LAZARUS ERCKER and HIS "PROBIERBUCH." SIR JOHN PETTUS and HIS "FLETA MINOR"' EVA V. ARMSTRONG
AND
HIRAM S. LUKENS2
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Fenmylvania
walks the earth in eternal life, we do not recognize him. But from this union of alchemy, begotten of man's wishful, wistful, human desires, alchemy, a romantic baggage if ever there was one; and of metallurgy, the father, with a nature hard, factual, exact, with no nonsense about him, chemistry was born; chemistry, that strange science, which in quiet labora-
"While through the Forrest TUBALL (With his Yew And ready quiver) did a bore pursue, A burning Mountain from his fiery vain, A n Iron River rorules along the Plain: The witty Hunts-man, musing, thither hies, And of the wonder deeply 'gan devise. Andfirst perceiving that this scalding mettle, Becoming cold, i n any shape would settle, And grow so hard that With his sharpened side, The firmest substance it would soon d i d e ; He cast a hundred plots, and yer he parts, He moulds the ground-work for a hundred A r k n 3
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N THESE lines, Tubal-cain, roaming a virgin country, is presented as the patron saint of mining and metallurgy. Authority is derived from the book of Genesis, where we read, "And Zillah, she also bore Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificier in brass and iron." The metals were vital to primitive man, and evidence abounds that crude processes in mining, assaying, and refining were developed by him. Iron, copper, silver, were important, but it was the golden calf that he worshiped. Later, practical workers in metallurgy were augmented by a group who conceived the idea that gold might be procured, not by toil in the bowels of the eagth, but by the pleasant occupation of developing philosophical ideas in a quiet laboratory, whereby base metals might be transmuted into gold. That they might not be robbed of the fruits of their labors, a veil of secrecy and mysticism was woven over all. Misled by desire, man visioned the riches of the world in his grasp. If he could create gold, why not prolong l i f god-like, ~ alchemical dream which possessed men's souls in many lands for many centuries. If one succeeded in his passionate desire of making gold, we have no proof of it. If one 1 Presented before the Division of History of Chemistry at the ninety-seventh meeting of the A. C. S., Baltimore, Md.. April 5. 1939. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. a "Du Bartas: His Divine Weekes and Workes." translated by Josuah Sylvester. London. 1608. In 1578, Du Bartas published his amazing epic of the creation of the world-"La Sepmaine." It met with widespread recognition. Josuah Sylvester (156&1618) the English trsnslator, was, in his day, the most f;l.rnouo ~ n g f i s hpoet afrcr Chaucer. Ili.; work an:&dated that of his cunwml,or;ary, \Villiam Shakespeare, t r y thrrr yrar.;. nnd is said to hxre been a suurcr of inspiration to John Milton.
tories still seeks to probe the secret of life; chemistry, which through its application, has produced more gold than the alchemists dreamed of in their philosophy. 553
The legend that metals were first disclosed to man through a great fire on a mountain, which caused molten metal to burst forth and flow like water, may or may not be accepted. As Richard Watson, the learned Bishop of Llandaff observed, "In vain shall we inquire who invented the first plough, baked the first bread, shaped the first pot, or hollowed the first canoe."
M I ~ F L E S CRUWBLES , AND BOTTOMPLATES AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE 1598 EDlTlONOP ERCKER
Authorities are agreed, however, that a knowledge of mining and metallurgy grew apace and, long before modem times, reached a development where it was adequate to satisfy not only the necessities of man, but also his desire for l n x q and beauty. Metallurgical secrets were carefully guarded by the ancients; the processes and methods developed were known only to those engaged in them, and centuries passed before the world in general was made acquainted with them. The earliest known publication on mining appeared anonymously about 1505 under the title "Ein Nutzlich Bergbuchlein." In 1540 Vanuccio Birringuccio (ca. 1495-1550) published his "Piotechnia" a t Venice. This was the first systematic text on mining and metallurgy, and described the casting of bells and cannon, the manufacture of gunpowder, artificial fire and fireworks, and devices for chemical warfare.
