Melanie Dennison, age 13, of Twin Falls, Ida., for her question:

WHERE DO WE GET EPSOM SALTS?

Epsom salts is the common name for a white crystalline salt. It was first used at Epsom, England, by boiling down mineral waters.

The chief sources of Epsom salts have been the salt beds in Stassfurt, East Germany, which yield kieserite, the limestone quarries of Kentucky and the gypsum quarries of Indiana and Tennessee. It also is found in France, Spain and Chile.

Epsom salt is used in medicine as a cathartic (to stimulate bowel movement), in baths to reduce swelling and in dyeing as a color fixative.

Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate heptahydrate. It is found in the mineral kieserite and espsomite as well as in solution in mineral water.

Some Epsom salt today is produced from seawater.  Epsom salt has a bitter taste.