WHY SOME LAKES ARE SALT. By all Nantffrancon's Beavers By Carnarvon's Eagled tower, And the monster head of Orme; Were half as good as thou, Intends henceforth to lick WHY SOME LAKES ARE SALT. It is probable, says a writer in the Popular Science Monthly, that when the continents were raised from the sea, the lake basins had been already formed, and came up, therefore, brimful of water. In the northern and eastern part of the continent, where the supply from rain and snow fall exceeds the loss by evaporation, the salt, being continuously carried away thro' their outlets, has become so diluted as to become an imperceptible quantity. In arid regions, as the Pacific slope and the country about the Caspian, where the evaporation was in excess of the supply, the water level of the lakes continuously sank until, on account of the diminished extent of the surface, the equilibrium of loss and gain was attained. Hence the exceeding saltness of Great Salt lake, the Dead sea, etc. For a like 189 reason the water of the Mediterranean contains more salt relatively than that of the ocean. Evaporation exceeding the supplies from the rivers and rainfall, it requires a constant current through the Strait of Gibraltar. The same is true of the Red sea, causing a like current through the Strait of Babel-Mandeb. Other salt or brackish lakes probably owe their saltness to the supplies from the land. Water being the most general of all solvents, the rains gather up the chloride of sodium from the soils and the disintegrating rocks, and where the streams fall into lakes whose only outlet is evaporation, the land itself must be a constant source of saline supply, and their waters must become more and more salt, until their capacity as a solvent has been reached. The Utah basin must once have been filled to its brim with ocean water. The outlet has been evaporation. The lake, receding to its present level, has left many evidences of its former extent. HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. Daniel Webser was present one day at a dinner party given at Astor House by some New York friends, and in order to draw him out, one of the company put to him the following question: "Would you please tell us, Mr. Webster, what was the most important thought that ever occupied your mind?" Mr. Webster merely raised his head, and passing his hand slowly over his forehead, said: "Is there anyone here who does'nt know me?" "No, sir!" was the reply; "we all know you, and are your friends." "Then," said he, looking over the table, "the most important thought that ever occupied my mind, was that of my individual responsibility to God," upon which subject he then spoke for twenty minutes. Editorial Notes and Comments. THE CAMBRIAN. PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN UTICA, N. Y. Price, $1.25 a Year; clubs of ten, $1.00 each IN ADVANCE. E. C. EVANS..EDITOR AND PUBLISHER LITERARY NOTES. Professor Rhys's "Lectures on the Origin and growth of Religion, as illustrated by Celtic Heathendom," are hailed with great satisfaction. These were delivered for the Hibbard Trust in 1886, and are now published by Messrs. Williams & Morgate. Prof. Rhys, with characteristic modesty, pleads as an excuse for the delay in the appearance of the work "ignorance as to the magnitude of the task he was undertaking." His explorations led to his finding a vast quantity of material as yet undigested. This was all the more wonderful as many of Prof. Rhys's friends wondered what in the world he would find to occupy half a dozen lectures. As a matter of fact, he states that the slowness of his progress was aggravated by an embarras de richesse. The history of religion has never before been comprehensively studied from the Celtic point of view. It is satisfactory to know that Prof. Rhys proposes to further utilise the material at his disposal, for he hopes soon to publish a volume on the Arthurian Legend, and contemplates devoting a separate volume some day to the Dark Divinities of the Celts. The lectures contained in the present volume deal with the Gaulish Phantheon, the Zeus of the Insular Celts, the Culture Hero, the Sun Hero, and Celtic Gods and De mons. "CYMRIC COURTSHIP" is the heading of an article in All the Year Round for February. PERSONAL NOTES. And REV. W. D. WILLIAMS, D.D., formerly of Essex Junction, Vt., has been called to take charge of the Congregational Church at Tulare, Cal. an installation meeting was held in connection with the annual services of the San Joaquin Valley Association which met at Tulare April 24th and 25th. The following hymn, composed for the occasion by Mr. Williams, was sung by the congregation: Jesus, in whom we trust, Come Thou and guide our ways, Accept the vow we make, Before the people now; Our mutual efforts aid, And all our prayers bless; Blest Comforter descend With mercy from above, THE REV. HERBERT EVANS, D. D., Ir is stated in Mr. Darwin's "Life,' that his earliest recollection was of sea-bathing at Abergele. Monthly Meeting at Wrexham that It was announced at the Flintshire Mr. G. W. Taylor, Ex-mayor of Prahran, South Australia, had promised $5,000 to the United Colleges of Bala and Trevecca as soon as the union was effected. