NaCl - SALT...
salt & ECONOMICS] salt & [ PHYSIOLOGY ] salt & [ GEOLOGY] salt & [ RELIGION ] salt & [ PALAEOCLIMATEOLOGY] salt & [ PALAEGEOGRAPHY] salt & [ ARCHAEOLOGY] salt & [ PRODUCTION] salt & [ MONOMANIA ] salt & [ HOME PAGE - SALT made the world go round
. The physiological requirement by the human body is immediate and life sustaining, . Many other everyday uses are, today taken for granted. In ancient times, before any chemical analysis was possible, experience and wisdom, was necessary to discern the purity of the salt , for specific applications. To sustain a growing population, even more salt was required. The fact that salt may have been available , or was relatively easy to produce, was a basic condition , which allowed a population to increase, and develop. . Where salt was not available..... populations stagnated.__________________________________________________
OTHER MAJOR USES of SALT
PATIO process [silver] - hot & cold medicine - tanning - preservative - explosives__________________________________________________
Some of the industries allied to the availability of salt, gave certain populations with enough salt, and a steady reliable supply of salt, the chance to take enormous leaps into a new world of culture, health, and well being.
Table 6. Uses of salt Country U.S.A Germany France Period 1950 1900 1750 Uses: Food 700,000 tons 450,000 tons 80,000 tons Meat 1,000,000 tons Preserve Fish Livestock 800,000 tons 100,000 tons Miscellaneous 3,250,000 tons Leather 250,000 tons 30,000 tons Soda chlorine 10,000,000 tons 400,000 tons Overall use 16,000,000 tons 1,200,000 tons 180,000 tons Inhabitants 180,000,000 60,000,000 tons 25,000,000 tons Salt used for person (kg) per year 88 20 7.2Medicine
Patio process - silver mining
Until the Spanish conquest, and before 1500, the main uses of salt in Mexico, and mesoamerica, ware physiological, ritual and as a preservative for fish. These ensured the high living standards of the Maya. The Spanish took over the numerous salt sources, and in a fell swoop, took control of this part of the continent. A process developed in Mexico, was the Patio process used to leach silver from ore, with a sodium solution. This became a major industry, and the demand for salt became greater. Although some salt had to be imported, the huge capacity of the local evaporation sources of Yucatan, did keep pace.
Tanning industry
With the advent of an agricultural society, the provision of meat products with the necessary protein content, had to be centralised and distribution of a 'safe' to consume meat, ie: dehydrated carcass was monopolised by those who controlled the salt supplies. This gave rise to a 'tanning' industry, a direct bye-product, from the 'abattoir'. Hides were a primary commodity, for everyday products, shoes, clothes, and military protective acoutrements.
Grandmothers's uses
Over the ages, thousands of other uses seem to have given salt a reputation which in today's environment, and technological advance, make us smile and which we probably take "with a pinch of....." However many of these 'secrets' were daily practice. Altogether it's believed there are more than 14,000 uses of salt, and our grandmothers were probably familiar with most of them. Many of these uses were for simple things around the home before the advent of modern chemicals and cleaners. However, many uses are still valid today and a lot cheaper than using more sophisticated products.
Preservative
Gold extraction
Bibliography- Please mail: David Bloch- mblsalt@ibm.net. ,
__________________________________________________
MRBLOCH ARCHIVE, is researching the significance, of SALT [NaCl] through the period 1000 BC . up to the Industrial Revolution.For detailed references of statements made here, or Bibliography- Please mail:
David Bloch - mblsalt@ibm.net.
salt & ECONOMICS] salt & [ PHYSIOLOGY ] salt & [ GEOLOGY] salt & [ RELIGION ] salt & [ PALAEOCLIMATEOLOGY] salt & [ PALAEGEOGRAPHY] salt & [ ARCHAEOLOGY] salt & [ PRODUCTION] salt & [ MONOMANIA ] salt & [ HOME PAGE - SALT made the world go round
________________________________________________________
© 1996 MRBLOCH ARCHIVE - all rights reservedmblsalt@ibm.net
We thankGeoCities Athens