Saltpeter

“ The luckless Furnival, some fifty years later than Chrysel, approached nearly to the goal to which they were all striving, and he, in common with his forerunners, had his share of the savage jealousy and persecution that the salt-men have ever visited upon those who venture into the lists with them. “No malice has been wanting to bring a disreputation upon my salt; and every wicked art will be practised to render its virtues ineffectual. The Salt Commissioners are my avowed enemies ”

“ Every shower of rain creates a certain amount of mud or sand, and every brook and stream running into the salt lakes during the rainy season brings in a certain quantity of the same material. The mud represents the wet season of the year, and the salt the dry season. The geological conditions must have been the same when salt was deposited in Cheshire, and with the instances of modern salt-forming regions before us, and the strata of the Cheshire salt country to guide us, it must be concluded that the genesis of rock-salt, modified by local circumstances, must have been the same in every case. ”

“ The term Saltpetre is applied to a variety of bodies, distinguished, however, by their bases, as potash saltpetre, soda saltpetre, lime saltpetre, etc., which occur naturally. They are all compounds of nitric acid and bases, or the gases nitrogen and oxygen united to bases, and are found in all soils which have not been recently washed by rains, and which are protected from excessive moisture.
The decomposition of animal and of some vegetable bodies in the soil causes the production of one constituent of saltpetre, while the earth and the animal remains supply the other. ”

“ I likewise there added some reasons, whereby it might be evinced, that it was possible for Art to perform such things, which are no other but the Rewards Nature her self yields, and that the Salt-petre which is wont to be every where digged out of the Stalls, or Stables of Cattle, is nothing else but the essential salt of Vegetables, and Animals, which is in a long tract of time, and by the hidden virtue of the Air, turned into Salt-petre. ”

“ A good deal of saltpetre is still made by members of the caste in various parts of the Madras Presidency by lixiviating the alkaline efflorescence of the earth. For this purpose, licenses are obtained annually from the Salt Department. Crude saltpetre is sold for manure on coffee estates, and also used in the manufacture of fireworks. Speaking different languages, and living in different parts of the country, the Uppiliyans, Upparas, and Uppāras do not intermarry, though, where they are found close together, they interdine. ”

“ This, as practised in Hampshire, Yorkshire, and in various large establishments elsewhere, consists in merely well rubbing ordinary culinary salt, mixed with a little saltpetre, into the meat, until every crevice is thoroughly penetrated, and, afterwards, sprinkling some over it, and placing it on a board or in a trough, in such a manner that the brine may drain off. On the small scale, in private families, a mixture of salt, 2 lbs., with saltpetre, 11⁄2 or 2 oz., either with or without about an oz. of good moist sugar, is commonly used for the purpose, and imparts a fine flavour to the meat. ”

“ Harrison mentions a Salter Inge (salter's meadow) in Ecclesfield, with which we may compare Chapman Field and Pedlar Hagg just mentioned.
In the bilingual dialogue of Archbishop Alfric, attributed to the tenth century, a salt-merchant is introduced, amongst other persons, and the interlocutor puts the question to him: "O salter, of what profit to us is thine art?" He answers: "My art is of much profit to all; none of you enjoys his supper or his dinner unless my art befriend him." "In what way?" is the reply. The salter answers: "What man enjoys sweet food without the relish of salt? ”

“ So likewise the same is to be understood in the generation of Salt-petre, all Salts of Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals are dead, afore they get themselves a life after a magnetical manner out of the Air, and be made into Salt-petre; for amongst all salts, none deserve to be called a Live Salt, but that one of Salt-petre, which by the Philosophers is called the Watchful Dragon, which likewise at the beginning was dead, but hath got himself a Life out of the air. ”

“ ON THIS GREAT SALT PAN, SOUTHERN KALAHARI.
Dogs dying of thirst.
There seemed little hope of their getting through, and I wished to shoot the unfortunate animals, [Page 255] but Du Toit dissuaded me, saying that there was just a chance that we should find fresh water near the Salt Pan, for he had heard the Hottentots say that in the old days, when they were allowed access to it, they had pits dug in its margin, where they got good fresh water quite near to the salt. He said he hoped also to find traces of the old waggon-road, which would help us get our bearings properly. ”

