Evening journal., 1893-01-23
WHY THE SEA is SALT
1T RECEIVES MINERAL SALT FROM
LAND AND LOSES NONE.

ing More salty.
7 Why is sea water salt? is a question |
that has been regarded as a mystery
and has given rise to some curious specu-
lations, but little consideration on the
subject must, think, satisfy us all that
it would be very wonderful, quite in
comprehensive, if the waters Of the
ocean were otherwise than salt as they
are.
The following explanation was first
suggested to myself many years ago
when receiving my first lessons in prac-
teal chemical analysis. The problem
then to be solved was the separation of
the bases dissolved in water by precip-
itating them one by one in a solid con-
dition, filtrating away the water from
the first, then from this fltrate precip-
itating the second, and so on until all
were separated or accounted for.
But in doing this there was one base
that was always left to the last ON ac-
count of the difficulty of combining it
with any acid that would form a solid
Compound difficulty so great that its
presence was determined by different
method. This base is soda, the predomi-
mating base Of sea salt, where it is COM
bined with hydrochloric acid. Not only
is soda the most soluble of all the mineral
bases, but the mineral acid with which
it is combined forms a remarkably solu-
BILE series of salts-the chlorides. Thus
the primary fact concerning the salinity
of sea water is that it has selected from
among the stable chemical elements the
two which form the most soluble COM
pounds. Among the earthly bases is one
which is exceptionally soluble-that is,
magnesia-and this stands next to soda
in its abundance in sea water.
Modern research has shown that the
ocean contains in solution nearly every
element that exists upon the earth, and
that these elements exist in Che water in
proportions nearly corresponding to the
mean solubility of their various COM
pounds. Thus gold and silver and most
Of the other heavy metals exist there.
Sonnenstadt found about fourteen
grains of gold to the ton Of seawater, or
a dollars worth in less than two tons.
AS the ocean covers all the lower valleys
of the earth, it receives all the drainage
from the whole of the exposed land.
This drainage is the rainwater that has
fallen upon this exposed surface, has
flowed down its superficial slopes or has
sunk into porous land and descended
underground. In either case the water
must dissolve and carry with it any sol
uble matter that it meets, the quantity
of solid matter which is thus appropri-
ated being proporhonate to its solubility
and the extent of its exposure TO the
solvent. Rain when it falls upon the
earth is distilled water, nearly pure Gts
small impurities being what it obtains
from the air), but river water when it
reaches the ocean contains measurable
quantities of dissolved mineral and veg
etable matter. These small contribu-
tions are ever pouring in and ever accu-
mulating. This continual addition of
dissolved mineral salts without any cor
responding abstraction by evaporation
has been going on ever since the surface
of the earth consisted Of land and water.
An examination of the composition OF
other bodies Of water which, like the
ocean, receive rivers and rivulets and
have no Other outlet than that afforded
by evaporation, confirms this view. AL
of these are more or less saline, many oi
them more so than the ocean itself. Oh
the great tableland of Asia, "the roof ol
the world" there is a multitude of small
lakes which receive the waters Of river
and rivulets of that region and have NJ
outlet to the ocean. On map they ap
pear like bags, with string attached
the bag being the lake and the string tn
river. All these lakes are saline, man,
of them excessively so, simply becaus
they are ever receiving river water 0.
slight salinity and ever giving off vapo
which has no salinity at all. There is M
wash through these lakes, as in the grea
American lakes or those Of Constance
Geneva, etc.
The sea Of Aral and the Caspian ar
lakes without any otsser outlet thai
evaporation, and they are saline accord
ingly The Dead sea, which receives tn
Jordan at one end and multitude G
minor rivers and rivulets at the othe
end and sides, is a noted example Of g,
treme salinity. It is, as eyerybod
knows, a sea or lake Of brine. The tC
tai area of land training into the grea
ocean does not exceed one-fourth of il
own area, while the Dead sea receive
the drainage and soluble matter Of a
area above twenty times greater than il
own, and thus it fulflls the demand {
the above stated theory by having "a
greater salinity than has the great oceal
According to this view the salinity {
the ocean must be steadily though yer
slowly increasing, and there must I
slowly proceeding a corresponding ada
tation Of evolution among the inhabi
ants. both animal and vegetable. II
study of this subject and the effe,
which the increasing salinity Of the pa
must have had upon the progressil
notifications of organic life displayC
by fossils is. think. worthy of more O
tention than it has hitherto receive
from paleontologists.-W. Alattien WI
hams in Science.
Her Point of View.
A charming lady Of the old school, wi
is a member of one Of the historical far
az. D.. G nFo.., .l,,,eaftc coxra fbof cl,o nov