. De re metallica. Metallurgy; Mineral industries. 40 BOOK A—Twig. B—Trench. men in discovering veins. With regard to deflection of branches of trees they sa}' nothing and adhere to their opinion. Since this matter remains in dispute and causes much dissention amongst miners, I consider it ought to be examined on its own merits. The wizards, who also make use of rings, mirrors and crystals, seek for veins with a divining rod shaped like a fork ; but its shape makes no difference in the matter,—it might be straight or of some other form—for it is not the form of the twig that matters, but
. De re metallica. Metallurgy; Mineral industries. 40 BOOK A—Twig. B—Trench. men in discovering veins. With regard to deflection of branches of trees they sa}' nothing and adhere to their opinion. Since this matter remains in dispute and causes much dissention amongst miners, I consider it ought to be examined on its own merits. The wizards, who also make use of rings, mirrors and crystals, seek for veins with a divining rod shaped like a fork ; but its shape makes no difference in the matter,—it might be straight or of some other form—for it is not the form of the twig that matters, but the wizard's incantations which it would not become me to repeat, neither do I wish to do so. The Ancients, by means of the divining rod, not only procured those things neces- sary for a hvehhood or for luxurj'', but they were also able to alter the forms of things by it ; as when the magicians changed the rods of the Egyptians into serpents, as the writings of the Hebrews relate^^; and as in Homer, Minerva with a di\'ining rod turned the aged Ulysses suddenly into a youth, and then restored him back again to old age ; Circe also changed Ulysses' companions into beasts, but afterward gave them back again their human form^^ ; moreover by his rod, which was called " Caduceus," Mercury gave "Exodus VII., 10, II, 12. "Odyssey xvi., 172, and x., 2^ Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Agricola, Georg, 1494-1555; Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964. New York, Dover Publications
Size: 1645px × 1519px
Photo credit: © Paul Fearn / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthoragricolageorg14941555, bookcentury1900, booksubjectmin
