ROC 



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appears eryftallized on their furface, and round their borders. 

 When this water is highly concentrated, it has a deep red 

 colour. The fait formed in them lias often the fame hue ; 

 and when this is the cafe, it difTufes a very perceptible 

 violet fmell. 



One of thefe is the fait lake of Elton, above Aftraean. in 

 the re-entering angle formed by the Wolga. The Kal- 

 mucks called it the Golden lake, becatife of its red ap- 

 pearance, when the fun mines on it. 



The lake of Bogdo, fltuate near this, yields a perfe'&ly 

 white fait, free from fulphate of magncfia, and preferred to 

 that of lake Elton. 



Near Allracan, too, is the mine of Iletzki, celel 

 the quantity of lalt it furniihes. The fait li great 



depth, and rolls on a very hard clay. The foil above it is 

 fandy, and full of holes, containing water faturated with lalt. 



In Sil re is a mine of rock-fall on the right bank 



of the Kaptendoi ; and on that of the Kawda are fourteen 

 brine-fprings. Others are found iu the government ol Ko- 

 livah, and in the environs of Irkutfk, near the lake Baikal, 

 in the centre of Aliatic Ruflia. Laltly, the country near the 

 Cafpian fca is fo impregnated with muriate of foda, that in 

 the environs of Gourief, the fogs and dew that fettle on 

 people's clothes, and on plants, are faline. Pallas. 



Among the Mongul Tartars, the foil is fo thoroughly 

 penetrated with muriate ot foda, that the people lixiviate it, 

 and evaporate the folution to obtain fait. 



That part of China, which borders on Tartary, contains 

 falt-mines, and the ground is ftrongly impregnated with 

 fait. 



Salt is found in the fame manner throughout almolt the 

 whole table-land of Great Tartary, Thibet, Hindooftan, and 

 particularly Perlia, where very cxtcnlive plains are ieen 

 covered with a faline efflorefcence. The ifle of Ormus, at 

 the mouth of the Pcrfian gulf, appears, according to the 

 accounts of travellers, to be one large rock of fait. This 

 iubftance is alfo found iu folid mafl'es near Balach, on the 

 eaftem fide of Perfia. In the defart of Caramania, accord- 

 ing to Chardin, rock-falt is fo abundant, and the atmo- 

 fphere iu dry, that the inhabitants ufe it for building their 

 houfes. It is found in the neighbourhood of Ilpahan, 

 and in the mountains to the north of that city. 



The repofitories of rock-falt in America are lefs known. 

 According to Ulloa and others, it is found in vafl quan- 

 tities in i d defarte of Peru, at the extraordinary 

 height of 10,000 feet, or more, above the , el of 

 the fea. It is extremely hard, forming folk! continuous 

 rocks of a dull violet colour. 



The mountain ot Xaragua, in the ifiand of St . 1>< 

 affords fait ; and in the fame ifiand there is a nark- 



able i.ilt lake, about 22 leagues in circumference, called 

 I [enriquelle. The water, which is inhabited by lizard.-, 

 alligators, and hnd-tortoiics, all of a large li/.e, is deep, 

 clear, bitter, fait, and of a difagreeable fmell. Near the 

 middle of the lake is an ifiand, about i\\ I 

 three broad, well flocked with goats, whence it has the 

 name of Cabrito ifiand; and in this ifiand i: a fpring of 

 frefii water. 



Salt lakes occur in other of the Weft India iilands. [11 

 North America, well of the 11 til 



oi Kentucky, are numei ifitories of rock-falt 



d b fpring.; : thefe are called licks, where 1 he elk 



Faloes formerly repaired in herds, to hck the l"il impreg- 

 nated with rock-falt. On the weftern the great 

 rivet MuTouri, a chain of mountai ilea in 

 Ji, and 45 in breadth, and of considerable height: it 

 lift: of pure rock-falt, barely covered with earth, but 



without any tree or fhrub. Further weft, in California, 

 fait is found in a very pure ilate, in large and folid mailes. 



