A Relation Concerning the Quick-Silver Mines in Friuli; Communicated by Dr. Edward Brown;Co Firming as Well the Accompt Formerly Given of That Subject, in Numb. 2. of theseTransactious, as Enlarging the Same with Some AdditionsAuthor(s): Edward BrownSource: Philosophical Transactions (1665-1678), Vol. 4 (1669), pp. 1080-1083Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/101036 .

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A R eldtic'n oo*cr*bt'g tLe Q~tck-filve~r mhins ix rriuli; t emmmnicated £7 Dr. Edward Brown; I e firminig 4s well the Accempt for- werly givuen of that futjerV, in Numb, z, of theje Tranfat.1i~. ffUj, as enlMiArg,g the fPmz' witb fome A4dditieos.

'rHe Town of tdria,in the County of Goritia. and Province of AFritIli is feared iow, and encompafs'd wit.h Hills on 2ll

ftides. A River of the famne name iruns by it, which SlEhough Le4npdro terms it fuperb~fimo fhw,:e d'idria, yet I tound fmall and fhallow at the time when IWA was t-ere thoughi upon plenti- ful Raine it proves fufficient to cmnvey down the Firr-Trees and other Wood required in the build&ngr of the Mines, and alfo for Fuel rfquired in the fetvice of them: And to this end thiere is an handfome work of Piles made floap'ticg athiwart the River (after the fame manner as I obferv'd in Ncwfel in upper ffmn- gary crofs thle Rive Gran) to glop the Trees, which are cut dow, And caft into the River above thW.s place.

What is chiefly confidexable in this Town, are the ~9.mick- filver-Mines, very well known to the Neighibouring parts, and exceeding ufeful to many at greater diftance.

The entr'ance into thefe Mines is not high, or upon -an Hill,as in many. other Mines;- but i'n the Town it felf, whereby they are fom-ew hat the more troubled with Water, -,gaiiift wihichb they 2re pi-ovided with many- excellent E ngins and Devces as at other deep- Mines. The deepeft part of the Mine from the entrance,is between i:zo and 130ofathoms.

Ol t he Quick-filver of this Mine thecy make two-forts : The one they call Iungfraw, that is, vk~qin-Q,u!'ickfilver5 the other, ilain Quickfilver. virgin-Mercui y they call that, whiich difco- vers it. feif without the. help of hi, e ; andi is -either plainly to be ften in the Ore, or falls down in little drops in the Mine, and fome times flrcims out in grood quantity 5 as, about feven yeai s 2goe it i an out of the Earth at fit-ft in a fireame a's fi-nall as a

h d,andi af'terwards. as bigy as a p ack-thred4 but ceas'd in three or eu- dayes.

f bat alfo is accountedvrirgint;-Quickfiivcr, whi'ch, having no need

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(lo81) need to paTs the fire, is feparated by water firft in a Sive, and af terwards in a long trough, having very fmall holes at oIe end. So that there are in a manner two forts of Virgin. Mercur,y l the one, running out and difcovering itfelf withcut labour s thleo- tlher, requiring fome way of Extradion and feparation, though not fo high an one, as by Fire,

Plaine Quickfilver they name that, which is not at firft per- ceived by the Eye, or sails from the Ore, but is forc'd out by Fire, And this they obtaine out of the Ore, or out of the Cin- naber of Mercury, which they digg out of this Mine. The Ore of this Mik.e is of a dark colour, mix'd with red. But the beft is an hard flone ; which they commit not prefently to the opera- tion of the ':ire, but powder it grofsly, and work it by the Sive; that fo,if any rirgin-quickfilver be found in it it may be fepa- rated in tlis manner, and what doth not pafs the Sive, may be feparated by Fire in Iron-furnaces Fifty of them in a Fire.

The Quuickfilver-oreof this Mine is the richeft of all Ores, 1 have yet feen; for ordinarily it contains in it halfe Quickfilver, and in two p irts of Ore one part of Quickfilver and fometimes in 3. parts of Ore, two parts of Quckfilver.

