Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1885-12-11

The Dead Sea.
The Dead sea is an old and dccrepit salt
lake in a very advanced stage of evaporation.
IL lies several feet below the level of the
Mediterranean, just as the Caspian lies sew
eral feet below the level of the Black sea
and as in both cases the surface must once
have been continuous, il is clear that the wa
ter Of either must have dried up to a very
considerable extent. But while the Caspian
has shrunk only 80 feet below the Black sea,
the Dead sea has shrunk TO the enormous
depth of 1893 feet below the Mediterranean.
Every now and then some enterprising De
Lcsseps or other proposes to dig canal from
the Mediterranean to the Dead sea, and so re-
establish the old high level. The effect of
this very revolutionary proceeding would be
to flood the entire Jordan valley, connect the
sea of Galilee with the Dead sea, and play
the Dickens generally with Scripture geogra-
ply to the infinite delight of Sunday school
classes. Now, when the Dead sea first began
its Independent career as a separate sheet of
water on its own account, it no doubt occu.
pied the whole bed of this imaginary engin-
GERS lake-spreading, if not from Dan to
Beersheba, at any rate from Dan TO Edom,
Or in other words, along the whole Jordan
valley from the sea of Galilee, and even the
waters Of MerOm to the southern desert. The
modern Dead sea is the last shrunken relic of
such a considerable ancient lake. Its waters
are now so very concentrated and so very Of
fensive that no fish or other self-respecting
animal can consent to live in them and so
buoyant that a man can't drown himself, even
If he tries, because the sea is saturated with
salts of various sorts till it has become a kind
of soup or porridge, in which a swimmer
floats, will he, mill he.
The waters of the Dead sea are thus in the
condition of having already deposited almost
all their gypsum, as well as the greater part
of the salt they originally contained. They
are, in fact, much like the sea water which
has been boiled down till it has reached the
state of thick salty liquid and though
most of the salt is now already deposited in
deep layer on the bottom, enough now re-
mains in solution to make the Dead sea nfin-
itely salter than the general ocean. At the
same time, there are agood many other things
in solution in sea water besides gypsum and
common sale; such as chloride of magnesium,
sulphate Of potassium, and other interesting
substances with pretty chemical names, well
calculated to endear them at first sight to the
sentimental affections of the general public.
These other by-cOntcnts of the water are Of
ten still longer in getting deposited than com
mon salt and owing to their intermiXture in
very concentrated form with the mother
liquid of the Dead sea, the water Of that
evaporating lake is not only salt, but also sill
my and fCtid to the last degree, its taste be-
ing accurately described as half brine, half
rancid oil Indeed, the salt has been so far
precipitated already that there is now five
times as much chloride of magnesium left in
the water as there is common salt. By the
tuarr II 10 a iurlrv tIiuor for ne that thaaa
rious soluble materials are of such consttu-
ton as to be thrown down separately at diff
ferent stages Of concentration in the evapo-
rating liquid for if it were otherwise, they
would all get deposited together, and we
should find on all old salt lake beds only a
| mixed layer of gypsum, salt, and other chic
| rides and sulphates, absolutely useless for any
practical human purpose. In that case, we
should be entirely dependent upon marine
| salt pans and evaporation of sea water for our
entire salt supply. As it is, we find the ma
| terials deposited one above another in regular
layers first, the gypsum at the bottom !;
| then, the rock salt; and last of all, on top,
the more soluble mineral constituents
The Great Salt Lake of Utah is an exam
| pie Of a modern saline sheet of very different
origin, since it is in fact not a branch Of the
sea at all, but mere shrunken remnant Of a
very large fresh-water-lake system, like that
| of the still-eXisting St. Lawrence chain. Once
upon a time, American biologists say, huge
sheet of water, for which they have even in
vented a definite name, Lake Bonneville, oc-
cupied far larger valley among the outliers
of the Rocky mountains, measuring 800
miles in one direction by $50 miles in the
other. Beside this primitive Superior lay a
second great sheet-(Lake Lahontan, the ge-
ologists call it)-almost as big, and equally of
fresh water. By-and-by-the precise dates
are necessarily indefinte-some change in
the rainfall made the waters of these big
| lakes shrink and evaporate. Lake Lahontan
shrank away like Alice in Wonderland, till
there was absolutely nothing left of it Lake
Bonneville shrank until it attained the dimin-
shed size of the existing Great Salt Lake.
Terrace after terrace, running in long paral
lei lines on the sides of the Wahsatch noun
tains around, mark the various levels at which
it rested for a while on its gradual downward
course. 1t is still falling indeed and the
plain around is being gradually uncovered
forming the white salt-encrusted shore witt
which all visitors to the Mormon city are Sc
familiar. But why should the water have
become brinyl Why should the evaporation
of an old Superior produce at last Grea
Salt Lakel Well, there is a small quantity
of salt in solution even in the freshest o
lakes and ponds, brought down to them by
the streams or rivers and as the water o
the hypothetical Lake Bonneville slowly evap
GRATED, the salt and other mineral constitu
ents remained behind Thus the solution
grew constantly more and more concentrated
till at the present day it is extremely saline
|