Sixteen years later (1556) Georg Agricola's "De re Metallica" appeared. Much has been written of the contribution of Agricola, and the splendid translation of his work in 1912 by Mr. and Mrs. Herbert C. Hoover has focused the attention of modern students upon it. In the same century Lazarus Ercker (or Erckern) published a book devoted to mining and metallurgy, entitled "Beschreibung allerfiirnemisten Mineralischen Ertzt und Bergkwerks arten . . .," Prague, 1574. Subsequent editions were published in 1580, 1598, and 1629. The work was enlarged and under the title of "Aula Subterranea" published in 1672, 1684, 1703, and 1736. An English translation appeared in 1683; it was reprinted in 1686 with a title-page in red and black. In 1745 a Dutch translation was published a t Gravenhage.' The editions are in folio and contain numerous woodcuts. In view of the fact that the life of a technical publication, unlike that of a great piece of literature, is measured by the period of its usefulness, it is of interest to note that during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries eleven editions of Ercker's work appeared. Despite this evidence of the importance of Ercker's contribution, little is known of him. One looks in vain in the average history of chemistry or bibliography for mention of him. The best picture of Ercker is presented by Hermann Boerhaave, who wrote, "Lszarus Ercker was superintendent of the mines in Germany, Hungary, Transylvania. Tyrol, etc., to three emperors; whence he was furnished with a complete stock of metallic knowledge. He is an experienc'd, candid, and honest writer, relates nothing but what he had himself seen. without a word of theorv or reasoning, and everywhcrc s p ~ a ka?~if he xcre sitting before the furnace, and relating whar passed. His way is thk: In Hungary there is SUCKa mountain; wherein you have such an earth; heat, or grind it into powder; and wash it in water, and it will he of such a colour, and weight; and will contain so much gold, so much silver, so much copper. I n such a manner he teaches how it is to be burnt or roasted; what mles and signs are t o be observ'd therein; how the fire is to herais'dor diminish'd, &c. He never fails enumerating every circumstance, and always in the most open, artless manner, and a clear easy stile; adding figures for farther illustration: his bonk was wrote inHigh-Dutch, and printed in folio; and so much valued by the curious, that Mr. Boyle laments his not understanding that language, merely for the sake of reading this author. But i t has since been translated into Latin, with excellent notes;6 so that this single work might almost suffice for the whole art of assaying."
The date of Ercker's birth is unknown; he died in 1-593. The only autobiographical statement made by Ercker is that he was "of St. Annen Bergk." Sir John Pettus, his English translator, knew little more of This translation has not been noted in any of the bibliographies consulted. I t was probably made from the German edition of 1736 which has the initials "J. E. C." on the title-page. These initials also appear on the title-page of the Dutch translation, a copy of which is in the Library of Congress. V e t e r Shaw, in his English translation of Boerhaave's "Elementa Chemiae" (1741) comments: "We have not been so happy as t o meet with this Latin translation, after a good deal of inquiry." Glauher in his "Description of New Philosophical Furnaces" (1651) refers his readers "especially t o the writings of that most famous Lazarus Ercker.. .De Probations MincraLium." Search by the authors of this paper has failed to reveal a Latin edition.
him, but intimates that Ercker's name, like that of Georg Agricola, was assumed, and indulges in the following flight of fancy, "His name Lazarus, is in imitation of the old Romans, Germans and Belgicks, who assumed names suiting to their Temper, or some Observable Actions. The word Lazarus signifies. one that was beloved of our Saviour, also one that was raised from Now Erk in Teuthe Earth. . Hie other name is Erckern tonic is Oar, and Kern in Teutonic is grain, so that to kern is t o granulate (which is t o reduce Metals into certain proporNow joyning tions of the purest part which they call grains) all together, I may represent him as an humble minded industrious man, that knows haw t o judge of all Oan, and how t o manage the Products of them, for the Glory of God, & the good of mankind."
