BOOK XII. 



555 



springs and wells, yet it is also possible to use this method in the case of 

 river-, lake-, and sea- water, and also of those waters which are artificially 

 salted. For in places where rock-salt is dug, the impure and the broken pieces 

 are thrown into fresh water, which, when boiled, condenses into salt. Some, 

 indeed, boil sea-salt in fresh water again, and mould the salt into the little 

 cones and other shapes. 



Some people make salt by another method, from salt water which 

 flows from hot springs that issue boiling from the earth. They set earthen- 

 ware pots in a pool of the spring-water, and into them they pour water scooped 

 up with ladles from the hot spring until they are half full. The perpetual 

 heat of the waters of the pool evaporates the salt water just as the heat of 

 the fire does in the caldrons. As soon as it begins to thicken, which happens 

 when it has been reduced by boiling to a third or more, they seize the pots 

 with tongs and pour the contents into small rectangular iron pans, which have 

 also been placed in the pool. The interior of these pans is usually three feet 

 long, two feet wide, and three digits deep, and they stand on four heavy legs, 

 so that the water flows freely all round, but not into them. Since the water 

 flows continuously from the pool through the little canals, and the spring 



A POTS. B TRIPOD. C DEEP LADLE. 



