Only a moaning sound Is made by the far-off waves, Like murmurs of the dead Who repose not in their graves. Bring here the ancient desk; The rosewood is scarred and old, And the brass has grown dim Which was once as bright as gold. The dust lies on it thick, So few are living who care To see what Time hath stored Of rapture and sorrow there. Look at this raven curl; It was glossy long ago: Its lustre has been dimmed By my hot tears' bitter flow. The poems lying near Were penned by an eager hand; The writer recks not now Their music sweeps through the land. A letter full of love, And a letter full of hate: Well, well! extremes still meet, And mere trifles seal a fate! You see all that is left A bouquet of withered flowers, A little jewelled key, A journal of bygone hours. Now shut the secret drawer, And make fast the rusty hasp: Could I so close my mind, And fasten it with a clasp! Ramsgate, 1861. AN EMBLEM. As on a summer's morn, in idle mood, Loosed from all careful thought, I lay reclined Beneath a spreading tree whose boughs thicktwined Gave welcome shade within the sun-pierced wood, Until anon, pierced by a bright sunbeam, P. L. N. SALT, ITS SOURCES There are few things, setting aside the pure elements of air, earth, fire, and water, that are of more essential importance in the economy of nature, as well as in household economy, than the simple substance salt. By this term I do not mean to speak of those chemical salts, such as pt assiuni, sodium, &c., with which, in a tangible or appreciable form, we have most of us so little to do; but of that most valuable and important article which we call common salt, and without a supply of which the household of the poorest man in our land would be as much inconvenienced as would that of the Queen herself-a gift from God to all so abundant, and so easily obtained, that none need ever be without it. There are three kinds of common salt, viz., sea-salt, rock-salt, and salt drawn from briny springs. Or perhaps it would be more correct to say that salt may be obtained in three manners: first, by evaporation from sea-water; second, from briny springs; third, it is found, nearly crystallized, in mines, and thence dug in a solid form. It is also found in wide plains already solidified; but its existence under such circumstances must be referred to the second head-evaporation from briny springs. The mode of procuring salt from sea-water is by retaining the water in pits, prepared with much care, on low, marshy lands, which are overflowed by the tides. The best sea-salt is made in France. "The salt-marshes of Saintonge are well worth the attention of the traveller," says M. Quatrefages. "Having been established in a district which is not so warm as those parts of the South of France in which the other salt-works are situated, they have been arranged in such a manner as to compensate for a deficient intensity in the sun's rays. For this purpose the extent of surface has been greatly multiplied, whilst the arrangement of the tanks in which the water is collected for evaporation is much more complicated than at Gand or Hérault. Here each marsh is composed of seven distinct kinds of compartments, which are arranged at different levels, so that the liquid may easily pass onwards from the first to the last in the series. The marsh is a large square, enclosing on the side nearest the water the first basin or tank, which is about one yard deep, and called jard, in which the sea-water is allowed to deposit its sediment, by remaining at rest before it enters the couches, in which begins the work of evaporation. These couches are three very narrow basins, from six to eight inches deep, and arranged in such a manner that, in passing from one to another, the water is obliged to traverse the whole widths of the marsh in a zig-zag direction. The mons and the tables, in which the sea-water is subjected to a second and third evaporation, are of very nearly the same dimensions, and surround an oblong space occupying about the third of the marsh. This enclosure is divided into two parts by a broad basin about two inches in depth, called the muant. To the right and left of the latter are arranged the compartments known as the nourrices, which are only an inch deep. Here the solution, which has become more and more concentrated by its sojourn in the preceding compartments, undergoes its fourth and last preparation before it enters the enclosures in which it is supposed to crystallize." The salt season is from the middle of May until the end of August, as, during that period, the sun pours forth its strongest rays, and the evaporation of the water, and consequently the crystallization of the salt, is more rapidly effected. The salt, when first taken from the pits, is brown; and for purposes of manure, as also for many other uses, it is sold in that state: but the white salt which we see at table, and in common use, is made so by a process of refining, by boiling in large flat cauldrons, which not only whitens it, but at the same time takes away its acrimony, and also increases the quantity. That collected in Normandy is, however, not brown when first obtained, but white, and needs no refining. To make it, they gather a muddy sand from the flats of the shore which the rising tides have covered, and impregnated with salt for seven or eight days. This sand is thrown into pits, the bottoms of which are lined with straw, and through this straw the briny water contained in the sand filtrates, and trickles into vessels set to receive it. This water is then boiled in lead boilers, and the scum, which rises in abundance, is taken off, and more water thrown in, which again causes scum to rise. The salt thus procured, after it has granulated, is thrown into osier-baskets, where it lies until all humidity is drained off, when it is laid up in their magazines. Very little sea-salt is made in England, there being such abundant brine-springs and saltmines in Cheshire, Worcestershire, and other counties, as not only to supply