Chapter XVI: Book VI (3)

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 happening, 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 Solinus[25] writes, very small and like a spider in shape; it is called _solifuga_, because it shuns (_fugit_) the light (_solem_). It is very common in 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 Laurentius[27] used not to be worked, 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.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This Book is devoted in the main to winding, ventilating, and pumping machinery. Their mechanical principles are very old. The block and pulley, the windlass, the use of water-wheels, the transmission of power through shafts and gear-wheels, chain-pumps, piston-pumps with valves, were all known to the Greeks and Romans, and possibly earlier. Machines involving these principles were described by Ctesibius, an Alexandrian of 250 B.C., by Archimedes (287-212 B.C.), and by Vitruvius (1st Century B.C.) As to how far these machines were applied to mining by the Ancients we have but little evidence, and this largely in connection with handling water. Diodorus Siculus (1st Century B.C.) referring to the Spanish mines, says (Book V.): "Sometimes at great depths they meet great rivers underground, but by art give check to the violence of the streams, for by cutting trenches they divert the current, and being sure to gain what they aim at when they have begun, they never leave off till they have finished it. And they admirably pump out the water with those instruments called Egyptian pumps, invented by Archimedes, the Syracusan, when he was in Egypt. By these, with constant pumping by turns they throw up the water to the mouth of the pit and thus drain the mine; for this engine is so ingeniously contrived that a vast quantity of water is strangely and with little labour cast out."

Strabo (63 B.C.-24 A.D., III., 2, 9), also referring to Spanish mines, quoting from Posidonius (about 100 B.C.), says: "He compares with these (the Athenians) the activity and diligence of the Turdetani, who are in the habit of cutting tortuous and deep tunnels, and draining the streams which they frequently encounter by means of Egyptian screws." (Hamilton's Tran., Vol. I., p. 221). The "Egyptian screw" was Archimedes' screw, and was thus called because much used by the Egyptians for irrigation. Pliny (XXXIII., 31) also says, in speaking of the Spanish silver-lead mines: "The mountain has been excavated for a distance of 1,500 paces, and along this distance there are water-carriers standing by torch-light night and day steadily baling the water (thus) making quite a river." The re-opening of the mines at Rio Tinto in the middle of the 18th Century disclosed old Roman stopes, in which were found several water-wheels. These were about 15 feet in diameter, lifting the water by the reverse arrangement to an overshot water-wheel. A wooden Archimedian screw was also found in the neighbourhood. (Nash, The Rio Tinto Mine, its History and Romance, London, 1904).

Until early in the 18th Century, water formed the limiting factor in the depth of mines. To the great devotion to this water problem we owe the invention of the steam engine. In 1705 Newcomen--no doubt inspired by Savery's unsuccessful attempt--invented his engine, and installed the first one on a colliery at Wolverhampton, in Staffordshire. With its success, a new era was opened to the miner, to be yet further extended by Watt's improvements sixty years later. It should be a matter of satisfaction to mining engineers that not only was the steam engine the handiwork of their profession, but that another mining engineer, Stephenson, in his effort to further the advance of his calling, invented the locomotive.

[2] While these particular tools serve the same purpose as the "gad" and the "moil," the latter are not fitted with handles, and we have, therefore, not felt justified in adopting these terms, but have given a literal rendering of the Latin.

The Latin and old German terms for these tools were:--

First Iron tool = _Ferramentum primum_ = _Bergeisen_.
Second " = " _secundum_ = _Rutzeisen_.
Third " = " _tertium_ = _Sumpffeisen_.
Fourth " = " _quartum_ = _Fimmel_.
Wedge = _Cuneus_ = _Keil_.
Iron block = _Lamina_ = _Plotz_.
Iron plate = _Bractea_ = _Feder_.

The German words obviously had local value and do not bear translation literally.

[3] One _metreta_, a Greek measure, equalled about nine English gallons, and a _congius_ contained about six pints.

[4] _Ingestores_. This is a case of Agricola coining a name for workmen from the work, the term being derived from _ingero_, to pour or to throw in, used in the previous clause--hence the "reason." See p. xxxi.

[5] _Cisium_. A two-wheeled cart. In the preface Agricola gives this as an example of his intended adaptations. See p. xxxi.

