Am.  Jour  Pharm.  \ 
May  1,  1871.  J 
Grab- Orchard  Salt, 
209 
Not  knowing,  at  first,  what  it  was,  he  began  to  investigate  the  mat- 
ter, and  found  it  was  left  after  evaporation  of  the  water  by  the  heat 
of  the  sun.  He  carried  home  some  of  the  water,  and,  by  boiling  it 
down,  obtained  a  small  quantity  of  salt,  which  he  carried  to  Crab 
Orchard,  to  learn  what  kind  of  salt  it  was.  Physicians  immediately 
pronounced  it  Epsom  salt ;  but,  upon  careful  examination  and  experi- 
ment, it  was  found  to  contain  other  constituents  than  sulphate  of 
magnesia,  and  also  to  differ  somewhat  in  medicinal  effects,  so  they 
named  it  Crab  Orchard  Salt,  in  contradistinction  to  Epsom  salt.  It 
was  soon  after  obtained  in  different  localities  in  that  section,  and,  in 
a  short  while,  farmers  began  to  make  it  in  small  quantities  for  home 
consumption  ;  gradually  it  became  known  to  parties,  from  different 
parts  of  the  country,  visiting  the  town,  to  try  the  medicinal  effects  of 
the  waters  in  the  neighborhood,  of  which  there  are  several  excellent 
varieties,  until  it  is  now  used,  in  preference  to  Epsom  salt,  in  all  parts 
of  Kentucky  and  most  of  the  adjoining  States. 
Crab  Orchard  salt  is  made  by  simply  boiling  the  water,  from  the 
springs,  in  large  iron  kettles,  to  a  certain  point,  then  allowing  it  to 
settle,  (the  more  thoroughly  it  settles,  the  dryer  and  nicer  the  salt 
will  be ;)  the  clear  liquid  is  then  decanted  and  evaporated  to  dryness, 
being  stirred  near  the  close,  to  granulate  the  salt.  Nine  gallons  of 
water  yield  a  pound  of  the  salt.  About  six  thousand  pounds  of  the 
salt  was  produced  in  1869.  This  salt  is  said  to  be  counterfeited  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  Louisville  and  Cincinnati. 
There  is  quite  a  number  of  mineral  springs  in  the  vicinity  of  Crab 
Orchard,  differing  slightly  in  composition,  as  will  be  seen  from  the 
analyses  of  the  Grrove,  the  Field  and  the  Sowders  springs,  published 
with  the  second  report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Kentucky,  made, 
in  the  years  1856  and  1857,  by  David  Dale  Owen. 
The  salt  is  obtained  from  the  two  last-mentioned  springs,  and  con- 
tains, after  having  been  dried  at  212°  F.,  in  one  hundred  grains,  as 
by  analysis  of  Dr.  Robert  Peters,  of  Lexington,  Ky.  : 
Sulphate  of  Magnesia,   63'19 
Sulphate  of  Soda,   4*20 
Sulphate  of  Potassa,   2-80 
Sulphate  of  Lime,   2*54 
Chloride  of  Sodium,   4-77 
Carbonate  of  Lime,  Magnesia,  Iron  and  Silica,  .  .  "89 
Bromine,  a  trace. 
Water,   21'61 
14 
