1that the water should be
made more salty, and it is then run off through a
launder which leads into the caldron. From thirty-seven dippersful of brine
the master or his deputy, at Halle in Saxony,4 makes two cone-shaped pieces
of salt. Each master has a helper, or in the place of a helper his wife assists
him in his work, and, in addition, a youth who throws wood or straw under
the caldron. He, on account of the great heat of the workshop, wears
a straw cap on his head and a breech cloth, being otherwise quite naked.
As soon as the master has poured the first dipperful of brine into the caldron
the youth sets fire to the wood and straw laid under it. If the firewood is
bundles of faggots or brushwood, the salt will be white, but if straw is burned,
then it is not infrequently blackish, for the sparks, which are drawn up with
the smoke into the hood, fall down again into the water and colour it black.
launder which leads into the caldron. From thirty-seven dippersful of brine
the master or his deputy, at Halle in Saxony,4 makes two cone-shaped pieces
of salt. Each master has a helper, or in the place of a helper his wife assists
him in his work, and, in addition, a youth who throws wood or straw under
the caldron. He, on account of the great heat of the workshop, wears
a straw cap on his head and a breech cloth, being otherwise quite naked.
As soon as the master has poured the first dipperful of brine into the caldron
the youth sets fire to the wood and straw laid under it. If the firewood is
bundles of faggots or brushwood, the salt will be white, but if straw is burned,
then it is not infrequently blackish, for the sparks, which are drawn up with
the smoke into the hood, fall down again into the water and colour it black.
In order to accelerate the condensation of the brine, when the master
has poured in two casks and as many dippersful of brine, he adds about a
Roman cyathus and a half of bullock's blood, or of calf's blood, or buck's
blood, or else he mixes it into the nineteenth dipperful of brine, in order that
it may be dissolved and distributed into all the corners of the caldron; in other
places the blood is dissolved in beer. When the boiling water seems to be
mixed with scum, he skims it with a ladle; this scum, if he be working with
rock-salt, he throws into the opening in the furnace through which the smoke
escapes, and it is dried into rock-salt; if it be not from rock-salt, he pours
it on to the floor of the workshop. From the beginning to the boiling and
skimming is the work of half-an-hour; after this it boils down for another
quarter-of-an-hour, after which time it begins to condense into salt. When
it begins to thicken with the heat, he and his helper stir it assiduously with a
wooden spatula, and then he allows it to boil for an hour. After this he pours
in a cyathus and a half of beer. In order that the wind should not blow
into the caldron, the helper covers the front with a board seven and a half
feet long and one foot high, and covers each of the sides with boards three and
three quarters feet long. In order that the front board may hold more
firmly, it is fitted into the caldron itself, and the sideboards are fixed on the
front board and upon the transverse beam. Afterward, when the boards
have been lifted off, the helper places two baskets, two feet high and as many
wide at the top, and a palm wide at the bottom, on the transverse beams,
and into them the master throws the salt with a shovel, taking half-an-hour
to fill them. Then, replacing the boards on the caldron, he allows the brine
to boil for three quarters of an hour. Afterward the salt has again to be
removed with a shovel, and when the baskets are full, they pile up the salt in
heaps.
has poured in two casks and as many dippersful of brine, he adds about a
Roman cyathus and a half of bullock's blood, or of calf's blood, or buck's
blood, or else he mixes it into the nineteenth dipperful of brine, in order that
it may be dissolved and distributed into all the corners of the caldron; in other
places the blood is dissolved in beer. When the boiling water seems to be
mixed with scum, he skims it with a ladle; this scum, if he be working with
rock-salt, he throws into the opening in the furnace through which the smoke
escapes, and it is dried into rock-salt; if it be not from rock-salt, he pours
it on to the floor of the workshop. From the beginning to the boiling and
skimming is the work of half-an-hour; after this it boils down for another
quarter-of-an-hour, after which time it begins to condense into salt. When
it begins to thicken with the heat, he and his helper stir it assiduously with a
wooden spatula, and then he allows it to boil for an hour. After this he pours
in a cyathus and a half of beer. In order that the wind should not blow
into the caldron, the helper covers the front with a board seven and a half
feet long and one foot high, and covers each of the sides with boards three and
three quarters feet long. In order that the front board may hold more
firmly, it is fitted into the caldron itself, and the sideboards are fixed on the
front board and upon the transverse beam. Afterward, when the boards
have been lifted off, the helper places two baskets, two feet high and as many
wide at the top, and a palm wide at the bottom, on the transverse beams,
and into them the master throws the salt with a shovel, taking half-an-hour
to fill them. Then, replacing the boards on the caldron, he allows the brine
to boil for three quarters of an hour. Afterward the salt has again to be
removed with a shovel, and when the baskets are full, they pile up the salt in
heaps.
In different localities the salt is moulded into different shapes.
In the
baskets the salt assumes the form of a cone; it is not moulded in baskets
alone, but also in moulds into which they throw the salt, which are made in
baskets the salt assumes the form of a cone; it is not moulded in baskets
alone, but also in moulds into which they throw the salt, which are made in
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