376 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OP 



was found that not only one or two balls had formed, but a 

 mass of them, that nearly filled the whole cavity of the 

 stomach." 



EFFECTS OF SALT ON ANIMALS. 



The experience of the husbandmen of this and other coun- 

 tries, is, that no animal can live without salt, and the inhabitants 

 of the Celestial Empire are of the same opinion in regard to 

 man. They being more experienced than we in this matter, 

 have demonstrated, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that to 

 deprive a man of this necessary condiment, for any great length 

 of time, is equivalent to a sentence of death. Hence, in the 

 Chinese Empire, many persons convicted as felons are doomed 

 tcr a deprivation of salt, and it has been observed that such 

 unfortunates are finally so infested with intestinal parasites, 

 that they succumb to the most horrible pf all deaths — they 

 die by inches. 



A short time ago, a contributor to the " Water Cure Jour- 

 nal " concocted a readable, yet one sided, argument in view of 

 demonstrating the poisonous effects of salt. He pitches into 

 the time-honored custom of salting food, after the following 

 fashion : — 



" But, says one, salt is good for cattle. Let us see. Sup- 

 pose that a cow that has never taken any poison should have 

 salt mixed with her food. Her system, never having been in- 

 jured by poison, will be keenly alive to so destructive a poison 

 as salt, and her vital powers will be vigorously aroused to expel 

 it, which will cause her to eat more than usual. A reaction 

 will follow that will restore the equilibrium, if it be allowed to 

 do so ; and until it shall, she will not need and consequently 

 will not relish food, unless salt or some other poison be added 

 to it, which will again arouse her powers; but not so intensely, 

 for her vital energies were injured by the previous preternatu- 

 ral excitement. After awhile, salt will be insufficient to arouse 

 her debilitated powers, and .then, as our allopathic friends 

 would say, she will need something stronger to improve her 



