A BOILING LAKE.
There is a lake of boiling water in the Island of Dominica, lying in the mountains behind Roseau, and in the valleys surrounding it are many solfataras, or volcanic sulphur vents. In fact, the boiling lake is little better than a crater filled with scalding water, constantly fed by mountain streams, and through which the pent-up gases find vent and are ejected. The temperature of the water on the margins of the lake ranges from 180° to 190° Fahrenheit; in the middle, exactly over the gas vents, it is believed to be about 300°. Where this active action takes place the water is said to rise two, three, or even four feet above the general surface level of the lake, the cone often dividing so that the orifices through which the gas escapes are legion in number. This violent disturbance over the gas jets causes a violent action over the whole surface of the lake, and, though the cones appear to be special vents, the sulphurous vapors rise with equal density over its entire surface. Contrary to what one would naturally suppose, there seems to be in no case violent action of the escaping gases, such as explosions or detonations. The water is of dark gray color, and having been boiled over and over for thousands of years, has become thick and slimy with sulphur. As the inlets to the lake are rapidly closing, it is believed that it will soon assume the character of a geyser or sulphurous crater.—St. Louis Republic.