Salt. Of all the productions of the earth that call for man's thankfulness, salt ranks among the first; and as our wants are great and continual, so the mighty storehouse of this mineral is perfectly inexhaustible. But we will consider, 1st, rock salt, or salt found in solid masses, and, 2nd, salt springs.

1. Rock Salt. Most countries have mines of this invaluable mineral, but the most renowned are those of Cracow, Tyrol, Poland, Castile, and Cheshire in our own country. The East also is not destitute of it, as there is a mountain of Hindostan, in the province of Lahore, nearly equal to the famous one of Cordova in Spain, which is 500 feet high, and three miles in circumference, entirely composed of salt. The mines of Cracow being the best known, I will enlarge upon them. Our poet Darwin thus beautifully speaks of the subterranean town formed by the excavation of the salt:

*

"Thus cavern'd round in Cracow's mighty mines,
With crystal walls a gorgeous city shines;
Scoop'd in the living rock long streets extend
Their hoary course, and glittering domes ascend.

*

Long lines of lustre pour their trembling rays,

And the bright vaults resound with dazzling blaze."

One can hardly conceive of the exceeding beauty of this magic scene. I think I have somewhere read, that when travellers go to view this mine they are taken down blindfolded, and that when arrived in * These mines are upwards of 6000 feet long; 2000 feet broad; 800 feet deep.

the midst of this most brilliant city, the bandage is removed. The salt mines of Cheshire are very extensive, and supply the northern parts of the empire.

2. Salt springs.* Though the whole ocean is salt, yet compared with the briny springs of Droitwich it is fresh; for I think I was told, when examining them, that the springs were thirty times salter than sea water. The process by which the salt is procured is most simple: the springs have pumps applied to them, which, by means of an engine, are continually kept worked, emptying the water into a large iron reservoir, of a square form (like a large pan in which loaves are baked): under this reservoir there are blazing fires, keeping the water at a high temperature, which rapidly passes off in evaporation, leaving the salt at the bottom of the pan; this is taken up by the workpeople with scoops having long handles, (women are usually employed,) and placed in large upright wooden vessels, rather larger at the top than the base. The salt drains in these, and is soon hard and ready for exportation. In some countries the same result is produced, though in a much longer period, by the rays of the sun in this case the pans are superficial excavations, in general near the sea. There is an incident in the history of Holland, which (though one shudders in reading it, for it was a dark blot on the legislation of that country) shows us, perhaps more than anything, the invaluable character of salt. The food of prisoners, under condemnation for some particularly aggravated * See Appendix.

crimes, was bread unmixed with salt, and the effect was horrible to relate, these wretched criminals are said to have been devoured by worms engendered in their own stomachs. This law no longer exists!

But the various uses of salt are beyond description.* I have sometimes thought, if on getting up in the morning, salt in every form was to be prohibited through the day, how miserable we should all be ;the bread would be insipid,—the meat we could not touch; indeed, we should in a thousand ways know its value by its loss. All the Jewish sacrifices were salted with salt; and whilst, in the king Artaxerxes's gift to Ezra the Scribe, all other things were measured, concerning this it was said, " And salt, without prescribing how much." (Ezra vii. 22.) The Arab keeps salt in his girdle, and when he has given you some, there is a covenant of salt established, that nothing may break. What salt is naturally, such should the Christian be spiritually; for remember His words that said, "Ye are the salt of the earth." (Matt. v. 13.) But on this I will enlarge in my next letter.

Having thus, my dear children, sought to explain to you, in a general point of view, the mineral productions of the earth, as arranged under the heads of Precious Stones, Metals, Rocks, Slate, Clays, Chalks, Coal, and Salt, I will now endeavour to take up the second

The whole animal creation seems to demand salt as a natural stimulant for the digestive organs. Children that neglect the use of salt, have generally an enemy at the doors, and a worm fever often follows such neglect.

part I promised, and speak to you a little of the fruits of the earth— (as Moses says) "for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth, and fulness thereof." (Deut. xxxiii. 14—16.) This is the way that holy man of God spake of God's gifts: to him they were all precious: and so they should be In one sense, dear children, never seek to be independent; but depend on the Lord God-even the good-will of him that dwelt in the bush-for every thing: so that every drop of water, and every thread of raiment, and every grain of wheat, may all be received by you, not as coming by chance-no, nor yet from nature-but from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father of all such as flee to him as their alone Saviour; for in him, and in him only, they can call God, Abba, Father. (Rom. viii. 15.)

to us.

Sweet is that Hymn, and happy the man or child that can from the heart sing it (1 Cor. xiv. 15):

"Abba, Father," Lord! we call thee,
(Hallow'd name!) from day to day;-
"Tis thy children's right to know thee,
None but children "Abba" say.
This high glory we inherit,

Thy free gift, through Jesus' blood;
God the Spirit, with our spirit,

Witnesseth we're sons of God.

The world, even in its fallen state, is fertile beyond calculation: and when cultivated is capable of being covered with beauty: indeed, on walking out on a summer's morning, when the sun is high enough to have opened the flowers, and the birds are singing, and all seems happy around, one can hardly imagine it to be the world of which it was said, "Cursed be the ground for thy sake;" if so beautiful in its ruins, what must it have been in its primeval beauty-what will it be in "the times of the restitution of all things!" (Acts iii. 21.)

FRUITS OF THE EARTH.

But I will now detail to you a little of the Lord's goodness, as shown forth in that part of the vegetable kingdom which provides food for man; and the first thing I will speak of, is WHEAT.

"The Staff of Life." This is the name given by common consent to this most precious gift, put forth by the sun; WHEAT grows almost in all quarters of the globe, and is pre-eminent for nutrition among all the fruits of the earth. Sir Humphry Davy, the great naturalist, on analyzing this grain, gave this as the result of his labour,-that of the wheat he examined (grown in Middlesex) 955 parts of 1000 were nutritive; 765 parts being starch, and 190 gluten. Gluten is a peculiar substance that approaches nearer to animal matter than any other; and wheat produces twofold more of this than any other grain. Besides starch and gluten there is a small proportion of sugar in wheat.