TEE ALKALINE AND BORACIC LAKES OF CALIFORNIA. 177 



the name of Ephydra Californica, and by Dr. 

 A. S. Packard as Ephydra gracilis. 1 



A specimen of water taken from Owen's 

 Lake, in January, 1866, had a specific gravity 

 of 1.076, and contained 7128.24 grains of solid 

 matter per gallon. The composition of this resi- 

 due was found, calculated on an imperial gallon, 

 to be as follows : 



Chloride of sodium 

 Sulphate of sodium 

 Carbonate of sodium 

 Sulphate of potassium 

 Phosphate of potassium 

 Silicate of potassium 

 Organic matter 



2942.05 



956. SO 



2914.43 



122.94 



35.74 



139.34 



16.94 



712S.24 



In addition to the substances above enumer- 

 ated, iodine was present, but only in such mi- 

 nute proportion that its amount could not be 

 estimated. It is also to be observed that since, 

 for convenience of carriage, the sample of this 

 water operated on was reduced by evaporation 

 to one-fourth of its original bulk before being 

 brought to this country for analysis, it is prob- 

 able that some alkaline sesquicarbonates may 

 have been originally present. 



The incrustations which at certain periods of 

 the year accumulate to the extent of many hun- 

 dreds qS tons on the shores of this lake mainly 

 consist of carbonates of sodium, in which the 

 proportion of sesquicarbonate is somewhat vari- 

 able; in some specimens examined monocarbon- 

 ates were alone present. Besides carbonates of 

 sodium, these deposits contain three per cent, of 

 chloride of sodium, and about five per cent, of 

 sulphate of sodium, together with traces of silica. 

 It was proposed some years since to erect 

 works on the eastern shore of Owen's Lake, for 

 the purpose of refining this deposit, for the 

 manufacture of merchantable carbonate of so- 

 dium ; but whether this idea was ever carried 

 out, I am not aware. The only serious obstacles 

 to the success of such an enterprise would ap- 

 pear to arise from scarcity of fuel, and the great 

 distance of the lake from a shipping-port. 



As this lake continuously receives the waters 

 of a considerable and constantly-flowing river, 

 while it has no apparent outlet, it follows that it 

 must act the part of a huge evaporating basin, 

 in which the salts introduced by the not appar- 

 ently saline water of Owen's River become con- 

 centrated to an alkaline brine. The rocks on 

 either side of the valley through which the river 



1 See Hayden, " Geological Survey of Montana, Idaho, 

 Wyoming, and Utah," 1S72, p. 744. 



12 



flows are, to a very large extent, composed of 

 granites, lavas, and basalts, from the decom- 

 position of the feldspars in which the alkaline 

 salts of the lake have doubtless been derived. 

 The very small proportion of potassium salts 

 present in these waters is remarkable, for al- 

 though, from the circumstance of the feldspars 

 of the district being to a large extent tiiciinic, 

 sodium might be expected largely to predomi- 

 nate, still so great a disproportion in the re- 

 spective amounts of the two alkalies could scarce- 

 ly have been anticipated. This circumstance 

 may perhaps, to some extent, be accounted for 

 by supposing the potassium salts to have been 

 largely assimilated by plants during the per- 

 colation of the waters containing them through 

 vegetable soil, while the salts of sodium, not 

 having been thus arrested, have passed into the 

 river, and thence into the lake. 



Owen's, like Mono Lake, was at one time 

 much more extensive than it is at present ; this 

 is evident from the occurrence of a series of 

 parallel terraces, plainly traceable on each side 

 of the valley. In addition to these lakes, nu- 

 merous alkaline lagunes and boiling springs are 

 met with throughout this region. 



The Arlemia fertilis, before referred to as be- 

 ing plentiful in Mono Lake, is also exceedingly 

 abundant in Owen's Lake. A peculiarity of this 

 crustacean is, that it congregates into masses 

 which have often a strange appearance in the 

 water. These masses sometimes stretch out in 

 such a way as to have the form of a serpent, 

 while at others they represent circles or various 

 irregular figures. A gentle breeze scarcely affects 

 water filled by Artemice, so that while on all 

 sides the water is slightly ruffled, that which is 

 occupied by these dense aggregations remains 

 perfectly smooth, thus indicating the figure of 

 the mass. On placing some of these crustaceans 

 in a bottle filled with lake-water, for the purpose 

 of preserving them for subsequent microscopical 

 examination, it was found that those which died 

 rapidly disappeared, and on closely examining 

 what had taken place, it soon became evident 

 that as soon as vitality had ceased chemical ac- 

 tion was set up, and the animal gradually dis- 

 solved in the strongly alkaline brine. 



Burton Springs arc situated at the extreme 

 northern point of Owen's Valley. These springs 

 rise from the earth over an area of about eighty 

 square feet, which forms a basin or pond that 

 pours its heated waters into a narrow creek. In 

 this basin a vegetable growth is developed at a 

 temperature of about 160° Fahr., and is con- 



