446 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



dream-life of the East, myths and legends would grow up to ac- 

 count for this as for other strange appearances in all that region. 

 The question which a religious Oriental put to himself in ancient 

 times at Usdum was substantially that which his descendant to- 

 day puts to himself at Kosseir : " Why is this region thus blasted?" 

 " whence these pillars of salt ? " or " whence these blocks of 

 granite ? " " what aroused the vengeance of Jehovah or of Allah 

 to work these miracles of desolation ? " 



And, just as Maxime Du Camp recorded the answer of the 

 modern Shemite at Kosseir, so the compilers of the Jewish sacred 

 books recorded the answer of the ancient Shemite at the Dead 

 Sea ; just as Allah at Kosseir blasted the land and transformed 

 the melons into bowlders which are seen to this day, so Jehovah 

 at Usdum blasted the land and transformed Lot's wife into a 

 pillar of salt which is seen to this day. 



No more difficulty was encountered in the formation of the 

 Lot legend, to account for that rock resembling the human form, 

 than in the formation of the Niobe legend, which accounted for a 

 supposed human resemblance in the rock at Sipylos ; it grew up 

 just as we have seen thousands of similar myths and legends 

 grow up about striking natural appearances in every home of the 

 human race. Being thus consonant with the universal view re- 

 garding the relation of physical geography to the divine govern- 

 ment, it became a treasure of the Jewish nation and of the Chris- 

 tian Church a treasure not only to be guarded against all hostile 

 intrusion, but to be increased, as we shall see, by the myth-mak- 

 ing powers of Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans for thousands 

 of years. 



The spot where the myth originated was carefully kept in 

 mind; indeed, it could not escape, for in that place alone was 

 constantly seen the phenomena which caused the myth. We 

 have a steady chain of testimony through the ages all pointing to 

 the salt pillar as the irrefragable evidence of divine judgment. 

 That great theological test of truth the dictum of St. Vincent of 

 Lerins would certainly prove that the pillar was Lot's wife ; for 

 it was believed so to be by Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans 

 from the earliest period down to a time almost within present 

 memory " always, everywhere, and by all." It would stand per- 

 fectly the ancient test insisted upon by Cardinal Newman, " Se- 

 curus judicat orbis terrarum." 



For, ever since the earliest days of Christianity, the identity 

 of the salt pillar with Lot's wife has been universally held and 

 supported by passages in Genesis, in St. Luke's Gospel, and in the 

 Second Epistle of St. Peter coupled with a passage in the book of 

 the Wisdom of Solomon, which to this day, by a majority in the 

 Christian Church, is believed to be inspired, and from which are 



