1they do not descend into the shafts nor
enter the tunnels again before Monday,
and in the meantime the poisonous fumes pass away.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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