Agricola, Georgius
,
De re metallica
,
1912/1950
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sleep to watchmen and awoke slumberers
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24
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<
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>Therefore it seems that the
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divining rod passed to the mines from its impure origin with the magicians.
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<
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>Then when good men shrank with horror from the incantations and rejected
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them, the twig was retained by the unsophisticated common miners, and
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in searching for new veins some traces of these ancient usages remain.</
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>But since truly the twigs of the miners do move, albeit they do not
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generally use incantations, some say this movement is caused by the
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power of the veins, others say that it depends on the manipulation, and
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still others think that the movement is due to both these causes. </
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>But, in
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truth, all those objects which are endowed with the power of attraction
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do not twist things in circles, but attract them directly to themselves; for
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instance, the magnet does not turn the iron, but draws it directly to itself,
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and amber rubbed until it is warm does not bend straws about, but simply
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draws them to itself. </
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>If the power of the veins were of a similar nature to
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that of the magnet and the amber, the twig would not so much twist as
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move once only, in a semi-circle, and be drawn directly to the vein, and unless
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the strength of the man who holds the twig were to resist and oppose the
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force of the vein, the twig would be brought to the ground; wherefore,
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since this is not the case, it must necessarily follow that the manipulation
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is the cause of the twig's twisting motion. </
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>It is a conspicuous fact that
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these cunning manipulators do not use a straight twig, but a forked one
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cut from a hazel bush, or from some other wood equally flexible, so that if it
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be held in the hands, as they are accustomed to hold it, it turns in a circle
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for any man wherever he stands. </
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<
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>Nor is it strange that the twig does not
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turn when held by the inexperienced, because they either grasp the forks of
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the twig too tightly or hold them too loosely. </
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<
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>Nevertheless, these things
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give rise to the faith among common miners that veins are discovered by
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the use of twigs, because whilst using these they do accidentally discover
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some; but it more often happens that they lose their labour, and although
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they might discover a vein, they become none the less exhausted in
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digging useless trenches than do the miners who prospect in an unfortunate
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locality. </
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<
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>Therefore a miner, since we think he ought to be a good and
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serious man, should not make use of an enchanted twig, because if he is
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prudent and skilled in the natural signs, he understands that a forked stick
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is of no use to him, for as I have said before, there are the natural indica
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tions of the veins which he can see for himself without the help of twigs.
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<
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>So if Nature or chance should indicate a locality suitable for mining, the
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miner should dig his trenches there; if no vein appears he must dig
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numerous trenches until he discovers an outcrop of a vein.</
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A vena dilatata
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is rarely discovered by men's labour, but usually some
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force or other reveals it, or sometimes it is discovered by a shaft or a tunnel
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on a
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vena profunda
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25
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