1. Introduction: Salt, Sodium Chloride, Has Probably Been with Us from The
1. Introduction: Salt, sodium chloride, has probably been with us from the beginnings of geologic time, and has been necessary directly or indirectly through all stages of evolution of living things. The first oceans undoubtedly contained traces of salt, and our unicellular ancestors first appeared and thrived in this salty marine environment. In the process of evolution, these unicellular ancestors became multi-cellular, and some left their salty marine environment but still required salt. Our herbivorous ancestors used salt licks, and our carnivorous ones obtained their salt form the flesh and blood of their prey. This demand is necessity of/or all living for things for salt in one form or another continues today.Our bodies contain relatively large quantities of salt, as we may infer from the taste of “blood, sweat, and tears.”(Dalf.w.Knutmann, 1971) Salt, NaCl, is a chemical compound made of sodium and chloride which has been exceptionally important to humans for thousands of years, because it is one of the substances upon which all of life evolved to depend. Humans, like all life, need a supply of salt in order to simply survive. Salt's ability to preserve food was a foundation of civilization. It helped to eliminate the dependence on the seasonal availability of food and it allowed travel over long distances. However, salt was difficult to obtain, and so it was a highly valued trade item to the point of being considered a form of currency by certain peoples. Many salt roads, such as via salaria in Italy, had been established by the Bronze Age.
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