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ACTA CARSOLOGICA
XXXII/
I I 319-320 LJUBLJANA
2003
ACTA CARSOLOGICA XXXII/ I I 319-320 LJUBLJANA 2003
International Conference
on the Life and Work of Balthasar
Hacquet
Idrija, Slovenia, October
9-10, 2003 (Hacquetia Vol. 2, No. 2, Ljubljana
2003)
At first glance one can say "Small symposium about a great man". But is it right? According to number of participants, number of lectures respectively, the symposium was really modest. There were 12 papers presented by 10 lecturers to the audience well under 50, nearly half of them the schoolboys of Idrija's grammar school, a very promising institution for science in future. The event happened in the small mining town of Idrija, where 10 % of World's mercury production came from, at nicely restored castle of Gewerkenegg, housing the main rooms of the Idrija Museum. In addition to the museum "Mestni muzej Idrija", the organisers were also Biological Department and Botanical Garden of Biotechnical Faculty from Ljubljana and grammar school "Jurij Vega" from Idrija. Speaking of the persons, Ivana Leskovec, Janez Šumrada and Jože Bavcon were motors of this symposium.
Somebody called Idrija "Slovene Athens of natural sciences", where numerous famous scientists lived and worked, for example G. A. Scopoli and M. V. Lipold, and of course Balthazar Hacquet (from 1766 - 1787) too. This is the main reason that the symposium was held at Idrija. The symposium was hardly "international" thanks to Marianne Klemun (Institute of History, University of Vienna) while two Ukrainian intended participants did not succeed to come.
Balthazar Hacquet (1739/40-1815) has "typically enlightening approach to the world, broad education of a polymath, surprisingly wide research horizon encompassing medicine, veterinary medicine, numerous naturalistic disciplines and mountaineering ... historiography, ethnography, journalism on one side, by his sharp, often unconditional criticism attacking "errors" of individuals and state/social systems on the other, Hacquet represents a complex, sometimes contradictory personality, who left deep traces in Central and Eastern Europe at the end of the 18th and beginnings of the 19th centuries, mostly through his numerous research results, as well as his broader societal activities", wrote Janez Šumrada in the foreword to the symposium in "young" Hacquetia, the journal of the Biological institute Jovan Hadži ZRC SAZU, where the papers presented at the symposium were published beforehand.
A part of Hacquet's work and life, presented from different points of view, was presented by 12 lectures at the symposium and by 14 papers published in the proceedings. The theory related to place and status of Hacquet's birth is explained by J. Šumrada in the paper in French language, Sur les origines de Balthasar Hacquet. In the spirit of Hacquet's general broad background and education, as he spoke and published in many languages, also the languages of the symposium and published papers are "international", Slovene, English, French and German. Two papers talk about the principles and concepts of Hacquet's work, by the authors M. Klemun (Raumkonzepte im Werk Belsazar Hacquets) and J. Fikfak (About Hacquet's representation and description of the Other). Up to nowadays it was practically unknown that Hacquet was also a journalist and editor of the Ljubljana weekly, as shown by T. Žigon ("Wochentliches Kundschaftsblatt des Herzogthum Krain 1775-1776". Balthasar Hacquet as journalist). Hacquet's professional occupation during his living in Carniola was medicine mainly. Two papers treat this matter, J. Jurca contributes Balthasar Hacquet and veterinary medicine, and J. Šumrada explains Hacquet's memoir to the Royal Medical Society of Paris on occupational diseases of the miners in the Idrija mercury mine. As this memoir was never published and as it presents the beginning of the working medicine, we are very glad that finally, 220 years after the manuscript was written, its full text is published in French. Only a summary of M. Kril's paper Balthasar Hacquet as a historian was presented at the symposium but the full text is published. Through illustrations and texts from Hacquet's work, J. Kavčič presents Idrija as seen by Balthasar Hacquet. The same as with M. Kril's paper was done with the absent M. Valjo's contribution Balthasar Hacquet und die Ukraine.
There are 5 papers dedicated to Hacquet's work in the field of natural science. N. Praprotnik presents Balthasar Hacquet and his botanical work in Carniola: he collected a voluminous herbarium and published a book "Plantae alpinae Carniolicae" (1782). Out of his most important work "Oryctographia carniolica ..." (1778-1789) in 4 volumes, the second one is entirely consecrated to Idrija's mercury mine. J. Čar publishes two papers on this topic: Naturalistic description of the mercury mine of Idrija in Hacquet's "Oryctographia Carniolica" (1781), and Hacquet's opinion on some older treatises about the Idrija mercury mine. Hacquet's "geological" description is quite unsystematic but by all means proves that he was a very careful observer with an excellent conception of spatial conditions. But his criticism of previous Scopoli's and Ferber's works on Idrija's mine is unacceptable. The research of ice frostwork was important for the evolution of cristalography and also Hacquet dealt with it. Maybe his most important contribution, as shows S. Južnič (The Tracery on Hacquet's Frosted Window) is that he used microscope to study it. Related to karstological literature Hacquet may be seen as the predecessor of climatological geomorphology as well as corrosion theory. The paper of A. Kranjc (Balthasar Hacquet, predecessor of modern karstology) tries to prove it by special regard to Hacquet's theoretical background and to the general knowledge of his time. Also Lavoisier who objected the "flogiston" principle lived and worked in the same time as Hacquet, the last one did not know or did not trust his conclusions. All the same the general conclusion is that Hacquet's work on karst is very important from the theoretical point of view as well as from the fieldwork and descriptions of karst of Carniola and near countries.
The result of this small symposium is really great: 140 pages (large size!) of treatises on Hacquet and his work, hundreds of cited references, 40 illustrations, mainly from Hacquet's works and from his contemporaries, among them relatively unknown colour portrait by J. A. Herrlein (oil on paperwood), and a set of open questions, suggestions for further research and future researchers. As concluded J. Šumrada: Although the original concept of the conference on the life and work of Balthasar Hacquet in Idrija has not fully become flesh and blood, I firmly believe that we are successful in stressing the width and, generally speaking, influence of Hacquet's scientific researches and societal activities, as well as his importance for the area of Slovenia and Central and Eastern Europe at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries.
Andrej Kranjc
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