318 Dr R. J. Graves on the 



that, in the case of the Dead Sea, and of the Great Salt Lake, 

 all the affluents contain the usual proportions of fishes and 

 other animals, as well as vegetables peculiar to their respec- 

 tive countries. Nay, more, in each case where the affluent 

 has formed an extensive delta, there, in proportion to the 

 average degree of freshness of the water, we find various 

 plants growing in abundance ; neither are the banks or borders 

 of these lakes invariably destitute of trees, shrubs, or grass. 

 On the contrary, wherever the nature of the surrounding rocks 

 afi'ords materials for a fertile soil, and rivers or springs supply 

 the necessary moisture, there vegetation, occasionally luxuri- 

 ant, is to be found. Thus it is necessary for us to bear in 

 mind that life is not banished from every part of either the 

 Dead Sea or Great Salt Lake, or their respective shores, but 

 encroaches upon both when favourable physical circumstances 

 exist to encourage the growth and maintenance of either 

 animals or plants. It is true that the rugged rocks, which 

 in most parts surround the Dead Sea, are, from their nature 

 and the absence of supplies of fresh water, more destitute of 

 vegetation than those around the Great Salt Lake. This 

 admits a ready explanation by the much greater humidity of 

 the air, and frequency of rain in the western parts of America 

 than in Palestine. 



It must not be forgotten likewise, that certain rocks disinte- 

 grate very slowly under exposure to atmospheric influences, 

 and others seem altogether incapable of supporting vegeta- 

 tion. Thus I have examined several extinct volcanic craters 

 in Auvergne, and, after the most minute search, could not 

 discover the existence of even a lichen on their surface ; and 

 I was the more surprised at this fact, because other parts of 

 that district exhibited the richest soil spreading over fields 

 of lava, and extending far up mountains composed of that 

 material. 



Having made these preliminary observations, we must next 

 examine more accurately the nature and proportions of the 

 saline contents to which we have attributed the absence of 

 fishes, and the usual inhabitants of deep water, from the 

 inland seas in question. 



Mr Monk, author of the Golden Horn, or Sketches in Asia 



