc.). SCHLIEMANN, H. 391 SCHLÜTER, C.A. Artificial zinc vitriol 572 Copper refining 535 Cupellation 464 Liquation 491; 505 Parting with sulphur 462 SCHMID, F. A. V; XV; 599 SCHNABEL AND LEWIS 465 SCOTT, SIR WALTER. “Antiquary” 300 SENECA. Wealth of 15 SENEFERU. Copper mines 402 SETI I. Map of mine 129 SHAW, PETER XXVIII SHOO KING. Copper and lead 391; 402 Iron 421 SHUTZ, CHRISTOPHER 283 SIGFRIDO, JOANNE. Ed. Agricola's works XV SOCRATES. Riches 7; 9; 14; 18 SOLINUS, C. JULIUS. Solifuga 216; 216 SOLOMON, KING. Cobalt in mines 214 SOLON. Scarcity of silver under 27 SOSIAS, THE THRACIAN. Slaves employed by 25 STAHL, G. E. 53 STAUNTON, SIR GEORGE 409 STEPHANUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXX STEPHENSON, GEORGE 149 STRABO 607 Arsenical minerals 111 Asbestos 440 Asphalt 584; 33 Bellows 362 Cementation 458 Cupellation 465 Drainage of Spanish mines 149 Forest fires melting veins 36 High stacks 355 Lydian mines 26; 27 Mt. Laurion 27 Silver-lead smelting 391 Spanish ore-washing 281 Zinc (?) 409 STRATO. Lost work on mines XXVI; XXVII; XII STRUVE, B. G. 599 SYNESIUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXIX TANTALUS 27 TAPHNUTIA (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII TAPPING, THOMAS 85 THALES OF MILETUS. Amber 35 THEMISTOCLES. Athenian mine royalties 27 THEODOR, SON OF AGRICOLA VII THEOGNIS. Cupellation 465 On greed 18 Plutus 8 Refining gold 399 Theological Tracts (Agricola). 605 THEOPHILUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII THEOPHILUS THE MONK 609 Brass making 410 Calamine 112 Cementation 459 Copper refining 536 Copper smelting 405 Cupels 466 Divining rod 38 Liquation 494 Metallurgical appliances 355 Parting with sulphur 461 Roasting 267 THEOPHRASTUS XII; 607 Amber 35 Arsenical minerals 111 Asbestos 440 Assaying 219 Coal 34 Copper minerals 110 Copper ore 403 Emery 115 Lodestone 115 Lost works XXVI; 403 Origin of minerals 44 Parting precious metals 458 Quicksilver 297; 432 Touchstone 252 Verdigris 440 Vermihon 232 White-lead 391; 440 THOMPSON, LEWIS 462 THOTH. Hermes Trismegistos XXIX THOTMES III. Lead 391; 582 THUCYDIDES. Mining prefect 23; 23; 95 TIBULLUS. Wealth condemned by 16
1 TIMOCLES. Riches 8 TIMOCREON OF RHODES. Plutus 7 TOURNEFORT, JOSEPH P. DE 566 TUBAL CAIN. Instructor in metallurgy 353 TURSIUS 24 TWAIN, MARK. Merlin XXX Typographia Mysnae et Toringiae 605 ULLOA, DON ANTONIO DE 298 ULYSSES. Magic rod 40 VALENTINE, BASIL XXX; 609 Antimony 429 Divining rod 38 Parting with antimony 461 Zinc 409 VALERIUS, SON OF AGRICOLA VII VAN DER LINDEN, J. A. 599 VAN OPPEL XIII; 52 VARRO, MARCUS XXVI VASCO DA GAMA (see GAMA, VASCO DA). VEIGA, ESTACIA DE 83 VELASCO, DOM PEDRO DE 298 VERADIANUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXVIII VILLA NOVA, ARNOLD DE (alchemist) XXVII; XXX VIRGIL. Avarice condemned by 16 VITRUVIUS 608 Amalgamation 297 Hiero's Crown 248 VITRUVIUS. Pumps 174; 149 Red-lead 232 Surveying 129 Verdigris 440 White-lead 440 VLADISLAUS III., KING OF POLAND. 