That which is found in large beds in the bowels of the earth, and which has not undergone any artificial preparation; it is sometimes colorless, but more frequently red, yellow, or blue, and mixed with earthy impurities; this salt was entirely unknown to the ancients, who by rock salt meant that which adheres to the rocks above high-water mark, being lodged there by the spray of the sea, which is evaporated by the heat of the sun; this is the purest salt, and is to be found on the rocks of Sicily, and several islands of the West Indies.

     Artificial, produced by art, and the labor of man.

     Evaporated, converted into vapor and dissipated.

What is Marine Salt?

That which is made from sea-water, concentrated by repeated evaporations, and at length crystallized.

What is Spring Salt?

That salt which is not made from sea-water, but from the water of salt wells or springs; large quantities of this salt are made in the United States, in some parts of which saline springs are numerous.

In what manner is it obtained?

The means employed for extracting the salt from the water vary according to circumstances.  In hot countries, the water is merely exposed to the action of the sun, until the water is evaporated; the salt procured in this manner is considered the best.

What method is usually employed in countries where the sun’s heat is not sufficiently powerful?

In climates where the rays of the sun do not afford sufficient heat, the water, which has been partly evaporated in large shallow reservoirs formed in the earth, called salt-pans, is poured into enormous coppers and boiled for four or five hours:  when the contents of the copper are wasted to half the quantity, the liquid begins to be crystallized; the vessel is again filled up, and the brine again boiled and purified:  this is repeated three or four times.  After the last purifying the fire is kept very low for twelve or fourteen hours, and when the moisture is nearly evaporated the salt is removed, and, after the remaining brine has drained off, is placed in the store-houses.

In what countries is Salt generally found?

This substance, so necessary to the comfort of mankind, is widely distributed over the face of the earth, and nothing, except, perhaps, the air we breathe, is more easily placed within our reach.  The ocean is an exhaustless store-house of this valuable article.  Those nations of the earth which are placed at a distance from the sea, find themselves provided with magazines of salt, either in solid masses, or dissolved in the waters of inland lakes, or issuing from the solid rocks in springs of brine.  At Salina, Syracuse, and other places in Onondaga Co., New York, salt springs are remarkably abundant, and yield annually several millions of bushels; immense quantities are also obtained from the salt-wells on the Great and Little Kanawha, and other places in Western Virginia; it is also extensively manufactured in the western part of Pennsylvania, and throughout the Western States.