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Ercker's work, had a colorful career. He entered the service of Charles I in 1639 and was knighted in 1641. He fought in the royal cause, and sold his estates to contribute to an effort to save the life of the king. After the execution of Charles I, Sir John supported the varying fortunes of Charles 11, supplying him with money from time to time. In a loyalist uprising a t Lovestoft, he was taken prisoner by Oliver Cromwell,
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Pettus adds, "He stands for are nown'd Assay-Master, a Good Chimist, and one that understood, but was not a Sophisticating Alchemist." Lazarus Ercker served under Rudolph 11, Emperor of Bohemia, who was distinguished for his encouragement of the arts and sciences. The astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler found haven in his Court, and John Dee and Edward Kelley made strange adventure there. Ercker's work was pleasing to the Emperor, who frequently visited the Bohemian mines and interested himself in equipment designed by Ercker, who is described by Graf von Sternberg as the best informed and most careful observer of all mining engineers of his day. The process of extracting precious metals by amalgamation was known in South America more than two hundred years before its general introduction into Central Europe. The secret was jealously guarded by the Spaniards, but one of that race, Don Juan de Corduba, who had possessed himself of a t least a part of it, offeredin 1588 to demonstrate the method a t the Court of Vienna. He was ordered to conduct the experiment a t Kutzenberg, Bohemia, where Ercker was in charge as Upper Bar-Master. The experiment failed, although a small amount of silver was obtained, and de ~ o r d u b a complained to the Court that Ercker failed to conperate with him. In reolv the Bar-Master advised "that their Lordships should not s d e r any more expence to be thrown away on this experiment." Baron Inigo Born, who successfully introduced the process of amalgamation into Europe about 1784, published an account of the method entitled "Ueber das Anquicken der Gold und Silberhalt igen Erze," Vienna, 1786.# Born charged Ercker with "pedantic pride" in his treatment of de Corduba, and added that if he had condescended to assist the Spaniard, who probably knew nothing more than the mechanical operations used in Pern, the Austrians might have been in possession of the process of amlgamation, with all its advantages, a couple of centuries before its actual adoption. Sir John Pettus (1613-1690), the translator of &
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6 Born's work was translated into English in 1791 by Rudolf Eric Raspe, under the title "Baron Inigo Born's New Process of Amalgamation." The translator is better known as the author of the tales of "Baron Munchausen." The character of some of Raspe's adventures led Sir Walter Scott to cast him for the villain in "The Antiquary."
ASSAYLABORATORY, SXOWING THE EYESWHILE LOOKING AT
and confined to Windsor Castle for more than a year. In 1655 he professed loyalty to Cromwell and was appointed Deputy Governor of the Royal Mines of England and Wales, a position he continued to hold after the restoration of Charles I1 to the throne. Sir John married the daughter of the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Richard Gurney, but his domestic life proved stormy. His wife deserted him to enter a convent, and in 1672 had him excommunicated from the church. Sir John defended himself by publishing "A Narrative of the Excommuuication of Sir John Pettus, issued aeainst him bv his Ladv . . with his answers to several aspersions against him by her."
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"His (Ercker's) five Books were minted and ~uhlished a t Orizinallv a man of wealth. he lost a fortune in the royal cause, and in 1683 we him in the ~ lprison ~ ~Antwet Anno. 1629, from which many of the younger Chimists of this Age have derived their skill, by Copies surreptiously in London. gain'd from my first Translation, about 14 years since, which "Why stood he there. himself could scarcelv tell: But ;here he had not stood, had Things gone well."
Soldier, courtier, Fellow of the Royal Society, Cup Bearer to the King, member of Parliament, author, and -
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occasions my printing of it now, being made more perfect."
Presumably the "copies" referred to were in manuscript, because the author says that some "eminent persons" persuaded him not to publish it "lest the Common sort of people should make ill use of it." Now he determined to print it, adding: "What hath made Arts and Sciences flourish more in the time of King Charles I, and now in His Majesties Reign, than their Majesties encouragements to the free communication of such Things as had many Ages before lain secret."
The translation by Pettus bore the punning title "Fleta Minor" in explanation of which he wrote, "I have given it the Title Fleta, which is borrowed from an eminent Lawyer, who whilst he was Prisoner in the Fleet, writ his Learned Book of the Common Laws of England, and . . . call'd his Book Fleta . . . t o which I add Minor, in submission to his great Learning, and for its affinity to the word Miner . . . "
Sir John dedicated the book to His Majesty Charles 11, to whom the Royal Society was indebted for its charter. In the dedicatory epistle Sir John alludes to His Majesty's interest in chemistry.
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Deputy Governor of the Royal Mines, he was now "reduced to nothingu-a prisoner for debt. A glance a t the surroundings in which Sir John found himself may be in order. We are informed that one of the compensations offered a t Fleet Prison was "a commodious new CoffeeHouse, and thought to be as Compleat a one, as any in Town (wherein one of the Warden's servants is put, to he useful upon occasion) Part of the Pews in the Chapel being taken into it and serves as a Bar."
