GEOLOGY. 267 



demand of a larger population. It was, therefore, proved that the 

 depreciation in the value of gold could not as yet have been very 

 marked, since it was not evidenced by a decided effect on general 

 prices. From this negative result a most important conclusion could, 

 however, be deduced, for it was evident if the large supplies of gold 

 had not depreciated the value of this metal, that then its value must 

 have been greatly and rapidly augmented if these supplies had not 

 been forthcoming. The great increase in British trade and commerce 

 since 1849 showed how largely the wealth of the country had been 

 augmented, and if, therefore, more gold had not been forthcoming, a 

 great and sudden rise must inevitably have occurred. The conse- 

 quences of this must have been most disastrous, for the terms of every 

 money-contract would be changed. Mr. Fawcett then said the East 

 had really absorbed the greater portion of the additional gold which 

 had been produced. British exports both from India and China had 

 enormously increased ; large amounts of capital had been sent from 

 Great Britain to India for the purpose of carrying out public works, 

 but British imports from those countries, especially China, showed no 

 corresponding increase. The consequence of this was that the bal- 

 ance of trade was so largely against Great Britain that an amount 

 of specie varying from 10,000,000 to 14,000,000 had for some 

 years been annually exported to the East. The principal portion of 

 this specie had been silver, and the silver had been to a great extent 

 supplied from the currencies of France and other countries. Gold 

 had taken the place of this silver, and therefore the East had caused 

 a large portion of the additional gold to be absorbed. No one could 

 confidently predict how long Eastern trade might continue as it is 

 now. The Chinese might some day prefer to import manufactured 

 goods instead of being paid by us in specie. If such a change oc- 

 curred, the export of specie to the East would cease, and then, no 

 doubt, such an amount of gold as we had been obtaining from Cali- 

 fornia and Australia could not be absorbed in Europe without a depre- 

 ciation in its value. Mr. Fawcett, therefore, concluded that, although 

 the balance of evidence was, on the whole, in favor of the opinion 

 that the value of gold would not for a long time be depreciated, yet 

 such a depreciation might very possibly occur, and therefore prudence 

 would dictate that it should, as far as possible, be considered in making 

 any permanent arrangements which involve fixed money payments. 



THE SALT SPRINGS OF MICHIGAN. 



On the 20th of June, 1797, the first leases were granted for the 

 manufacture of salt at the Onondaga Springs, in New York, and since 

 that time, and to the close of the year 1860, 130,737,157 bushels had 

 been produced. "Within a few years past a new and powerful rival 

 to this, as it were, monopoly of production, has been created by the 

 discovery of the existence of extensive saliferous rocks in Michigan, 

 a discovery mainly due to the labors of Prof. Winchel, the State Ge- 

 ologist. In regard to the origin and position of these deposits, Prof. 

 W., in a recent communication to Silliman's Journal, says : 



The perfectly dish-shaped conformation of the strata of the lower 

 peninsula of Michigan has prevented the escape to the sea of such 



