Agricola, Georgius
,
De re metallica
,
1912/1950
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of wood without the aid of iron? </
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<
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>The cloth or web must be cut into lengths
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for the tailor. </
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<
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>Can this be done without knife or scissors? </
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<
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>Can the tailor
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sew together any garments without a needle? </
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<
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>Even peoples dwelling beyond
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the seas cannot make a covering for their bodies, fashioned of feathers,
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without these same implements. </
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<
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>Neither can the furriers do without them
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in sewing together the pelts of any kind of animals. </
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<
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>The shoemaker needs
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a knife to cut the leather, another to scrape it, and an awl to perforate it
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before he can make shoes. </
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<
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>These coverings for the body are either woven
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or stitched. </
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>Buildings too, which protect the same body from rain, wind,
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cold, and heat, are not constructed without axes, saws, and augers.</
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<
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>But what need of more words? </
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<
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>If we remove metals from the service
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of man, all methods of protecting and sustaining health and more care
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fully preserving the course of life are done away with. </
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>If there were no
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metals, men would pass a horrible and wretched existence in the midst of
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wild beasts; they would return to the acorns and fruits and berries of the
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forest. </
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<
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>They would feed upon the herbs and roots which they plucked up
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with their nails. </
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>They would dig out caves in which to lie down at night,
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and by day they would rove in the woods and plains at random like beasts,
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and inasmuch as this condition is utterly unworthy of humanity, with its
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splendid and glorious natural endowment, will anyone be so foolish or
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obstinate as not to allow that metals are necessary for food and clothing and
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that they tend to preserve life?</
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>Moreover, as the miners dig almost exclusively in mountains otherwise
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unproductive, and in valleys invested in gloom, they do either slight damage
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to the fields or none at all. </
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>Lastly, where woods and glades are cut down,
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they may be sown with grain after they have been cleared from the roots of
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shrubs and trees. </
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>These new fields soon produce rich crops, so that they repair
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the losses which the inhabitants suffer from increased cost of timber. </
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<
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>More
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over, with the metals which are melted from the ore, birds without number,
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edible beasts and fish can be purchased elsewhere and brought to these
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mountainous regions.</
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<
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>I will pass to the illustrations I have mentioned. </
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<
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>Bias of Priene, when his
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country was taken, carried away out of the city none of his valuables. </
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<
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>So
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strong a man with such a reputation for wisdom had no need to fear personal
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danger from the enemy, but this in truth cannot be said of him because he
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hastily took to flight; the throwing away of his goods does not seem to me
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so great a matter, for he had lost his house, his estates, and even his country,
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than which nothing is more precious. </
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>Nay, I should be convinced of Bias's
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contempt and scorn for possessions of this kind, if before his country was
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captured he had bestowed them freely on relations and friends, or had
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distributed them to the very poor, for this he could have done freely and
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without question. </
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<
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>Whereas his conduct, which the Greeks admire so
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greatly, was due, it would seem, to his being driven out by the enemy and
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stricken with fear. </
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<
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>Socrates in truth did not despise gold, but would not
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accept money for his teaching. </
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<
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>As for Aristippus of Cyrene, if he had gath
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ered and saved the gold which he ordered his slaves to throw away, he might </
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