— So far as the health and vigour of the body are concerned, this is an article of the first importance. All animals require salt. It facili- tates the absorption of water into the system, and being a compound of chlorine and sodium, it seems to supply to the body a certain quantity of chlorine essential to the proper performance of some of the vital processes. It has a stimu- lant action upon the throat, gullet, and stomach, thereby promoting the secretion of saliva and of the gastric juice, and in this way facilitating digestion. To the digestive functions it is a natural and necessary stimulant, and the daily use of salt conduces much to the preservation of health and strength. Dr. Lankester, in his work " On Food," gives some curious informa- tion regarding the eifecta of this much-used condiment. "Let us," he observes, "inquire a little into the probable use of salt in our sys- tem. If we take a vessel and divide it into two parts by an animal membrane, such as exists in our own bodies, and then put salt and water on one side and spring water on the other side, so that they may both stand at the same level, in the course of time we shall find that the spring water -\vill go down and the salt water will rise and flow over. The pure water, in fact, passes through the membrana^ but the salt water will not. Now, this is precisely the relation of the blood to the membranes of the stomach. It is a solution of salt ; and if we place in our stomachs pure water, it will pass through the membranes of the stomach just in the same way that it passes through the membrane in the vessel. This, then, appears to be one of the important functions performed by salt. It facilitates the absorption of water into the sys- taci. This will also account for the thirst pro- duced by taking excessive quantities of salt or salted food of any kind. ' 'Another action of salt to which physiologists have attached importance is, that it supplies to the system a certain quantity of chlorine, which is necessary to the perfection of some of the vital 23rocesses. Thus, dm-ing digestion, a fluid is thrown out of the stomach called gastric juice. This fluid contains free hydrochloric acid, and the chlorine of this compound could bo only furnished by the salt taken with the food. "Then salt appears to facilitate certain changes in the system which are beneficial to health, but which are difficult to explain exactly. The nature of these changes is indicated by su8h an experiment as the following : — A num- ber of oxen were taken by a great French chemist and experimentalist ; he fed one set of them with salt, and another set of the same weight without salt. For a short time there appeared no difference, but at the end of a month the cattle that had the salt were sleek and well-favoured, while the others had rough coats and looked less comfortable; and so it went on for two years, and at the end of that time there was no doubt that the healthier animals were those which had the salt. Theie seemed to be some improvement in the quality of the blood going on by the action of the salt. The practice of i 'icing pieces of rock-salt in meadows for horses, cows, and sheep to lick, is quite common in this country. It is also well SAL (819) SAI.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

— So far as the health and vigour of the bedy are concerned, this is an article of the first importance. All animals require salt. It facilitates the absorption of water into the system, and being a compound of chlorine and sodium, it seems to supply to the body a certain quantity of chlorine essential to the proper performance of some of the vital processes. It has a stimulant action upon the throat, gullet, and stomach, thereby promoting the secretion of saliva and of the gastric juice, and in this way facilitating digestion. To the digestive functions it is a natural and necessary stimulant, and the daily use of salt conduces much to the preservation of health and strength. Dr. Lankester, in his work " On Food," gives some curious information regarding the effects of this much-used condiment. "Let us," he observes, "inquire a little into the probable use of salt in our system. If we take a vessel and divide it into two parts by an animal membrane, such as exists in our own bodies, and then put salt and water on one side and spring water on the other side, so that they may both stand at the same level, in the course of time we shall find that the spring water -\vill go down and the salt water will rise and flow over. The pure water, in fact, passes through the membrane but the salt water will not. Now, this is precisely the relation of the blood to the membranes of the stomach. It is a solution of salt ; and if we place in our stomachs pure water, it will pass through the membranes of the stomach just in the same way that it passes through the membrane in the vessel. This, then, appears to be one of the important functions performed by salt. It facilitates the absorption of water into the system. This will also account for the thirst produced by taking excessive quantities of salt or salted food of any kind. ' 'Another action of salt to which physiologists have attached importance is, that it supplies to the system a certain quantity of chlorine, which is necessary to the perfection of some of the vital processes. Thus, during digestion, a fluid is thrown out of the stomach called gastric juice. This fluid contains free hydrochloric acid, and the chlorine of this compound could bo only furnished by the salt taken with the food. "Then salt appears to facilitate certain changes in the system which are beneficial to health, but which are difficult to explain exactly. The nature of these changes is indicated by such an experiment as the following : — A number of oxen were taken by a great French chemist and experimentalist ; he fed one set of them with salt, and another set of the same weight without salt. For a short time there appeared no difference, but at the end of a month the cattle that had the salt were sleek and well-favoured, while the others had rough coats and looked less comfortable; and so it went on for two years, and at the end of that time there was no doubt that the healthier animals were those which had the salt. There seemed to be some improvement in the quality of the blood going on by the action of the salt. The practice of i 'icing pieces of rock-salt in meadows for horses, cows, and sheep to lick, is quite common in this country. It is also well SAL (819) SAI.

Cassell's dictionary of cookery