salt 
to fuming sulphuric acid. Spirits of salt. Same as 
monkey, 9. To be worth one's salt, to be worthy of 
one's hire, or of the lowest possible wages, in a deprecia- 
tory sense, as implying that one is not worth his food, but 
only the salt that he eats with it : generally in the negative 
form : as, he is not worth his gait. To eat one's salt, to 
be one's guest, and hence under one's protection for the 
time being ; be bound to one by the sacred relation of 
guest. To put, cast, or lay salt on the tall of, to cap- 
ture ; catch : children having been told from hoary anti- 
quity that they can catch birds by putting salt on their 
tails. 
Were you coming near him with soldiers, or constables, 
. . . you will never lay salt on hii tatt. 
Scott, Eedgauntlet, xi. 
To take with a grain of salt, to accept or believe with 
some reserve or allowance. Under salt, in process of 
curing with salt : as, codfish put muter salt : a fishermen's 
phrase. Volatile salts, such salts as disappear in va- 
por at a given temperature, as ammonium bicarbonate. 
White salt, salt dried and calcined ; decrepitated salt, 
II. a. 1. Having the taste or pungency of 
salt; impregnated with, containing, or abound- 
ing in salt : as, mill water. 
Ho nas stadde a stiffe ston. a stalworth image 
Al-so tall as an! se & so ho get stanilt,-,. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. \l ..n isi. ii. 084. 
The [Euxine] Sea is lesse ."ill than others, and much an- 
noyed with ice In the Wincer (Winter). 
Sandys, Travalles (1852), p. ::. 
A still salt pool, lock'd in the bars of sand. 
Tennyson, Palace of Art. 
2. Prepared or preserved with salt: as, salt 
beef; salt fish. 3. Overflowed with or grow- 
ing in salt water: as, salt grass or hay. 4. 
Sharp; bitter; pungent. 
Amongst sins unpardonable they reckoned second mar- 
riages, of which opinion Tertulllan, making ... a nail 
apology, . . . saith . . . Hooker, Eccles. Polity, vi. 6. 
We were better parch in Afric sun 
Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes. 
Shale., T. andC., i. 3. S71. 
5. Costly; dear; expensive: as, he paid a gait 
price for it. [Colloq.] 6f. Lecherous; sala- 
cious. 
Then they grow mill and begin to be proud ; yet in an- 
cient time, for the more ennobling of their race of dogges, 
they did not suffer them to engender till the male were 
foure yeare old, and the female three : for then would th e 
whelpes proove more stronge and lively. 
Topsell, Beasts (1607), p. 189. (HalKweU.) 
For the better compassing of his salt and most hidden 
loose affection. Shale., Othello, ii. 1. 244. 
Salt and cured provisions, beef and pork prepared in 
pickle or smoke-dried for use as food. Salt eel. (a) A 
rope's end ; hence, a beating. [ Naut. slang.] (6) A game 
something like hide-and-seek. HaUiieett. Salt junk. 
See junJci, 4. Salt meadow, reed-grass, etc. See the 
nouns. 
salt 1 (salt), v. [< ME. salten, also selten, silten, 
< AS. "sealtian, also sultan = D. souten = MLG. 
solten = OHG. sakan, MHO. G. salzen = Icel. 
Sw. salta = Dan. salte = Goth, saltan (cf. L. 
salire, salere, sallere), salt; from the noun : see 
salt 1 ,*.] I. trans. 1. To sprinkle, impregnate, 
or season with salt, or with a salt: as, to salt 
fish, beef, or pork. 
It takes but a little while for Mr. Long to tatt the re- 
mainder of the venison well. 
W. M. Baiter, New Timothy, p. 134. 
And of flesch that was eke for brend the wonndes he 
galte also. Holy Rood (ed. MorrisX p. 59. 
2. To fill with salt between the timbers and 
planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the 
timber. 3. To furnish with salt ; feed salt to : 
as, to salt cows. 4. In soap-making, to add 
salt to (the lye in the kettles) after saponifica- 
tion of the fatty ingredients, in order to sepa- 
rate the soap from the lye. The soap, being insolu- 
ble in the salted lye and of less specific gravity, rises to 
the top and floats. This process is also called separation. 
5. In photog., to impregnate (paper, canvas, 
or other tissue) with a salt or mixture of salts 
in solution, which, when treated with other so- 
lutions, form new compounds in the texture. 
Various bromides, iodides, and chlorids, being salts which 
effect the decomposition of nitrate of silver, are among 
those much used for this purpose. 
6t. To make, as a freshman, drink salt water, 
by way of initiation, according to a university 
custom of the sixteenth century Salting down, 
the process of concentrating a mixture of the distilled am- 
moniacal liquor from gas-works with sulphuric acid until 
the hot solution precipitates small crystals of ammonium 
sulphate. To salt a mine, to make a mine seem more 
valuable than it really is, by surreptitiously introducing 
rich ore obtained elsewhere : a trick first resorted to by 
gold-diggers with the design of obtaining a high price for 
their claims. To salt an invoice, account, etc., to put 
the extreme value on each article, in some cases in or- 
der to be able to make what seems a liberal discount at 
payment. To salt down, to pack away in salt, as pork 
or beef, for winter use ; hence, to place in reserve ; lay by. 
