The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1896-03-27

enough to cover all the land on this
globe with a uniform layer of salt to a
depth of 1000 feet.
This statement as to the saltiness of
the sea is interesting enough in it.
self, but it is also suggestive. The ques-
tons may we'll be asked, where did all
this salt come from and what is the
use of it? Several scientific gentle
men have tried to answer this first.
question and their efforts are not en-
tirely satisfactory. The second oues-
ton is not so difficult.
According to the history Of the crea-
ton OF the world, as told by Moses in
the Genesis, it is implied that the ocean
existed before the land. for. OH the
third day" the waters under the heav-
ems" were gathered together and the
dry land appeared.
This statement has bothered a great
number of philosophers, who, in their
effort to stick to the letter of the scrip
ture and at the same time to reason out
everything on perfectly natural prin-
ciples, have been puzzled to know how
such a grand transformation could be
accomplished in Il day. And their
perpleXity was not relieved when
learned biologists announced that it
must have required ages for the waters
that enveloped the earth to subside and
reveal this land that lay beneath.
But when it was suggested that the
word "day," as used by Moses, meant,
not a period of twenty-four hours, but
an era Of thousands of years, the diff
Guilty was removed. This meaning of
the word ebay" is at present generally
accepted by devout scientists, who now
declare that there is nothing impossible
in Moses account Of the creation.
This description, TO be sure, is la
mentally brief. 1t was hardly ade-
quate to pass over such a huge event
as the creation of the world in a few
lines. This was a big story from a
newspaper point of view, and all
thoughtful persons must acknowledge
that Moses did not take advantage of
his opportunity.
~ OOo NCSouA4 A1s
T. s.. Hunt, a learned writer OF the
physical history Of the globe, supplies
what Moses left out, and in so doing
he gives a very good reason for the
presence of the salt in the sea. Hav-
ing arrived at the point of Moses mea-
ger narrative where the earth was in
a molten state and surrounded by an
envelope of gases and Of water vapor,
DR.. Hunt says:
"The ~carbonates, chlorides and sui
pilates chemical combinations of car
bon, chlorine and sulphur with oxygen)
were changed into silicates. The car
bon, chlorine and sulphur, being thus
freed from the oxygen, separated in the
form of acid gases. These, with nitro
gen, vapor of water and a probable ex-
cess of oxygen, formed the atmosphere,
which was very dense (and also very
unhealthy).
''The surface of the earth was COW
cred with Jumps of molten rock (prob-
ably resembling furnace slag). The de-
pressed parts of the surface were filled
with highly heated solutions of hydro
ehloric and sulphuric acids which ate
into the surface and d~ecomposed it.
In this way the s~ilicates were changed
to pure silica, taking the form Of quartz
as the atmosphere cooled, and the con-
densation of the yaporous atmosphere
produced sea water, holding in solution
pilates of sodium, calcium and mag
nesium, and salts of ammonium. The
atmosphere, thus freed of it's noxious
elements, became pure and fit for man."
1t is therefore evident that the sea
has been salty from the creation Of the
world. The salt does not come, as is
generally supposed, from friction of the
water against salt "rocks" in the bed of
the ocean. This, then, answers the
Qrst question, where did the salt come
from? The second question is pretty
well answered by Mr.. G. w. Littlehales
in the December number Of Appleton's
Popular Science Monthly.
cit seems" he says, that the sea
was made salt in the beginning as a
part of the grand design of the Crea-
tor to provide for the system of eyo-
luton which has been going on since
the creation. Many distinct species
of living organisms exist in the sea as
a result of its salinity, and their re-
mains have largely contributed to the
growth of continents"
The minute creatures that have lived
In the sea for ages past have left en-