Epsom Salt
It’s Nature and Value Explained
Many years ago Epsom Salt was the most popular medical drug in England, although the people who used it did not know exactly why it was so valuable. They knew nothing of its antiseptic and antidotal qualities, but they did understand that in some way it was good for health and promoted longevity. They found by experience that not only did it keep away sclerosis , kidney diseases and rheumatism, but that it also was very useful in correcting any tendency to put on too must weight.
Epsom Salt is now made from a rock substance called Dolomite, which is found abundantly in, and derives its name from a mountainous district in the South Tyrolean Alps called “The Dolomites.” When examined by the chemist, this Dolomite rock is found to belong to a very large group of substances known as ‘salts’ , in which an alkaline base is combined with an acid radical to form a neutral substance – the ‘salt’. It consists of two metals, calcium and magnesium, combined with two non-metallic elements, carbon and oxygen, and takes the form of a neutral double salt known as carbonate of calcium and magnesium. Now, Epsom Salt is also a ‘salt’, but instead of being made of magnesium oxygen and carbon, as is the case with the carbonate salt, its constituents are magnesium, oxygen and sulphur. Chemically it is known as Magnesium Sulphate. Magnesium sulphate is not found in a natural state, so it has to be made artificially from some suitable magnesium-containing substance. The substance best suited for this purpose is Dolomite, mentioned above. In passing, however, it may be stated that Magnesium sulphate was formerly made from “Bitten”, a derivative of sea water, which actually contains an appreciable amount of magnesium salts, combined with the sodium chloride which is its chief ingredient.
The Secret of Its Value
As mentioned earlier, in the process of manufacture the carbon ingredient of the magnesium carbonate has been replaced by another non-metallic element, namely sulphate. The magnesium prefers carbon to sulphur and this sulphate will, therefore, readily give up its sulphur and seize upon carbon whenever a favourable opportunity for making the exchange presents itself. And this strong liking, or affinity (as it is called), of magnesium sulphate, Epsom Salt, for carbon is the point to be remembered, for herein lies the secret of its great value for medicinal purposes. Carbon, in one form or another, is the main constituent of the building materials which go to form our vegetation and so, in turn, to provide our foodstuffs. And it is in the crude form of carbon that the waste products of the human body are thrown off. The magnesium draws out the carbon and renders the now inert residue soluble, thereby facilitating excretion.
The Remedial Action of Epsom Salt
It has already been pointed out that the distinguishing feature of the action of Epsom Salt is that, as an artificially made salt of magnesium, it is ever trying to revert to its original carbon state, and that because of this affinity for carbon and carbon compounds it renders valuable aid in dealing with diseased conditions of the body. So far as its medicinal action is concerned, it should be borne in mind that the human body subsists entirely on foods, which contain carbon ingredients, and that the waste amanating from this food takes the form of carbon. This is the daily routine of a person in robust health. The greater part of the carbon waste passes out of the body through the lungs or bronchial tubes in the form of a carbon compound known as carbon dioxide or, as it is usually called, carbonic acid gas. The process whereby the carbon waste matter is converted into carbonic acid gas is a form of combustion known as oxidation. In order that the unused carbon of food material should be disposed of in this way, it is necessary that the blood and the tissues should be supplied with sufficient oxygen to bring about the oxidation. If the requisite quantity of oxygen is not forthcoming to complete the process, retarded combustion ensues, and this results in the formation of partially oxidized forms of carbonaceous waste, such as uric and other acids, and toxins which are the outcome of putrefaction.
These partially oxidized carbon compounds are apt to accumulate in the blood and in the tissues, thereby giving rise to ill-health and disease. It is here that Epsom Salt, rightly administered, proves of great value. By its strong affinity for carbon and carbon compounds, it absorbs and nullifies this harmful waste, in the manner already described, and so acts as a beneficent remedial agent. Taken internally, in small doses. Epsom Salt acts on the kidneys, and by increasing the action of these organs, brings about a greater elimination of waste matter solution through these channels. Its chief value, however, lies in external application, because of its power of drawing stored tissue-wastes from the body through the skin.
Excerpted, with editing, from an ancient Coptic text, “Epsom Salt It’s Value and Use.” by Dr. H. Valentine Knaggs. Supplied by Linda Edenfield, Fantasy Tan & Float, San Bernardino, Ca.
Koan Float is interested in any information on Epsom Salts. By printing this information, Koan Float does not claim its veracity. We print it to present some of the ways in which salts, the primary ingredient of the floatation environment, have been viewed and used historically.
