APPENDIX A.
597
nus ” was probably an adaptation by Agricola of the name of his friend LorenzBerman, a prominent miner. The book is in the main devoted to a correla-tion of the minerals mentioned by the Ancients with those found in the Saxonmines. This phase is interesting as indicating the natural trend of Agricola’sscholastic mind when he first comes into contact with the sciences to whichhe devoted himself. The book opens with a letter of commendation fromErasmus, of Rotterdam, and with the usual dedication and preface by theauthor. The three conversationalists are supposed to take walks among themines and to discuss, incidentally, matters which come to their attention;therefore the book has no systematic or logical arrangement. There areoccasional statements bearing on the history, management, titles, and methodsused in the mines, and on mining lore generally. The mineralogical part, whileof importance from the point of view of giving the first description of severalminerals, is immensely improved upon in De Natura Fossilium, published15 years later. It is of interest to find here the first appearance of the namesof many minerals which we have since adopted from the German into our ownnomenclature. Of importance is the first description of bismuth, although,as pointed out on page 433, the metal had been mentioned before. In therevised collection of collateral works published in 1558, the author makesmany important changes and adds some new material, but some of the latereditions were made from the unrevised older texts.
Rerum Metallicarum Interpreted™. This list of German equivalentsfor Latin mineralogical terms was prepared by Agricola himself, and firstappears in the 1546 collection of De Ortu et Causis, De Natura Fossilium, etc.,being repeated in all subsequent publications of these works. It consists ofsome 500 Latin mineralogical and metallurgical terms, many of which are ofAgricola’s own coinage. It is of great help in translation and of great valuein the study of mineralogic nomenclature.
De Mensuris et Ponderibus. This work is devoted to a discussion of theGreek and Roman weights and measures, with some correlation to those usedin Saxony. It is a careful work still much referred to by students of thesesubjects. The first edition was published at Paris in 1533, and in the 1550edition at Basel appears, for the first time, De Precio Metallorum et Monetis.
De Veteribus et Novis Metallis. This short work comprises 31 foliopages, and first appears in the 1546 collection of collateral works. It consistsmainly of historical and geographical references to the occurrence of metalsand mines, culled from the Greek and Latin classics, together with someinformation as to the history of the mines in Central Europe. The latteris the only original material, and unfortunately is not very extensive. Wehave incorporated some of this information in the footnotes.
De Animantibus Subterraneis. This short work was first printed inBasel, 1549, and consists of one chapter of 23 folio pages. Practically the wholeis devoted to the discussion of various animals who at least a portion of theirtime live underground, such as hibernating, cave-dwelling, and burrowinganimals, together with cave-dwelling birds, lizards, crocodiles, serpents,etc. There are only a few lines of remote geological interest as to migration