I. C. Russell—The Jordan-Arabah and the Dead Sea. 341 
of unusual interest inscribed on its walls, much of which is written 
in such bold characters that he who runs may read. 
Before considering the facts that are available in reference to the 
former climatic condition of Palestine, and the deductions which 
lecitimately flow from them, let us glance briefly at the nature of 
the records to be looked for, in order to interpret the lacustrine 
history of an inclosed drainage area of the nature of the Dead 
Sea basin. 
Lacustrine Records. 
Sea-Crirrs.—Waves breaking along a shore tend to undercut 
it and allow the material forming the land to fall from above. This 
process, as may be seen on every shore, produces a slope, more 
or less abrupt, which is termed a sea-cliff. The steepness of such 
slopes depends on the rate of cutting and on the nature of the 
material removed. When the work of the waves is rapid, and the 
shores are formed of material having a high angle of stability, 
perpendicular, or even over-hanging cliffs are produced. When the 
wave erosion at the base is less rapid than the atmospheric erosion 
at the top of a cliff, the slope is less abrupt. The height of cliffs 
produced in this manner varies from a few feet, or even a few inches, 
up to many hundred feet. Their bases are horizontal, and at the 
water line the rock is frequently eaten away irregularly, so as 
to form caves. 
Trrraces.—Waves and currents in cutting away the shores which 
confine them, remove the material brought within their reach, and 
as their work progresses landward, form a horizontal shelf or terrace. 
Such a terrace is bordered on the landward side by a sea-cliff which 
rises above it, and on the lakeward side by a downward slope, which 
is usually covered to some extent with debris, derived from the 
formation of the terrace itself. Terraces of this description are 
horizontal along the line where the shelf joins the sea-cliff, and slope 
from this line gently lakeward. When seen in profile, they appear 
as a notch more or less strongly defined on the slope confining the 
lake. 
Terraces frequently occur at many horizons on the shores of 
inclosed basins; their relative strength, other things being equal, 
being determined by the length of time the water lingered at each 
horizon. When the waters of a lake are withdrawn or greatly 
lowered, the records of their former levels appear from a distance 
especially when the shores are steep, as horizontal parallel lines, 
drawn on the borders of the basin. These lines follow all the 
irregularities and sinuosities of the shore, and are usually strongest 
and best defined on promontories and on coasts facing a broad water 
area. At the heads of sheltered bays, even in the case of lakes of 
great size, both terraces and sea cliffs are sometimes absent. 
A terrace of excavation, the formation of which we have just 
described, marks definitely the outline of the water surface to which 
it owes its origin. By following such a terrace one can ascertain 
if it was ever broken by a channel of overflow, and thus in the case 
of a desiccated lake basin, determine one of the most important points 
