De Natura Fossílium.
This is the most important work of Agricola,
excepting De Re Metallica. It has always been printed in combination with
other works, and first appeared at Basel, 1546. This edition was considerably
revised by the author, the amended edition being that of 1558, which we have
used in giving references. The work comprises ten “books” of a total of
217 folio pages. It is the first attempt at systematic mineralogy, the minerals1
being classified into (1) “earths” (clay, ochre, etc.), (2) “stones properly so
called” (gems, semi-precious and unusual stones, as distinguished from rocks),
(3) “solidified juices” (salt, vitriol, alum, etc.), (4) metals, and (5) “com
pounds” (homogeneous “mixtures” of simple substances, thus forming
such minerals as galena, pyrite, etc.). In this classification Agricola en
deavoured to find some fundamental basis, and therefore adopted solubility,
fusibility, odour, taste, etc., but any true classification without the atomic
theory was, of course, impossible. However, he makes a very creditable
performance out of their properties and obvious characteristics. All of the
external characteristics which we use to-day in discrimination, such as colour,
hardness, lustre, etc., are enumerated, the origin of these being attributed to
the proportions of the Peripatetic elements and their binary properties.
Dana, in his great work2, among some fourscore minerals which he identifies
as having been described by Agricola and his predecessors, accredits a score to
Agricola himself. It is our belief, however, that although in a few cases
Agricola has been wrongly credited, there are still more of which priority in
description might be assigned to him. While a greater number than four
score of so-called species are given by Agricola and his predecessors, many
of these are, in our modern system, but varieties; for instance, some eight
or ten of the ancient species consist of one form or another of silica.
excepting De Re Metallica. It has always been printed in combination with
other works, and first appeared at Basel, 1546. This edition was considerably
revised by the author, the amended edition being that of 1558, which we have
used in giving references. The work comprises ten “books” of a total of
217 folio pages. It is the first attempt at systematic mineralogy, the minerals1
being classified into (1) “earths” (clay, ochre, etc.), (2) “stones properly so
called” (gems, semi-precious and unusual stones, as distinguished from rocks),
(3) “solidified juices” (salt, vitriol, alum, etc.), (4) metals, and (5) “com
pounds” (homogeneous “mixtures” of simple substances, thus forming
such minerals as galena, pyrite, etc.). In this classification Agricola en
deavoured to find some fundamental basis, and therefore adopted solubility,
fusibility, odour, taste, etc., but any true classification without the atomic
theory was, of course, impossible. However, he makes a very creditable
performance out of their properties and obvious characteristics. All of the
external characteristics which we use to-day in discrimination, such as colour,
hardness, lustre, etc., are enumerated, the origin of these being attributed to
the proportions of the Peripatetic elements and their binary properties.
Dana, in his great work2, among some fourscore minerals which he identifies
as having been described by Agricola and his predecessors, accredits a score to
Agricola himself. It is our belief, however, that although in a few cases
Agricola has been wrongly credited, there are still more of which priority in
description might be assigned to him. While a greater number than four
score of so-called species are given by Agricola and his predecessors, many
of these are, in our modern system, but varieties; for instance, some eight
or ten of the ancient species consist of one form or another of silica.
Book I. is devoted to mineral characteristics—colour, brilliance,
taste,
shape, hardness, etc., and to the classification of minerals; Book II.,
“earths”—clay, Lemnian earth, chalk, ochre, etc.; Book III., “solidified
juices”—salt, nitrum (soda and potash), saltpetre, alum, vitriol, chrysocolla,
caeruleum (part azurite), orpiment, realgar, and sulphur; Book IV., camphor,
bitumen, coal, bituminous shales, amber; Book V., lodestone, bloodstone,
gypsum, talc, asbestos, mica, calamine, various fossils, geodes, emery, touch
stones, pumice, fluorspar, and quartz; Book VI., gems and precious stones;
Book VII., “rocks”—marble, serpentine, onyx, alabaster, limestone, etc.;
Book VIII., metals—gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, tin, antimony,
bismuth, iron, and alloys, such as electrum, brass, etc.; Book IX., various
furnace operations, such as making brass, gilding, tinning, and products such
as slags, furnace accretions, pompholyx (zinc oxide), copper flowers, litharge,
hearth-lead, verdigris, white-lead, red-lead, etc.; Book X., “compounds,”
embracing the description of a number of recognisable silver, copper, lead,
quicksilver, iron, tin, antimony, and zinc minerals, many of which we set
out more fully in Note 8, page 108.
shape, hardness, etc., and to the classification of minerals; Book II.,
“earths”—clay, Lemnian earth, chalk, ochre, etc.; Book III., “solidified
juices”—salt, nitrum (soda and potash), saltpetre, alum, vitriol, chrysocolla,
caeruleum (part azurite), orpiment, realgar, and sulphur; Book IV., camphor,
bitumen, coal, bituminous shales, amber; Book V., lodestone, bloodstone,
gypsum, talc, asbestos, mica, calamine, various fossils, geodes, emery, touch
stones, pumice, fluorspar, and quartz; Book VI., gems and precious stones;
Book VII., “rocks”—marble, serpentine, onyx, alabaster, limestone, etc.;
Book VIII., metals—gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, tin, antimony,
bismuth, iron, and alloys, such as electrum, brass, etc.; Book IX., various
furnace operations, such as making brass, gilding, tinning, and products such
as slags, furnace accretions, pompholyx (zinc oxide), copper flowers, litharge,
hearth-lead, verdigris, white-lead, red-lead, etc.; Book X., “compounds,”
embracing the description of a number of recognisable silver, copper, lead,
quicksilver, iron, tin, antimony, and zinc minerals, many of which we set
out more fully in Note 8, page 108.
De Ortu et Causis Subterraneorum.
This work also has always been
published in company with others. The first edition was printed at Basel,
published in company with others. The first edition was printed at Basel,
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