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depths of the earth, and it would be a noble art to be able to arrive at
con-clusions respecting them from the outer conditions. The divining rod is
notbing but a superstition. But on the contrary it is »a truth clear as
daylight» that above all metals, mineral veins and other treasures there
exists as it were a vapor, so that at night it shines and spreads a strong
light to a great distance [!]. In mining places it is usual[?] to see fiery
lights at night, which disappear when one approaches more closely; these
are considered by Swedenboeg to be derived from the veins of metal, etc.1
Were our senses sufficiently acute they would indicate what exists in
the depths of the earth; but this not being the case we must try other
ways and note all the possible conditions which are present where ore is
actually found in order to ascertain whether the conditions deviate in any
way from those of the surrounding regions. For example, about 200 or 300
specimens of every kind of grass and herb should be collected in order to
ascertain whether they exhibit dissimilarity above the metalliferous vein.
Perhaps distinet species may even be found there. Attention should be paid
to trees, lichens, twigs, stumps, the kinds of earth, water, frost, ice, snow,
insects; the relationship of various vapors should be examined, etc.
Were our senses 100,000 times finer than they are we should be able
to discover by means of smell and sight how the »effiuvia» rush like streams
out of the rich metalliferous veins.
This manuscript deviates much from the remaining contributions of the
usually keen investigator. The circumstance that he did not print this
con-tribution perhaps indicates that he himself was not satisfied, and I have
therefore been doubtful whether it should even be mentioned, for we do not
perform any service to a person by publishing after his death an article with
which he himself was not pleased. That I nevertheless mention it depends
upon this, that the series of thought itself is altogether right, although the point
of departure may be defective. If, as Swedenboeg supposed, there actually
were special vapors or exhalations above metalliferous veins, they would no
doubt make themselves noticeable in a variety of ways, and it would then
be possible to discover the metalliferous veins in the ways which are adduced
by him.
1 According to a letter, dated September 21, 1906, received from the Government
In-spector of Mines A. S. Backe, Bodö, Norway, since the first publication of these remarks, it
seems to be a general belief not only in Cornwall, but also in other parts of Europé, that
such lights are observable. To quote: »It surprised me to learn that this belief, which
1 during my stav in the mines of Cornwall as a young man in the decade of 1860 to
1870 beard expressed by old miners, has also been shared by men in the rest of
Europé. My people in Cornwall were convinced that in the evenings and nights there
could be seen a light above the important ores, which include Dolcoath, Cook s kitchen,
* * etc., round about Camborne. They had also sometimes observed some-
thir.g similar above other veins of metal. Even some of the master miners themselves
were not free from the same belief. AV hen I spoke of the well known light observed
on the one side of the Lysfjord in the district of Stavanger, which light has given the
fjord ils name, the matter aroused their great attention, because they felt sure that
the light came from a great supply of ore. (The phenomenon is explained by Major
AVibo in Petermanns Mittheilungen)».
See also the contribution by Professor IIj. Sjögren at page 49 et seqq.
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