Deák Antal András: A Duna fölfedezése

Tartalom - III.A DANUBIUS PANNONICO-MYSICUS, 1726

T II E DISCOVERY OF THE DANUBE precious metals such as copper and iron ore and the waters coming from the copper mines in a separate chapter illustrated with 76 pictures. Among the metals which were not genuine he discussed, among others, antimony crystals, mercury and lead together with 28 illustrations. Origin of the metals Marsigli tried to reconstruct the development of metals from his observations of the structure of rocks and mountains. He thought that the soul of the earth's interior was expelled to the surface in volcanoes due to the specific arrangement of the rocks in the mountains, where it solidified. A branched formation similar to the crater of a volcano is shown in the illustration. He hypothesized that all metals developed from the same exhalation which erupted from the abyss and only the circumstances which followed determined which ones they developed into. He tried to support his idea with an analogy: as the sown seed of wheat can develop into pure cereal or turn into refuse wheat and weed depending on the soil, the sunshine and other circumstances, so it is with the materials that erupt from the depths of the earth. Figure II of the four illustrations contains an interesting topographic detail. It shows the gold mine, the thermal baths and the medicinal springs between Zólyom and Ribar village in the valley of the Garam river. All together, he illustrated the rich world of rocks, metals and petrified matters in and around the Danube in nearly 350 figures. 150