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 which is made from sea-water, concentrated by repeated evaporations, and at length crystallized. What is Spring Salt? That salt which is not made from sea-water, but from the water of salt wells or springs; large quantities of this salt are made in the United States, in some parts of which saline springs are numerous. In what manner is it obtained? The means employed for extracting the salt from the water vary according to circumstances. In hot countries, the water is merely exposed to the action of the sun, until the water is evaporated; the salt procured in this manner is considered the best. What method is usually employed in countries where the sun's heat is not sufficiently powerful?