PREFACE xxxi. 



not read or heard of from persons upon whom I can rely. That which I have 

 neither seen, nor carefully considered after reading or hearing of, I have not 

 written about. The same rule must be understood with regard to all my in- 

 struction, whether I enjoin things which ought to be done, or describe things 

 which are usual, or condemn things which are done. Since the art of mining 

 does not lend itself to elegant language, these books of mine are correspond- 

 ingly lacking in refinement of style. The things dealt with in this art of 

 metals sometimes lack names, either because they are new, or because, even 

 if they are old, the record of the names by which they were formerly known 

 has been lost. For this reason I have been forced by a necessity, for which I 

 must be pardoned, to describe some of them by a number of words combined, 

 and to distinguish others by new names, to which latter class belong Ingestor, 

 Discretor, Lotor, and Excoctor. 13 Other things, again, I have alluded to by old 

 names, such as the Cisium; for when Nonius Marcellus wrote, 14 this was 

 the name of a two-wheeled vehicle, but I have adopted it for a small vehicle 

 which has only one wheel ; and if anyone does not approve of these names, 

 let him either find more appropriate ones for these things, or discover the 

 words used in the writings of the Ancients. 



These books, most illustrious Princes, are dedicated to you for many 

 reasons, and, above all others, because metals have proved of the greatest 

 value to you ; for though your ancestors drew rich profits from the revenues 

 of their vast and wealthy territories, and likewise from the taxes which were 

 paid by the foreigners by way of toll and by the natives by way of tithes, yet 

 they drew far richer profits from the mines. Because of the mines not a few 

 towns have risen into eminence, such as Freiberg, Annaberg, Marienberg, 

 Schneeberg, Geyer, and Altenberg, not to mention others. Nay, if I under- 

 stand anything, greater wealth now lies hidden beneath the ground in the 

 mountainous parts of your territory than is visible and apparent above 

 ground. Farewell. , 



Chemnitz, Saxony, 



December First, 1550. 



^Ingestor, Carrier ; Discretor, Sorter ; Lotor, -Washer ; Excoctor, Smelter. 

 14 Nonius Marcellus was a Roman grammarian of the 4th Century B.C. His extant 

 treatise is entitled, De Compendiosa Doctrina per Litteras ad Filium. 



