The history of salt

by Evan Marlett Boddy

The latter is more commonly the origin of these pests, and shows us how careful we ought to be as to what we eat; for we may well suppose that the ingestion of pork, vegetables half-washed, and abstention from salt is just the kind of diet favourable for the reception of the embryo, and for its speedy development.

Lord Somerville, in his address to the Board of Agriculture some years ago, states that the ancient laws of Holland “ordained men to be kept on bread alone, unmixed with salt, as the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon them in their moist climate: the effect was horrible; these wretched criminals are said to have been devoured by worms, engendered in their own stomachs.”

In the Medical and Physical Journal (vol. xxxix.) Mr. Marshall tells us of a lady who had a “natural” (I should say unnatural) aversion to salt, and who was afflicted with worms during the whole of her lifetime. Can we imagine anything more horrible or more disgusting than a person, owing to a foolish prejudice, being in such a foul and impure condition? The enjoyment of life was out of the question, and there can be no doubt that she was in a constant state of ill-health; she must have been, if she had any refined feelings, loathsome to herself, and yet, at the present time, there are many in the same plight, who would not touch the smallest particle of salt on any account whatever, or probably would do so with extreme reluctance.

There is another very interesting parasite called the cysticercus cellulosæ, originating from diseased pork; it is found in subjects of the leuco-phlegmatic temperament; it is met with in the muscles of the thigh, in the muscular tissue of the heart, and in the brain and eye. If the pork containing this parasite is well soaked in strong brine and thoroughly cooked, no harm will accrue; another fact, I must observe, showing the great importance of salt as an edible.

The thread-worm, technically termed the ascaris vermicularis, generally met with in children, is speedily got rid of if a solution of salt is injected into the rectum, combined with the administration of an anthelmintic and pure diet, with a regular use of salt, and a little attention to cleanliness.

While we are upon this question of worms we may with some advantage consider that modern disease—if we may designate parasitical development in muscular tissue as such—which has for some time riveted the attention of scientists, and has all but foiled their endeavours to elucidate; I refer to trichinosis, a condition caused by the introduction of a most minute organism, called the trichina spiralis (from its being coiled up in transparent capsules), in various muscles of the body, and particularly in the deltoids and other muscles of the arms. Sporadic outbreaks of this incurable disease have occurred at various times and of variable intensity, but always with the most alarming results.

Unfortunately we possess no means of detecting the trichinæ when they have once been introduced into the system; we may by the symptoms be led to suspect that they are present, but that is as far as we can go; and if we are to believe Professors Delpech and Reynal it is utterly impossible to discover them; they affirm, however, that in cut meat the larval capsules, or lemon-shaped cases, can only just be seen by the aid of a powerful lens.

In the outbreak which took place in the year 1863 at Heltstaädt, 28 out of 153 persons succumbed; sufficiently exemplifying the fatal character of these infinitesimal organisms; for they may exist in thousands, and even in millions—some say twenty millions—in their miserable victim. So virulent is the disease originating from this parasite, and so insidious in its operation, that in its primary stage it is liable to be mistaken for rheumatism, on account of the severe muscular pain; and in fact the sensitiveness of this tissue is so much increased that those muscles which are concerned in the mechanism of respiration give rise to such excruciating pain that the sufferer is quite unable to sleep; indeed, so extreme is the muscular sensibility that the slightest pressure causes acute suffering.

The latter stages simulate typhoid fever, or more correctly, the disease drifts into a typhoid condition, for the symptoms are of that peculiar exceptional character which are presumed to be indicative of this much misunderstood fever. It has, however, been ascertained that those attacked are rarely, if ever, able to endure the long and exhausting course of this disease, but break down, utterly worn out by the unceasing ravages of these prolific and voracious little parasites.

The French, with that acuteness which is natural to them, soon discovered that by good and thorough cooking the trichinæ can be destroyed; and they further ascertained that they cannot survive a temperature of 167° Fahrenheit, and also discovered that if meat is well salted the trichinæ are rendered perfectly harmless; in fact, they are killed by the chloride of sodium quite as effectively as by the application of heat.