Spiritus Salis Marini Glauberi was one of the products discovered by
Glauber, to whom we owe the name of spirit of salt. He was a keen
observer and remarked on the suffocating vapour yielded as soon as
oil of vitriol was poured on sea-salt. It is astonishing to his
biographers that he just missed discovering chlorine. The spirit of
salt was highly recommended for many medicinal uses; for exciting the
appetite, correcting the bile, curing gangrene, and dissolving stone.
Its remarkable property of assisting nitric acid to dissolve gold was
soon observed and was attributed to its penetrating power.