Antoine de Genssane

Antoine de Genssane (* before 1738, † around 1780) was a French naturalist and a well-known Montanist in the middle of the 18th century in France. He gained fame through a description of the natural resources and geography of Languedoc .

Life

Nothing is known about his date of birth or the exact date of his death, not even about his education and upbringing. He probably came from Languedoc, where he was later director of mining.

According to his own statements, he had stayed in Great Britain for some time. In 1738 he worked in the mine of Pont-Péan , where he improved water art systems. He knew his way around the mines of Alsace , the Vosges , Franche-Comté and Burgundy , so he must have worked there too. In Plancher-les-Mines in today's Haute-Saône department , he is attested as a merchant who traded in mines. Genssane toured Germany for further training in mining and published about new mining methods. In 1770 a treatise appeared on the drainage of mines with steam power (Traité de la fonte des mines par le feu du charbon de terre) and in 1776 a marrow divination (Géométrie souterraine). In 1757 he became a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences .

The regional administration of Languedoc commissioned him to examine their area for mineral resources ( coal , ores , minerals ), which he began in 1775. Genssane published the result as Natural History of the Province of Languedoc from 1776 to 1779 in five volumes.

The work treats the Languedoc by dioceses. His treatise focuses on coal deposits ( Carmaux , Cayla Castle near Réalmont , on the banks of the Thoré river near Labruguière ) as well as ore and mineral deposits ( lead near Réalmont, copper near Escoussens , iron ore mining near Alban ). Mention can also find occurrences of plaster and silica sand for glass production.

According to the geological knowledge of its time, it did not seem to have been very advanced. He did not even recognize the organic origin of coal, which he believed to be a marine sediment permeated by a bituminous substance. He was also little interested in fossils - his comments on them are inaccurate or inaccurate - nor in formations in which no mineral resources can be found. Nor did he see any relationships between the layers. For this he described the country - including geography and economy - and people in detail. General remarks on geological issues can also be found in this work. With regard to the origin of the rocks, he was close to the Neptunists (also with regard to granite or slate), and as far as their age was concerned, he assumed that the Genesis, with its indication of six or seven days, should be corrected to between 6000 and 7000 years. This resulted from his view that petrified “shells” in limestone can also be found on high mountain peaks, such as the Cevennes and the Corbières , which would have taken some time to accumulate. He saw nature in constant motion and said that the Pyrenees would sink around 2 millimeters (by today's standards) due to atmospheric pressure. He viewed fossilization as a gradual exchange of organic matter with minerals.

Genssane came into the position of director of the mines of Languedoc and was a member of the academy of Montpellier . It is believed that he died in 1780 or 1782. In the last years of his life he was supported by his son. In 1778 a treatise appeared on the coal deposits in Comminges and a treatise on the ventilation of mines. In 1788 he is mentioned for the last time in documents as the owner of a concession and director of a lead and silver mine in Vialas .

Fonts

Traité de la fonte des mines par le feu du charbon de terre, ou, Traité de la construction & usage des fourneaux propres à la fonte & affinage des métaux & des minéraux par le feu du charbon de terre, avec la manière de rendre ce charbon propre aux mêmes usages auxquels on emploie le charbon de bois, Paris 1770, volume 2 1776
Le géométrie souterraine, ou Traité de géométrie-pratique, appliqué a l'usage des travaux des mines 1776
Histoire Naturelle de la province du Languedoc; partie minéralogie et géoponique, Montpellier: Rigaud Pons et Compagnie, 5 volumes, 1776 to 1779 ( online at BSB digital )
Mémoire sur la manière de préparer le charbon de terre & de le rendre propre à remplacer le charbon de bois dans les forges à fer, & autres usages, Paris: PG Simon 1780

literature

J. Morton Briggs: Antoine de Genssane: Mining, vapors and mineralogy in Eighteenth Century France , EOS (Transactions American Geophysical Union), Volume 70, 1989, 1511-1524

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Genssane, Antoine de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French mining engineer and geologist
DATE OF BIRTH	before 1738
DATE OF DEATH	around 1780