24 VON OPPEL (see VAN OPPEL). VOZ, CORNELIUS DE (see DEVOZ, CORNELIUS). WALLERIUS, J. G. 234; 273 WATT, JAMES 149 WATT, ROBERT XXVII WEFRING, BASILIUS XIV. WEINDLE, CASPAR 119 WEINART, B. G. 599 WELLER, J. G. V WERNER, A. G. XIII; 53 WILKINSON, J. GARDNER. Bitumen 582 Egyptian bellows 362 Egyptian gold-washing 279 WILLIAMS, JOHN 53 WINKLER, K. A. 464 WROTHAM, WILLIAM DE 85; 413; 473 XENOPHON. Athenian mines 28; 83; 27; 29 Fruitfulness of mines 6 Mining companies 90 Mine slaves 25; 28 Quoted by Agricola 26; 28 ZIMMERMAN, C. F. 53 ZOSIMUS (alchemist) XXVII; XXIX
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INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE ALUM MAKING 571 AMALGAMATION MILL 299 AMPULLA 442; 446 ARGONAUTS 330 ASSAY BALANCES (see Balances). ASSAY CRUCIBLE 229 ASSAY FURNACES. Crucible 227 Muffle 223; 224 BALANCES 265 BALING WATER 199 BARS, FOR FURNACE WORK 377; 389 BATEA 157 BELLOWS. For blast furnaces 359; 365; 368; 370; 372 For mine ventilation 208; 209; 211 For tin furnace 419 BISMUTH SMELTING 434; 435; 436; 437 BITUMEN MAKING 582 BITUMEN SPRING 583 BOWLS FOR ALLUVIAL WASHING (see also Batea) 336 BUCKETS. For hoisting ore 154 For hoisting water 158 BUDDLE 301; 302; 314; 315 BUILDING PLAN FOR REFINERY 493 BUILDING PLAN FOR SMELTER 361 CHAIN PUMPS 173; 174; 175 Chrysocolla MAKING 585 CIRCULAR FIRE (see Ring-Fire). CLAY WASHING 374; 375 COMPASS 57; 59; 142; 147 COPPER MOULD FOR ASSAYING 250 COPPER REFINING 534; 537 COPPER REFINING FURNACE 532 CRANE. For cupellation furnace 479 For liquation cakes 514 CROWBARS 152 CUPEL 229 Mould 231 CUPELLATION FURNACE 468; 470; 474 At Freiberg 481 In Poland 482 CUTTING METAL 269 DESCENT INTO MINES 213 DIPPING-POTS 385; 387; 389; 393; 415; 417 DISTILLATION (see Nitric Acid andQuicksilver). DIVINING ROD 40 DOGS PACKING ORE 168 DRIFTS 105 DRYING FURNACE FOR LIQUATION 525; 527; 528 DUST CHAMBERS 395; 417 FANS, VENTILATION 204; 205; 206; 207 FIRE-BUCKETS 377 FIRE PUMP 377 FIRE-SETTING 120 FOREHEARTH 357; 358; 383; 385; 387; 390; 417 FRAMES (OR SLUICES) FOR WASHING ORE OR ALLUVIAL 322—324; 326—329; 331—333 FURNACES. ASSAYING (see Assay Furnaces). Blast 357; 358; 373; 377; 383; 385; 387; 390; 395; 419; 424; 508 Copper refining 537 Cupellation 468; 470; 474; 481; 482 Distilling sulphur 277 Enriching copper bottoms 510 Glass-making 587; 588; 589; 591 Iron smelting 422; 424 FURNACES. Lead smelting (see also Furnaces, blast) 393 Liquation 517; 519; 525; 527; 528 Nitric acid making 442 Nitric acid parting 446 Parting precious metals with anti-mony 453 Ditto cementation 455 Quicksilver distillation 427—432 Refining silver 485; 486; 489 Roasting 276 Steel making 425 Tin burning 349 Tin smelting 415 GAD 150 GLASS MAKING 591 Furnaces 587; 588; 589 GROUND SLUICING 337; 340; 343; 346; 347 HAMMERS 151 With water-power 422; 425 HEAP ROASTING 275; 278 HEARTHS. For bismuth smelting 436; 437 For heating copper cakes 504 For melting lead 393 For melting lead cakes 499 For refining tin 418 For roasting 277 HEMICYCLE 138 HOE 152 Intervenium 50 IRON FORK FOR METAL 387 IRON HOOK FOR ASSAYING 240 IRON SMELTING 422; 