- To salt in bulk, to stow away in the hold with salt, 
without washing, bleeding, or divesting of offal, as fish. 
To salt out, to separate (coal-tar colors) from solutions 
by adding a large excess of common salt. The coloring 
matter, being insoluble in a solution of common salt, sepa- 
rates out. 
II. intriiiiH. To deposit salt, as a saline sub- 
stance: as, the brine begins to milt. 
salt 2 t, See xttiilt*. 
saltablet, Sec ////<//. 
saltant (sal'tant), a. [< L. salttin(t-)s, ppr. of 
saltare, dance, freq. of satin; leap, dance : see 
,s-i7 2 , sally?, salient.'] 1. Leaping; jumping; 
dancing. 2. In roo'/., saltatorial or saltatory : 
salient. 3. In liei:, leaping in a position simi- 
lar to salient: noting a squirrel, cat, or other 
small animal when used as a bearing. 
saltarello, 8alterello(sal-ta-rerd, sal-te-rel'o), 
.: pi. xallarclli, xaltertlli (-i). [= Sp. miltii- 
relo, a dance; < It. saltarello, sultcrello, a little 
leap or skip (cf. saltarella, a grasshopper, = 
OF. saiitereaii, sanltereau, a leaper. grasshop- 
per, xautrri'llf, a grasshopper), < L. salt/in . 
dance.] In music: (a) In old dances generally, 
a second section or part, usually danced as' a 
round dance, the music being in triple rhythm. 
Saltarelli were appended to all sorts of dances, most of 
them being contre-dances. (ft) A very animated 
Italian and Spanish dance for a single couple, 
characterized by numerous sudden skips or 
jumps, (c) Music for such a dance or in its 
rhythm, which is triple and quick, and marked 
by abruptbreaks and skips and the rhythmic 
figure " jH. (rf) In medieval counterpoint, 
when the cautus firmus is accompanied by a 
counterpoint in sextuplets, it was sometimes 
said to be IH saltarello. Compare salteretto. (e) 
In harpsichord-making, same as jack 1 , 11 (//). 
saltate (sal'tiit), /. i. ; pret. and pp. satiated, 
ppr. saltating. [< L. saltatus, pp. of saltare (> 
It. saltare = Sp. Pg. sattar = Pr. savtar = OF. 
itaulter, F. sauter), dance, < salire, jump, leap: 
seesaiPjSaulfi.] To leap; jump; skip. [Rare.] 
Imp. Diet. 
saltation (sal-ta'shon), . [< OF. saltation, 
saltation, F. saltation = Sp. saltaeion = It. sal- 
tazlone, < L. saltatio(n-), a dancing, dance, < 
saltare, pp. salUitus, dance: see saltate."] 1. 
Saltatory action ; the act or movement of leap- 
ing, or effecting a saltus; a leap or jump; 
hence, abrupt transition or change. 
The locusts being ordained for saltation, their hinder 
legs do far exceed the others. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err. 
Nature goes by rule, not l>y sallies and saltations. 
Emerson, Conduct of Life. 
Leaps, gaps, xaltatimi*, or whatever they may be called 
[in the process of evolution]. 
W. a. Doll, Amer. Nat., March, 187". 
2. Jumping movement ; beating or palpitation. 
If the great artery be hurt, you will discover it by its 
saltation and florid colour. Wiseman, Surgery. 
saltato (sal-ta'to), . [It., prop. pp. of saltare, 
spring: see saltate.] In manic, a manner of 
bowing a stringed instrument in which the bow 
is allowed to spring back from the string by 
its own elasticity. 
Saltator (sal-ta'tor), n. [NL., < L. saltator, a 
dancer, < saltare. pp. salta tug, dance: see sal- 
tate.] 1 . A notable genus of validirostral pity- 
line tanagers of large size and sober coloration. 
Saltatar mafnus. 
with square tail, strong feet, sharp claws, jtnd 
notched bill, as S. magntis. Fieillot, 1816. Also 
called Habia. 2. A genus of ichnolites of un- 
certain character. Hiteheocl; 1858. 3. The 
constellation Hercules. 