[6] _Canis_. The Germans in Agricola's time called a truck a _hundt_--a hound.

[7] _Alveus_,--"Tray." The Spanish term _batea_ has been so generally adopted into the mining vocabulary for a wooden bowl for these purposes, that we introduce it here.

[8] Pliny (XXXIII., 21). "The fragments are carried on workmen's shoulders; night and day each passes the material to his neighbour, only the last of them seeing the daylight."

[10] _Harpago_,--A "grapple" or "hook."

[11] Ancient Noricum covered the region of modern Tyrol, with parts of Bavaria, Salzburg, etc.

[12] _Machina quae pilis aquas haurit_. "Machine which draws water with balls." This apparatus is identical with the Cornish "rag and chain pump" of the same period, and we have therefore adopted that term.

[13] A _congius_ contained about six pints.

[14] Vitruvius (X., 9). "But if the water is to be supplied to still higher places, a double chain of iron is made to revolve on the axis of the wheel, long enough to reach to the lower level. This is furnished with brazen buckets, each holding about a _congius_. Then by turning the wheel, the chain also turns upon the axis and brings the buckets to the top thereof, on passing which they are inverted and pour into the conduits the water they have raised."

[15] This description certainly does not correspond in every particular with the illustration.

[16] There is a certain deficiency in the hydraulics of this machine.

[17] The dimensions given in this description for the various members do not tally.

[18] _Melibocian_,--the Harz.

[19] In the original text this is given as "lower," and appears to be an error.

[20] Pliny (XXXI, 28). "In deep wells, the occurrence of _sulphurata_ or _aluminosa_ vapor is fatal to the diggers. The presence of this peril is shown if a lighted lamp let down into the well is extinguished. If so, other wells are sunk to the right and left, which carry off these noxious gases. Apart from these evils, the air itself becomes noxious with depth, which can be remedied by constantly shaking linen cloths, thus setting the air in motion."

[21] This is given in the German translation as _kobelt_. The _kobelt_ (or _cobaltum_ of Agricola) was probably arsenical-cobalt, a mineral common in the Saxon mines. The origin of the application of the word cobalt to a mineral appears to lie in the German word for the gnomes and goblins (_kobelts_) so universal to Saxon miners' imaginations,--this word in turn probably being derived from the Greek _cobali_ (mimes). The suffering described above seems to have been associated with the malevolence of demons, and later the word for these demons was attached to this disagreeable ore. A quaint series of mining "sermons," by Johann Mathesius, entitled _Sarepta oder Bergpostill_, Nuernberg, 1562, contains the following passage (p. 154) which bears out this view. We retain the original and varied spelling of cobalt and also add another view of Mathesius, involving an experience of Solomon and Hiram of Tyre with some mines containing cobalt.

"Sometimes, however, from dry hard veins a certain black, greenish, grey or ash-coloured earth is dug out, often containing good ore, and this mineral being burnt gives strong fumes and is extracted like 'tutty.' It is called _cadmia fossilis_. You miners call it _cobelt_. Germans call the Black Devil and the old Devil's furies, old and black _cobel_, who injure people and their cattle with their witchcrafts. Now the Devil is a wicked, malicious spirit, who shoots his poisoned darts into the hearts of men, as sorcerers and witches shoot at the limbs of cattle and men, and work much evil and mischief with _cobalt_ or _hipomane_ or horses' poison. After quicksilver and _rotgueltigen_ ore, are _cobalt_ and _wismuth_ fumes; these are the most poisonous of the metals, and with them one can kill flies, mice, cattle, birds, and men. So, fresh _cobalt_ and _kisswasser_ (vitriol?) devour the hands and feet of miners, and the dust and fumes of _cobalt_ kill many mining people and workpeople who do much work among the fumes of the smelters. Whether or not the Devil and his hellish crew gave their name to _cobelt_, or _kobelt_, nevertheless, _cobelt_ is a poisonous and injurious metal even if it contains silver. I find in I. Kings 9, the word _Cabul_. When Solomon presented twenty towns in Galilee to the King of Tyre, Hiram visited them first, and would not have them, and said the land was well named _Cabul_ as Joshua had christened it. It is certain from Joshua that these twenty towns lay in the Kingdom of Aser, not far from our _Sarepta_, and that there had been iron and copper mines there, as Moses says in another place. Inasmuch, then, as these twenty places were mining towns, and _cobelt_ is a metal, it appears quite likely that the mineral took its name from the land of Cabul. History and circumstances bear out the theory that Hiram was an excellent and experienced miner, who obtained much gold from Ophir, with which he honoured Solomon. Therefore, the Great King wished to show his gratitude to his good neighbour by honouring a miner with mining towns. But because the King of Tyre was skilled in mines, he first inspected the new mines, and saw that they only produced poor metal and much wild _cobelt_ ore, therefore he preferred to find his gold by digging the gold and silver in India rather than by getting it by the _cobelt_ veins and ore. For truly, _cobelt_ ores are injurious, and are usually so embedded in other ore that they rob them in the fire and consume (_madtet und frist_) much lead before the silver is extracted, and when this happens it is especially _speysig_. Therefore Hiram made a good reckoning as to the mines and would not undertake all the expense of working and smelting, and so returned Solomon the twenty towns."

