444 
. 
“gined ¥ have miftaken ‘his ideas, I will 
‘take the hberty of giving the {ubftance of 
‘this paper, and of making fuch extraéls 
trom it as may (erve to fhew that he enter- 
‘tains the fentiments which I have imputed 
‘to him. 
' The author begins by flating the im- 
portance of the falt-‘rade to the United 
‘States. He goes on to fay, that ‘ though 
‘the falt-fprings in New York, Ohio, 
“Kentucky, &c. furnifh the interior with 
large quantities of muriate of foda, ftill by 
‘far the greate!t proportion of the {alt con- 
fumed is brought from abroad.” ‘The 
total quantity imported into America, 
from Oégtober 1, 1800, to September 30, 
1801, was 3,282,063 bufhels, of 56 Ib. 
tothe buthel. Of this quantity, 1,269,398 
bufhels, or rather more than one-third of 
the whole quantity unported, was brought 
from England, and was of Englifh mariu- 
fatture. He then ftates, “ that the ‘Bri- 
tify fait tmported into the United: States 
comes chicfly fiom Chefhire, from the 
inines which contain it. Tr is found 
there near Northwich. The firft was dif 
covered in boring tor coal, in 1670, by 
one John Jackton. Rock flr, and the 
white-talt made from it, are exported free 
from duty.” 
“« Northwich rock-falt is never ufed: in 
its crude fate at table ; and the employ- 
ment of it for pickling, or curing fleth or 
fith, or preferving any provifions, without 
being previaufly diflolved in ‘water, and 
boiled down into a white falt, is prohibit- 
ed-under a penalty ef forty fhillings for 
every pound of rock-fakt-fo applied:-— 
‘They ufe the rock-iak tor ftrengthening 
brine-iprings, or fea-water, preparatory 
to boiling down.” 
«¢ The white fine {ult is prepared by a 
boiling heat. Sea-water, brine-{prings, 
and rock-falt, generally abound with va- 
rious other earthy and faline ingredients, 
fuch as lime, magnefia, Epfom falts,. 
pypfum, Glauber’s falts, &c. all of 
which injure the quality of the falt, and 
difqualify it for preferving animal-fleth 
every where, but efpecially in hot coun- 
tries and feafons. Therefore the Britith 
fait, which comes to us chiefly from Li- 
verpool and the Merfey, is a moit perni- 
cious article of import. It is both weak 
and impure ; ‘and, deceived by its tempt- 
ing appearance, the Americans. have 
ufed it for curing their fith, beef, pork, and 
butter. In fuch cafes, thefe kinds of pro- 
vifions ‘have generally fpoiled, and be- 
come putrid. The feptic (1. e. putrid,) 
gafles, exhaling therefrom, poifon the at- 
miofphere of‘our cities and fhips, and in- 
On the Manufaéture and Quality of Chefbire Salt. 
[ Fune f, 
fe& the people with peftilential difeafes ; 
the way'to avoid which is to avoid Liver- 
pool falt.’’ . 
The author's ‘philippic againft Britifh 
fait does net end here. After enumerat- 
ing the other fourees from which America 
derives is fea-falt, which are chiefly the 
Weitt Indies and Portugal, he adds— 
‘© Phele kinds of falt, any indeed that 
we import, befides that from Liverpool, 
may be employed with {afety in preferv- 
ing animal-flefh for food; but that Bri- 
tifh falt, which they make to fell abroad, 
and not to confume at home, ought to be 
fhunned, as a moft perhicious aiticle in 
trade, and the caufe of incalculable fick- 
nets, death, and lofs of property, among 
the American coniumers.” 
He goes on to fay, * As foon asthe 
ufe of Britith falt is difcontinued, there 
will be lefs corruption ‘of the provifions,, 
which form fo great a part of our Weitt- 
India exports ; there will be lefs feptic 
and venomous air engendered in the vef- 
fels which contain them; there willbe 
proportionally lefs ScknefSs and mortality 
from their mifchievous agency ; and of 
courte thie will be Jefs and Jets noife: 
about importing yellow-fevers, &c. from 
the tropical latitudes. ‘Thus, by degrées, 
we fhall learn not to blame the Wett 
indies for our own mifdongs. ‘The 
evil lics. chiefly at home, and in-our “own 
veffels ; ‘and. this is one of the: modes of 
correction and’ prevention.” 
On reading the firft part of this paper, 
I was led to imagine that ‘the ebjeét of 
the author, in levelling his abufe at the 
falt of foreign manufa&ture, was to in- 
duce his countrymen ‘to improve the ad- 
vantages which nature had afforded them, 
and’to fhew them that they might manu- 
facture a falt of fupericr quality from 
their own brine-{prings; an objeét in 
itfelf laudable. On proceeding, how- 
ever, with the paper, I was foon aware 
ot my error, and found that this was far 
fron: being the defign of the author: that 
he allowed the Americans freelyeto ufe 
fale imported from any other .country ; 
whilft he afcribed to that of Britith manu- 
facture all the long catalogue of ‘evils 
which he enumerates. 
Without entering into the motives of 
this inveterate and exclufive ‘hoftility 
again{t Britith falt, I fhall briefly men- 
tion what the felt is that is exported to 
America, and examine the proofs adduced: 
of its impurity, and confequent weake 
nefs. . 
That the quantity of white-falt which: 
has been exported from Great Britain "a 
4 
