192 REPORT OF THE 



long* to the extensive saliferous tract lying along* both sides of 

 the Carpathians, and embracing the mines of Wallachia, 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, 22.413.750 



United States, 14.234,000 



88,893,043 

 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 Ruminautia and 

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

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

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

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

 were sugar. This, however, 1 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 states-)- that he sometimes had to send 

 90 mile s /or a gallon of salt. 



The consumption of this article for food increases in the 

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

 world. We can th see no limit to the demand. Thi3 



will continue to increase most rapidly in those regions where 

 population and in at are making most progress. In 



this respect, 11() P ar * '- : ' 1 ' the world will compare with the great 



•Travels, Vol. I., p. 230. f Travels in S. Africa. 