From the preceding account it will be feen that this moil 

 ufeful mineral is found in every quarter of the globe ; and 

 in man;, parts it exills iu mailes of immenfe fize and extent, 

 pared with the rock-falt in our own ifiand, in the county 

 <>l Chefter. Such, however, is the fuperior indullry of our 

 inhabitants, that the quantity annually exported from that 

 county alone greatly exceeds that procured from any 

 diftrict in the known world, being not lefs than 140,000 

 the produce, of the falt-rock and brinc-fpring ; while 

 rated mines at Wicliczka, in Poland, are dated to 

 yield only about 6000 or 7000 tons. Where rock-falt is 

 white or colourlefs, it is immediately applicable to all ufeful 

 purpofes ; but when mixed with earthy matter, it is ren- 

 d< red pure by the (imple procefs of folution in water. The 

 liquor is afterwards drawn off into pans, leaving the in- 

 fallible part behind ; and the water is then evaporated 

 either by the natural warmth of the climate, or by fires. 

 See Salt. 



R.0CK-6W/, in Rural Economy, that fort of fofiile, rocky, 

 faline material, which is dug out of the bowels of the earth, 

 from different depths, in fome parts of this and other coun- 

 tries, where it exills ipjayers of different thicknelles. The 

 beds of this kind of fait, which are found in the county of 

 Chefter, are highly intereiling and important to the country, 

 whether confidered as affording an article of manufacture and 

 commerce, or as forming a fource of revenue. The dif- 

 covery of the beds or llrata of this fort of matter, in this 

 diftrict , is, however, of no very remote date, as will be feen 

 under the head of Rock-.SV/ Pits ; but the layers are pretty 

 numerous, and of confiderable extent, differing greatly iti 

 their purity, though, in many inftances, requiring a greater 

 or lefs degree of preparation before the fait can be ufed. 



It is remarked by the writer of the account of the Agri- 

 culture of Chefhire, that, from fome experiments made on 

 different fpecimens of rock-falt, it would appear that the 

 tranfparent kind of it is an almoft pure muriate of foda, 

 which contains no admixture of either earth or earthy falts ; 

 and that the colour ot the lefs tranfparent and brown fpeci- 

 mens is derived from the earth that enters, in greater or lefs 

 proportions, into their compofitions. That on 480 grains 

 of tranfparent rock-falt being diflolved in four ounces of 

 diftilled wati r, there was, lull, no precipitate let fall, on the 

 addition ot carbonate of potalh. Secondly, no alteration 

 was produced by this folution on blue vegetable juices. 

 Thirdly, on the addition of a few drops of tincture of galls, 

 a (light purple tinge was given to the folution ; and after 

 Handing tome hours, there was a brown Pediment at the bot- 

 tom of the ..ell. 1. Fourthly, on the addition of muriate of 

 mo precipitate thrown down. From the 

 firft of thefe trials, it i- fuppofed that rock-falt lias no 

 > lime, or muriate or magi d with it; 



id, that ii li. no uncombined acid or alkali; 

 1 the thud, that it contains fome portion of iron ; and 

 from the fourth, or lalt, that there in no fulphate of lime 

 contained 1:1 it. 



■..id that, on examining different fpecimens 01 thi 



tranfparent, and the brown rock-falt, with the fame le- 



. .1 . 111 the ah. ... ii./!', ii \ is found t hai I In Gc 1 on- 



lifted of muriat or lea-lali, in combination with a 



roportion ol earth, varying in quantity from one 



to thirty pir cent. ; alto, that the earth wa« wholly the ar- 



gillaceoui or common cla) ; but ti' A the fpecimens 



fulphate ol lime, in 4.8c ■ 1 thole of 

 the rock-falt. 



The beds o: tl is fait arc now well known to be the prin- 

 cipal 



