392 
grass, which is fed upon by the cattle which are driven across 
the continent to the coast. With the exception of these spots, 
the country between the above-named towns, and extending 
many leagues to the north and south, is a dreary desert, covered 
with a low growth of thorn bushes and a few species of gnarled 
trees, some of which bear pods. 
his substance penetrates the earth from a few inches to 4 
couple of feet. It is particularly abundant at certain places east 
of the town of San Juan, where the ground is covered with a 
thin incrustation. It is here exceedingly painful to the eyes 
from the reflection of the sun’s rays, and the inhabitants are 
constantly affected with inflammation of the eyes. 
he method of treating the soil by the natives is very simple. 
The water is conducted from the rivers Mendoza and San Juan 
(which take their rise in the Cordillera) through a sequia or 
- canal, around squares of level land, at irregular intervals of 
time, and, to use their own expression, they wash off the salitre. 
Then a plough, constructed of two pieces of wood, is brought 
into service, and turns up from six to eight inches of the soil, 
which goes through the same washing process as the "fime 
After two or three repetitions of this operation, a shallow soil 
is obtained, partially free from salitre, in which wheat, clover, 
pumpkins, melons, ete., are raised. The remaining salitre, i 
cording to the belief of the natives, is exhausted by successive .— 
crops, and after several years of tillage, the soil is suitable ied 
the vine. Oranges, peaches, quinces, olives, figs, etc flourish. 
Within à few years, large tracts of land have been made exceed- 
ingly fertile by the process above described, and could the New 
England plough be introduced there, the process would be far 
more valuable. 
Dr. A. A. Hayes, communicated the following as 
results of his analysis of the saline mineral, presen 
by Mr. Bishop : — ; 
the 
ted 
* . The specimen was a white, crystalline solid, formed by he ae 
__ of a saline solution, when the pellicle formed on the surface falis 
to the bottom m. Along the line of junction, crystal Sea E 
. Union of two layers of salt, as often results the evaporation 
