hich were thrown into the
fire, and by that means better scoured than if they had been washed
with water.

_Naturalist_, a person who studies nature, especially in
what relates to minerals, vegetables, and animals.

_Brahmins_, Hindoo priests.

Where is the Asbestus found?

This mineral is found in the greatest quantity in the silver mines of
Saxony; at Bleyburg, in Carinthia; in Sweden, Corsica, and sometimes
in France, England, and the United States; also in Tartary and
Siberia.

What method is used in preparing the Asbestus?

The stone is laid in warm water to soak, then opened and divided by
the hands, that the earthy matter may be washed out. This washing is
several times repeated, and the flax-like filaments collected and
dried; these are easily spun with the addition of flax. The cloth when
woven is best preserved by oil from breaking or wasting; on exposure
to the fire, the flax and the oil burn out, and the cloth remains of a
pure white. The shorter threads, which separate on washing the stone,
may be made into paper in the usual manner.

What is Salt?

A saline crystallization of a sharp, pungent taste, and cleansing
quality, used to season flesh, fish, butter, &c., and other things
that are to be kept. It is distinguished, with reference to the
general sources from which it is most plentifully derived, into three
different sorts, namely, fossil, or rock salt; sea, or marine salt;
and spring salt, or that drawn from briny springs and wells.

_Marine_, belonging to the sea.

_Saline_, consisting of salt.

_Briny_, consisting of brine; which means water tasting of
salt; it is used to signify the waters of the sea, or any
salt water.

What is Fossil or Rock Salt?

That which is found in large beds in the bowels of the earth, and
which has not undergone any artificial preparation; it is sometimes
colorless, but more frequently red, yellow, or blue, and mixed with
earthy impurities; this salt was entirely unknown to the ancients, who
by rock salt meant that which adheres to the rocks above high-water
mark, being lodged there by the spray of the sea, which is evaporated
by the heat of the sun; this is the purest salt, and is to be found on
the rocks of Sicily, and several islands of the West Indies.

_Artificial_, produced by art, and the labor of man.

_Evaporated_, converted into vapor and dissipated.

What is Marine Salt?

That wh