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"There, a t Backgammon, two sit tele d tete, And curse alternately their Adverse fate. These are a t Cribbage, those a t Whist engag'd, And, as they lose, by turns become e w g ' d : Some of more sedentary Temper, read Chance-medley books, which duller dullness breeds;
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Some of low Taste, ring Hand Bells, direful Noise! And interrupt their Fellows' harmless joys;
............................................ Without Distinction, intermix'd is seen, A 'Squire quite dirty, a Mechanick clean: The Spendthrift Heir, who in his Chariot rol'd, All his Possessions gone, Reversions sold.
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Tho' sorely griev'd, few are so void of Grace, As not t o wear a seeming chearful Face . . .
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"Herein I humbly offer my Endeavours onely to refresh Your Majesties Memory, not t o inform your Knowledg: f o r . Your Maiestv is (in the Science of Chimistnr. as in all Sciences of ~ u m a n i i y )~ u l l Secundus. i These ~erfectionsare evident in Your Majesties publick and private Elahorataries, from which pure Justice, and pleasing Arts and Sciences are communicated to Your Subjects. I n these I have observed Your Majesties particular respects to Chimistry . . . and I resolved to transplant this German Twig of L. Erckern (an-that Subject) into Your Majesties Nursery having upon some significant occasions) had the Honour to be kmwn t o Your Majesty near Forty Yean."
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Sir John Pettus, whose courage, philosophy, and charm had survived service under two kings of Britain and the Protectorate of Oliver Crpmwell, had no difficulty in winning the friendship of the Warden of Fleet Prison, Richard Manlove. His next step was to persuade the Warden to lend him monev with which to publish the book. This he accompl~shed and made public acknowledgment of the debt, "Those that think themselves Prisoners t o you are much mistaken, for they are Prisoners to the Laws, and may make themselves students of All-Souls in Le Fleet.. Had it not been for your Incouragement and particular Assistance with your Purse (though with some inconvenience t o your own Occasions) I could not have finished this Book. .. But I must end with this request. That as you have given House Room here t o the whole Impression of my Books, so you will please (in respect my person is restrain'd in Execution of the Laws) to encourare it in its Travels abroad: and so not doubting your Favour, ishall conclude with Ovid
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such conditions would have daunted most men, but Sir John Pettus, a t the age of seventy, philosophically Perm ncc invideo sine me Liber ibis in busied himself with the completion of his translation of Ercker. Pettus indicates that he had made a prelimi- which I have thus Englisht, Go little Book, leave me, but make report. nary translation from the 1629 edition of Ercker's Who treats thee best, the City or the Court." work, Under such circumstances the first edition of "Fleta YThe Humours of the Fleet, written by a of the Minor. The Laws of Art and Nature in Knowing, College." London. 1749.
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Judging, Assaying, Fining, Refining, and Inlarging" appeared in 1683 in a limited edition. It was reviewed in the Philosoph@l Transactions of the Royal Society in the same year. Favorable reception of the translation is indicated by the fact that it was reprinted in 1686. Sir John endeavored to improve the woodcuts in Ercker's work by changing the costumes and hair dress of the laboratory workers from the period of the sixteenth to the seventeenth century. Engravings were used instead of woodcuts, but otherwise the prints are identical. The first and major portion of "Fleta Mmor" purports to be a faithful translation of the work of Lazarus Ercker. The second section entitled "Essays on Metallick Words" is an original work by Pettus. The original publication by Ercker is not divided into numerical chapters and sections, contains no table of contents, and is very poorly punctuated. These shortcomings have all been supplied in the translation. Of the effort to achieve this, Sir John wrote, "I have comply'd them to our way of Orthography. (which was no little trouble) and therefore if the Reader find some few Omissions, they may on that account be the more kindly dispens't with."
He says that Lazarus Ercker "Our author (though it may well be supposed, that he knew much more than he writ) goes not farther in his Books, that what is safe and fit to be known and publish't; i.c., only concerning Fining and Refining of Metals, neither stooping too low to the meaner gradations, nor ascending to the Metaphysical Speculations, hut leaves those Subjects to other Writers."
