Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Cat-salt

CAT-SALT, a beautiful granulated species of common salt, thus denominated by the manufacturer. It is made from the bittern, or leach brine, by the following process: When the common salt is drawn out of the boiling pans, it is put into long, wooden troughs, the bottoms of which are perforated, that the brine may drain off. Beneath these troughs, vessels are placed for the reception of the brine, and across them small sticks, to which the cat-salt adheres in large and beautiful crystals.

This salt is very pungent, and, though pellucid when in a mass, becomes white on being reduced to powder: it is sometimes used for culinary purposes, but more frequently employed by the manufacturers of hard soap.