328 ORIGINAL SALTNESS OF 



pyrites. In others they are penetrated by the petroleum 

 called Seneca-oil. 



On viewing these productions, the mind endeavours 

 to fix that unascertained time when the oceanic water of 

 the primitive globe rolled over this region ; how the dams 

 and barriers which restrained the floods gave way and 

 laid bare the land ; and wherefore the receptacles of water 

 were shrunk and narrowed to their present size. The 

 saline waters were thus collected into lakes, and pools, 

 diversifying the interior regions of this continent with 

 a remarkable mixture of land and water. 



It may be rationally concluded that the internal seas, 

 now called lakes, were originally filled with salt wa- 

 ter. Their present freshness is the consequence of 

 the dilution they have gradually undergone, changing 

 them from briny to fresh water. 



To understand this subject, let Ontario, Erie, Huron, 

 Michigan, and their dependencies, with the upper lakes, be 

 compared with the collections of salt water in the other 

 parts of the world. 



The Caspian is naturally salt, and retains that quality 

 because there is no outlet. The waters it receives by the 

 rivers and rains are so nearly balanced by that which 

 goes off by evaporation, that this grand reservoir has 

 never burst its boundary. 







The like observation applies to the Dead Sea in Syria. 

 The exhalation from its surface seems to be supplied from 

 the influx of the Jordan ; and there has been no sufficient 

 accumulation to force a passage out. 