"Ego centered modem man, so powerful in shaping the things of the earth to his own ends, needs to be reminded occasionally of his r81e in space and time," accordmg to a quotation, purloined from a recent number of Science NEWSLetter. The man who professes a knowledge of modem non-ferrous metallurgy or of assaying will be so reminded by asreading of "Fleta Minor." Over three centuries have passed s i n e the original publication by Ercker. His knowledge of the ores of silver, nold, copper, tin, antimony, mercury, and iron is disclosed in i;nguage entirely free from speculation and governed by precepts which would do credit to any modern scientist. In his descriptions of the processes of assaying he outlines methods employing principles still in use today. Refinements have occurred, it is true, but one cannot fail to contrast unfavorably the progress made in three hundred years with the keen perception and fundamental reasoning that were essential to the development of the original processes. Ercker's work is divided into five books; the h t , relating to silver, is the most extensive and includes many descriptions of apparatus and processes used generally in assaying. The known silver ores of the time are carefully classified on the basis of their probable worth in silver and content of other metals, notably copper and gold. The design, construction, and
relative merits of the various forms of assey furnaces are next discussed in elaborate detail with abundant illustrations. The fabrication of muffles, crucibles, cupels, bottom plates, and supplementary equipment is carefully described, and the various materials used in making them are approved or criticized as the author's experience dictates. For example, calves'
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FLETA
MINOR.
THE
( I A R T ~ ~ ~ NATURE!
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Knowing, Judging, Afaying, Fing,ReIininl and Inlamina the B o o m ofmnfidd
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T k . Fir! contains eA S S A T S of L r ~ m Er+ ChiefProvw (or nAf9Mdler Genrrd of the Empire of GmmY.l in V. BOOKS: originally wrirtcn by him in the Turmicb Lamage. " . andnow tranflaridinto Enel;/&. -, The Second mnrainr E S S A T S on ~MmUickWordr.as i DICTIONARY to many plding DISCOURSES. -By Sir Yobn Pert~,o f Sufolk, K' Of rhe Socity for rhc M I N E S POTAL.
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TITLE-PAGE oa THE FIRSTEDITIONOF~THE TRANSLATION OF ERCKER'S WORKBY SIRJOHN PETTUS head bones or the scales from their foreheads, after calcining and pulverizing, are recommended for making cupels after moistening with skong beer. After describing the preparation of lead glass to be used as a flux, he carefully explains the relation of the various assay weights and their relation to the standard Centner weight. It is surprising to discover marked similarity to modem equipment in the illustrations used by Ercker. Any modem assayer would feel a t home among the ?ire clay products or in the laboratories depicted. The balance case shown would certainly not appear out of place in a modem laboratory. The actual assaying of silver ores is described as substantially following modem practice in reducing the silver content to a silver lead alloy, followed by subsequent cupellation, the silver button remaining on the
cupel. The necessary modifications of the process for the silver assay of alloys, oxidized silver, coins, and plate follow next in order. The first book concludes with an illustrated description of the construction and use of the balance and full instructions for the making of "proof weights" and their sub-divisions. The second book treats of gold ores. After describing the recognized types of ore, various methods of concentration, separation with. and without amalgamation, the preparation and use of touch needles, the use of touchstones and their limitations, the latter part of the book is devoted to the determination of the de-
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Flna Minor,
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The Second Part. C O N T A l N l N Q
Metallick WORDS:/ Alphabetidy mmpofd, u a D I C T I O N A R Y T0
Lazarus Erckern. 1llulh.d with two Sculprer.
By Sir john Pettur, of Sufi4, Knight.
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TITLE-PAGEoa TB DICTIONARYON METALLI WORDS BY SIR JoEN P ~ n u s
gree of purity of gold and to means of aecting its purification. The use of Aqua Fortis as a test for the purity of gold is recommended as a thoroughly dependable method. One chapter is devoted to a description of the method for determining the gold content of silver-gold alloys by their difference in specific gravity. An alternative method. consisted of drawing a wire of pure gold and one of silver to be tested through the same hole and then weighing the wires. Elaborate instructions are provided for the preparation of Aqua Fortis and its purification by distillation. In the description of the operation of cementation the author discloses a clear understanding of the process when he
points out that the materials essential for success must act upon silver and copper "by reason of the Salts it contains, yet not touch the Gold." It is pointed out that casting gold through antimony has been regarded as the best, if not the only way of preparing gold of highest quality. The author reasons that since Aqua Regis dissolves gold only, without dissolving silver, the purest gold may be prepared in that way. His attitude on alchemy is indicated in the following statement. "As for the Cement of which the Philosophers and Alchimists do write, by which one may change Copper into Silver, and Silver into Gold, those I leave to their worth.. . For in my Books I write nothing else, but what is natural and approved, upon which one may trust, and not labour upon a vain hope."
