Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1874-01-30
salt.

Salt is one Of the most necessary coudi-
mcntS in human food. 1t has always been
eagerly sought amer as food by both man
and beast, aad has been in use from the
earliest times. Salt was used in sacrifice
by the Greeks and Romans, aud also by
the Jews, and is still made use Of in bap-
tism by the Roman Catholic clergy. 1t was
an emblem Of purify. The salt being split
after it was placed on the head Of the vic
tim was considered bad omel being sup
posed to signify that the sacrifice was not
accepted, and hence the superstition. When
we say Of n shiflless person that he does
not "earn his salt" we unconsciously al
lude TO an ancient custom among the Ro-
mans. Among them he was said to be in pos
session ofhis "saiary" who had his "salari-
um, his allowance of salt money, or of salt,
wherewith TO SAVIOR the food by which he
lived. Thus salary comes from salt 4; and in
this view of the word how many there are
who do not learn their salt"
SpilIlng salt was held to be au unlucky
omen 10y the Romans, and the superstition
has descended TO ourselves. Leonardo da
Vinci availed himself of this tradition in
his famous picture Of the Lords Suppor,"
TO indicate Judas Iscarot by the salt cellar
knocked over accidentally by his arm.
SO necessary is salt for man. that when
revenue was the most urgent Il tax was
placed upon 1t, since nearly everything
would be sacrificed TO obtain 4 portion of
that indispensable article. II is related by
Mr.. Wiley, in his valuable hist, ry of the
Wl ito MpnnIaipg lnt in cali
very scarce ard al one time Capt Elcazer
Rosebrook, who was one of the early set
tiers Of the White Mountain region, was
compelled to GO on foot TO Haverhill, Mass,
distance Of eighty miles, the whole dis
tance through the trackless wilderness, in
order to obtain this article. He procured
one bushel, and shOuldering it, trudged
back over the same rude path TO his home.
Mr.. Wiley says: $50 much did some
families suffer for want of salt that their
chldrcn's necks swclled badly, aud brought
ON disease in the neck, which was cured
only by visiting the salt water, and apply
ing the skin of salt fish to the affected part"
1t is also very essential 10 the health of an
imals, and the saline earths or salt lcks of
the piairies or desert are the great altrac-
ton 10 wild animals. DR.. Edward Smith,
in his works on foods, says that both the
chlorine and sodium of which salt is COM
posed are part of the elements of the body,
and are not yielded in sufficient quantity
by the food which we eat hence we crave
further supply. It's immediate use appears
to be TO stimulate the sense of taste, and TO
insrease the flow o! saliva, but its preserv-
ing action is due TO its power to attract
moisture, by which it tends 10 harden
whatever moist substance is brought into
contact with ii, and when II has obtained
moisture ii becomes soft and loses its fla
vor. There is no other compound of chic
rine which affects both these purposes, or
which could supplapt common salt. Good
table salt should have no smell, and 1t
should not become moist, no matter how
"muggy" the weather.
Shakespeare uses the term salt on sew
eral occasions for strong amorous passions.
Thus Iago refers to il as shot as monkeys,
salt as wolves in prlde"-Othelo. The
duke calls Angeles base passion his "salt
imagination" because he supposed his vic
tim 10 be Isabella and not his betrothed wife,
whom he was forced by the duke to marry.
Measure for Measure. "Though we are
justices, and doctors and churchmen, Mas
ter Page, we have some salt of our youth
| in us."-Merry Wives of Windsor.-Ihom
as j. Bowditch IN Troy Times.