The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1891-11-19
A LAKE OF LATHER.
Its Surface Covered with White
Foam a Foot Thick.
FIRST DISCOVERED IN 1907
A Wonderful Lake In Southern washing
ton-No Inlet or Outlet - Fed by
springs-Its Peculiar Medical Prop
critics.

critics.
There are In the world many lakes and
inland seas. each having water peculiar to
itself. Most noted of these Is the Dead
Sea. whose surface Is 800 feet below that
OF the ocean, and whose depth is another
1900 feet. The largest is the Caspian Sea,
also below sea level. and with an unfath.
omable bottom. Exploration Of the Amer.
lean continent has revealed a number OF
saline and alkaline lakes, all Of which are
above sea level. Salt Lake. the largest
and perhaps the Oldest. has an altitude OF
400 feet. Lake Como. In the new State
of Wonders" Is 1000 feet up In the noun.
tains, while Tulare has less than 800 feet
altitude. The waters Of the last two are
quite brackish, but light compared with
Salt Lake, whose contents are 20 per cent
salt, being but little lighter than Dead
Sea water, says the San Francisco Chron.
icle.
All these lakes and seas have q visible
inlet, fresh-water supply, that compen.
safes for evaporation, but there Is q little
alkaline and saline lake In Southern
Washington that has no visible inlet or
outlet. the supply coming from two hid
den springs. 1t is situated on the great
Columbia River plateau, sixteen miles
southwest from Spokane and 1850 feet
above the rim Of the ocean.
From the remedial virtues OF the water
1t has been appropriately called Medical
Lake. 1t lies In the midst OF great basal.
tic region through which the granite
crops occasionally. as on the western
shore. The lake bed, too. Is said to be
granite. A high basaltic ridge to the
westward is shaded by pine forest. On
the opposite side Is the thriving little viii
lage OF Medical Lake.
Medical Lake has a maximum depth OF
sixty feet, Is half mile wide and twice as
long. No plant grows close to or In the
water. and the quiet that relgns over the
dark pool Is Impressive. The water has
been described as amber-colored. II am.
ber is dark, with greenish tinge, the de.
scription is good. Fresh water Is to be
found only few feet below the surface
not more than twenty feet away from the
lake shore.
The first date mentioned In connection
with the lake Is 1907. when, IL Is said. An
toine Dufour. 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
the victim OF infiammatory rheumatism,
and one night while hobbling about in
vain attempts to escape from captivity, he
tumbled into the water. He barely missed
being 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 In the water and was soon free
from disease and captors.
For three score years after this we hear
nothing OF the healing waters. In 1872
Andrew le Fevre entered a quarter section
OF land where the town now stands. To
this French Canadian the Indians were
quito partial. for other white men we're
not allowed to stay unmolested But they
guarded jealously the medical waters"
for they had long known of their virtue,
though they told the white man they were
"bad waters" Some OF Mr.. le Fevre's
sheep, however, led him to think differ
emily. They had "scab," and their
instinct led them into tho water,
which they drank and wore healed. The
shepherd soon tried IL for his rheuma atism,
and was curod as II by magic.
The medicinal virtues Of the water, OF
course, depend on the presence of min
erals held in solution. For bathing the
water Is much preferable to sea or salt
lake water and lathers, when rubbed on
the head. like hne toilet soap.
Whenever a rough breeze brushes the
lake surface the soapiness Of the water is
said to manifest itself in lathery foam
that sometimes rises foot high. A valu-
able toilet soap is obtained by adding a
vegetable oil to the concentrated water.
by evaporating the water the salt is OBJ
tained, and Is sold wherever known for
use in bathing as q remedial agent.
Animal life in the lake Is not quite so
scarce as plant life. There Is bug which
sports on the surface, n species OF terra
pin living more on the bottom. and a
curious animal called the walking fish"
which seldom comes to the surface. The
last named, the axolotl, is quite remark
able In appearance and one OF the most
interesting OF American reptiles. The
name secretary tadpole." would be as
appropriate as walking fish," for the
gills stick out OF the head in a way to re-
mind one of the secretary bird" and 1t
much resembles largo tadpole, being
eight or nine inches long A finny men,
brane extends along the lower sides OF the
compressed tail. The fore feet have four
toes. the hinder five. The eyes are small
and without lids. The mouth, like the
head Is large and ugly.
Our natural histories speak OF tho axo-
lotl as Mexican reptile, and il has been
given separate genus-siredon. 1t Is SO
abundant in Mexican lakes as TO be a
source OF food for the natives. Not until
since the discovery of Lake Como, Wyo-
ming, was 1t known that tho animal lived
in the United States. Professor Marsh
took some OF them to New Haven from
this mountain lake, and the scientific
world was surprised to learn that In these
new surroundings they passed through
another metamorphosis, losing their gllls
and iinny adornment, while their hitherto
undeveloped lungs expanded so that they