our own land, but also to afford considerable quantities for exportation. The method of drawing salt from these springs is as follows:-Near the spring is built a saltern, or boiling-house, which contains several flat pans, or boilers, each furnished with its grate and furnace. The brine being placed in the pan, and a fire kindled, the heat soon induces a rising of scum, which indicates that the liquor is ready to granulate. The scum is then taken off and placed in brine-tubs, that the brine which accompanies it may not be wasted; then, in order that the salt remaining in the water may precipitate, they shut up the vent-holes and door, and let the fire go out. In about twelve hours the salt falls to the bottom, and grows hard. The liquor left above it is again boiled after the salt has been removed, and yields yet a further supply. The salt from the pans is then raked up, and put into vessels, where it soon becomes hard, granulated salt. Some bake the loaves two or three times in an oven. Near Northwich, in Cheshire, is a spring which yields six ounces of salt from sixteen of water; and some in Staffordshire yield about a ninth part of very pure salt. There is more or less of common salt to be found in most soils, and some plants absorb it more than others; but plants that have their habitats specially by the sea-shore, and still more those which grow beneath the water of the sea, absolutely require it, and will not grow if removed from its influences. Saline plants will, however, grow in the neighbourhood of salt-works, even at the distance of several hundred miles from the sea. Liebig says-." When we find sea-plants near our salt-works, several hundreds of miles distant from the sea, we know that their seeds have been carried there in a very natural manner, namely, by wind, or by birds, which have spread them over the whole surface of the earth, although they grow only in those places in which they find the conditions essential to their life." The same author adds: "Numerous small fish, of not more than two inches in length (Gasterosteus aculeatus), are found in the salt-pans of the granulating house at Nidda, a village in Hesse Darmstadt. No living animal is found in the salt-pans of Neuheim, situated about eighteen miles from Nidda; but the water there contains so much carbonicacid and lime, that the walls of the granulatinghouse are covered with stalactites; hence the eggs conveyed to this place, by whatever cause, do not find the conditions necessary to their development." was found to be eleven inches in depth. And finally, in the centre, it became so hard, deep, and concentrated, as to baffle all attempts at breaking its surface, except with a pickaxe-the horse's shoe, in fact, makes no impression on its stone-like surface." (The above extract is taken from "Richardson's Travels in Morocco.) In the desert wilds of the Sahara, in North Africa, there is a vast salt-lake, or rather saltplain, called El Sibhah, probably originating from brine-springs, inasmuch as it is in the very centre of the hot and arid wastes of the desert, far, far from the sea. This, literally the "salt-plain" (as its name indicates), is thus described "The lake measures, from N.E. to S.W., about seventy English miles, with a third of the breadth; but it is not one collection of water, there being several dry places, like so many islands, interspersed over its surface, depending, however, as to their number and extent, upon the season of the year, and on the quantity of water in the particular season." At first, on crossing it, the grass and bushes become gradually scarcer; then follows a tract of sand, which some way beyond becomes in parts covered with a thin layer of salt. This, as you advance, is thicker, and more united: then we find it a compact and unbroken mass or sheet, which can, however, be penetrated by a sword or other sharp instrument; and here it Amidst this wild country, half sand half salt, spring up, by the thousand, magnificent trees, rising to the height of from eighty to one hundred feet, their stalks branchless, their heads a canopy of verdure and beauty. The salt used by the ancients must of necessity have been one or other of the kinds I have already described: probably, in countries where salt-springs were found, they would have availed themselves of them; but the greater part that was consumed in the olden time was probably drawn from the sea. Rock-salt was not known to them, the Polish mines, of which I shall speak more at length hereafter, not having been discovered until the thirteenth century. Salt is mentioned early in the Bible. It seems to have been considered a most important and valuable commodity, and is used figuratively as the symbol of uncorruptness and integrity, as also of friendship; for God commands that all the sacrifices should be salted with salt. "Every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt" (Lev. ii. 13). And in Ezra we find, amongst the gifts which Artaxerxes commanded should be bestowed on Ezra and his companions who were engaged in rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple of God, we find a certain, but very large allowance of wine and wheat, and oil and salt, "without prescribing how much." From their use of salt in sacrifices, and in cementing a covenant, probably arose the well-known custom amongst the Arabs and other Eastern nations of considering the person of him who had eaten salt with them as sacred-a custom which exists in the present day. It may also have been considered as emblematic of healing, at least as such it appears to have been used by Elisha when he healed the waters. "And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day" (2 Kings ii, 19-22). The salt was here obviously used, not as a means of healing the waters, but as a symbol of purification. May it not be to us a symbol of the purifying effect of the "salt of the covenant" on the corrupted spring of man's heart and life?