Saltatoria (sal-ta-to'ri-a), H. pi. [NL.,< L. sal- 
tator, a dancer: see Saltator.'] In entom., a di- 
vision of orthopterous insects, corresponding 
to the Linnean genus Gryllus, including those 
which are saltatory, having the hind legs fitted 
for leaping, as the Gryllidse, Locustidie, aud^lo- 
riiliidte, or crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts : 
originally one of two sections (the other being 
Cursoria) into which Latreille divided the Or- 
thoptera. 
salt-cellar 
saltatorial (sal-ta-t<Vri-al), . [< saltatory + 
-ill.] 1. Pertaining to (lancing: as, the salia- 
/('? art. 2. In ,-<)/.: (a) Leaping frequently 
or habitually ; saltatory : saltigrade ; of or per- 
taining to the Kiillatnria, in any sense: distin- 
guished from amliiilatiirii, gradient, <//r.v,wi *'/. 
riirsurial, etc. Of the several words of the same 
meaning (salient, sallnni. saltalnrial, saltatori- 
ous, and saltatory), saltatorinl is now the com- 
monest in entomology, and salient in herpetol- 
ogy. (6) Fitted for leaping; adapted to s I ta- 
tion: as, saltatorial limbs, (c) Characterized 
by or pertaining to leaping: as, saltatorial ac- 
tion ; a saltatortal group of insects. Saltatorial 
abdomen, in entom., an abdomen terminated by bristle 
like springing-organs, as in the Poduridse. See sprinytail. 
Saltatorial legs, in ntom.,legi in which the femur is 
greatly thickened for the reception of strong muscles, by 
means of which the insect can take long leaps, as in the 
grasshoppers, fleas, many beetles, etc. See cuts under 
yrazshvpper and flea. 
saltatorious (sal-ta-to'ri-xis), a. [< L. saltato- 
rius, pertaining to dancing: see saltatory.'] 
Same as saltatorial. [Rare.] 
saltatory (sal'ta-to-ri), a. and . [=It. salta- 
torio, < L. saltatorius, pertaining to dancing, < 
saltare, dance: see sattate.] I. a. Same as sal- 
tatorial. Saltatory theory of evolution, in Wot, the 
view which holds thai the evolution of species is not al- 
ways gradual and regular, but may be marked by sudden 
changes and abrupt variations. It is an extreme of the 
view which recognizes periods of alternating acceleration 
and retardation in the development of new forms, and may 
be considered akin to the theory of cataclysms in geology. 
See third extract under saltation, 1. 
II. n. ; pi. salta lories (-riz). A leaper or 
dancer. 
The second, a lavoltateer, a saltatory, a dancer with a 
kit, ... a fellow that skips as he walks. 
Fletcher (and another), Fair Maid of the Inn, ill. 1. 
salt-barrow (salt'bar'6), . See barrow 2 , 5. 
salt-bearer (salt'bSr'er), . One who carries 
salt; specifically, one who takes part in the 
Eton montem. See montem. 
According to the ancient practice, the salt-bearers were 
accustomed to carry with them a handkerchief filled with 
salt, of which they bestowed a small quantity on every 
individual who contributed his quota to the subsidy. 
Chambers'* Boot of Days, II. 665. 
salt-block (salt'blok), M. A salt-evaporating 
apparatus: a technical term for a salt-making 
plant, or saltern. 
salt-box (salt'boks), M. 1. A box in which salt 
is packed for sale or for transportation. 2. A 
box for keeping salt for domestic use. 
salt-burned (salt'bernd), . Injured by over- 
salting, or by lying too long in salt, as fish. 
salt-bush (salt'bush), w. Any one of several 
species of plants, chiefly of the genus Atriplex, 
covering extensive plains in the interior of 
Australia. The most important are A. nummulari-um, 
one of the larger species, and A. vesiearium. an extremely 
abundant and tenacious dwarf species, together with the 
dwarf .! halimoides. The name covers also species of 
Ithagodia and Chenopodium of similar habit. 
salt-cake (salt'kak), . The crude sodium 
sulphate which occurs as a by-product in the 
manufacture of hydrochloric acid on a large 
scale from sodium chlorid : a British commer- 
cial name. Through the reaction of sulphuric acid 
upon the sodium chlorid, hydrochloric acid is set free and 
sodium sulphate formed. 
salt-cat (salt'kat), n. [< ME. salte eatte; < 
salt 1 + caft.] A lump of salt made at a salt- 
works (see cat 1 , n., 
15); also, a mixture of 
gravel, loam, rubbish 
of old walls, cumin- 
seed, salt, and stale 
urine, given as a diges- 
tive to pigeons. 
Many give a lump of salt, 
which they usually call a 
mlt-cat, made at the salterns, 
which makes the pigeons 
much affect the place. 
Mortimer, Husbandry. 
salt-cellar (salt ' sel *- 
Sr), n. [Early mod. E. 
saltseller, saltsellar; < 
late ME. saltsaler, salt- 
mliir. < .trtltl + seller*!, q. v.] A small vessel 
for holding salt, used on the table. See sal 'ft, 4. 
When thou etys thi mete of this thou take hede 
louche not the salte beyng in thi salt-saler. 
Bootee of Precedence (E. E. T. S., extra ser.), i. 60. 
Dip not thy meate in the Saltgeller. but take it with thy 
knyfe. Jlabees Boot (E. E. T. S.), p. 76. 
We can meet and so conferre, 
Both by a shining sall-tellnr, 
And have our roofe, 
Although not archt, yet weather proofe. 
llerrick. His Age. 
Salt-cellar of Henri Deux ware 
(i6th century). 
