Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950

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    <archimedes>
      <text>
        <body>
          <chap>
            <p type="main">
              <s>
                <pb pagenum="91"/>
              within the memory of our fathers, miners have divided a silver mine, and
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              similarly the tunnel at Schneeberg, first of all into one hundred and twenty­
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              eight shares, of which one hundred and twenty-six are the property of
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              private owners in the mines or tunnels, one belongs to the State and one
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              to the Church; while in Joachimsthal only one hundred and twenty-two
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              shares of the mines or tunnels are the property of private owners, four
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              are proprietary shares, and the State and Church each have one in the
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              same way. </s>
              <s>To these there has lately been added in some places one share
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              for the most needy of the population, which makes one hundred and twenty­
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              nine shares. </s>
              <s>It is only the private owners of mines who pay contributions.
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              </s>
              <s>A proprietary holder, though he holds as many as four shares such as I have
                <lb/>
              described, does not pay contributions, but gratuitiously supplies the owners
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              of the mines with sufficient wood from his forests for timbering, machinery,
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              buildings, and smelting; nor do those belonging to the State, Church, and
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              the poor pay contributions, but the proceeds are used to build or repair
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              public works and sacred buildings, and to support the most needy with the
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              profits which they draw from the mines. </s>
              <s>Furthermore, in our State, the
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              one hundred and twenty-eighth share has begun to be divided into two,
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              four, or eight parts, or even into three, six, twelve, or smaller parts. </s>
              <s>This
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              is done when one mine is created out of two, for then the owner who formerly
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              possessed one-half becomes owner of one-fourth; he who possessed one­
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              fourth, of one-eighth; he who possessed one-third, of one-sixth; he who
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              possessed one-sixth, of one-twelfth. </s>
              <s>Since our countrymen call a mine a
                <lb/>
                <emph type="italics"/>
              symposíum,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              that is, a drinking bout, we are accustomed to call the money which
                <lb/>
              the owners subscribe a
                <emph type="italics"/>
              symbolum,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              or a contribution
                <emph type="sup"/>
              10
                <emph.end type="sup"/>
              . </s>
              <s>For, just as those who
                <lb/>
              go to a banquet (
                <emph type="italics"/>
              symposíum
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              ) give contributions (
                <emph type="italics"/>
              symbola
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              ), so those who purpose
                <lb/>
              making large profits from mining are accustomed to contribute toward the
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              expenditure. </s>
              <s>However, the manager of the mine assesses the contributions
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              of the owners annually, or for the most part quarterly, and as often he
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              renders an account of receipts and expenses. </s>
              <s>At Freiberg in Meissen the
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              old practice was for the manager to exact a contribution from the owners
                <lb/>
              every week, and every week to distribute among them the profits of the
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              mines, but this practice during almost the last fifteen years has been so far
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              changed that contribution and distribution are made four
                <emph type="sup"/>
              11
                <emph.end type="sup"/>
              times each
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              year. </s>
              <s>Large or small contributions are imposed according to the number
                <lb/>
              of workmen which the mine or tunnel requires; as a result, those who
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              possess many shares provide many contributions. </s>
              <s>Four times a year the
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              owners contribute to the cost, and four times during the year the profits of
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              the mines are distributed among them; these are sometimes large, some­
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              times small, according as there is more or less gold or silver or other metal
                <lb/>
              dug out. </s>
              <s>Indeed, from the St. </s>
              <s>George mine in Schneeberg the miners extracted
                <lb/>
              so much silver in a quarter of a year that silver cakes, which were worth
                <lb/>
              </s>
            </p>
          </chap>
        </body>
      </text>
    </archimedes>
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