Alioqui sal amicitiæ symbolum fuit, durationis gratia. Corpora enim solidiora facit et diutissime conservat. Unde hospitibus ante alios cibos apponi solitum, quo amicitiæ firmitas ac perseverantia significetur. Quare plerique ominosum habent si sal in mensam profundi contigerit. Contra vero faustum si vinum atque id merum effusum sit. Which has been rendered into English as follows: “Salt was formerly a symbol of friendship, because of its lasting quality. For it makes substances more compact and preserves them for a long time: hence it was usually presented to guests before other food, to signify the abiding strength of friendship. Wherefore many consider it ominous to spill salt on the table, and, on the other hand, propitious to spill wine, especially if unmixed with water.”[280] In Gaule’s “Magastromancer” (1652), overturning the salt is mentioned in a list of “superstitious ominations.” According to a popular Norwegian belief, one will shed as many tears as may suffice to dissolve the quantity of salt which he has spilled;[281] and in east Yorkshire, also, every grain of spilled salt represents a tear to be shed. Moreover, saltness has been thought to be an essential attribute of tears, and this intimate connection between the two may have given rise to some of the many superstitions connected with salt.[282] In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in order to avert ill-luck after salt has been spilled, one should not only toss a pinch of the spilled salt over the left shoulder, but should also crawl under a table and come out on the opposite side.[283] In the “British Apollo” (1708) are these lines:— We ’el tel you the reason Why spilling of Salt Is esteemed such a Fault, Because it doth ev’rything season. Th’ antiques did opine ’Twas of Friendship a sign, So served it to guests in decorum, And thought Love decayed, When the negligent Maid Let the salt-cellar tumble before them. In New England the gravity of salt-spilling as an omen, its deplorable severance of friendship’s ties, and the necessity for prompt remedial measures, are all fully recognized. And here the deft toss of the spilled particles over the left shoulder is not always adequate; for in order thoroughly to break the spell, these particles must be thrown on the stove.[284] Gypsies have a saying, “The salt of strife has fallen.” From the idea of the desecration of a sacred substance, to which allusion has been made, doubtless arose the remarkable superstition that, as a penalty for spilling salt, one must wait outside the gate of Paradise for as many years as there are grains of salt spilled.[285] In the Lansdowne MSS. 231 (British Museum) occurs this passage:—