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To the illustrious duke of saxony and thuringia and misena prince of Maurice

To the illustrious duke of saxony and thuringia and misena prince of Maurice Page of 251 To the illustrious duke of saxony and thuringia and misena prince of Maurice Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
2
DE NATURA FOSSILIUM
on stones and two books on petrifactions. Others who have written about stones are Socrates Rhodius, Xenocrates, Sudines, Callistratus, Megas-thenes, Ismenias, Horus, Satyrus, Archelaus, Bocchus, Nicander, Jacchus, Juba, Zactalias, Agatharchides Samius, Thrasyllus Mendesius, Heraclitus Sicyonius, Nicias Maleotes, Dorotheus Chaldaeus, Theophilus, Dercyllus, Dionysius Afer, Diogenes, Orpheus, Epiphanius, and Didymus Alexandri-nus.3 Each of these wrote so much concerning marbles that it is most surprising that some wrote only about gems. Of all the writings of these men only a small book by Theophrastus and some verses by Orpheus have been preserved. No work on the engraving of gems is extant. Theo­phrastus, in his small book, mentions many differences in stones and in characteristic style discusses the form of a few of them. The verses of Orpheus are of little value to us. The two books by Theophrastus on met­als have not been preserved. Medical men have written only those things concerning minerals which pertain to their particular field and from their writings we see that the older authors knew little or nothing about com­plex minerals. The medical writers followed some of the older authors as did Theophrastus.4
Pliny, in his last five books and in parts of others, is the only writer who has discussed minerals at any length. It is regrettable that he was not able to study the minerals he writes about as I believe that many of them were brought to Rome at that time. In this field, as in others, he brought order out of the disorder he found in the writings of others but since he had no intimate knowledge of minerals he failed to observe that different writers had two or three different names for the same thing and, following other writers, he sometimes gave the same name to two or three different substances. Later on we will take up this question when we consider the more obscure passages of certain writers who treat of subterranean things. Although these errors exist in his writings, nevertheless Pliny has per­formed a great service in writing with such diligence on so many different subjects and in preserving from loss many notable expositions of other writers. He has given both Latin and Greek names for many things and were it not for his writings these names would surely be lost.
At times I shall make use of his learned explanations, even use his own words. Since the work exists it is proper to select certain material from it although the things whose nature I shall discuss will not be copied entirely from his or other writings. Only in this way can several obscure points be clarified by our own interpretations of the writings of others and scattered and unrelated information arranged in proper order. Pliny gives credit openly and frankly to those whose writings he uses and likewise I shall give credit by name to those whom I quote.
* Agricola should have included Solinus, Sotacus, Zenothemis and Zoroaster. 1 Maecenas and Olympicus Theocrestos who were known to Agricola could have been included.
To the illustrious duke of saxony and thuringia and misena prince of Maurice Page of 251 To the illustrious duke of saxony and thuringia and misena prince of Maurice
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