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, ot 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 