“ If then, Salt-peter be a subject so excellent, as that we can by no means want it, and that it may so easily be prepared out of Wood and Stones in plenty; if above all other things it makes the Earth fruitfull, if it can extract plenty of true Gold and Silver out of the contemptible Sand and Flints, what can we desire more from it, unless it be a sound and healthfull Body, whereby we may in fulness of health quietly and peaceably enjoy such great benefits vouchsafed us by God? ”

“ That special “salt” is the queer looking little thing in the centre of the salt group, and I am giving it more space than its size or appearance seem to warrant. It was first caught sight of in a shop at Leeds, where a broker had it filled with black varnish into which he was dipping his brush, while he was giving an artistic touch-up to some of his stock. The hunter spotted pewter, and after some little chaff was told he could have it if he would bring something that would do for holding the varnish; this he bought at a shop not far off, and the change was soon effected. ”

“ Such at least is the case with Salter lane near Sheffield, and Salter lane near Rotherham, these roads leading towards Cheshire. Salter Sitch, too, lies to the west of Holmesfield, and Salterbrook [19] to the west of Penistone.
But it is not absolutely certain that "salter" means salt merchant in all these cases. There is an old French word sautoir, in Low Latin saltariium, which, as I have said elsewhere, [20] means a barrier of wood sustained at each end, and fixed in such a way that men could get over it but animals could not. ”

“ Had not saltpetre been known previous to the thirteenth century, neither could gunpowder or aquafortis have existed; and for the best of all reasons, that neither of them could be made without saltpetre or nitre. But should it appear that this neutral salt was known in India long prior to that period, and used by Indians as well as Arabians before they were employed by Europeans, and considering the former to have practised chemistry previous to the latter; should this have been proved, perhaps a similar proof will necessarily await upon the articles aquafortis and gunpowder. ”

“ For a time, a cycle of dry seasons prevailed; a great change occurred, and a bed of rock-salt, 84 ft. in thickness, was deposited. In other parts, the bed of rock-salt varies from 80 ft. to over 100 ft. in thickness, none of which is perfectly pure, and not more than 20 ft. of it is sufficiently pure to be of commercial use. The greatly changed seasons are indicated by these formations. A portion near the bottom, containing less clay, shows a less copious or less protracted rainfall, and these periods were followed by wet seasons and the presence of much clay. ”

“ The Chinese were acquainted with it about the middle of the thirteenth century.34 Abd Allah ibn al-Baythar, who died at Damascus in 1248, tells us that the flower of the stone of Assos 17was called Chinese snow by the Egyptian physicians and barūd (i.e. saltpetre) by the (Arab) people of the West.35 Friar Bacon, whose De Secretis was written before 1249, and Hassan er-Rammah who wrote 1275-95, were thoroughly acquainted with the salt. A grand chemical discovery had been made, and saltpetre became known from China to Spain. ”

“ My uncle asked me, if there were many such salt marshes in Brazil as abound in North America, and of which cattle are so fond. I forgot at first, and said very foolishly, that I could not tell—I was in a silly fit, till at last I recollected myself, and told him I had heard that there were some, though they are obliged to import a great deal of salt. What an extraordinary appearance a salt plain must have, where the salt is open and uncovered! When we went up stairs, Mary showed me Mr. Salt’s description of one in Abyssinia. ”

“ Individuals in every generation recognized that the methods of mediaevalism cried aloud for revision, but the salt trade resolutely and consistently set their faces, and their hands, against every suggested innovation. The salt-men were the avowed enemies of Thomas Lowndes, they drove Chrysel back to Saxony, they loaded Furnival with misfortune and landed him in gaol. ”

