The Mighty Deep 



kept on purely farinaceous fare, they broke 

 down. 



Where all the salt in the Ocean comes from, 

 is a complex question. Large supplies are 

 brought down annually by rivers and streams, 

 from various minerals in their beds, as well as 

 from rock-salt regions. But if we ask, "How 

 comes the rock-salt to be there ? " we are told 

 that it is a deposit, once formed beneath ocean- 

 waters, or at least left by the drying up of salt 

 lakes and seas. A proof of the latter theory is 

 found in multitudes of sea-shells, often distributed 

 through layers of rock-salt. 



If much sea-salt came originally from rock- 

 salt on land, and if rock-salt came originally 

 from ocean-deposits, we are led into a curious 

 circle of cause and effect — not unlike that of oak 

 and acorn, or of hen and egg, with the attendant 

 puzzle of — Which first? It is a query which we 

 are not able to answer. 



In former days the salt used for household and 

 mercantile purposes was almost entirely prepared 

 by the evaporation of sea-water. We no longer 

 depend on this, however ; and in England the 

 sea-salt trade has gone down greatly before that 

 of rock-salt, which is found to be the better for 

 table use. It has not the same tendency to 



