Jinalyses of Salt. 269 
ANALYSES OF SALT. 
"Complaints have heretofore been made in relation to salt 
from our public works,'' say the committee of the N. Y. State Ag- 
ricultural Society on butter dairies; "and there can be no doubt, 
that there has been much salt sent from our works, that was justly 
liable to the objections which have been made. It is then, all- 
important to ascertain the true character of the salt that is manu- 
factured, so that the dairymen may be informed of the kinds 
which are suitable for use, as well as those which should be 
avoided; and also the manner in which the salt may be prepared, 
so as to be entirely free from objection." 
Dr. L. C. Beck, in Natural History of N. Y., speaking of the 
improvement of the manufacture of the fine salt at Salina, says: 
" To the question which is so frequently asked, How can the 
manufacture of fine salt be improved? I can answer only in gen- 
eral terms, by imitating as closely as possible, the processes ob- 
served in the coarse salt fields. This should be the standard, for 
here salt is obtained in the purest form, and yet by operations 
entirely simple, and easily varied to suit particular cases. In 
applying these principles to the manufacture of fine salt, it cannot 
be too strongly urged, that the first purification of the brine, or 
the separation of the less insoluble impurities which subsequently 
form the pan scale, should be effected in vessels (whether reservoirs 
or pans) other than those in which the salting is to take place. 
A want of attention to this point is, in my opinion, one of the 
principal causes of the complaints which have been made in re- 
gard to this salt. Indeed, the condition of the kettles, containing, 
as they often do, a deposit of these impurities of three or four 
inches in thickness, on which the salt is deposited, and from 
which it is removed by simple ladling and drainage, forcibly 
exhibits the objections to which this mode of manufacture is or- 
dinarily exposed." 
" Another objection to the fine salt, as it is often manufactured 
at the Onondaga furnaces is, that it is wet, and forms into solid 
masses which can with difficulty be removed from the barrels into 
which it has been packed. . . . This arises from the want of 
care in removing the bitterns, a term applied to designate the 
highly deliquescent chlorides of calcium and magnesium. These 
substances, in consequence of their great solubility, remain with 
the salt; and the drainage to which it is subjected after being 
taken from the kettles, is intended to eflfect their removal. ... I 
am satisfied that a strict attention to the two points above noticed, 
viz., the separation of the less soluble materials in vessels other 
than those in which the salting is effected, and the complete 
