Salt, s. Salt is a body whose two essential properties seem to be solubility in water and a pungent sapor.
Salt, a. Having the taste of salt, as salt fish; impregnated with salt; abounding with salt.
Salt, v. To season with salt.
Saltcat, s. A contrivance to attach pigeons to their dovecot.
The last dietetic, or rather, perhaps, medicinal article necessary to be described, is the saltcat, so called from an old fancy of baking a real cat with spices for the use of pigeons, which, however, I never observed to eat animal food. In compliance with this custom, I caused to be placed in the middle of the pigeon loft a dish of the following composition:—Loam, sand, old mortar, fresh lime, bay-salt, cummin, coriander, caraway seed, and allspice, moistened into a consistence with urine. The pigeons were constantly pecking at this, and were in a constant state of good health; how much of which may be attributed to the use of the cat I cannot determine; but certainly they are extremely fond of it, and if it have no other merit, it prevents them from pecking the mortar from the roof of the house, to which otherwise they are much inclined. The cat was mixed and heaped up in the dish, a piece of board being placed upon the summit to prevent the birds from dunging upon it; when become too hard it was occasionally broken for them.
The regular old formula for this cat is as follows: gravel or drift-sand, unctuous loam, the rubbish of an old wall, or lime, a gallon of each—should lime be substituted for rubbish, a less quantity of the former will suffice—one pound of cummin-seed, one handful of bay-salt; mix with stale urine. Inclose this in jars, corked or stopped, holes being punched in the sides, to admit the beaks of the pigeons. These may be placed abroad—Moubray.
Saltpetre, s. Nitrate of potash. The chief ingredient in the composition of gunpowder.
Saltwater, s. The water of the sea.
When on the sea, always use linseed oil for every part of your gun, except the works of the locks; because sweet oil has not body enough to repel the effect of the salt water.
If the salt water should have stained your barrels, you will, I think, find yellow soap and warm water the best recipe to restore their colour.—Hawker.