“It has been found that the waters of rivers contain, besides matter which is in a state of mechanical suspension, carbonates of lime and magnesia, and saline ingredients in a state of solution; and as those lakes which have an outlet, such as the Sea of Galilee, part with their waters and saline ingredients as fast as they receive them, the waters of such lakes remain fresh. It is otherwise, however, with regard to lakes which have no outlet. In such cases the water is evaporated as fast as it is received; and as the vapour is in a condition of purity, the saline ingredients remain behind. Thus the waters of such a lake tend constantly to increase in saltness, until a state of saturation is attained, when the excess of salt is precipitated, and forms beds at the bottom of the lake. The contrast presented by the waters of the Sea of Galilee on the one hand, and those of the Dead Sea on the other, though both are fed by the same river, is a striking illustration of the effects resulting from opposite physical conditions. In the former case, the waters are fresh, and abound in fishes and molluscs; in the latter, they are so intensely salt that all animal life is absent. “The increase of saltness in the waters of the Dead Sea has probably been very slow, and dates back from its earliest condition, when its waters stretched for a distance of about 200 miles from north to south.... “The excessive salinity of the waters of the Dead Sea will be recognised from a comparison with those of the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, while the waters of the ocean give six pounds of salt, &c., in a hundred pounds of water, those of the Dead Sea give 24·57 pounds in the same quantity; but in both cases the degree of salinity varies with the depth, the waters at the surface being less saline than those near the bottom.... “_As to the depth of the waters_:--The floor of the Dead Sea has been sounded on two occasions: first, by the Expedition under Lieutenant Lynch in 1848, and secondly, by that under the Duc de Luynes. In the former case the maximum depth was found to be 1278 feet; in the latter 1217 feet, being close approximations to each other. We may therefore affirm that the floor of the lake descends to nearly as great a depth below its surface as the surface itself below the level of the Mediterranean Sea.