BAILEY. | Mineral Waters. 37 
In consequence of this order of deposition, we should expect 
to find these minerals in the reversed order as we dig down 
into a deposit. The higher salts in the series will be less 
abundant and less likely to occur. If one of the upper groups 
is met with we should expect to find the other groups below it. 
It is remarkable that the strata of the Stassfurt (Prussia) beds 
show the deposition in the order named, and above the mag- 
nesium chlorid is a deposit of boric acid with the magnesium. 
A study of the ultimate mother-liquor of the water of the salt 
marshes of the south of France also shows considerable boric 
acid to be present. | 
In the Rhone delta, where there is communication between 
the sea and an inland lake, and where the loss of water by 
evaporation is made up by more water from the sea, it is noticed 
that it continues to deposit gypsum at the present time. Another 
good illustration of the way in which deposition is going on is 
seen in the Gulf of Karabogaz, on the east side of the Caspian 
sea, and communicating with it by means of a shallow channel. 
As there is constant and rapid evaporation in the gulf and no 
fresh water is coming in, but there is a constant inflow of wa- 
ter from the sea, the result is a continuous and increasing de- 
posit of gypsum. If the supply of water is at any time shut 
off suddenly we shall have a deposit of a series of salts noted 
above. 
If such is the true theory of the origin of the saline deposits, 
the saline waters which are so common in many localities, and 
are especially common in this western Mississippi basin, are the 
result of the evaporation of the waters originally constituting 
the primeval ocean. 
THE INFLUENCE OF HEATED WATER. 
Too much value can with difficulty be given to the influence 
of water, especially of hot water, in the formation of the crust 
of the earth. We know that under pressure water will pene- 
trate into rocks that have all the appearance of being solid. 
The artificial coloring of agates by the use of dyes is a good il- 
lustration of what is frequently done in the application of this 
