BOOK XXXIII. XXI. 69-71 



fired and ground to a soft powder. The powder 

 from the mortar is called the ' scudes ' and the silver 

 that comes out from the furnace the ' sweat ' ; the 

 dirt thrown out of the smeltinsr-furnace in the case 

 of every metal is called ' scoria,' slag. In the case 

 of gold the scoria is pounded and fired a second 

 time ; the cruc:bles for this are made of tasconium, 

 which is a white earth resembhng clay. No other 

 earth can stand the blast of air, the fire, or the 

 intensely hot material. 



The third method will have outdone the achieve- 

 ments of the Giants. By means of galleries driven 

 for long distances the mountains are mined by the 

 Hght of lamps — the spells of work are also measured 

 by lamps,« and the miners do not see daylight for 

 many months. 



The name for this class of mines is arrugiae ; ^ also 

 cracks give way suddenly and crush the men who 

 have been at work, so that it actually seems less 

 venturesome to try to get pearls and purple-fishes 

 out of the depth of the sea : so much more dangerous 

 have we made the earth ! Consequently arches are 

 left at frequent intervals to support the weight of 

 the mountain above. In both kinds of mining 

 masses of flint are encountered, which are burst 

 asunder by means of fire and vinegar, though more 

 often, as this method makes the tunnels suffocating 

 through heat and smoke, they are broken to pieces 

 with crushing-machines carrying 150 Ibs. of iron, 

 and the men carry the stuff out on their shoulders, 

 working night and day, each man passing them on 

 to the next man in the dark, while only those at the 

 end of the line see dayhght. If the bed of flint 

 seems too long, the miner follows along the side of it 



55 



