124 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO l666. 



waters ?— Whether the waters, by their taste, smell, ponderousness, &c. indicate 

 any minerals ? — ^Whether snow will not lie, or frost continue so long, or dew be 

 collected upon the ground, more or less than usual ? — And whether the dew or 

 the rain there will discolour white linen or woollen cloths, spread over night 

 on the surface of the ground ? — The state of the place as to thunder and light- 

 ning, storms or earthquakes, nocturnal lights and fiery meteors ? — ^What indica- 

 tions from mists, or the virgula divinatoria ? — What signs afford a probability 

 of mines, or direction for following a vein over hills, valleys, lakes, &c. 



The strata under the surface : their number, nature, depth, order, thickness, &c. 

 — Indications by certain stones or marcasites, &c. — Peculiar kind of earths. 

 Also heats or damps. 



IF. The Structure, &c. of Mines. 



The depth of the shaft or grove : what its width and extent ? Whether the 

 vein run horizontal or dip ? what inclination it has ? What its flexures; and what its 

 directions ? — ^What air-shaft belongs to the mine? Whether it be single, double, 

 &c. and if several, what their distances, situation, &c. ? — ^What waters spring in 

 the mine ; at what depths ; and their quantity and nature ? — ^What expedients and 

 engines are employed to free the mines from water ? — ^What are the conditions, 

 number, &c. of the adits ? — ^Whether the mine be troubled with damps, and of 

 what kind they are ? — ^What methods the mine men use in following the vein and 

 tracing their passages under ground (which ' they call plumming and dyalling) 

 according to the several exigencies ? And whether they employ the instruments 

 made with the help of the loadstone, the same way that is usual, or what other 

 instruments? — What methods they take to secure themselves from the uncertainty 

 incident to the guidance of magnetic needles from the iron-stone ore that they 

 may meet with under ground ? — How the miners deal with the rocks and spars 

 they often meet with before they come at the ore ? Whether they use fire to 

 soften, calcine, or crack them ? How they employ it, and with what measure 

 of success ? — ^What instruments they use to break the rock, &c. ? And how the 

 mine men work; whether naked or clothed? And what lights they use to work 

 by ? — How veins are followed, lost, and' recovered ? And how several miners 

 work on the same vein ? And what is the best way of getting all the ore in a 

 vein and most conveniently ? — How they convey out their ore and other things 

 that are to be carried out of the mine ? 



F. The Nature of the Ore. 



Whether the ore runs in the vein, or lies dispersed in scattered pieces ; or be 

 divided partly into a vein, and partly into loose masses ; or like a wall between 