Book three is prefaced by a description of copper ores and their relative value. A chapter is devoted to a good descriptipn of crucible manufacture, followed in order by minute directions for the assay of each variety of copper ore. The process of separating silver from copper by means of lead was kept as a secret by refiners for many years. Ercker discloses the secret fully, indicating his complete comprehension of the principles of the method in the statement, "One must be instructed how much the Copper holds in by a diligent Proof, for according to it, the Copper must be mingled with lead." The concluding chapter describes the production of brass by placing a mixture of Lapis Calaminaris and coal in the bottom of hot acibles, then adding copper and heating the mixture to fusion in a covered furnace. The recognition and assaying of ores of lead, tin, bismuth, antimony, mercury, Hnd iron are all described in book four. Steel-stone and iron-stone are regarded as distinct ores, both being evaluated by noting the amount of powdered ore attracted by a magnet. In some instances, he points out, i t is necessary to roast the ore before subjecting it to this, test. "Earth out of old long lain Sheep-stalls," "Calx or Clay of very old walls, in a Town or City," "the Earth of unplastered Hors-Stables or old sheep-houses" are all recommended as "of what Earth Salt-Petre is best to be made." Nearly all chapters of the fdth book relate to methods of purifying saltpetre. The complete directions for preparing the "lee," concentrating by boiling and purifying by skimming, indicate the a d o r ' s complete knowledge of the necessary care to be exercised to prepare saltpetre of suEcient purity for use in assay work or to be used as a component of gunpowder. The testing of alum ore for alum and of flints for vitriol are the subjects of the last chapters of Lazarus Ercker's book. From this end of a cycle of three hundred fifty years it is difficult to appreciate the value of Ercker's work to his contemporaries and their immediate successors. A search of the literature of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gives abundant evidence of the important and widespread influence exerted by him, particularly upon the development of mining and assay-
ing in England. Germany was fhe great school of metallurw for the rest of Euro~e.and it was due to the wise foreiight of Queen ~ l i z a b i t h that a r m a n workers were invited to to instruct her subjects in this art. Richard Watson, Bishop of LlandaiT, writing more than two hundred yea& later, says, "We in this country owe the present flourishing condition of our mines . . . to the wise policy of Elizabeth!' He adds that the work of Ercker "is still highly esteemed." In one of the most remarkable books on chemistry published in the seventeenth centuq-"A Description of New Philosophical Furnaces" (1651) Johann Rudolph Glauber refers to the "wayes that most witty Lazarus Ercker, hath clearly, and distinctly described, whose description is not to be found fault with," and adds, "It is not needful to write many things upon the manner of trying minerals, hecause diveres authors, as Georgius Agricola, ~ a z a & Ercker.. .have sufficiently wrote thereof, to who; writings I refer you, especially to that most famous Lazarus Ercker which is so much commended.. ."
Edward Brown in "A Brief Account of Some Travels
in Dserent Parts of Europe" (1685) upon visiting the wrote. mines of Hunearv. v 2 ,
,,Lazarus Ercker bath h~udsomely desnibed the principal Ores and mineral bodies. . There are few places in the world to be campared with this, where art and nature strive to show their utmostforce and riches. They work in this Country much after the manner they did in the Emperour Rudolphus, his time..
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Peter Shaw, English physiaan and chemist, with Francis Hauksbee in "An Essay for Introducing a Portable Laboratory"' (1731) recommended their readers to consult Ercker in planning a "course of metallurgical chemistry." These authors refer to him for a "general method of analyzing solid minerals," "the ways of combining vegetable salts with mineral sulphurs," "the art of combining metal with metal, in the way of electrum," "the methods in use for extracting gold and silver from the baser metals," "the art of assayina - -plate, coin and ores," "the ways of converting meials into glass, particularly lead an2 antimony,2r and many other processes, petershaw, in an appendix to his English translation of Boerhaave's "Elementa Chemiae" repeats these references to Ercker.
One hundred fifty years after the appearance of Ercker's work, John Andrew Cramer, who is credited with being the first to raise the art of metallurgy to a science, in his "Elements of the Art of Assaying Metals" (1741) referred to Ercker as "most skilful in the knowledge and trial of minerals." In discussing the separation of silver and copper by fusion with lead, Cramer wrote, "But whoever is desirous to know the several and peculiar Furnaces, Machines and Ways of Proceeding, for this Purpose, let him pursue the writings of Ercker."