-of Christ the purifyer? True believers in Christ are said to be "the salt of the earth," and exhorted to consistency of faith and conduct by our Lord, in the sermon on the Mount, under that symbol: "If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted?" And again: "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt" (Col. iv. 6). The salt so abundantly used in the service of the sanctuary was probably found in the land where it was required; for we read in Zephaniah of "salt-pits:" and "the valley of salt" is named several times in the Scriptures. In hot countries it is not uncommon to find the surface of the earth covered with a crust of salt. In Persia and Arabia this is constantly the case, extensive plains being found covered with a saline efflorescence. Some suppose this to be a result of atmospheric causes; but this seems doubtful. A salt lake in the north of Africa has been already described, but I cannot refrain from transcribing the description of one in the South, near Caffirland, as given by Barrow: "On the evening of the 17th, we encamped on the verdant bank of a beautiful lake, in the midst of a wood of frutescent plants. It was of an oval form, about three miles in circumference. On the western side was a shelving bank of green turf, and round the other parts of the basin the ground-rising there abruptly, and to a greater height-was covered thickly with the same kind of arboreous and succulent plants as had been observed to grow most commonly in the thickets of the adjoining country. The water was perfectly clear, but salt as brine. It was one of those salt-water lakes which abound in Southern Africa, where they are called zout-pans by the colonists. The one in question, it seems, is the most famous in the colony, and is resorted to by the inhabitants from very distant parts of the country, for the purpose of procuring salt for their own consumption or for sale. It is situated on a plain at considerable elevation above the level of the sea. The greatest part of the bottom of the lake was covered with one continued body of salt, like a sheet of ice, the crystals of which were so united that it formed a solid mass, as hard as rock. The margin, or shore of the basin, was like the sandy shore of the sea-coast, with sandstone and quartz pebbles thinly scattered over it, some red, some purple, and others grey. Beyond the narrow belt of sand round the margin, the sheet of salt commenced with a thin porous crust, increasing in thickness and solidity as it advanced towards the middle of the lake. The thickness in the middle is not known, a quantity of water generally remaining in that part. The dry south-easterly winds of summer agitating the water of the lake produce on the margin a fine, light, powdery salt, like flakes of snow. This is equally beautiful with the refined salt of England, and is much sought after by the women, who always commission their husbands to bring home a quantity of snowy salt for the table. We happened to visit the lake at a very unfavourable season, when it was full of water. About the middle it was three feet deep, but sufficiently clear to perceive several veins, of a dark ferruginous colour, intersecting in various directions the sheet of salt. These were, in all probability, springs whose action had impeded crystallization, and brought up a quantity of ocraceous matter. I caused a hole, four feet in depth, to be dug in the sand. The two first feet were through sand, like that of the seashore, in which were mingled small shining crystals of salt. The third foot was considerably harder and more compact, and came up in flakes that required some degree of force to break; and the last foot was so solid that the spade would scarcely pierce it, and one-fifth part of the mass at least was pure salt in crystals. The water now gushed in, perfectly clear, and as salt as brine." The varieties of salt that I have named have all exactly the same properties and characteristics, whether extracted from the waters of the sea or from brine-springs, or gathered on the salt-plains or in the mine. The crystallization is also the same, the form of the crystal being that of a cube; which, when split or broken, divides into thin plates. The colour, however, varies; some being in its original state brown, some grey, and some of the purest white. Shaw also speaks of a kind found chiefly near Astracan, where the salt is red, and which emits an odour like that of violets. The Calmucks call it "The Golden Lake," from the colour which its surface assumes when the sun shines on it. The salt procured from mines (or, as it is usually called, "rock-salt;" and, scientifically, Sal gemmi) is found in many countries: its name (Sal gem, or gemmi) is given to this salt on account of its exceeding hardness, and also because it sometimes assumes the colours and almost the transparency of precious stones. Mines of it are found in the Tyrol, in Spain, or on the summit of the Andes, more than two thousand fathoms above the sea-level; and last, though not least in importance to us in England, near Northwich, in Cheshire, where a mine was discovered in 1670, and has been extensively worked since that time. We are told that "the first stratum, or mine, is from 15 to 21 yards in thickness, and the colour of brown sugar-candy. These mines lie from 60 to about 140 feet below the surface of the earth, in an undulating and wavy direction, and varying in thickness. This first brown stratum is so hard as to be with difficulty broken with pick-axes and hammers; so that the miners are obliged to have recourse to gunpowder to break it up. Beneath this is a layer of hard stone, mixed with rock-salt, the whole from 25 to 35 yards in thickness. Then comes a second mine of salt, from five to six yards thick; many parts of it perfectly white, and clear as crystal; others brown; but all more pure than that of the upper stratum. In forming a pit, a shaft is sunk much like that of a coal-pit, only more extensive. "When the salt is reached, a cavity is made, and a roof of solid rock, perhaps some 20 feet