SALT. 4^9 
flection of the torches from so many brilliant sur- 
faces must have a very surprising effect. A con- 
stant current of fresh air is communicated to the 
workmen by means of a tube at the mouth of the 
pit, with a pair of large double bellows fixed to it. 
Hungary and Poland produce several mines of 
sal gem, of considerable magnitude ; but the most 
famous among them, and indeed the most cele- 
brated in Europe, are the salt-mines of Wielitska, 
about two leagues to the south-west of Cracow. 
According to the local description of these mines, 
which has been given by several naturalists, we find 
that immediately under the common soil there is a 
layer cf clay, which is succeeded by sand to the 
depth of thirty feet : after having passed another 
layer of clay of a black colour and very compact 
texture, we arrive at a mixture of sand and salt, 
sometimes in grains, sometimes in lumps of a very 
considerable size, and several feet in diameter. At 
the depth of 150 or 200 feet we find the regular 
layers of salt, which are at first very thin, but gra- 
dually increase in thickness, and are separated from 
each other by strata of sand, marie, and pebbles. 
The descent into these mines is by six wells, and 
in the interior are several small chapels excavated 
in the salt, where mass is said at certain times of 
the year. One of these chapels is above thirty feet 
long, and twenty-five broad : an altar, a crucifix, 
and various ornaments and statues, are all carved 
out of the salt. The immense size of the different 
excavations or chambers, with the spacious passages 