John Webster in "A History of Metals" (1671) places Ercker's name among the authors whom he chiefly recommends. Nicolas Lenglet Dufresnoy in his
progress of metallurgy. In J. R. Spielmann's "Instituts de Chymie" Ercker is commended and space is given to a description of various editions of his work. As late as 1880, John Percy in his "Metallurgy," discussing the separation of silver from gold by cementation with nitrate of potash, remarks, "The mention by Ercker of the use of verdigris in conjunction with common salt and saltpetre in the cementing mixtures deserves particular notice, because in Deacon's newly invented process, chlorine is obtained by passing a mixture of hydrochloric acid vapor and atmospheric air through pounded brick impregnated with sulphate of copper.. .Hydrochloric acid would be evolved from the cementing mixtures containing verdigris, and convert it either partially or wholly into chloride of copper, which Deacon, doubtless, had tried. Thus chlorine was probably produced more than three centuries ago in the same manner as in Deacon's process, and if so, i t is conceivable that the reading of this account in Ercker's treatise might have suggested experiments to ascertain why verdigris was employed, and to have led to the discovery of the generation of chloride on the principle of that process."
The quality of the translation by Pettus has been criticized. It remains, however, the only English translation of Ercker's work, and there is no doubt that it served its purpose in acquainting the British with the superior methods, processes, and apparatus used in mining and metallurgy by the Germans, a t a period when such knowledge was vitally important. Sir John Pettus states that he also translated Agricola's "De re Metallica" and planned to publish it "within the year." It never appeared and no trace of the manuscript has been found. The second section of "Fleta Minor" is entirely the work of Sir John Pettus. It bears the title, "Fleta Minor, Spagyrick Laws, The Second Part. Containing Essays on Metalliak Words: Alphabetically composed, as a Dictionary to Lazarus Erckem," London, 1683. Each word selected for definition is followed by the Teutonic and Latin equivalents and very often by a sentence or more of speculation concerning the derivation of the English equivalent. I n addition to giving clear definitions of the words and illustrations of their use, many receipts are included for preparations suggested by the name under discussion. Many references are made to geological formations throughout Britain. The Dictionary might be consulted to advantage in reading contemporary scient&c literature. A good example of an unusual definition is illustrated by the word "ratter" for which the author is unable to find a Latin equivalent, famous "Histoire de la Philosophie Hermetique" (1742) refers to the 1629 edition of Ercker's work as that Of George Agricola." In Francis Bmett's "Lives of the A1ch~mistical Philoso~hffs" (1815) Ercker's book is pronounced excellent. C. A. Sch]iitter in 1750 refers to Ercker as a highly esteemed and ~~~b~~~B~~~~~~~ in his on the Of during the Ages" names him as one who contributed materially to the
"Ratter.. .T. Raeder; I 6 n d no Latin word of kin t o the sense of what Erckern intends hy it, ziz., a riddle, screen or sieve, that is ah Instrument t o separate the clean from the unclean Oars. before they come t o the fire, and so may be called Magnum Cribrum, or a meat sieve: yet it mav come from Rotatilis. that is, m0sng swiftly like a Wheel, or Rita, shewing the prop&ion of Metals, or of anything else; Riddle, which in the T . is Ratzsll; that is, that the Question being what part .of the Oar is clean, and what unclean, this instrument dotb unriddle it by separation: and for the word screen, it is doubtless from secernere, to divide, and sieve from segregare or severe, to know truly the quality of the things by separation.. .but by Ratter is t o be understood the great sieve.vz
The work is distinguished as the first dictionary of metallurgical terms to be printed in English. It is rather delightful reading because the author fails to stick to the text, and indulges in various personal digressions. A vivid picture of mining conditions as they existed in the seventeenth c e n t u q k given under the definition of "mines." Pettus wrote, "When I was a small Student of Pembrook Hall in Cambridge, my good Mother (then a Widdow) consulted with Sir Tho. Bendish. . .how I might spend the Summer Vacation to Improve myself.. . "
that the "waters which I have Distilled in it, are every way as effectual, and the manner and way of Distilling doth every day improve in my experiments." Discussing other experiments he relates that he had "long considered the vast quantity of Gun-pouder that is spent in Salutes" and had discovered a cheap ingredient, three parts of which mixed with one part of gunpowder "did make a greater Report" than a whole pound of gunpowder. He admits that this compound