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. Or the celebration of the twentyfifth anniversary of Rev. Ll. J. Evans, D.D., as Professor in Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, we are glad to quote the following: With the close of the session, Professor Ll. J. Evans completed twenty-five years of work as teacher in Lane Theological Seminary. He began his labors as instructor as the colleague of Drs. Henry Smith, Allen and Day. He was Professor of Church History from 1863 to 1867, when he was transferred to the Chair of Biblical Literature. This chair he filled untill 1870, when it was divided, Dr. Evans retaining Old Testament Literature. In 1875 he was transferred to the Department of New Testament Literature, which is still, and, we hope, will for many years continue to be in his charge. He ha supplied during vacancies, many of the pulpits of Cincinnati, always delighting and instructing the congregations. Whenever he has written for the press, he has written with such exceptional learning, grace and force, as to excite regret that he would not write oftener. Our acquaintance with the language of Paradise, which still survives in vives in the principality that bounds England on the west, is too limited to justify us in expressing confidently any opinion of our own, as to the value of his contributions to the literature of his mother tongue; but Welshmen, East and West, have often, in our hearing, referred to him as among the most eminent of the Welsh litterateurs in America. All who have had the privilege of hearing his English in the pulpit or the lectureroom, have been charmed by his rare felicity of speech; and they have easily believed that the same felicity has marked his speech and the products of his pen in the Welsh language. en It is probably due, partly at least, to his literary tastes and culture, that Prof. Evans has devoted himself, not indeed exclusively, but for the most part, to exegesis, rather than to textual and historical criticism. He has studied with great earnestness and enthusiasm the words of the word of God, and has made himsetf a master in interpretation. And as an illustration of his striking ability and special learning applied to other departments of biblical study, let him turn to the commentary on Job in the English Lange series, and read his remarkable essay on the authorship of that great poem. A teacher who can secure the personal affection as well as the respect and admiration of his students, may well be congratulated. And in this respect Prof. Evans has been as 191 fortunate as in all others. His classes have loved him deeply, as well as honored him highly. The occasion was pleasantly and appropriately emphasized, first by the presentation to him of a gold watch and chain by the students, and secondly by handing to him a cheque for several hundred dollars, the gift of personal friends, which they asked him to use during his well-earned vacation trip to Europe. A large basket of beautiful and fragrant flowers was also presented to Mrs. Evans on behalf of the ladies. Prof. Evans was thoroughly surprised by both; but rallied in a moment, and on each occasion responded in a bright and touching speech. Dr. and Mrs. Evans intend spending their summer vacation in Europe, and to the good wishes and benedictions of the sons of Lane and his nu- . merous American friends, we heartily add those of his Welsh-American friends throughout the country, that they may return safely with renewed health and vigor. IN visiting Wales, I found the country pre-eminent in its attention to Sabbath schools. All the people, old and young, go to the school, stay in it, study the Bible in it, and die in it, and go to heaven from it.-Rev. John Hall, D. D. LIMA, O., April 21, 1888. To the Editor of the Cambrian: At a meeting held by "Cymdeithas y Cymreigyddion, Lima, O.," April 13, 1888, the Secretary was instructed to send a copy of the following resolutions to the CAMBRIAN and other periodicals for which the venerable bard and poet, Josiah Brynmair, Gomer, O., used to be contributor. CERNYW J. JONES, Sec'y. RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT. Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to remove, by death, the venerable Christian bard and poet, Josiah Brynmair; and Whereas, It is but just that we should recognize his many virtues; therefore be it Resolved, That in the death of Josiah Jones, this organization has sustained a deeply felt loss, inasmuch as the heart and We quote the following in illustration of the old English method of dealing with the Welsh language. And with the names changed we might fancy it was taken from the archives of an English Tory Government a hundred and fifty years ago. 16mo. 16mo. NEW BOOKS. Hints to Young Men BY REV. J. LEYBURN, D. D. Little Neighbors at Elmridge 16mo. The president has written a letter, in response to a resolution adopted at a session of the Philadelphia annual conference of the Methodist Episco- 16mo. pal church, March 20, 1888, protesting against the exclusion of the native language in the education of the Indians. The president says: "Nothing can be more consistent than to insist upon the teaching of English in our Indian schools. It will not do to permit these wards of the nation, in their preparation to become their own masters, to indulge in their barbarous language, because it is easier for them, or because it pleases them. The action of the conference, therefore, surprises me, if by it they meant to protest against such exclusion as is prescribed in the order of the Indian bureau. It will be observed that 'text books in the vernacular' are what are prohibited, and that oral instruction' and the entire curriculum' must be in English. 6 16mo. 16mo. JOHN A. BLACK, Bus. Supt., 1334 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa., Or any of the Depositories or Booksellers representing the Board. |