12 BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



this mother liquor the greater proportion of chloride 

 of magnesium (65$ of the salt contents and this 25$ of 

 the water) indicates that a great deal of chloride of 

 sodium has already separated from it. Inasmuch as this 

 sea has inlets and no outlets, the water brought in can 

 only escape by evaporation and consequently leaves its 

 salt behind it. The Jordan, the principal river which flows 

 into the Dead Sea, is extraordinarily rich in dissolved con- 

 stituents, and especially in chloride of sodium and chlo- 

 ride of magnesium of which it contains in 100,000 parts 52 

 parts of the former and 30 parts of the latter and with 

 which it increases the saline contents of the sea. From 

 this, rock-salt first separates, while chloride of potassium 

 and chloride of magnesium remain behind ; but water loses 

 its capacity for dissolving rock-salt in proportion as its con- 

 tents of chloride of magnesium increase, consequently the 

 deposition of rock-salt goes on continuously as a result of 

 the present composition of the waters of the Dead Sea, for 

 this salt is brought in continuously by the Jordan and the 

 other tributaries, but the amount of chloride of sodium re- 

 maining in solution is only from 8.41$ to 15.95$. We see 

 consequently in the Dead Sea a continual deposition of rock- 

 salt, caused by the introduction of salt by rivers and the 

 evaporation of water from its surface, and at the same time 

 the presence of a mother liquor which at a depth of 600 

 feet contains in 1000 parts, 253 parts of dissolved salts 

 consisting of 



Chloride of Sodium 25.2 % 



Chloride of Magnesium 64-75 



Chloride of Potassium 3.4 



Chloride of Lime 4.3 



Bromide of Magnesium 2 . 



Sulphate of Lime .3 



99-95 



From the final drying up of this liquor by a possible cut- 

 ting off of all tributary streams a deposit of salt would 

 result consisting essentially of chloride of magnesium and. 



