The Hunger for Salt. Denton, D., 1982. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.

This book is the Salt Bible. Micah

Derek Denton provides a detailed analysis of the breadth of scientific knowledge about salt up to the time of publication. This is an indispensible resource for anyone who wants to know "the whole story", as opposed to circumscribed knowledge. Unfortunately, the average research worker in the area of salt does not have the breadth of knowledge that this text offers. This is why research into this area has been slowed. Richard D. McCabe, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences.

 

Salt—a world history. Kurlansky, M., 2003, Penguin 2003.

As a global history, this book is an ambitious attempt to re-introduce us to something we think common and uninteresting. It's immensely successful through Kurlansky's multi-faceted approach. He combines economics, politics, culinary practices, tradition and myth in making his presentation. About the only aspect ignored is the detailed biological one explaining why this compound is so necessary to our existence.
Because our need for salt is so fundamental, its history encompasses that of humanity. Salt was basic to many economies, Kurlansky notes. It's acted as the basis of exchange between traders, was the target of empire builders and even paid out to soldiers as a form of "salary" - hence the term. Venice, a coastal city tucked away from the main tracks of Mediterranean trade, bloomed into prominence when it discovered it could garner more profit by trading in salt than by manufacturing it. The Venetian empire and later renaissance was founded on the salt trade.
Empires may be built on salt, but can be felled by misguided policies on its trade and consumption. One element leading to the downfall of the French monarchy was the hated "gabelle", or salt tax, which imposed a heavier burden on farming peasants than it did on the aristocracy. The reputation of tax evasion borne by the French relates to the resentment expressed over the salt tax. A British regulation on salt resulted in similar reaction leading to the breakup up their own Empire. It was a "march to the sea" led by Mahatma Ghandi to collect salt that galvanised resistance to British rule. Over a century after the French Revolution, the British were displaced from India for similar reasons - greed.
While acknowledging the importance of salt in our lives, Kurlansky notes that determining how much is "too little" or "too much" is elusive. Many people today claim to have "salt-free" diets while remaining ignorant of how much salt is contained in our foods, both naturally and through processing. Yet, as Kurlansky records, salt has appeal beyond just the body's needs. He records numerous commentators from ancient Egypt, China and Rome who express their admiration for salt's flavour-adding qualities. Sauces based on various ingredients mixed with salt permeate the book. He notes that the salt dispenser is a modern innovation, supplementing the use of salt in cooking processes.
Salt's decline in conserving food, which changed the amount of salt we consume directly, came about due to increased world trade, displacement of rural populations into cities, and, of course, war. "The first blow" displacing salt as a preservative came from a Parisian cook; a man so obscure that his given name remains disputed. Nicolas [Francois?] Appert worked out how to preserve meat by "canning". Adopted by Napoleon's armies, the technique spread rapidly. The technology of the Industrial Revolution led to effective refrigeration. Kurlansky gives an account of Clarence Birdseye's efforts to found what became a major industry.
Although the topic seems overspecialised, the universal application and long historical view of this book establishes its importance. Kurlansky has successfully met an immense challenge in presenting a wealth of information. That he graces what might have been a dry pedantic exercise with recipes, anecdotes, photographs and maps grants this book wide appeal. He's to be congratulated for his worldly view and comprehensive presentation. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

 

Sodium Hunger the Search for a Salty Taste. Schulkin, J., 1991. University Press, New
York, Port Chester, Melbourne, Sidney, Cambridge.

The phenomenon of sodium hunger was discovered by Curt Richter, the great American psychobiologist, over fifty years ago, and has since been the source of intense study by naturalists, psychologists, endocrinologists, physiologists, and neuroscientists. In this account, Professor Schulkin uses hunger for sodium as a model system in which to study how the brain produces motivated behavior. He offers a systematic account of the behavior of the sodium hungry animal and explores the endocrinological and physiological mechanisms that maintain sodium balance and then act on the brain to promote the search for and the ingestion of salt. Finally, the book provides a description of a neural network that orchestrates the behavior of salt seeking and salt ingestion.

 

Neptune's Gift: A History of Common Salt. Robert P. Multhauf.  Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore & London, 1978.

Smithsonian Institution historian of science Robert P. Multhauf ponders the significance of sodium chloride, "the universal necessity," and its role in human affairs. Wars have been fought and empires founded and lost over salt; it was once among the rarest of elements and the subject of government monopolies and strict security. Today, Multhauf writes in this fascinating and detail-laden book, salt is so abundant that we tend not to think about it except to remind ourselves to cut back on its use. Multhauf restores salt to its real importance, and he does a fine job of tracing salt's fortunes through time.

Common salt is a substance seemingly too ordinary to think about -- yet it is the oldest of our raw materials & the basis of some of our newest inventions. Mythology & folklore abound in accounts of its power & importance. Salt has been a crucial source of revenue to governments from ancient china to "ancien regime" France & even the U.S. And the ongoing search for this valuable commodity ushered in the age of petroleum fuels. In the first comprehensive history of salt, Robert Multhauf tells the remarkable story of its production, its uses, & its role in various cultures from ancient times to the present. This book, with its excellent photographs, is to be recommended to everyone interest in the history of culture & technology.

 

Salt and the alchemical soul: three essays: Ernest Jones, Carl Gustav Jung, James Hillman

Spring Publications, 1 Aug 1995 - Body, Mind & Spirit - 179 pages

salt is easily found, yet mysterious. It has pursued down through the ages & across cultures. Homer called it a "divine substance," & Plato described it as "especially dear to the gods." It has been important in religion & magic, from baptism to a charm against the Devil. It has played a role in the medieval Latin Church as sal sapientiae & in alchemical mysticism as the heavenly Sophia. The image of salt has touched human behaviour, feeling & expression, from marriage rites & customs to economics, from fertility to friendship, from superstition to being the basic stuff of human life. Not surprisingly, salt has become the focus of depth psychology. SALT & THE ALCHEMICAL SOUL is a collection of three papers from Freudian, Jungian & Archetypal psychology, newly reprinted, edited & introduced. Each work reflects a way of seeing the substance & psyche of salt. And salt seems to have become not only the substance, but the seasoning of depth psychology, giving each psychology a unique flavor.