temperature of 32°. It falls for the most part in flakes of such density, that from 10 to 12 inches in depth of fresh-fallen snow produces water to the depth of an inch; but it is not always that snow assumes the form of flakes, it occasionally falls in clusters of small needles or spiculæ, sometimes broken in their descent into the finest possible fragments, while at other times it descends in minute and highly-crystallized stellar particles, designated by ancient writers as Polar snow, and generally supposed to be confined to the more northern latitudes: its density in this form is somewhat greater than in flakes, 8 inches of snow producing about an inch of water. The simple or elementary crystals of snow, formed at or near the freezing-point, bear considerable analogy to those on the surface of water already referred

to, but, unlike them, are in these latitudes invariably minute and rarely exceed 0.5 inch in diameter. Water crystallizes at an angle of 60 degrees in accordance with which law its figures are compounded of hexagons, and their component parts respectively arranged at an angle of 60°. The combinations so given rise according to our present infor

to may be considered, mation on the subject, illimitable, but always, however

complex, referable to one of two bases, viz., a plane hexagon, or a simple elementary star. Fig. 21, drawn as seen through a high-power Coddington lens, and compounded of solid hexagons, is selected as illustrative of the former class; and fig. 22, made up entirely of spiculæ, as illustrative of the latter. The great variety observable in the conformation of these bodies is remarkable, and adds not a little to the complexity

20. opFig. 22.

of the problem, respecting the conditions and circumstances attending their crystallization. They descend simultaneously in differently-progressive stages of development, and distinct classes, or rather distinct orders of crystals. Fig. 23 is illustrative of a crystal in an intermediate stage of formation. Fig. 24 is of a very high order, and fell on a day when the temperature differed very greatly from the average for the time

of year.

Fig. 23.

Fig. 24.

Unlike those of which I have been speaking, it was an almost imperceptible speck, and it was difficult to conceive how it could contain such an aggregation of solid figures. Some crystals are double, that

is, two similar crystals are united by an axis at right angles to the plane of each. Such is fig. 25, which is one of the most simple types I have been able to select. The manner of the subsidence of these bodies on first melt

ing, is a very important point of observation; if it proceed gradually, every line becomes relaxed, and bent inwards, and every angle blunted. Thus a figure laden with prisms upon the main arm will assume the appearance of fig. 26, which was drawn while melting, and to the eye of a casual observer, presents a very anomalous appearance. In the Report of the British Meteorological Society for 1855, I have treated at length on these interesting bodies, and have appended illustrations of more than 150 varieties; but the plan of the present work will not here permit me to enlarge on the subject further than to call attention to the manner of the crystallization of water, which as occurring on the surface of the earth, as falling in the familiar form of snow, or as deposited in the form of hoar frost-call into operation the same code of laws. In the case of snow, its crystallization is, I am convinced, intimately connected with the electrical and chemical condition of the air generally; and in this opinion I am confirmed both by Dr. Smallwood of Isle Jesus, Canada, and Sir Edward Belcher: the latter gentleman, in his work on the Arctic Seas, recently published, has devoted some pages to the subject, having, he observes, for many years regarded them with great interest, both in a mineralogical and chemical point of view, independently of their belonging to the ordinary range of meteorological inquiry. Sir Edward Belcher says, "three classes were

made by me, and termed :-
:-

1. "Stars and garters-from their resemblance to the order of knighthood and perfection of crystal, or such as might result from temporary currents of electricity suddenly forming and condensing vapour, as compared to fine, light, passing showers between bright gleams of sun. It will be understood that such light rain, which in other climes would not obscure the sun, would in the state of snow be more opaque.

*In the Art Journal' for the months of March and April 1857, is an article on the Application of Snow Crystals for the purpose of Design.

2. "Rain-heavy flocculent snow, cohering, and into which the travellers and sledge sank deeply, warning the intelligent officer that he had better pitch his tent, and reserve the strength of his crew for a period when search would be rational.

3. "Bad-omened-fine, spicular snow, the result of No. 1 broken by the wind into fine particles: this induced us to expect the sharp rain attended by wind of other climates, but did not hinder travel,—it was not so opaque as to impede vision.

"These remarks apply simply to the question of utility in such pursuits; and, as regards the terms selected by me, were adapted to the minds of those by whom I was surrounded, and who fully understood, in their own way, the full intent of the freemasonry which most leaders maintain with their followers."

JAMES GLAISHER.

A WINTER STORM.

NATURE! great parent! whose unceasing hand
Rolls round the seasons of the changeful year,
How mighty, how majestic, are thy works!
With what a pleasing dread they swell the soul!
That sees astonished! and astonished sings!
Ye too, ye winds! that now begin to blow,
With boisterous sweep, I raise my voice to you.
Where are your stores, ye powerful beings! say,
Where your aërial magazines reserved,
To swell the brooding terrors of the storm?
In what far distant region of the sky,
Hushed in deep silence, sleep ye when 'tis calm?
When from the pallid sky the sun descends,
With many a spot, that o'er his glaring orb
Uncertain wanders, stained; red fiery streaks
Begin to flush around. The reeling clouds
Stagger with dizzy poise, as doubting yet
Which master to obey: while rising slow,
Blank, in the leaden-coloured east, the moon
Wears a wan circle round her blunted horns.
Seen through the turbid fluctuating air,

The stars obtuse emit a shivered ray;

Or frequent seem to shoot athwart the gloom, And long behind them trail the whitening blaze. Snatch'd in short eddies, plays the withered leaf; And on the flood the dancing feather floats.

Ocean, unequal pressed, with broken tide
And blind commotion heaves; while from the shore,
Eat into caverns by the restless wave,

And forest-rustling mountains, comes a voice,
That solemn sounding bids the world prepare.
Then issues forth the storm with sudden burst,
And hurls the whole precipitated air,
Down, in a torrent. On the passive main
Descends th' ethereal force, and with strong gust
Turns from its bottom the discoloured deep.
Through the black night that sits immense around,
Lash'd into foam, the fierce conflicting brine
Seems o'er a thousand raging waves to burn:
Meantime the mountain-billows, to the clouds
In dreadful tumult swelled surge above surge,
Burst into chaos with tremendous roar,
And anchored navies from their stations drive,
Wild as the winds across the howling waste
Of mighty waters: now th' inflated wave
Straining they scale, and now impetuous shoot
Into the secret chambers of the deep,

The wintry Baltic thundering o'er their head.
Emerging thence again, before the breath
Of full-exerted heaven they wing their course,
And dart on distant coasts; if some sharp rock,
Or shoal insidious, break not their career,

And in loose fragments fling them floating round.
THOMSON'S SEASONS.