BOOK V. 



coloured, or any other. Sometimes quartz, schist, or marble is of this quality 

 also, if much native or rudis silver adheres to it. But that ore is considered 

 of poor quality if three librae of silver at the utmost are found in each 

 one hundred librae of it 9 . Silver ore usually contains a greater quantity 



Cadmia fossilis . . 



Cadmia metallica . . 

 Cadmia fornacis . . 



Bituminosa cadmia 



Galena inanis 

 Cobaltum cineraceum 

 Cobaltum nigrum 

 Cobaltum ferri 



colore 

 Zincum 

 Liquor Candidus 



ex fornace . . . etc 

 Atr amentum sutorium, 



candidum, polis- 



simum reperitur 



Goselariae 

 Spodos subtenanea 



cinerea 



Spodos subtenanea 

 nigra 



Spodos subtenanea 



viridis . . 

 Pompholyx 



Calmei ; lapis 

 calaminaris . . 



Kobelt .. 



Mitlere und obere 

 offenbruche 



Kobelt des bergwachl 



Blende 



Zinck 

 Conterfei 



Geeler zechen rauch 



Schwartzer zechen 

 rauch, auff dem, 

 Altenberge nennet 

 man in kis 



Calamine 



Part cobalt 



Furnace accretions . . 



or furnace calamine 

 (Mansfeld copper 



schists) 



Sphalerite* (Zu S) . . 

 Smallite* (CoAs 2 ) . . 

 Abolite* 



Cobaltite (CoAsA) . . 

 Zinc 



Zinc 



Goslarite (Zn SO 4 ) 



Grauer zechen rauch 

 Hiittenrauch 



Either natural or arti- 

 ficial zinc oxides, no 

 doubt containing 

 arsenical oxides 



Calamine 

 *Cadmia melallica 



Furnace accretions 

 Bituminosa cadmia 

 (see note 4, p. 273) 

 *Blende 



Cadmia metallica 



Zinc 



See note 48, p. 408 



*Native white vitriol 

 Grey spodos 



Black spodos 



Green spodos 



Pompholyx (see 

 note 26, p. 394) 



As seen from the following quotations from Agricola, on cadmia and cobalt, there was infinite 



confusion as to the zinc, cobalt, and arsenic minerals ; nor do we think any good purpose is 



served by adding to the already lengthy discussion of these passages, the obscurity of which 



is natural to the state of knowledge ; but we reproduce them as giving a fairly clear idea of 



the amount of confusion then existing. It is, however, desirable to bear in mind that the 



mines familiar to Agricola abounded in complex mixtures of cobalt, nickel, arsenic, bismuth, 



zinc, and antimony. Agricola frequently mentions the garlic odour from cadmia metallica, 



which, together with the corrosive qualities mentioned below, would obviously be due to 



arsenic. Bermannus (p. 459). " This kind of pyrites miners call cobaltum, if it be allowed 



' to me to use our German name. The Greeks call it cadmia. The juices, however, out 



' of which pyrites and silver are formed, appear to solidify into one body, and thus is produced 



' what they call cobaltum. There are some who consider this the same as pyrites, because 



' it is almost the same. There are some who distinguish it as a species, which pleases me, 



' for it has the distinctive property of being extremely corrosive, so that it consumes the 



' hands and feet of the workmen, unless they are well protected, which I do not believe that 



' pyrites can do. Three kinds are found, and distinguished more by the colour than by other 



' properties ; they are black (abolite ?), grey (smallite ?), and iron colour (cobalt glance ?). 



' Moreover, it contains more silver than does pyrites. . ." Bermannus (p. 431). " It (a 



' sort of pyrites) is so like the colour of galena that not without cause might anybody have 



' doubt in deciding whether it be pyrites or galena Perhaps this kind is neither 



' pyrites nor galena, but has a genus of its own. For it has not the colour of pyrites, nor the 

 ' hardness. It is almost the colour of galena, but of entirely different components. From 

 ' it there is made gold and silver, and a great quantity is dug out from Reichenstein which 

 ' is in Silesia, as was lately reported to me. Much more is found at Raurici, which they call 

 ' zincum ; which species differs from pyrites, for the latter contains more silver than gold, 

 ' the former only gold, or hardly any silver." 



(De Natura Fossilium, p. 170). " Cadmia fossilis has an odour like garlic " . . (p. 367). 

 We now proceed with cadmia, not the cadmia fornacis (furnace accretions) of 

 which I spoke in the last book, nor the cadmia fossilis (calamine) devoid of metal, which 

 is used to colour copper, whose nature I explained in Book V, but the metallic mineral 

 (fossilis metallica), which Pliny states to be an ore from which copper is made. The 

 Ancients have left no record that another metal could be smelted from it. Yet it is a fact 



Three librae of silver per centumpondium would be equal to 875 ounces per short ton. 



