570 SALT AND ITS THYSIOLOGICAL USES. 



as Bunge supposes, the primary cause for the need for salt so gen- 

 eral among all peoples, it is at least its conse<|uence and its ph3'siolog- 

 ical justification. 



Any other chloride than that of sodium susceptible of introduction 

 into the ])lood may there participate in similar reactions and play the 

 same part. 



The ash salt, rich in cldoridc of potassium, is a good substitute for 

 cooking salt. Recent experiments have led MM. Dastre and Frouin 

 to conclude that chloride of magnesium ma}' be used for the same pur- 

 pose with still more striking results. The secretion of gastric juice^ 

 which increases in quantit}' b}^ the introduction of common salt int 

 the blood, is still more increased by the introduction of the magnesium 

 salt. 



The same result would l)e obtained by the introduction of the 

 spurious ash salt prepared by the negroes of the Ogove and the Sanga 

 as by the use of common salt; still lietter results ])y the magnesium 

 salts if other reasons did not exclude their emploj^ment. In the 

 absence of salts belonging to the same group as common salt we may 

 even substitute, as has been shown by the well-known chemist, E. 

 Kiilz, others farther removed, such as the alkaline iodides and l)ro- 

 mides. These give rise to a gastric juice acidified by hydriodic and 

 hydrobromic acid instead of l)y h^^drochloric acid as is normal gastric 

 juice. Still, if such a substitution in no wa}^ affected the functions of 

 the stomach, it might not be the same in relation to other organs. 



IV. 



Ordinary salt, the chloride of sodium, is one of the constitu-ent ele- 

 ments of animal organisms, existing ever3'where in them. The ])lood 

 has a saline taste more or less marked; all the secretions are salty; 

 the tears themselves are more salty than bitter, whatever good people 

 ma}^ say about them. Salt water, in fact, bathes all living particles 

 and leaches continually from the organic structure, escaping from all 

 its issues, carrying with it the waste matters which should be rejected 

 from the l)ody. 



Common salt is more suitable than any other for this purpose. In 

 a dose of 9 grams per 1,000 it forms a solution innocuous to the ana- 

 tomical elements, that can circulate around the most delicate of them 

 without causing the least damage. This close association with salt has 

 become hal^itual to them from immemorial usage; they have adapted 

 themselves to it, and it would lead to some inconvenience if another 

 mineral constituent should l)e too abruptly substituted for it. In cer- 

 tain animals that have been bled to exhaustion, life maj'^ be kept up 

 for some time if the blood is replaced ]>v a saline solution, named, 

 because of its properties, the ph3'siological solution. A turtle or a 

 frog in whose veins this fluid circulates continues to live for a con- 