or more in thickness, is left; and as the workmen proceed, they hew pillars out of the rock, to support the roof, and then, with gunpowder, break up the part they intend to raise, and this is drawn up, in large craggy lumps, to the surface of the ground. "The wonders of the Cracow mines must now occupy our attention. Truly, they must be most wonderful, in many respects; but scarcely less from their immense depth and capacity than for the glories of their jewelled halls and galleries. "Grand as were the dimensions of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, and grander still as are those of its more beautiful sister on Sydenham hill, they dwindle into utter insignificance when compared with the extent of the Crystal Palace at Wieliczka, with its suites of vast and lofty halls, its vaulted chapels, its long range of spacious galleries, the quiet lakes spread like mirrors within its walls, and its deep, dark, and mysterious museums of natural wonders." The salt-mines of Wieliczka, or Wielitska as it is more frequently spelt, are situated at about two leagues S.W. of Cracow, at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, and when Poland was divided between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, this rich portion fell to the lot of the last-named power. The descent of this "labyrinth of crystal halls" is by broad flights of steps cut in the superincumbent masses of marl, clay, &c., which run far down into the salt. There are many hundreds of different halls, passages, galleries, &c. One hundred of these halls measure from 100 to 150 feet in height, and are from 80 to 100 feet in length and breadth; each of them has its own peculiar name-usually that of some saint, or of some king or emperor who may have visited the mines. The grandest of these chambers is the Ball-room, which is "adorned with slender columns, with ornamental capitals, with pieces of sculptured foliage, and a chandelier formed of rock crystals 60 feet in circumference." It is in this magnificent hall that fétes are given, when the mines are honoured by the visit of any very august personage. One of these fétes given to Augustus the Second of Poland, is described as having exceeded anything ever done on the surface of the earth in splendour and magnificence. The thousands of lights with their rays reflected on the glittering crystals which stud the walls and pillars and roof and ground of the hall, together with the brilliancy of the saline gems in themselves, must indeed be "exceeding magnifical." There are chapels as well as a ball-room amidst these subterranean labyrinths-one a large excavation, of Gothic structure, in which not only the altar, the crucifixes, the statues of saints, and all the other garniture of a Roman Catholic place of worship are hewn out of the glittering salt, but the very doors, walls, and niches, the roof and the floor are formed of the same beautiful mineral. This chapel is dedicated to St. Anthony, and in former years mass was said there for the miners every morning; now, however, it is only celebrated once a year, on the 3rd of July, which is a great festival amongst the miners, and all appear in their holiday garb, and, after the service, dine together in some of the halls. Many of the chambers as well as the chapels are adorned with ornaments sculptured in crystals of salt; one of the most striking of these is a trophy formed of all the instruments and tools which are used by the miners; but another, which far exceeds it in intrinsic value, is a statue of King Charles Sigismund of Poland. sculptured out of one single block of crystal, the largest ever hewn out of these mines. The blocks are, in general, not much more than about a cubic foot in size. These blocks of crystal salt, or sal gemmi, are found intermixed with the common kind, and are considered so precious as to be reserved for the disposal of kings and emperors. Sometimes plates, of such faultless purity that they are almost equal to plate-glass, are found. The works are said now to extend over an area of 35,000 square fathoms, the length of galleries, passages, &c., altogether being about 37 English miles. They consist of three divisions, corresponding to the three epochs in their history. These "fields," as they are called, consist of five storeys one above another, "comprising vast ranges of chambers communicating with each other by numerous horizontal galleries." The lowest level is 300 feet below that of the sea, and 580 below that of the Vistula. When the salt occurs in large masses, the miners prepare with chisel and pick, a perpendicular chamber, or wall in the chamber in which they are working, rendering it smooth and uniform to a height of about 20 feet; such a surface is called a mirror, and along the whole face of these mirrors are then cut narrow grooves or furrows, of 20 or 30 inches in depth, and at intervals of 3 feet from each other. By means of these grooves a number of small iron wedges are then introduced on each side of the strips marked off; and the wedges being all raised at once, the huge mass of salt is thus loosened from the wall, but remains standing until thrown down by main force. In the fall the salt pillars of course break into fragments, and these are subsequently cut on the spot into different forms, according to their size. It is calculated that 400 cubic fathoms of rock give 100,000 cwts. of salt, and the annual yield of the Wieliecka mines being, on an average, 700,000 cwts., an additional space of 2,800 cubic fathoms, or a chamber measuring 80 feet in height, length, and breadth, is added every year to the mines. The horses which work in these mines are stabled and kept in them, extensive stabling being set aside for their use; but the miners return, when their work is over, to the regions of pure air and light aboveground. The noted and eccentric General Suwarrow, however, chose on one occasion to establish his head-quarters here for three days, signing papers and writing despatches on blocks |