100 REPORT—1852. 
cent sepulchres, excavated in the mountain through which the culvert is cut. From 
their dimensions it is probable that they were of the Seleucidz, especially as the 
natives call them the ‘‘ Cave of the Despot.’”” They consist of two large chambers, 
ornamented with arches, pillars and sculptured scrolls, &c., containing two prin- 
cipal isolated tombs, with numerous Joculi in the walls and in the floor. All have 
been rifled and stripped of their ornaments. In the neighbourhood of the city are 
many sarcophagi, and some vaulted chambers in the face of the cliffs. 
In conclusion, it is hoped that this fine harbour may again become the outlet of 
the unrivalled fertility of the neighbouring countries, and be the fitting terminus to 
Col. Chesney’s projected communication with our possessions in the East Indies by 
the river Euphrates. 
On a Railroad through Asia Minor. By W.¥. Atysworta. 
The paper, after describing the route intended to be taken, and remarking on the 
engineering difficulties and facilities on the way, proposed to connect Constanti- 
nople with its Asiatic suburbs by means of a floating viaduct, or tunnel, such as 
they have in Wales at present. The author considered that, in the event of this 
great undertaking being attempted to be carried out, the better route through Asia 
Minor would be along the eoast of the Sea of Marmora, rather than, as some scien- 
tific gentlemen had recommended, through the mountains of the interior of Ana- 
tolia, which Mr. Ainsworth considers it would be next to impossible to surmount. 
The Turks, who just now are very much alive to the great importance of commerce, 
are engaged in opening a great commercial road from a port on the Black Sea to 
Sivaze, a town in the centre of Asia Minor; and Mr. Ainsworth considered that 
the completion of this undertaking would be one of the greatest inducements to the 
commencement of the projected railway. Throughout the land route, only in one 
instance was it necessary to allude to a tunnel, and that was where the Fawnes 
mountain crossed the route, and this, there was reason to hope, could be passed 
without atunnel. Taking the matter all in all, the author pronounced it difficult to 
imagine any country better adapted for colonization or improvement. At present, 
the country could not be said to be safe from the predatory Arabs, but the Turks 
and agricultural Arabs were well-disposed. ‘The road from London to Bombay is 
5500 miles; for 2600 miles of this distance there is already a railway, and works 
could be carried on cheaply in Asia Minor from the facility of procuring labour. The 
capital required he calculated at twenty-two millions. 

On the Distribution of Common Salt, and other Saline Bodies, with a view 
to show their Primary Origin and subsequent Formations. By WiLL1AM 
Botvaert, F.R.G.S. 
The attention of the author of this communication was first drawn to the subject 
whilst chemical assistant in the laboratory of the Royal Institution about 1824, and 
when in Peru shortly afterwards, the occurrence of so much salt from the level of the 
sea to great elevations in the Andes was noticed by him. Subsequently, being in the 
north part of Mexico, opportunities offered of making other researches. 
Mr. Bollaert, in a paper to the Royal Geographical Society in 1851, on “‘ Southern 
Peru,” in noticing the existence of salts bordering the Pacific Ocean, in the mountain- 
range of the coast, in the great plains beyond, as well as in the Andes, said that such 
a disposition of things would lead one to surmise, that the salt and other saline mat- 
ters may derive their origin from other sources than the ocean, viz. volcanic, and the 
decomposition of rocks. 
Dr. Daubeny was one of the first to draw attention to the fact, that salt and 
muriatic acid are among some of the most abundant compounds thrown out by vol- 
canos; and his researches fortified Mr. Bollaert’s opinion, formed in Peru in 1826, 
that the greater part of salt found from the Andes to the coast may claim a direct 
volcanic origin. 
With reference to the author’s own observations made in Peru and other places, 
as well as those of others in various parts of the world, and omitting here geogra- 
phical, geological, chemical, climatalogical and other details, he offers the following 
