Agricola, Georgius
,
De re metallica
,
1912/1950
Text
Text Image
Image
XML
Thumbnail overview
Document information
None
Concordance
Figures
Thumbnails
Page concordance
<
1 - 30
31 - 60
61 - 90
91 - 120
121 - 150
151 - 180
181 - 210
211 - 240
241 - 270
271 - 300
301 - 330
331 - 360
361 - 390
391 - 420
421 - 450
451 - 480
481 - 510
511 - 540
541 - 570
571 - 600
601 - 630
631 - 660
661 - 679
>
Scan
Original
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
<
1 - 30
31 - 60
61 - 90
91 - 120
121 - 150
151 - 180
181 - 210
211 - 240
241 - 270
271 - 300
301 - 330
331 - 360
361 - 390
391 - 420
421 - 450
451 - 480
481 - 510
511 - 540
541 - 570
571 - 600
601 - 630
631 - 660
661 - 679
>
page
|<
<
of 679
>
>|
<
archimedes
>
<
text
>
<
body
>
<
chap
>
<
p
type
="
caption
">
<
s
>
<
pb
pagenum
="
339
"/>
with an iron shovel and agitated hither and thither in the water, until the
<
lb
/>
sand flows away and only the tin-stone remains on the shovel. </
s
>
<
s
>The tin
<
lb
/>
stone is all collected together and washed again in a trough by pushing it
<
lb
/>
up and turning it over with a wooden trowel, in order that the remaining
<
lb
/>
sand may separate from it. </
s
>
<
s
>Afterward they return to their task, which they
<
lb
/>
continue until the metalliferous material is exhausted, or until the water can
<
lb
/>
no longer be diverted into the ditches.</
s
>
</
p
>
<
p
type
="
main
">
<
s
>The trough which I mentioned is hewn out of the trunk of a tree and the
<
lb
/>
interior is five feet long, three-quarters of a foot deep, and six digits wide.
<
lb
/>
</
s
>
<
s
>It is placed on an incline and under it is put a tub which contains interwoven
<
lb
/>
fir twigs, or else another trough is put under it, the interior of which is three
<
lb
/>
feet long and one foot wide and deep; the fine tin-stone, which has run out
<
lb
/>
with the water, settles in the bottom. </
s
>
<
s
>Some people, in place of a trough,
<
lb
/>
put a square launder underneath, and in like manner they wash the tin
<
lb
/>
stone in this by agitating it up and down and turning it over with a small
<
lb
/>
wooden trowel. </
s
>
<
s
>A transverse trough is put under the launder, which is
<
lb
/>
either open on one end and drains off into a tub or settling-pit, or else is
<
lb
/>
closed and perforated through the bottom; in this case, it drains into a
<
lb
/>
ditch beneath, where the water falls when the plug has been partly removed.
<
lb
/>
</
s
>
<
s
>The nature of this ditch I will now describe.</
s
>
</
p
>
<
p
type
="
main
">
<
s
>If the locality does not supply an abundance of water, the washers dig a
<
lb
/>
ditch thirty or thirty-six feet long, and cover the bottom, the full length, with
<
lb
/>
logs joined together and hewn on the side which lies flat on the ground. </
s
>
<
s
>On
<
lb
/>
each side of the ditch, and at its head also, they place four logs, one above
<
lb
/>
the other, all hewn smooth on the inside. </
s
>
<
s
>But since the logs are laid
<
lb
/>
obliquely along the sides, the upper end of the ditch is made four feet wide
<
lb
/>
and the tail end, two feet. </
s
>
<
s
>The water has a high drop from a launder and
<
lb
/>
first of all it falls into interlaced fir twigs, in order that it shall fall straight
<
lb
/>
down for the most part in an unbroken stream and thus break up the lumps
<
lb
/>
by its weight. </
s
>
<
s
>Some do not place these twigs under the end of the launder,
<
lb
/>
but put a plug in its mouth, which, since it does not entirely close the launder,
<
lb
/>
nor altogether prevent the discharge from it, nor yet allow the water to
<
lb
/>
spout far afield, makes it drop straight down. </
s
>
<
s
>The workman brings in a
<
lb
/>
wheelbarrow the material to be washed, and throws it into the ditch. </
s
>
<
s
>The
<
lb
/>
washer standing in the upper end of the ditch breaks the lumps with a seven
<
lb
/>
pronged fork, and throws out the roots of trees, shrubs, and grass with the
<
lb
/>
same instrument, and thereby the small black stones settle down. </
s
>
<
s
>When a
<
lb
/>
large quantity of the tin-stone has accumulated, which generally happens
<
lb
/>
when the washer has spent a day at this work, to prevent it from being
<
lb
/>
washed away he places it upon the bank, and other material having been
<
lb
/>
again thrown into the upper end of the ditch, he continues the task of washing.
<
lb
/>
</
s
>
<
s
>A boy stands at the lower end of the ditch, and with a thin pointed hoe
<
lb
/>
stirs up the sediment which has settled at the lower end, to prevent the
<
lb
/>
washed tin-stone from being carried further, which occurs when the sediment
<
lb
/>
has accumulated to such an extent that the fir branches at the outlet of the
<
lb
/>
ditch are covered.</
s
>
</
p
>
</
chap
>
</
body
>
</
text
>
</
archimedes
>