Middletown transcript., 1884-02-15
THE HISTORY OF SALT.

THE HISTORY OF SALT.
The history of the salt Of the earth
is coeval with the earliest evolutions
Elisha, with salt, healeth the unwhole
some waters and to this day the cul
tured Israelite of Europe blesses salt al
the last meal on the eve of his Sabbath
and then distributes it among his guests
and family. He uses it freely at the
celebration of the Rosh Hashana, OF
New Year, JON Kipur, or the Feast oil
Reconciliation, and Louthos, or Feast
of Tabernacles. 1t is a strict require.
ment of the Jewish religion that any
slaughtered meat be soaked in brine fol
an hour.
Salt was used by the early Egyptians
in fertilizing the famous soil of the Nile
lands. 1t entered largely into the relig-
ious ceremonies of many people, and
we find it mentioned in the hymn Rig
Veda Of the Brahmins, the Dhamma-
pada of the Buddhists, the Zend Avesta
of Zoroaster, the Analyets of Confucius
the Koran Of the Musselman, Talmud of
the Israelite, and the Divine Pymander
of the Egyptians.
The Arabs have always regarded the
giving of salt to their guests as the first
and greatest requisite of hospitality.
Give a grain of salt to Mohammedan,
and for the twenty-four hours that it
remains in his body your person and
property are sacred in his sight, though
you be his deadliest enemy.
At the late grand Oriental ceremony
of crowning the emperor of Russia, the
blessing and distribution of salt were
marked features.
In the works of all the classical
writers frequent mention is made of
salt and its many uses. The Attic
Salt'' of Greece is historical as the
synonym of wit. Cicero said of state
ment of dubious correctness, that it
was to be taken cum grano sails
with grain of salt. Pliny compares
precious stone to scintillating grain
of salt. Cornelius Nepos uses salt as a
synonym for good taste.
The Romans regarded a salt mine as
giving extra value to conquered terri
tory, and in Hungary, even to the pre-
sent day, the very mines opened by the
Romans are still in working order.
The mines at Chester, England, were
also discovered and worked by the
Roman conquerors. Livy speaks of
the salt works, founded by Ancus
Martius at Ostia, and Caesar also mem
tions them.
Horace writes of the Salinum or salt
cellar as an heir loom, one of the sacred
Lares and Penates, or household gods,
and Livy refers to it as being used at
all sacrifices.
In the feudal period the salt cellar on
the table was the line of demarcation be-
tween the patrician and the plebian, the
former being seated above and the lat
ter below it.
Among all races the spilling of the
salt cellar is ominous of quarrel or
other misfortune. In cases of such ac-
cidents the French invariably throw
three pinches over the left shoulder or
sprinkle little on a fire to avert the i'll
omen.
The ancient laws of the Spartans for
bade the giving of salt to criminals,
deeming this one of the greatest punish
ments to which they could be subjected;
and the judges of Athens, by whom the
almost inspired Socrates was con-
demned, and who were afterward cen
sured for their action, were debarred
the use of salt during the remainder of
their lives.
All the diamonds that ever came from
the mines Golconda-All the gold, sill
yer, coal, iron and other metals that lie
hidden in the bowels of the earth-all
can be dispensed with in the extreme
necessities of nations and people but
not so salt. 1t is their superior in that
it is an absolute necessity, without which
existence would be difficult, and many
of the daintiest viands that ever tempted
the palate of a gourmand would loose
their flavor.
The London Lancet, in recent issue
says: "Salt is the most widely dis
tributed substance in the body. 1t
exists in every fluid and in every solid,
and not only is it everywhere present,
but in almost every part it constitutes
the largest part of the ash when any
tissue is burned. In particular, it is
constant constituent of the blood, and
it maintains in it proportion that is
almost wholly independent of the
quantity that is consumed with the
food-the blood will take up so much
and no more, however much we may
take with the food the blood parts with
its natural quantity slowly and unwill-
ingly.
Salt is used as a curative for dyspep-
sia. 1t is an emetic, styptic, and a
spoonful of dry salt will sometimes stop
a hemorrhage. It's effectually applied
to sprains and bruises, and is often used
in cases of intermittent fever. In
small doses it is stimulant tonic, and
in larger quantities a purgative and
emetic.