but only 12 to 15 in. deep; they are also heated by steam pipes. The salt forms very rapidly, and is lifted and drained and stored before inspection, as in the kettle process. The character of the salt, especially its fineness, depends less on the character of the brine than on the care and rapidity with which the evaporation has been conducted. The practice called “cutting the grain,” i. e., adding to the boiling brine traces of glue, resin, soap, &c., has been known and employed for generations; but its use is condemned by the best manufacturers, as it requires very great care to prevent the salt from being injured for dairy and other purposes for which fine salt is most used. Salt of the very finest quality is now manufactured at Onondaga, by the Ohio and Kanawha salt companies, and in Michigan.—Uses and Statistics. Salt is the only mineral substance universally employed as an article of food by man and the higher orders of animals. Besides its direct consumption as food, enormous quantities are needed for preserving meats and fish, much is consumed for agricultural purposes and given to cattle and sheep, and a very large amount is used in chemical operations, particularly in the manufacture of soda. This last process alone takes about 48,000 tons annually in France, and a single establishment near Glasgow has used 26,000 tons for the past 20 years. The proportionate consumption of salt in different countries is very variable. In the United States it is estimated at about 50 lbs. annually for each person, in Great Britain at 22, in France at 15 lbs. Animals and many plants will not thrive when totally deprived of salt, though too much acts as a poison. Certain plants which grow at the seaside depend upon it, and are also found inland in the neighborhood of salt mines and lakes. It is employed as a remedy for dyspepsia, and a spoonful of dry salt will sometimes check hæmorrhage of the lungs or hæmorrhage from other causes. In small doses it acts as a stimulant tonic, and in larger ones as a purgative and emetic. It has also been used with good effect in intermittent fever. It is a necessary stimulus in health, quickly passing into the blood and escaping by the kidneys. Its inordinate use induces plethora, increasing the weight and strength of the body. It is sometimes applied as a fomentation in sprains and bruises. Salt-water baths, natural or artificial, are considered stimulating and tonic. Salt is alluded to in many passages of the Bible. All sacrifices offered in the temple were seasoned with it; newborn children were rubbed with it; it is mentioned as one of the things most necessary to life; it is used as a symbol of perpetuity and incorruption, of hospitality (as it still is in the East), and finally of barrenness and sterility, as in sowing the site of a destroyed city with salt. From its necessity salt has in almost all countries been a favorite subject of taxation, and important political results have sometimes arisen from the extortions practised by the collectors, of which the histories of France and Hindostan furnish examples. In England the excise on salt has long been repealed. In the United States, the states most largely engaged in the manufacture of salt appoint an inspector whose duty is to inspect the salt and brand the packages as first or second quality, as it may have been carefully or carelessly prepared. To support this system of inspection a light tax is levied on all the salt produced. In Michigan the tax is three mills per bushel; in New York it is one cent a bushel, which however pays, in addition to inspectors' salary, the expenses incident to running the wells.—It would be impossible to gather trustworthy statistics of the consumption of salt throughout the world. In 1790 very little was produced in the United States, and 2,337,920 bushels were imported; in 1825 the value of the production was more than $1,500,000, and the importation was 4,574,202 bushels; in 1850 the production was 9,763,840 bushels; in 1860, 12,717,193 bushels were produced and 14,094,227 bushels imported; in 1870 the production was 17,606,105 bushels. At present (1875), while our total production has fallen off to some extent, our imports have increased, particularly from Canada, and our total yearly consumption is probably not far from 30,000,000 bushels.
SALTA. I. A N. W. province of the Argentine Republic, bordering on Bolivia and the provinces of Jujuy, Santiago, Tucuman, and Catamarca; area, 50,000 sq. m.; pop. in 1869, 85,959. It is traversed in almost every direction by spurs of the Andes, the flattened crests of which form in the west and northwest a series of plateaus, some as high as 12,000 ft. above the sea, with peaks rising much higher. Among the numerous rivers are the Juramento, San Francisco, and Bermejo, the last forming the boundary with the Gran Chaco. The soil is fertile, and wheat, barley, maize, cotton, coca, coffee, yerba maté or Paraguay tea, and excellent wines are produced. The great forests yield many kinds of valuable wood. Gold, silver, copper, and iron are found, and porcelain clay is abundant. Wine, rum, sugar and molasses, dried and preserved fruits, and the wool and skins of the vicuña, llama, and alpaca are exported. Salta is divided into 21 departments. II. A city, capital of the province, in the low valley of Chicoana, between two mountain chains, about 820 m. N. W. of Buenos Ayres; pop. in 1869, 11,716. It is regularly laid out, with good streets and neat houses. The public schools were attended in 1869 by 2,885 pupils, of whom 1,231 were females. The climate here is less salubrious than almost anywhere else in the province. This city was founded in 1582 by Abreu, under the name of San Clemente de la Nueva Sevilla, in the valley of Siancas; in 1584 it was transferred to its present site, and at first called San Felipe de Lerma.
