THE TSrONMETALLIC MINERALS. 



203 



to the same geological horizon arc estimated to contain upward of 

 10,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of salt. 



One of th(^ most remarkable deposits of the world, remarkable for 

 its extent as well as for th(> variety of its prodvicts, is that of Stass- 

 furt, in Prussian Saxony. On account of its unique character, as 



Fig. 4. 



CLUSTER OP SYLVITE CRYSTALS, 



Stassfurt, Germany. 

 Specimen No. 40223, U.S.N.M. 



well as its commercial importance, being to-day the chief source of 

 natural potash salts of the world, a little space may well be given here 

 to a detailed description.^ 



Stassfurt is a small town of some 12, 000 inhabitants, about 25 miles southwest of 

 the city and fortress of Magdeburg, in Prussia. It lies in a plain, and the river 

 Bode, which takes its rise in the Harz Mountains, flows through it. The history of 

 the salt industry in Stassfurt is a very old one, and dates back as far as the year 

 806. Previous to the year 1839 the salt was produced from brine pumped from wells 

 sunk about 200 feet into the rock. The brine, in the course of time, became so weak, 



^ Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, II, 1883, pp. 146, 147. 



