1700. We have relied upon Booth's translation, but with some amendments

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 substances 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 of 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 encyclopaedia, 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. MEDIAEVAL 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 concerned 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 Universities 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. 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 _Beitraege 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 composition 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 technology--the _Nuetzlich Bergbuechlin_, the _Probierbuechlein_, 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 stride of advance over anything previous, that they merit careful consideration. _Eyn Nuetzlich Bergbuechlin._ 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:-- [Illustration 610 (Title page)] 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 Probierbuechlin_, etc., and contains, besides the above, an extract and plates from the _Probierbuechlein_ (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 substances 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 _Nuetzlich Bergbuechlin_. Jacobi[3] says: "Calbus Fribergius, so called by Agricola himself, is certainly no other than the Freiberg doctor, Ruehlein 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 Ruehlein 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, undoubtedly 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 _Nuetzlich Bergbuechlein_ described in Marie Pellechet's _Catalogue General des Incunables des Bibliotheques 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 Bibliotheque 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 beginning 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 Nuetzlich Bergbuechlein_, etc., Worms, 1512[8] and 1518[9] (the place and date are written in), (2) the same as ours (1527); (3) the same, Heinrich Steyner, Augsburg, 1534; (4) the same,