springs and wells, yet it is also possible to use this method in the case of
river-, lake-, and sea-water, and also of those waters which are artificially
salted. For in places where rock-salt is dug, the impure and the broken pieces
are thrown into fresh water, which, when boiled, condenses into salt. Some,
indeed, boil sea-salt in fresh water again, and mould the salt into the little
cones and other shapes.
Some people make salt by another method, from salt water which
flows from hot springs that issue boiling from the earth. They set earthenware pots in a pool of the spring-water, and into them they pour water scooped
up with ladles from the hot spring until they are half full. The perpetual
heat of the waters of the pool evaporates the salt water just as the heat of
the fire does in the caldrons. As soon as it begins to thicken, which happens
when it has been reduced by boiling to a third or more, they seize the pots
with tongs and pour the contents into small rectangular iron pans, which have
also been placed in the pool. The interior of these pans is usually three feet
long, two feet wide, and three digits deep, and they stand on four heavy legs,
so that the water flows freely all round, but not into them. Since the water
flows continuously from the pool through the little canals, and the spring
