220 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. 



281.48 grains of the anhydrous l)iborato, equal to 535.08 of crys- 

 tallized borax to the gallon. The borax, being the least solu))le 

 substance contained in the water, has, in process of time, crystal- 

 lized out to a considerable extent, and now exists in the bottom 

 of the lake in the form of distinct crystals of all sizes, from micro- 

 scoj)ic dimensions up to two or three inches across. These crys- 

 tals form a layer immciliately imder the water, intermixed with 

 blue mud of varying thickness. It is believed by those who have 

 examined the bottom of this lake that several million pounds of 

 boi-ax may be obtained from it by means of movable cofi'er-dams, 

 at a moderate expense. 



According to the San Francisco papers, during the year 1865 

 this lake supplied the local demantl for borax to the amount of 

 thirty to forty tons, and aftbrded two hundred tons for shiiJinent to 

 New York. The I>orax is collected from the mud at the bottom 

 of the lake, during the dry season, the yield in 18G5 averaging 

 about two and one-half tons per day. The crude borax, thus ob- 

 tained, is so pure that the mint and assayers of the city use it ia 

 preference to the rc^fmed article brought from abroad. — American 

 Journal of Science, March, 18GG. 