I went into the Mine by the Pitt of St. gatha , and came up again by that of St Barbara, defcending and afcending by Lad- ders. I afcended at one of 639. ltaves or 89. fathoms. Andre- As Siferu,in Kirchcr's Manld Subterraneus, makcs fuch a dread- ful defcription of this Mine, tfhat it might difcourage any from attempting the defcent; which makes me doubt, Whether lhe had been in any other Mine, efpecially where the defcent is made by Ladters.

This Mine, I was inform'd, hath been wrought 2o00 yearst about the Came fp:ice of time with N ervfol- 1 ine, but oms much flort inttime of the Silvr- mine at Scthmnitz.; and much lhor- ter yet of the notable ecad-mines in upper Carinthia Some hundreds of rnn are employed about thisl Mine o e Idria of which the cti'ef Officers aie the Prefe6t, the Controller, and the Judge.

I heard nocomplaint of the Dammp of this Mine, aslI have heard ofdivers others; Yet tte- woti m.nl are fufficiintly milchie- vdi witi.o.tC them tfor., Lhoughl they be noC fuddcinly tlutFccaRed

y. to

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yet the Mercury gett-ing, into their Bod'ies , they are lanaujilling ly deffroyed by i't. Muchi lefs could I hear any news of eirhi e gioxious or ininocent Apparitions, riruncmli &c. fuch as fome w:,ite,. and many talk of in other- Mines,

InaLaoatory, whiere the Quickfilver' isfeparared by IFire,I faw a't heap of i6coo. Reot ot Io;ery one-ofwiho a Crown a-t the beLt hiand' from the Iron4"urnaces in Carinthia. There are- 8co. Retorts and as many Rtecipienits employ'd tu- gether, in drawing over theQ ikivrin i6. Furnaces; 50,ifa each Furnace, 2z5. of a -fide, zzt. above, andx.blwo each fide.

. .blwo

lane m when I was thiere, they carr-ied Out 40, Saumesdo Q,uickiilver into forraini pai-ts, each Saump containing 1-5. pound weigyht , to the value Of 4oo ducats of Gold. Though che conl veyance be not eafy , yet Come is fent as farr as Cremnitz in Hmn. gafry, for the ufe of the Gold-mines and, v-ery nxucli carried a. way, South ~,ard. For, thoughl the River by the Town be but fmallf, yet thiey are not very farr f rom the sontius or Lyfpnzo ) a confi'derable River, whiich runs inito the Gulf of Triejie in the .4dri.4tick Sea.

In the Caftle I faw 3 000 Saumes of Quickfilver tog ther, ina barrels ; the Q~uickfilver being firfl made up in double lea'ther: And in anotlierb'oufe as much rich Ore, as can be dililll'd in z. years, except they have great plenty of rain to bring down the wood; but, theHdIls be-Ing high about them,ie (flows at the tops of them oftner thlan it rains.

The Countrys, throughi which, I pafs'd , are fingularly well wooded , and well ator'd w'ith fair Trees, whierein', betide fuchl as grow withl us in England, are ftitely -Firrs,L arches, Pines ,Pinaf.- tfrs, Pice~'Sl, and thiat nobly crifped anl wvell grain'd kind of A- cer,whieieof Vie/s and Violins ar-e made: Whereof thiere-is alwn plenty in the ('iountry of Salt zbarg and Carinthia.4

Travellingo fometimes in thie nighit, we had -continually about us a great number of .large Glow-worms , whi-ch put into papers grave a dimmn light like Candles in Lanthiornis; and the Aire al-, to full of flaming F/ys afrdiug fomie delighlt to us.

