, 1891-10-09
A MOUNTAIN SILOAM
Peculiar Waters Found Near Spo-
kane.
A Lake without Visible Inlet or
Outlet--The Strange Reptile
That Deceived the
NaturaIists.

NaturaEists.
There is a little alkaline and saline LAKE
in Southern Washington that has no yisi
bic inlet OF outlet, the supply coming from
two hidden springs 1t is situated on the
great Columbia river plateau, sixteen miles
southwest from Spokane and 2300 feel
above the rim Of the rim Of the ocean
From the remedial virtues Of the water il
has been appropriately called Medical
lake. 1t lies in the midst Of a great ba-
saltic region through which the granite
crops occasionally. as on the western shore.
The lakebed, too. is said to be granite. A
high basaitic ridge to the westward is
shaded by a pine forest. On the opposite
side is the thriving little village of Medical
Lake.
Medical lake has a maximum depth OF
sixty feet, is half a mile wide and twice as
long. No plant grows close to or in the
water, and the quiet that reigns over the
dark pool is impressive The water has
been described as amber-colored. IF am
per IS dark with a greenish tinge the de
scrlption is good. Fresh water is to be
found only a few feet below the surface
netmore than twenty feet from the lake
shore.
The fist date mentioned in connection
with the lake is 1907 when, it is said, An
tome Defour, a prisoner of an Indian band
camping on the lake shore, discovered the
virtues of the water in an accidental and
unpleasant way. Exposure had made him
a victim of mfammatory rheumatism and
one might while hobbIing about in vain
attempt TO escape from captivity, he tum-
1n ETofo IIo,t tr,,r I
ing drowned, and expected the wetting to
make worse his already stiffened Joints,
but to his surprise and delight next day he
was better After this he frequently bathed
~ the water, and was soon free from dis
ease and captors.
For three-score years after this we hear
nothing OF the healing waters In 1872 An
drew le Feyre entered quarter section of
land where the town now stands. To this
french Canadian the Indians We're quite
partial, for other white men were not al
lowed to stay unmolested But they
guarded jealonsly the "medical Waters'' for
they had long known of their virtues,
though they told the white mon they were
.bad Waters.' Some of Mr.. le Feyre's
sheep, however, led him to think differ.
emily. They had ''scab" and their instinct
led them into the water, which they also
drank and were healed. The SHEPPARD
soon tried it for his rheumatism and was
cured as If by magic.
The medicinal virtues of the water, Of
course, depend on the presence of minerals
held in solution. These are the chlorides
Of sodium and potassium, the carbonates
OF sodium, iron. calcium, magnesium and
llthlum; the sillicate and borate Of sodium .
oxide OF aluminium and sulphate Of potas-
SUM. There are 101 grains of these solids
to the gallon, which gives the water spe-
clfG gravity OF lOl2, and an alkalihity that
makes n the skin feel, after bathing it it, as
II oiled. AS in most such bodies of water
the sodium compounds predominant, near
~ Two thirds here being the carbonate. For
pathlng the water is much preferable to sea
or salt lake water, and fathers, when
rubbed on the head, like fine toilet soap.
whenever a rough breeze brushes the
lake surface the soapiness Of the water is
sSl sald to manifest itself in lathery foam
that sometimes rises foot high, A yalua-
bic toilet soap is obtained by adding a
vegetable oil to the concentrated water.
By eyaporatlng the water the salt is OBJ
tanned, and is sold wherever known for use
IN bathing as a remedial agent.
Animal life in the lake is not quite so
scarce as plant life. There is a bug which
sports on the surface, a species of terrapin
living more on the bottom, and a curious
animal called the walking fish, which
seldom comes to the surface The last
named, the Axolott, is quite remarkable in
appearance and one Of the most interest
ing OF American reptiles. The name sec
retary tadpole'' would be as appropriate
as walking fish" for the gills stick out
behind the head in way to remind one Of
the Secretary bird, Y and it much resem-
bles large tadpole, being eight OF nine
inches long, "a flnny membrane extends
along the back, continuing along the up
per and lower sides of the compressed
tail. The fore feet have four toes, the
hinder i've. The eyes are small and with
out lids The mouth like the head, is
large and ugly.
Our natural histories speak of the axo-
lott as Mexican reptile, and it has been
gwen separate genus-siredon. 1t is so
abundant in Mexican lakes as to be a
source OF food to the natives. Not until
the discovery of Lake Como, Wyoming,
was 1T known that the animal lived in the
United States. Professor Marsh took some
OF them to New Haven from the mountain
lake, and the scientific world was surprised
to learn that in these new surroundings
they passed through another metamorpho-
sis, losing their gills and fnny adorn-
ment, while their hitherto undeyeloped
lungs expanded so that they would live in
the open air, and their eyes were protected
with lids In fact, it is true amblystoma
and had been wrongly named, having
never in its native habitat reached more
mature existence than the larval state.
The existence of the axolott in Medica
lake, or even the existence Of the lake itsel
is, perhaps, new to most biologists II il
also said to sport in the fresh water of Lake
Washatucna, Washington