339 ) 



CHAPTER XIII. 



MARINE SALT. 



Mode of obtaining sea salt Salines of France, where situated Statistics of 

 production Composition of the crude salt Manufacture in the United 

 States Consumption of salt in various countries Sea-salt works of 

 Portugal Salt manufacture in India a Government monopoly Imports 

 of foreign salt Salt production in Cochin China. 



ANOTHER commercial product from the sea is salt, ob- 

 tained by evaporation, which is produced on a large scale 

 in many quarters, especially in India, on the coast of 

 France, in Turks Islands, and other localities. To obtain 

 this salt a certain quantity of sea water is collected in 

 reservoirs, constructed on the seacoast, which are termed 

 salines, or salt marshes, where it is evaporated by the com- 

 bined action of the rays of the sun and currents of air. 

 As sea water contains only from two and a half to three 

 per cent, of salt, a very large quantity of water has to be 

 submitted to evaporation to obtain the salt of commerce. 

 Notwithstanding this, the operations are carried on upon 

 so large a scale, and the work is so arranged, that the salt 

 is produced at a very moderate price. 



France has about 82 salines, or salt marshes, occupying 

 a surface of about 48,500 acres. These are situated, one 



