AmMa°y,riM5arni'}    Salt  and  its  Relation  to  Nutrition.  221 
cannot  be  continued  unless  this  compound  is  furnished  along  with  the 
other  necessary  nutrients. 
When  full  stature  is  reached  the  need  for  salt  is  doubtless  di- 
minished. It  might  cease  entirely  if  it  were  possible  to  avoid  all  loss 
of  salt  in  the  excretions.  This  possibility  is  nearly  but  not  quite 
realized.  When  a  man  fasts  for  several  days  the  escape  of  sodium 
chloride  from  his  system  sinks  to  a  low  level  but  remains  appre- 
ciable. It  may  be  in  the  vicinity  of  0.6  gramme  in  the  twenty-four 
hours.  In  complete  starvation  this  gradual  loss  is  probably  not  out 
of  proportion  to  the  general  reduction  of  weight.  Hence  it  does  not 
lead  to  an  actual  lowering  of  the  percentage  of  salt  in  the  body.  A 
diet  sufficient  in  all  other  respects,  but  lacking  salt,  might  bring  to 
pass  such  a  lowering. 
One  interesting  result  of  using  a  salt- free  diet  has  been  observed 
in  the  failure  of  the  glands  of  the  stomach  to  produce  hydrochloric 
acid.  This  valuable  aid  to  digestion  and  antagonist  of  putrefaction 
must  be  evolved  from  the  chlorides  of  the  blood.  Apparently  it  is 
not  secreted  when  the  concentration  of  these  substances  in  the  blood 
is  at  all  below  the  normal,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  chlorine 
ions  of  the  gastric  juice  can  probably  be  recovered  quite  successfully. 
The  suggestion  has  been  made  that  rigid  restriction  of  salt  should  be 
beneficial  in  cases  where  the  gastric  acidity  is  excessive. 
Bunge,  an  Austrian  physiologist,  has  collected  a  great  volume  of 
data  concerning  the  habits  of  different  races  as  to  the  use  of  salt.  It 
is  evident  that  some  people  set  a  high  value  upon  it,  while  others  do 
not  care  for  it  at  all.  Where  it  is  prized  it  has  often  figured  in 
maxims  and  metaphors.  "  To  earn  one's  salt  "  is  a  familiar  phrase 
which  gains  point  from  the  common  origin  of  the  words  "  salt  "  and 
"  salary.''  Bunge  learned  that  a  certain  East  Indian  tribe  used  as 
the  most  solemn  oath  in  their  court  procedure  the  formula,  "  May 
T never  taste  salt  again  if  I  speak  not  the  truth." 
A  little  investigation  shows  that  the  desire  to  add  salt  to  the 
food  is  experienced  most  by  those  who  are  vegetarians  or  nearly  so. 
Men  who  are  strictly  carnivorous  abhor  salt.  Thus  it  was  found  by 
the  agents  of  the  Russian  Government  that  the  natives  of  Kamchatka 
could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  salt  the  fish  which  formed  their 
entire  diet.  The  supply  of  fish  was  uncertain  and  that  which  was 
saved  to  eat  in  the  long  intervals  between  catches  decomposed  in 
shallow  pits.  Still  it  was  preferred  to  salt  fish.  We  notice  the  same 
detestation  of  salt  among  carnivorous  animals.    They  present  a 
