Water of the Dead Sea. 319 



Minor, gives a very interesting description of his tour round 

 certain portions of the Dead Sea ; and we are indebted to his 

 exertions for an analysis of its water, a specimen of which 

 he brought to Mr Herapath, who found in it rather more 

 than 24 per cent, of saline matter, consisting of chlorides of 

 potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and manganese, 

 with bromide of magnesium.* This high saline impregna- 

 tion alone, is quite sufficient to account for the absence of 

 both vegetable and animal life, even on the supposition that 

 none of the salts are actually poisonous to either, except 

 when present in very large proportions, a supposition which 

 however is not warranted, as one of them, the bromide of 

 magnesium, is detrimental to animal life. 



We owe to Fremont the only analysis of the water of the 

 Great Salt Lake I have been able to obtain, and which, 

 although rough, is quite sufficient for our purposes. He 

 obtained from 40 pints of the water 14 pints of solid saline 

 residuum, i. e., more than a third by weight of salts ! Fremont 

 says, that subsequent and more accurate analysis detected in 

 this residuum, chlorides of sodium, calcium, and magnesium, 

 together with sulphates of soda and lime. Now, as the 

 Great Salt Lake contains no fishes or other animals, and in 

 this respect agrees with the Dead Sea, may we not, or rather 

 must we not, attribute so striking a concidence to the saline 

 properties of their waters ? 



It is plain that fishes of the ordinary specific gravity could 

 not swim at any depth in such a medium, for its greater 

 buoyancy would tend powerfully to bring them to the surface. 

 This quality of the water would of itself render it unfavour- 

 able to such animals, but it is probable that the chief obstacle 

 to their living in it is to be found in the immense proportion 

 of salts present, by which it is rendered unfit for the purposes 

 of respiration and nutrition. 



It is true that some crustaceous and other animals of a 

 still lower grade have been found in the strong brines of 

 salt mines ; and it is by no means proved that such do not 



* Vide Herapath and Thornton, in No. viii. of Quarterly Journal of the 

 Chemical Society of London, for January 1850 ; also Edin. New Phil. Journal, 

 vol. xlviii., p. 313. 