The way unto tli rS p'lace I found difficult;- for, travellingr from places on the borders of Croatia by L~Pvitv,4, 1 was fainv z.) Pafs'

Qveq

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(1083) over great mountains , and coming from it , I Pafr'd over swar.t- ozenberg or the Black mountain, from whence I defcended 10o. miles in a rocky Country , and fai-r miore flony than the craIs or campus Iapidfw -in Provence;5 and fo to A4idofohini and Goritia, and leav4'ng the sciavonian behind, entred into the Lingua Fd.- lan,a, and fo on to this Noble and incomparably fortified City;, where being ye-t uncertain, whether I (liould go to renice, w'ould not omit to prefent you this accompt, which I befeech you to accept from &-c.

paimao nova in Friuli June i 5. i 669

APt Accompt frow tbe fame Dr. Brown Concirning an P'x-commo.v Lake, .calledtihe Zirchnitzer-Se,,1n,

Carniola.

111Aving crofs'd the River Driivus, and pafs'd Mount Li bei i-n the carnick Al1pes by thar noble paffage, cut

through the Rooks , and vaulted like that of Pa4ujilype near Nv4- pies, I had a defire to tahke a view of the Lake of Zirch nitz,, f o .much fpoken of, and written on by fo few; and therefore I went unto crainburg upon the River S-avws, and fo to Labach, the chief City of Carnila0.; from whience I continued my Jour- ney in Carniola betwixt the Hills and a great Marib , till I came to Brounizza, two leagues from whence and beyo'nd the Hills is feated the faid Lake , receivingy that name from zirchnitz,. a tow-no-f about 300. houfes.

This Lake is' near two German Miles long, and one broad. O-n the South-fide -thereof l1yes a great Forreft , whereiti are many Deer, and wild Boares, Wolves and B3ears. On th-e North fide the Country is flat; but the whole Valley is eacom- pafTed with Hills. at fome diftance from it.

This Lake is well -fill'd wit h Water for the gr-eateft part of the Year;- but in the Month of 5Fune it finketch under gyround,not on- ly by percolation or fallingr through the pores of the Earth, -but rerireth under ground , through many great holes at the bottom- of -it: And in the Month of September it returns by the fame, and Co i'n a very ffiort time fills up the Valley again.

As the time of the waters Defcent is (hbort ; cfpecially whien L I1111 the

(1083) over great mountains , and coming from it , I Pafr'd over swar.t- ozenberg or the Black mountain, from whence I defcended 10o. miles in a rocky Country , and fai-r miore flony than the craIs or campus Iapidfw -in Provence;5 and fo to A4idofohini and Goritia, and leav4'ng the sciavonian behind, entred into the Lingua Fd.- lan,a, and fo on to this Noble and incomparably fortified City;, where being ye-t uncertain, whether I (liould go to renice, w'ould not omit to prefent you this accompt, which I befeech you to accept from &-c.

paimao nova in Friuli June i 5. i 669

APt Accompt frow tbe fame Dr. Brown Concirning an P'x-commo.v Lake, .calledtihe Zirchnitzer-Se,,1n,

Carniola.

111Aving crofs'd the River Driivus, and pafs'd Mount Li bei i-n the carnick Al1pes by thar noble paffage, cut

through the Rooks , and vaulted like that of Pa4ujilype near Nv4- pies, I had a defire to tahke a view of the Lake of Zirch nitz,, f o .much fpoken of, and written on by fo few; and therefore I went unto crainburg upon the River S-avws, and fo to Labach, the chief City of Carnila0.; from whience I continued my Jour- ney in Carniola betwixt the Hills and a great Marib , till I came to Brounizza, two leagues from whence and beyo'nd the Hills is feated the faid Lake , receivingy that name from zirchnitz,. a tow-no-f about 300. houfes.

This Lake is' near two German Miles long, and one broad. O-n the South-fide -thereof l1yes a great Forreft , whereiti are many Deer, and wild Boares, Wolves and B3ears. On th-e North fide the Country is flat; but the whole Valley is eacom- pafTed with Hills. at fome diftance from it.

This Lake is well -fill'd wit h Water for the gr-eateft part of the Year;- but in the Month of 5Fune it finketch under gyround,not on- ly by percolation or fallingr through the pores of the Earth, -but rerireth under ground , through many great holes at the bottom- of -it: And in the Month of September it returns by the fame, and Co i'n a very ffiort time fills up the Valley again.

As the time of the waters Defcent is (hbort ; cfpecially whien L I1111 the

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