Agricola, Georgius, De re metallica, 1912/1950

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              the superior and some the inferior parts of the veins; to some he gives
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              the cross veins, to others the inclined veins. </s>
              <s>If the man who first starts
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              work finds the vein to be metal-bearing or yielding other mining products,
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              it will not be to his advantage to cease work because the neighbourhood may
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              be evil, but he will guard and defend his rights both by arms and by the law.
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              </s>
              <s>When the
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              Bergmeister
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              11
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              delimits the boundaries of each owner, it is the duty
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              of a good miner to keep within his bounds, and of a prudent one to repel
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              encroachments of his neighbours by the help of the law. </s>
              <s>But this is enough
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              about the neighbourhood.</s>
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              <s>The miner should try to obtain a mine, to which access is not difficult,
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              in a mountainous region, gently sloping, wooded, healthy, safe, and not far
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              distant from a river or stream by means of which he may convey his
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              mining products to be washed and smelted. </s>
              <s>This indeed, is the best
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              position. </s>
              <s>As for the others, the nearer they approximate to this position the
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              better they are; the further removed, the worse.</s>
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              <s>Now I will discuss that kind of minerals for which it is not necessary
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              to dig, because the force of water carries them out of the veins. </s>
              <s>Of these
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              there are two kinds, minerals—and their fragments
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              12
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              —and juices. </s>
              <s>When
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              there are springs at the outcrop of the veins from which, as I have already said,
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              the above-mentioned products are emitted, the miner should consider these
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              first, to see whether there are metals or gems mixed with the sand, or whether
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              the waters discharged are filled with juices. </s>
              <s>In case metals or gems have
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              settled in the pool of the spring, not only should the sand from it be
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              washed, but also that from the streams which flow from these springs, and
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              even from the river itself into which they again discharge. </s>
              <s>If the springs dis­
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              charge water containing some juice, this also should be collected; the further
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              such a stream has flowed from the source, the more it receives plain water and
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              the more diluted does it become, and so much the more deficient in strength.
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              </s>
              <s>If the stream receives no water of another kind, or scarcely any, not only
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              the rivers, but likewise the lakes which receive these waters, are of the same
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              nature as the springs, and serve the same uses; of this kind is the lake
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              which the Hebrews call the Dead Sea, and which is quite full of bituminous
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              fluids
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              13
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              . </s>
              <s>But I must return to the subject of the sands.</s>
            </p>
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              <s>Springs may discharge their waters into a sea, a lake, a marsh, a river,
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              or a stream; but the sand of the sea-shore is rarely washed, for although the
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              water flowing down from the springs into the sea carries some metals or
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              gems with it, yet these substances can scarcely ever be reclaimed, because
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              they are dispersed through the immense body of waters and mixed up with
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              </s>
            </p>
          </chap>
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    </archimedes>
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