“ The primitive methods that characterized the brine industry have been adhered to with equal tenacity in the winning of rock-salt. It is extraordinary that, in the manufacture and in the mining of salt, each successive generation of salt-men, in inheriting their methods from their forefathers, or adapting them from the miners of another country, have always preserved the intense conservatism that appears to be inseparable from the industry, and have resisted all innovations that have promised to simplify or expedite their labours. ”

“ It is the custom not only to impregnate nets with salt, but also to throw part of that commodity into the water, to blind the mischievous elves, who are said to prevent fish being caught. The salting process was carried on at Coldstream very recently, with a result highly satisfactory to the operators, if not to others.
A ship captain has informed us that, when a young man, he incurred the displeasure of an old seaman, with whom he sailed in one of the old trading smacks between Leith and London. ”

“ Outwardly he is far from emotional. You cannot coax him as you coax a horse or a dog. A fairly tame ox will allow you to clap his hind quarters, but the only real pleasure you can give him is a lick of salt. For salt even a wild ox will almost submit to be petted. The smell of the salt-bag is enough to keep the whole [Pg 63] span sniffing and lowing round the wagon instead of going to feed, and, especially on the “sour veldt,” the Sunday treat of salt spread along a rock is a festival of luxury. ”

“ This conclusion on the subject, which is now generally accepted, is based on the theory that the Cheshire salt lake was situated in a desert, or more probably a salty steppe , such as are found in the region of the Caspian Sea, and that the climate was divided into wet and dry seasons. The presence of rock-salt supports these ideas, because the marls could only be formed in periods of heavy rainfall, and the salt could only crystallize out in dry, water-evaporating periods. ”

“ It was a day to make a man over as we left Eastern Point astern. Just to look at the young blue seas was life, and if you did not care for that, the soft salt air was a nerve-cure. And a morning to see pictures, when by and by the haze dissolved before us. Two home-bound salt-fishermen, both flying topsails to the strong breeze, but neither one much more than flushing her scuppers, went swinging by like a pair of twins. ”

“ But were the ancients, under the ambiguous name of nitrum, acquainted with our saltpetre? There is certainly reason to think that it became known to them by lixiviating earths impregnated with salts. There are, as already said, not only in India but also in Africa, and particularly in Egypt, earths which, without the addition of ashes or potash, give real saltpetre, like that of the rubbish-hills on the road from new to old Cairo1197, and like the earth in some parts of Spain. ”

“ He allowed him no other nourishment than salt herrings; the torments of thirst soon drove the poor wretch to the verge of insanity, and he vainly sought relief by licking the moisture impregnated with saltpetre from the walls of his dungeon. ”

“ In Nantwich the pit is42 full 7 yards (deep) from the footing about the pit: which is guessed to be the natural height of the ground, though the bank be 6 foot higher, accidentally raised by rubbish of long making salt or “walling,” as they call it. In two places within our Township, the spring breaks up so in the meadows as to fret away not only the grass, but part of the earth, which lies like a breach at least half a foot or more lower than the turf of the meadow: and hath a salt liquid ousing (oozing) as it were out of the meed but very gently. ”

“ Salt-petre is separated from the brine which first affords it, or from the water with which it is washed out of nitrous earths, by the process commonly used in crystallizing salts. In this process the brine is gradually diminished, and at length reduced to a small quantity of an unctuous bitter saline liquor, affording no more salt-petre by evaporation; but, if urged with a brisk fire, drying up into a confused mass which attracts water strongly, and becomes fluid again when exposed to the open air. ”

“ For Salt Fish is good when Lent is past.” So old Tusser. What piles of salted fish salute the eye, and make the mouth water, in these open-breasted shops! Dried herrings, real Yarmouth bloaters, kippered herrings, not forgetting the old original, unpretending red herring, the modest but savoury “soldier” of the chandler’s-shop! What flaps of salt cod and cured fishes to me unknown, but which may be, for aught I know, the poll of ling which King James the First wished to give the enemy of mankind when he dined with him, together with the pig and the pipe of tobacco ”