Regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is not sufficient to say briefly that it was a miracle, and assume that no further explanation can be given. A rain of brimstone and fire is spoken of, and it is legitimate to look for the source of it. With the instance of Pompeii in our minds it is natural to suggest volcanic agency, especially as the region north-east of the Dead Sea affords evidence of volcanic action. But Sir J. W. Dawson (a well-known American geologist), in his volume on “Egypt and Syria,” ingeniously argues for a petroleum explosion. The “slime pits” spoken of as abounding in the Vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 10), he regards as petroleum wells, and then traces a parallel as follows:--“Regions of bitumen, like that of the Dead Sea, are liable to eruptions of a most destructive character. Of these we have had examples in the oil regions of America. In a narrative of one of these now before me, and which occurred a few years ago, in the oil district of Petrolia, in Canada, I read that a borehole struck a reservoir of gas, which rushed upward with explosive force, carrying before it a large quantity of petroleum. The gas almost immediately took fire, and formed a tall column of flame, while the burning petroleum spread over the ground and ignited tanks of the substance in the vicinity. In this way a space of about fifteen acres was enveloped in fire, a village was burned, and several persons lost their lives. The air flowing toward the eruption caused a whirlwind, which carried the dense smoke high into the air, and threw down burning bitumen all round. “Now, if we suppose that at the time referred to, accumulations of inflammable gas and petroleum existed below the Plain of Siddim, the escape of these through the opening of a fissure along the old line of fault might produce the effects described--namely, a pillar of smoke rising up to heaven, burning bitumen and sulphur raining on the doomed cities, and fire spreading over the ground. The attendant phenomenon of the evolution of saline waters, implied in the destruction of Lot’s wife, would be a natural accompaniment, as water is always discharged in such eruptions; and in this case it would be a brine thick with mud, and fitted to encrust and cover any object reached by it.”