1written in Book I. of my
work “De Veteribus et Novís
Metallís”)16; or they
may be exposed through the force of the wind, when it uproots and destroys
the trees which have grown over the veins; or by the breaking away of the
rocks; or by long-continued heavy rains tearing away the mountain; or by
an earthquake; or by a lightning flash; or by a snowslide; or by the
violence of the winds: “Of such a nature are the rocks hurled down from
the mountains by the force of the winds aided by the ravages of time.” Or
the plough may uncover the veins, for Justin relates in his history that
nuggets of gold had been turned up in Galicia by the plough; or this may
occur through a fire in the forest, as Diodorus Siculus tells us happened in the
silver mines in Spain; and that saying of Posidonius is appropriate enough:
“The earth violently moved by the fires consuming the forest sends forth new
products, namely, gold and silver.”17. And indeed, Lucretius has ex
plained the same thing more fully in the following lines: “Copper and gold
and iron were discovered, and at the same time weighty silver and the sub
stance of lead, when fire had burned up vast forests on the great hills, either
by a discharge of heaven's lightning, or else because, when men were waging
war with one another, forest fires had carried fire among the enemy in order to
strike terror to them, or because, attracted by the goodness of the soil, they
wished to clear rich fields and bring the country into pasture, or else to destroy
wild beasts and enrich themselves with the game; for hunting with pitfalls
and with fire came into use before the practice of enclosing the wood with
toils and rousing the game with dogs. Whatever the fact is, from
may be exposed through the force of the wind, when it uproots and destroys
the trees which have grown over the veins; or by the breaking away of the
rocks; or by long-continued heavy rains tearing away the mountain; or by
an earthquake; or by a lightning flash; or by a snowslide; or by the
violence of the winds: “Of such a nature are the rocks hurled down from
the mountains by the force of the winds aided by the ravages of time.” Or
the plough may uncover the veins, for Justin relates in his history that
nuggets of gold had been turned up in Galicia by the plough; or this may
occur through a fire in the forest, as Diodorus Siculus tells us happened in the
silver mines in Spain; and that saying of Posidonius is appropriate enough:
“The earth violently moved by the fires consuming the forest sends forth new
products, namely, gold and silver.”17. And indeed, Lucretius has ex
plained the same thing more fully in the following lines: “Copper and gold
and iron were discovered, and at the same time weighty silver and the sub
stance of lead, when fire had burned up vast forests on the great hills, either
by a discharge of heaven's lightning, or else because, when men were waging
war with one another, forest fires had carried fire among the enemy in order to
strike terror to them, or because, attracted by the goodness of the soil, they
wished to clear rich fields and bring the country into pasture, or else to destroy
wild beasts and enrich themselves with the game; for hunting with pitfalls
and with fire came into use before the practice of enclosing the wood with
toils and rousing the game with dogs. Whatever the fact is, from