THE CHEMISTRY OF FOOD 77 



of salt to animal life in general, is shown by the great appetite 

 for it manifested by domestic animals, and also by the habitual 

 resort of herds of wild beasts to the " salt-licks " or springs. 

 In those parts of the world where salt is obtained with diffi- 

 culty, man places a very high price upon it. 



8. Experiments upon domestic animals show that the with- 

 drawal of salt from their food not only makes their hides 

 rough and causes the hair to fall out, but also interferes with 

 the proper digestion of food. If it be withheld persistently, 

 they become entirely unable to appropriate nourishment, and 

 die of starvation. (Bead Note 5. ) 



5. Of Salt. 



" Salt-cellars ever should stand at the head 

 Of dishes, wheresoe'er a table's spread. 

 Salt will all poisons expurgate with haste, 

 And to insipid things impart a taste. 

 The richest food will be in great default 

 Of taste, without a pinch of sav'ry salt. 

 Yet of salt meats, the long- protracted use 

 Will both our sight and manhood, too, reduce ; 

 On tables salt should stand both first and last, 

 Since, in its absence, there is no repast." 



The Code of the School of Salernum. 



"Animals will travel long distances to obtain salt. Men will bar- 

 ter gold for it ; indeed, among the Gallas and on the coast of Sierra 

 Leone, brothers will sell their sisters, husbands their wives, and parents 

 their children for salt. In the district of Accra, on the gold coast of 

 Africa, a handful of salt is the most valuable thing upon earth after gold, 

 and will purchase a slave or two. Mungo Park tells us that with the 

 Mandingoes and Bambaras the use of salt is such a luxury that to say of 

 a man, ' he flavors his food with salt,' it is to imply that he is rich ; and 

 children will suck a piece of rock-salt as if it were sugar. No stronger 

 mark of respect or affection can be shown in Muscovy, than the sending 

 of salt from the tables of the rich to their poorer friends. In the book of 

 Leviticus it is expressly commanded as one of the ordinances of Moses, 

 that every oblation of meat upon the altar shall be seasoned with salt, 

 without lacking ; and hence it is called the Salt of the Covenant of God. 

 The Greeks and Romans also used salt in their sacrificial cakes ; and it 

 is still used in the services of the Latin church the 'parva micaS or 

 pinch of salt, being, in the ceremony of baptism, put into the child's 

 mouth, while the priest says, ' Receive the salt of wisdom, and may it be 



8. Experiments upon animals ? 



