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TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



lake is surrounded by a wide belt of desert, the 

 total area of which is from 400 to 500 square 

 miles. 



Mono Lake is about fourteen miles long, from 

 east to west, and nine wide, from north to south ; 

 but it was formerly much larger than it is at 

 present; this is indicated by numerous terraces, 

 by means of which the lines of its ancient shores 

 may be readily traced. 



The water of this lake, which has a high spe- 

 cific gravity, and is alkaline and extensively sa- 

 line, is not easily thrown into waves, but is gen- 

 erally smooth and glassy. Near its north shore 

 there are springs which have produced extensive 

 deposits of tufa, some of which rise several feet 

 above the surface in forms resembling gigantic 

 fungi. 



There are numerous islands in this lake, two 

 of which are of considerable size, the largest 

 being two and a half miles long, from north to 

 south, and the other about half a mile in length, 

 from east to west. These, as well as a group of 

 smaller islets lying to the north, are entirely 

 composed of volcanic materials. 



On the northeastern corner of the larger 

 island are extensive hot springs and steam-jets 

 covering an area of some thirty acres, and ex- 

 tending into the lake. The escape of steam and 

 hot gases from so many hundreds of vents is at. 

 tended with much noise, and the sides of the 

 orifices of many of the fumaroles are incrusted 

 with a reddish-brown substance, which is prob- 

 ably chloride of iron. In the neighborhood of 

 these springs there is a slight smell of sulphurous 

 acid, but no free sulphur is deposited. Some of 

 them furnish a copious supply of boiling water, 

 large quantities of which enter the lake, and so 

 perceptibly raise its temperature for a consider, 

 able distance around. Much gas and steam es- 

 cape from a fissure caused by the sinking of a 

 portion of the crust, while on the eastern part of 

 the island are two well-defined craters, now filled 

 with water. 



Mono Lake is, during the summer, the resort 

 of myriads of gulls and other aquatic birds, which 

 are most numerous during the breeding-season, 

 but the water is believed to be entirely destitute 

 of life, with the exception of a small crustacean, 

 Artemia fertilis, nearly related to the so-called 

 brine-shrimp (Artemia salina) found in the strong 

 brine of the salt-pans on European coasts, and 

 the Koo-cha-bee of the Indians, a whitish larva, 

 occurring in immense quantities, and which is 

 much esteemed by them as an article of 

 food. 



Stretching south of the lake is a chain of ex- 

 tinct volcanoes, presenting the form of truncated 

 cones, of which the generally steep sides are 

 covered with ashes and other loose materials. 

 Obsidian and pumice are abundant on the sur- 

 face of these cones, and also cover the plains at 

 their base. 



Owen's Valley is a narrow basin lying south 

 of Mono Lake, and running nearly north and 

 south for a distance of about 140 miles. Its 

 average width may be taken at ten miles. It is 

 bounded along its western edge by the Sierra 

 Nevada, which in this portion of its course pre- 

 sents an almost unbroken wall, of which the 

 highest peak, opposite Owen's Lake, reaches an 

 elevation of 15,000 feet. No pass crosses it at 

 a less height than 11,000 feet, and near the lake- 

 shore the descent from the summit to the valley 

 beneath must have an average inclination of at 

 least 1,000 feet per mile, the distance being from 

 ten to eleven miles, and the difference of level 

 between the highest point of the pass and the 

 valley being from 10,500 to 11,000 feet. 



On the eastern side of this valley are the Inyo 

 Mountains, toward its southern end, and the 

 White Mountains farther north. This range is 

 dry and desert-like, and not a single stream of 

 any size flows from it into Owen's Valley, which 

 is exclusively watered by the melting of the 

 snows accumulated during the winter months on 

 the eastern slope of the Sierra. Owen's River 

 rises a short distance from the source of the San 

 Joaquin, and, after flowing for a distance of 120 

 miles, falls into Owen's Lake in latitude 36° 

 20' north, longitude 118° west from Greenwich. 

 This lake, of which the water is exceedingly sa- 

 line and strongly alkaline, is twenty miles long 

 and eight wide. It has no visible outlet, and its 

 shores are often thickly coated with a snow-like 

 alkaline incrustation. 



No fish inhabits its waters, but Koo-cha-bee is 

 abundant, and at certain seasons is carried in by 

 the waves and deposited on the shores in layers 

 of several inches in thickness. This was for- 

 merly collected in large quantities by the In- 

 dians, and, after being dried in the sun, rubbed 

 between the hands and roughly winnowed, was 

 crushed in a stone mortar, and made into a sort 

 of bread, which furnished an important articlfi 

 of food. This insect, which has been described 

 as a white grub, is also found abundantly in the 

 waters of Great Salt Lake, Utah, and those 

 of other saline and alkaline lakes of the West, 

 and appears to be the larva of a two-winged fly 

 which is described by the late Prof. Torrey under 



