in the 13th or 14th centuries, a rich vessel was never secure from
attack; and neither restitution nor punishment of the criminals was to
be obtained from governments, who sometimes feared the plunderer, and
sometimes connived at the offence."

* * * * *


GOOD EFFECTS OF SALT.


Salt appears to be a necessary and universal stimulus to animated
beings; and its effects upon the vegetable as well as animal kingdom
have furnished objects of the most interesting inquiry to the
physiologist, the chemist, the physician, and the agriculturist. It
appears to be a natural stimulant to the digestive organs of all
warm-blooded animals, and that they are instinctively led to immense
distances in pursuit of it. This is strikingly exemplified in the
avidity with which animals in a wild state seek the salt-pans of
Africa and America, and in the difficulties they will encounter to
reach them: this cannot arise from accident or caprice, but from a
powerful instinct, which, beyond control, compels them to seek, at all
risks, that which is salubrious. To those who are anxious to gain
further information upon this curious subject, I would recommend the
perusal of a work entitled "_Thoughts on the Laws relating to Salt_,"
by Samuel Parkes, Esq., and a small volume by my late lamented friend
Sir Thomas Bernard, on the "_Case of the Salt Duties, with Proofs and
Illustrations_." We are all sensible of the effect of salt on the
human body; we know how unpalatable fresh meat and vegetables are
without it. During the course of my professional practice, I have had