Note 3185 — BOOK XXXI. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE AQUATIC PRODUCTIONS.

Beckmann, who devotes several pages to a consideration of the “nitrum” of the ancients, considers it not to be our “nitre” or “saltpetre,” but a general name for impure alkaline salts. See his Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 490-503, Bohn’s Ed. Ajasson, without hesitation, pronounces it to be nitrate of potash, neither more or less than our saltpetre, and quotes a statement from Andreossy, that it is still to be found in great quantities at Mount Ptou-Ampihosem, near the city of Pihosem, called Nitria by St. Jerome.