504 
Pliny's katfeal histoet. [Book XXXI. 
the pungency of salt.^^ In other places, again, the wood of 
the hazel is held in high esteem ; and thus, we see, by pouring 
brine upon it, charcoal even is converted into salt. All salt 
that is thus prepared with burning wood is black. I find it 
stated by Theophrastus, that the Umbri are in the habit of 
boiling ashes of reeds and" bulrushes in water, till there remains 
but little moisture unconsumed. The brine, too, of salted 
provisions is sometimes boiled over again, and, as soon as ail 
the moisture has evaporated, the salt resumes its original form. 
That prepared from the pickle of the msena has the finest 
flavour. 
CHAr. 41. THE VARIOUS PEOPEETIES OF SALT : ONE HTTNDEED 
AND TWENTY HISTOEICAL EEMAEKS RELATIVE THERETO. 
Of the various kinds of sea-salt, the most esteemed is that of 
Salamis, in Cyprus ; and of the lake-salts, that of Tarentum, 
and the salt known as Tattsean salt, which comes from Phrj^gia: 
these last two are also good for the eyes. That of Cappadocia, 
which is imported in small cubes, imparts a fine colour, it is 
said, to the skin ; but, for efi'acing wrinkles, that which we 
have already spoken of as the salt of Citium is the best : 
hence it is that, in combination with gith,^'' it is used by fe- 
males as a liniment for the abdomen after childbirth. The 
drier the salt, the stronger it is in taste ; but the most agree- 
able of all, and the whitest known, is that of Tarentum. In 
addition to these particulars, we would remark also, that the 
whiter salt is, the more friable it is. Eain-water deadens 
every kind of salt, but dew-water makes it more delicate in 
flavour. [N'orth-easterly winds render the formation of salt 
more abundant, but, while south winds prevail, it never in- 
creases. It is only while north-easterly winds prevail, that 
flower of salt is formed. I^either the salt of Tragasa, nor 
^2 <' The water, evaporating, would leave the salt behind, but mixed with 
charcoal, ashes, earth, and alkaline salts ; consequently it must have heen 
moist, or at any rate nauseous, if not refined by a new solution." — Beck- 
mann's Hist. Inv. Yol. II. p. 493. Bohn's Ed. 
Not improbably a people of India so called, and mentioned in B. vi. 
c. 20. 1* See B. ix. c 42. 
1^ In laterculis." Ilardouin considers this to mean small earthen 
vessels or pipes. 
16 In c. 39 of this Book. Melanthium." See B. xx. c. 17. 
^® Flos salis." Further mentioned iu c. 42. 
