192 REPORT OF THE 



long to the extensive saliferous tract lying along both sides of 

 the Carpathians, and embracing the mines of TTallachia, Tran- 

 sylvania, Galicia, Upper Hungary, Upper Austria, Styria, Salz- 

 berg and the Tyrol. 



The total amount of salt annually produced by three of the 

 leading nations of the earth, is as follows : 



Great Britain, * 52,215,893 bushels. 



France, 22,443,750 " 



United States,.. 14,234,000 



88,893,643 

 Besides the use of salt for mechanical and agricultural pur- 

 poses, it enters largely as an article of food into the consump- 

 tion of all classes of people; and it seems, like water and many 

 other natural products, to have been provided with special 

 reference to the physiological constitution of man. It is equally 

 sought by the lower animals, especially the Buminautia and 

 Pachydermata. Bees*, even, are fond of sipping it from a state 

 of solution. Mungo Park says* that ia the interior of Africa 

 "the greatest of all luxuries is salt. It would appear strange 

 to a European to see a child suck a piece of rock salt as if it 

 were sugar. This, however, I have frequently seen; although 

 in the inland parts, the poorer class of inhabitants are so very 

 rarely indulged with this precious article, that to say a man 

 eats salt with his victuals, is the same as saying he is a rich 

 man. I have myself suffered great inconvenience from the 

 scarcity of this article. The long use of vegetable food creates 

 so painful a longing for salt, that no words can sufficiently 

 describe it." Burchell statesf that he sometimes had to send 

 90 miles for a gallon of salt. 



The consumption of this articfe for food increases in the 

 direct ratio of the average refinement of a people, or of the 

 world. We can therefore see no limit to the demand. This 

 will continue to increase most rapidly in those regions where 

 population and improvement are making most progress. In 

 this respect, no part o£ the world will compare with the great 



♦Travels, Vol. I., p. 280. f Travels in S. Africa. 



