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Show SAHARA UNDER THE SEA. Facts That im to Point to Former Submergence of the Desert. "(Cleveland Plain Dealer.) M. Chevalier, known for his interesting, interest-ing, botanical , explorations in the French Soudan, has communicated to the French Academy of Sciences certain cer-tain curious facts which seem to point to the immersion of the Sahara in comparatively com-paratively recent geological times. There have been found iq the neighborhood neighbor-hood of Timbuctoo on the southern edge of the desert, the fossil remains of two marine forms of animals which are still living on the coast of Sene-gambia. Sene-gambia. The presence of a fossil sea urchin at Zau Saghair, discovered some time ago, is to be associated with these more recent finds of marine forms in the desert. This evidence is Important as a contribution to . the much disputed dis-puted question as to whether the Sa-haran Sa-haran lands were formerly under the waters of the Atlantic. ; The very strongest of testimony is accumulating in favor 'of the hypothe- sis of the former submergence of the Sahara. These facts are among the latest contributions to our knowledge i of the desert, which Is quite well known now when we compare with the present accumulation of facts the meager mea-ger information that was accessible only thirtj years ago. It will be remembered that about that time some Engli-shman proposed to dip- a canal on the northwest coast of Africa south of Morocco, to admit the waters of the Atlantic into the desert. It was argued that a great inland sea would thus be created In the desert and I that vessels from Europe and America might steam through this canal and toucn at ports along the rich western Soudan. Of course the project was ba?ed upon the notion that a large part of the Sahara lay below the level of the sea. But now we know that the mean elevation ele-vation of the Sahara is far above the sea level. It is supposed that the average aver-age height of the desert above the surface sur-face of the Atlantic Is about 1,500 feet. No part of the desert is known to lie below sea level, except, in certain limited lim-ited areas along its northern border and near the Nile. The lowest part of the region which it was proposed to submerge is in the district of El Juf, which is 500 fest-above sea level. No way is known at present of artificially Introducing the waters of the Atlantic into the Sahara, except to pump them in. If these facts had been known thirty thir-ty years airo we should have heard nothine of the ereat- nrn-W en mimVi exploited In the newspapers of that ! day of creating a large Inland sea in j Sahara. . |