Look After Your Mind – About Salt
“What is salt?” Danny asked his teacher one day.
“Well, it’s something we put on our food to bring out the flavour,” Mrs Bromley said. “And we have it in our bodies. You can taste it in tears, and blood is salty too. If you go and ask Mr Keen the Science teacher, I’m sure he can tell you more.”
Danny went to see Mr Keen at break time. “What is salt?” he asked.
Mr Keen said, “Common salt is also called sodium chloride and is a compound of a metal and an acid. It is white and crystalline and it dissolves in water. Go and speak with Mrs Bright the History teacher and you’ll find out some more from her.”
Salt in History and Language
Danny spoke to Mrs Bright at lunchtime and asked about salt. “It is often used to preserve food,” she said cheerfully. “Sometimes food is kept in salty water called brine, although salt is also rubbed directly into the food. Salt beef is one example.”
She wagged a finger as she added, “Too much salt can be bad for your health. It can lead to raised blood pressure and might affect your kidneys. Your English teacher Mr Roberts can probably tell you more…”
Later, Danny asked Mr Roberts about salt. The teacher stroked his chin, as he usually did when he was thinking, and then he said:
“Well, if you describe somebody as being worth his salt, that means he gives good value. In ancient times salt was a very valuable thing and was paid to workers as part of their wages. If you say that a person is the salt of the earth, that means she is a fine and honest individual. If you are told to take something with a pinch of salt, that means you should not just accept it as true, but ask further questions. An ‘old salt’ is the name given to a veteran sailor. I also know of the superstition that if you spill salt you should throw a little of it three times over your left shoulder to fend off misfortune. Luckily,” said Mr Roberts, “I’m not superstitious, touch wood.”
Salt Around the World and Beyond
During that same afternoon Danny found out from Mrs Preen, his Geography teacher, that the Dead Sea was a landlocked lake around seventy kilometres long between Israel and Jordan. It has the lowest land level in the world – four hundred metres below sea level – and it is so rich in salts that no animal or vegetable life can exist in it. Because of its saltiness, bathers can float on the water very easily.
Mr Bain, Danny’s technology teacher, told him that salt was very corrosive and could eat away at many metals.
Mr Browning the Games teacher told Danny that he liked lots of salt on his chips.
By the end of the day Danny had been told a great deal about salt. As he sat at tea with his Mum and brother Ben, he tipped some salt on to the tip of his finger and popped it on to his tongue. ‘Now,’ he thought, ‘I understand a lot more about salt.’
Steve Bowkett
Former Trustees of KCH Return
