theory of evolution, upon which so much erudition of a minute kind, and thought, is expended, except as indicative of the ingenuity of the author? Is science at all advanced when we are gravely told that the human organism springs from protoplasm, and that plastidules consist of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, and that they possess souls? It is true that these abstruse inquiries have been productive of inciting a greater desire for studying the workings of nature, and a great deal of which previous generations were profoundly ignorant has been ingeniously disclosed, and accurately elucidated, for one is bound to admit that, though in many instances their researches have failed in their ultimate results, they have been the indirect cause of giving a remarkable impetus to scientific investigation. Many recondite subjects have thus been exhaustively analysed, unintentionally, owing to the anxiety and eagerness of the authors to arrive at the goal of their wishes; for while they are seeking for that which probably will never be found, they discover others which, to all intents and purposes, very likely would never have been conceived of. Perhaps these remarks may be considered unjust and hypercritical as regards their researches into the mysteries of life, and do not appear to give sufficient importance to those philosophical deductions and enunciations, which the authors no doubt demand as an imperative right; for scientific physicists are apt to be tyrannical, and are not over-endued with the virtue of practicality, and naturally do not like their opinions and metaphysical reveries relegated to that region which Milton humorously baptized the “Paradise of Fools,” but prefer their speculations to be regarded as irrefragable facts. As this is, however, the age for far-fetched theories, I think we may be allowed with perfect fairness to discuss a subject which has partially escaped the eyes of the inquisitive; and if it is not treated so elegantly as the learned theses of the leaders of science and philosophy of to-day, I cannot help thinking that we may probably gain considerably more by studying a subject which is practically of interest to all, than attempting to penetrate into the invisible and undefinable mechanism of biology.

Notwithstanding the proofs (vague though they be), which I have already mentioned to show that we are indebted to the Egyptians for the discovery of this most valuable substance, I nevertheless do so with diffidence, because they are of a hypothetical tendency, and consequently refutable.17 We may endeavour to trace the custom of using salt as a condiment to several nations, or even to one particular nation, with as much earnestness as the modern speculatists attempt to account for unaccountable phenomena appertaining to the material and spiritual worlds; but, as far as the real evidence goes, we are as unsuccessful, and our inquiries almost as unsatisfactory, as theirs have been hitherto.

There is great probability, however, that the Egyptians first made known to other nations, directly and indirectly, the utility of salt, and that through their sole agency it was introduced into Europe through the media of commerce and other channels of communication, and no doubt, as I have previously stated, in deference to their superior wisdom. We learn from those scholars who are giving their attention to Egyptian remains, that Greece was indebted to Egypt for all her science, architecture, literature, art, and mythology; and, indeed, her domestic life was derived from that venerable country. “From Egypt, it now appears, were derived the prototypes of the Greek architectural orders, and even their monuments and conventional designs; thence came the models of the Greek and Etruscan vases; thence came many of the ante-Homeric legends ... thence came the first ritual for the dead, litanies to the sun, and painted, or illuminated, missals; thence came the dogma of a queen of heaven!”18

In confirmation of this we are told that Moses, as I have before remarked, was skilled in Egyptian wisdom: this is most emphatic, and we cannot but conclude that that wisdom was in a high state of perfection; and their works, which are still the surprise and admiration of travellers, testify to the truth of Holy Writ. Do not their monuments, which have set time at defiance, prove that they were a people highly gifted? Their ruins are more sublime than any other architectural remains which are extant, excelling, both in magnificence and magnitude, the classic temples of Greece, and the elegant buildings which once graced the banks of the golden Tiber. In reference to this I may quote Dr. Lepsius, who states that “all the principal cities of Egypt were adorned with temples and palaces.... These temples were filled with the statues of gods and kings, generally colossal, and hewn from costly stones.”

Possibly, owing to the fact that salt is valued almost universally, and is a substance which has been demonstrated by experience to be necessary to humanity, it may have been, for all we can say, as well known to the Antediluvians as it is to us; and if so, then we are indebted to Noah. But these are but surmises; we really possess no authentic record, except that which we find in Holy Writ: and, with my reader’s leave, we will now proceed to examine those passages of Scripture in which salt is mentioned.

We find that whenever salt is named, it is done so in language of a character stamping it as a most important essential; and especially do we notice this in the directions for the religious services of the Israelites. They were commanded in the most explicit language that in all their offerings they should “offer salt.”19 There is also another point which we must not omit, and that is, whenever salt is referred to in the Inspired Volume, it is invariably in connection with some important transaction: for example, when Elisha sweetened the waters of the fountain of Jericho, he cast salt into them; this act of the prophet illustrates, figuratively, the purifying properties of salt, for he said, “I have healed these waters.”20 When Abimelech captured Shechem, he strewed salt over the ruins;21 and when Abijah harangued Jeroboam from the Mount Zemaraim, he speaks of a “covenant of salt.”22 We read farther on of this “covenant of salt” in the Book of Numbers.23 In fact, in the Old Testament, as well as in the New, considerable stress is laid on this evidently important substance, which shows that nothing was considered as thoroughly accomplished if salt, in some way or other, was not intimately connected