SALT CONSUMPTION — KAUNTTZ 453 



this took place when peoples went through their neolithic stages, which 

 were accompanied by the introduction of agriculture and which took 

 place for the more complicated civilizations about 5 to 10 thousand 

 years ago. The evidence for the simultaneous introduction of agricul- 

 ture and salt eating is scant. The first known signs of salt mining were 

 found in the Austrian Tyrol and date back to the late Bronze Age 

 for that part of he world, about 1000 B. C. However, it is obvious 

 that all the more complicated older cultures (Egyptian, Babylonian, 

 Chinese) antedating that period knew the use of salt. One clue as to 

 when tribes became used to salt is that Sanskrit and its daughter Ian- 

 guages have no common root for salt and that therefore the Indo- 

 Europeans, when first migrating, did not then know its use. For these 

 reasons, we are still inclined to believe that salt was gradually more 

 extensively used when the tribes went through their neolithic stage. 



Is there any reason to assume that the constant use of salt as a stimu- 

 lant has changed our intellectual capacity ? If our previous specula- 

 tions are correct, one must assume that man in the upper Paleolithic 

 period (10 to 35 thousand years ago) did not salt his food; yet, Cro- 

 Magnon man created magnificent art. Intellectually, therefore, he 

 was our equal. He differed from us only in his lack of knowledge. 

 Thus, although salt eating did not change man intellectually but may 

 have facilitated learning, it possibly was an important historical 

 force. 



Are there, finally, any reasons why the physician and public-health 

 worker should recommend a certain level of salt intake on the basis 

 of present-day scientific knowledge ? There is no question that there 

 is a sound basis for the prescribing of low-salt diets in many diseases, 

 particularly those involving the circulatory system. When it comes 

 to normal people, however, recommendations are infinitely more diffi- 

 cult. It is certainly true that the chemistry of the body does not re- 

 quire the addition of salt to our food. The physician, however, is not 

 primarily interested in the mere metabolic processes but in the general 

 welfare of his patients, and he should consider that the quickened pace 

 of a more complicated society demands persons with a heightened re- 

 sponsiveness. Salt may be one of the ingredients producing this 

 effect. 



