THE OCEAN — A LECTUKE. 61 



and, as a natural consequence, these waters had become 

 very highly charged with saline matter, containing about 26 

 per cent., whereas the waters of the Atlantic contain only 

 about 4 per cent. 



Should the annual fall of rain, in that region, exceed the 

 evaporation, the area of the Dead Sea would be continually 

 increased and the saltness of the water decreased, until 

 finally they would become fresh and cover the whole of the 

 country now below the Atlantic surface. 



He stated that another example of a similar character 

 was found in our own country, in the case of the Great 

 Salt Lake. This extensive body of water is elevated about 

 twelve hundred feet above the Pacific — surrounded on all 

 sides by primitive mountains and having no outlet or 

 communication with the Ocean. It is fed by numerous 

 streams from the surrounding mountainous country, and 

 still the waters, in the dry season, contain saline properties 

 even to saturation, and is the strongest salt water known 

 upon the globe. The cause of this is the excess of evapor- 

 ation. 



The accompanying di- 

 agram shows the relative 

 situation of the Great 

 Salt Lake with the sur- '^^^^^ {^\ Y) )//^.^ ^-^ 



rounding country. a Pacmc ocean. B Salt Lake. 



The Desert of Sahara presents the phenomena of the 

 entire disappearance of an inland sea or lake, many parts 

 of its surface being actually below the Atlantic, but still 

 containing no water. 



On the other hand, should the quantity of rain in the 

 district of the great western lakes be, from any cause 

 diminished, so that the evaporation would exceed the sup- 

 ply, these vast bodies of fresh water would first become 

 salt, and then finally disappear, leaving their dry beds 

 many feet below the surface of the ocean. 



