at Cardond^ in Catalonia, 641 



are well soaked in brandy, the administrador of the Salinas 

 informed me, heated as hot as the patient can bear them, and 

 then apphed to the feet. The red variety also is chiefly em- 

 ployed in the various ornaments, crosses, rosaries, candle- 

 sticks, &c., &c., which are manufactured by hand, in the 

 most elegant manner, by a carpenter of Cardona. Some of 

 these ornaments I sent to England from Tarragona, and am 

 happy in having it in my power to contradict the prevalent 

 notion, that, though in Spain they are as hard and durable as 

 the vases, &c., made of Derbyshire spar in England, on arriv- 

 ing in this country they immediately melt, owing to the hu- 

 midity of the climate. A temple, and a pair of candlesticks, 

 have been in England since January ; and, on my opening the 

 case containing them, last week, I found that, though they had 

 rather a moist feel, they exhibited no signs of decay, and I 

 hope and trust they will long remain in a sound and perfect 

 state amonff the other curiosities of mv collection. 



A river, or what, like most Spanish rivers, would be termed 

 in England a trout stream, flows along about a stone's throw 

 from the salt hill, into which trickles a small streamlet, whether 

 produced by the dissolving of the salt, or originating in some 

 spring near, I could not discover, I tasted the water near its 

 entrance into, and at several places lower down, the river, but 

 could not discover any thing brackish or unpleasant in it. 

 During the heavy rains, however, which occasionally fall in 

 Catalonia, rendering the high roads, which, as in most parts 

 of Spain, are at other times excellent, more like ploughed 

 fields than thoroughfares, an immense quantity of salt is, the 

 administrador informed me, washed down into the Cardonero, 

 and the fish are destroyed for leagues. The salt, however, 

 must afterwards evaporate [?], as no deposit can be made of 

 it in the bed of the river, judging from, as I have before ob- 

 served, the perfecdy fresh taste of the water. 



Bowles, according to Patrin {Histoire Natiirelle des Mi- 

 meraux^ v. 370.), states that die sal-gemma of Cardona has 

 the property of decomposing nitre : a kind of aquafortis is 

 made out of it, and the jewellers of Madrid, who commonly 

 make use of it, assert that it does not attack gold ; *' une ob- 

 servation," remarks Patrin, " qui seroitfort singuli^re si elle 

 seroit confirmee. II seroit a desirer qu'un chimiste voulut 

 bien verifier ce fait." In order, therefore, that this fact may 

 be verified by experiment, I enclose a specimen of the rose- 

 coloured variety, and also one of the salt in its purest, or 

 rather, I should say (for it is all pure), its most powerful state, 

 which, as you will observe, is transparent, and in many re- 

 VoL. VII. — No. 44. T T 



