Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950

List of thumbnails

< >
651
651 		652
652
653
653 		654
654
655
655 		656
656
657
657 		658
658
659
659 		660
660
< >
page |< < of 679 > >|
    <archimedes>
      <text>
        <body>
          <chap>
            <pb/>
            <p type="head">
              <s>
                <emph type="bold"/>
              APPENDIX C.
                <emph.end type="bold"/>
              </s>
            </p>
            <p type="head">
              <s>WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>As stated in the preface, the nomenclature to be adopted for weights and measures
                <lb/>
              has presented great difficulty. </s>
              <s>Agricola uses, throughout, the Roman and the Romanized
                <lb/>
              Greek scales, but in many cases he uses these terms merely as lingual equivalents for the
                <lb/>
              German quantities of his day. </s>
              <s>Moreover the classic language sometimes failed him, where­
                <lb/>
              upon he coined new Latin terms adapted from the Roman scale, and thus added further
                <lb/>
              confusion. </s>
              <s>We can, perhaps, make the matter clearer by an illustration of a case in weights.
                <lb/>
              </s>
              <s>The Roman
                <emph type="italics"/>
              centúmpondium,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              composed of 100
                <emph type="italics"/>
              librae,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              the old German
                <emph type="italics"/>
              centner
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              of 100
                <emph type="italics"/>
              pfundt,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
                <lb/>
              and the English hundredweight of 112 pounds can be called lingual equivalents. </s>
              <s>The first
                <lb/>
              weighs about 494,600 Troy grains, the second 721,900, and the third 784,000. While the
                <lb/>
              divisions of the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              centumpondium
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              and the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              centner
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              are the same, the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              libra
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              is divided into 12
                <emph type="italics"/>
              unciae
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
                <lb/>
              and the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              pfundt
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              into 16
                <emph type="italics"/>
              untzen,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              and in most places a summation of the units given proves that
                <lb/>
              the author had in mind the Roman ratios. </s>
              <s>However, on p. </s>
              <s>509 he makes the direct statement
                <lb/>
              that the
                <emph type="italics"/>
              centumpondium
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              weighs 146
                <emph type="italics"/>
              librae,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              which would be about the correct weight if the
                <lb/>
                <emph type="italics"/>
              centumpondium
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              referred to was a
                <emph type="italics"/>
              centner.
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              </s>
              <s> If we take an example such as “each
                <emph type="italics"/>
              centum­
                <lb/>
              pondium
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              of lead contains one
                <emph type="italics"/>
              uncia
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              of silver”, and reduce it according to purely lingual equiva­
                <lb/>
              lents, we should find that it runs 24.3 Troy ounces per short ton, on the basis of Roman
                <lb/>
              values, and 18.25 ounces per short ton, on the basis of old German. </s>
              <s>If we were to trans­
                <lb/>
              late these into English lingual equivalents of one ounce per hundredweight, then the value
                <lb/>
              would be 17.9 ounces per short ton.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>Several possibilities were open in translation: first, to calculate the values accur­
                <lb/>
              ately in the English units; second, to adopt the nearest English lingual equivalent; third,
                <lb/>
              to introduce the German scale of the period; or, fourth, to leave the original Latin in the
                <lb/>
              text. </s>
              <s>The first would lead to an indefinite number of decimals and to constant doubt as to
                <lb/>
              whether the values, upon which calculations were to be based, were Roman or German. </s>
              <s>The
                <lb/>
              second, that is the substitution of lingual equivalents, is objectionable, not only because
                <lb/>
              it would indicate values not meant by the author, but also because we should have, like
                <lb/>
              Agricola, to coin new terms to accommodate the lapses in the scales, or again to use decimals.
                <lb/>
              </s>
              <s>In the third case, that is in the use of the old German scale, while it would be easier to adapt
                <lb/>
              than the English, it would be more unfamiliar to most readers than the Latin, and not so
                <lb/>
              expressive in print, and further, in some cases would present the same difficulties of cal­
                <lb/>
              culation as in using the English scale. </s>
              <s>Nor does the contemporary German translation of
                <emph type="italics"/>
              De
                <lb/>
              Re Metallica
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              prove of help, for its translator adopted only lingual equivalents, and in conse­
                <lb/>
              quence the summation of his weights often gives incorrect results. </s>
              <s>From all these possibilities
                <lb/>
              we have chosen the fourth, that is simply to reproduce the Latin terms for both weights and
                <lb/>
              measures. </s>
              <s>We have introduced into the footnotes such reductions to the English scale as we
                <lb/>
              considered would interest readers. </s>
              <s>We have, however, digressed from the rule in two cases,
                <lb/>
              in the adoption of “foot” for the Latin
                <emph type="italics"/>
              pes,
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              and “fathom” for
                <emph type="italics"/>
              passus.
                <emph.end type="italics"/>
              </s>
              <s> Apart from the fact
                <lb/>
              that these were not cases where accuracy is involved, Agricola himself explains (p. </s>
              <s>77)
                <lb/>
              that he means the German values for these particular terms, which, fortunately, fairly closely
                <lb/>
              approximate to the English. </s>
              <s>Further, we have adopted the Anglicized words “digit”,
                <lb/>
              “palm”, and “cubit”, instead of their Latin forms.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>For purposes of reference, we reproduce the principal Roman and old German scales,
                <lb/>
              in so far as they are used by Agricola in this work, with their values in English. </s>
              <s>All students
                <lb/>
              of weights and measures will realize that these values are but approximate, and that this is
                <lb/>
              not an occasion to enter upon a discussion of the variations in different periods or by different
                <lb/>
              authorities. </s>
              <s>Agricola himself is the author of one of the standard works on Ancient Weights
                <lb/>
              and Measures (see Appendix A), and further gives fairly complete information on contem­
                <lb/>
              porary scales of weight and fineness for precious metals in Book VII. p. </s>
              <s>262 etc., to which
                <lb/>
              we refer readers.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="head">
              <s>ROMAN SCALES OF WEIGHTS.
                <lb/>
                <arrow.to.target n="table7"/>
              </s>
            </p>
          </chap>
        </body>
      </text>
    </archimedes>
Impressum