424 IRON TOOLS 150 JIGGING SIEVE 311 LADDERS 213 LADLE FOR METAL 383 LEAD MOULD FOR ASSAYING 240 LIQUATION CAKES. Dried 530 LIQUATION CAKES, EXHAUSTED 522 LIQUATION FURNACES 517; 519; 525; 527; 528 LYE MAKING 557 MATTE ROASTING 350; 351 MEERS, SHAPE OF 79; 80; 86; 87; 89 MILLS FOR GRINDING ORE 294; 296 MUFFLE FURNACES 223; 489 MUFFLES 228 NITRIC ACID MAKING 442 Nitrum PITS 559 Operculum 445 Orbis 142A FARTING PRECIOUS METALS. With antimony 453 By cementation 455 With nitric acid 446 With sulphur 449 PICKS 152 PLUMMET LEVEL. Standing 143 Suspended 146 PUMPS. Chain 173; 174; 175 Duplex suction 180; 185; 189 Rag and chain 191; 193; 194; 195 Suction 177; 178; 179; 182; 188; 137
1 QUICKSILVER DISTILLATION. 427; 429; 430; 431; 432 RAG AND CHAIN PUMPS 191; 193; 194; 195; 197 RAMMERS FOR FIRE-CLAY 377; 383 RING-FIRE, FOR PARTING WITH SULPHUR 449 ROASTING (see also Heap and Stall Roasting) 278; 350; 351; 274; 275; 276 ROSETTE COPPER MAKING 537 SALT. Boiling 549; 554; 555 Caldron 551; 553 Evaporated on faggots 556 Pans 547 Wells 549 SALTPETRE MAKING 563 SAXON LEAD FURNACE 393 SCORIFIER 229 SEAMS IN THE ROCKS 54; 55; 56; 60; 72 SHAFTS. Inclined 104 Timbering 123 Vertical 103; 105 SHEARS FOR CUTTING METAL 269 SHIELD FOR MUFFLE FURNACE 241 SIFTING ORE 287; 288; 289; 291; 292; 293; 311; 342 SILVER. Cakes, Cleansing of 476; 488 Refining 484; 485; 486; 489 SLEIGH FOR ORE 168 SLUICING TIN 337; 338; 340; 343 SMELTER, PLAN OF BUILDING 361 SODA MAKING 561 SORTING ORE 268; 270 SPALLING ORE 270; 271; 272 STALL ROASTING. Matte 350; 351 Ore 274; 276 STAMP-MILL 284; 286; 287; 299; 313; 320; 321; 373 For breaking copper cakes 501 STAMPS 285 STEEL FURNACE 425 STRAKE 302; 303; 305; 304; 307; 341; 342; 345 Canvas 303; 309; 317; 321; 329 STREAMING FOR TIN 318 STRINGERS. Associated 71 Fibra dilatata 71 Fibra incumbens 71 Oblique 71 Transverse 71 SURVEYING. Rods 138A Shafts and Tunnels 131 Triangles 133; 134; 135; 136; 137; 139; 140 SUCTION PUMPS (see Pumps). SULPHUR MAKING 579; 581 TAP-HOLES IN FURNACES 389 TAPPING-BAR 383; 385 “TESTS” FOR REFINING SILVER 384; 485 TIMBERING. Shafts 123 Tunnels 125 TIN. Bars 415 Burning 349 Refining 418 Smelting 415; 419 TOUCH-NEEDLES 255 TRAYS FOR WASHING ALLUVIAL 334 TREAD WHIM 163 TROUGH 159 For washing alluvial 335; 348 TRUCKS 156 TUNNELS 103; 104; 105; 120 Timbering 125 VEINS. Barren 73 Beginning of 69 Cavernous 73 Curved 61 End of 69 Head of 69 Horizontal 61 Intersections of 64; 65; 66; 67; 68 Solid 73 Strike of 62; 63 Vena cumulata 49; 70 Vena dilatata 45; 50; 54; 60; 61; 68; 69 Vena profunda 45; 50; 53; 61; 62; 63; 64; 68 VENTILATING WITH DAMP CLOTH (see also Bellows, Fans, and Wind-sails) 212 VITRIOL MAKING 567; 574; 575; 576; 577 WAGONS, FOR HAULING ORE 170 WASHING ORE (see Sifting Ore). WATER TANKS, UNDER FURNACES 358 WEDGES 150 WEIGHTS, FOR ASSAY BALANCES 262 WESTPHALIAN LEAD SMELTING 393 WHEELBARROWS 155 WHIMS. Horse 165; 167 Tread 163 WINDLASSES 161; 162; 171 WINDS, DIRECTION OF 59 WINDSAILS FOR VENTILATION 201; 202; 203
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