[22] Pliny (XXXIII, 40). "Those employed in the works preparing vermilion, cover their faces with a bladder-skin, that they may not inhale the pernicious powder, yet they can see through the skin."

[23] _Pompholyx_ was a furnace deposit, usually mostly zinc oxide, but often containing arsenical oxide, and to this latter quality this reference probably applies. The symptoms mentioned later in the text amply indicate arsenical poisoning, of which a sort of spherical effect on the hands is characteristic. See also note on p. 112 for discussion of "corrosive" _cadmia_; further information on _pompholyx_ is given in Note 26, p. 394.

[24] Orcus, the god of the infernal regions,--otherwise Pluto.

[25] Caius Julius Solinus was an unreliable Roman Grammarian of the 3rd Century. There is much difference of opinion as to the precise animal meant by _solifuga_. The word is variously spelled _solipugus, solpugus, solipuga, solipunga_, etc., and is mentioned by Pliny (VIII., 43), and other ancient authors all apparently meaning a venomous insect, either an ant or a spider. The term in later times indicated a scorpion.

[26] The presence of demons or gnomes in the mines was so general a belief that Agricola fully accepted it. This is more remarkable, in view of our author's very general scepticism regarding the supernatural. He, however, does not classify them all as bad--some being distinctly helpful. The description of gnomes of kindly intent, which is contained in the last paragraph in _De Animantibus_ is of interest:--

"Then there are the gentle kind which the Germans as well as the Greeks call cobalos, because they mimic men. They appear to laugh with glee and pretend to do much, but really do nothing. They are called little miners, because of their dwarfish stature, which is about two feet. They are venerable looking and are clothed like miners in a filleted garment with a leather apron about their loins. This kind does not often trouble the miners, but they idle about in the shafts and tunnels and really do nothing, although they pretend to be busy in all kinds of labour, sometimes digging ore, and sometimes putting into buckets that which has been dug. Sometimes they throw pebbles at the workmen, but they rarely injure them unless the workmen first ridicule or curse them. They are not very dissimilar to Goblins, which occasionally appear to men when they go to or from their day's work, or when they attend their cattle. Because they generally appear benign to men, the Germans call them _guteli_. Those called _trulli_, which take the form of women as well as men, actually enter the service of some people, especially the _Suions_. The mining gnomes are especially active in the workings where metal has already been found, or where there are hopes of discovering it, because of which they do not discourage the miners, but on the contrary stimulate them and cause them to labour more vigorously."

The German miners were not alone in such beliefs, for miners generally accepted them--even to-day the faith in "knockers" has not entirely disappeared from Cornwall. Neither the sea nor the forest so lends itself to the substantiation of the supernatural as does the mine. The dead darkness, in which the miners' lamps serve only to distort every shape, the uncanny noises of restless rocks whose support has been undermined, the approach of danger and death without warning, the sudden vanishing or discovery of good fortune, all yield a thousand corroborations to minds long steeped in ignorance and prepared for the miraculous through religious teaching.

[27] The Plains of Laurentius extend from the mouth of the Tiber southward--say twenty miles south of Rome. What Agricola's authority was for silver mines in this region we cannot discover. This may, however, refer to the lead-silver district of the Attic Peninsula, Laurion being sometimes Latinized as _Laurium_ or _Laurius_.