CHAPTER XII. 



WHAT TO DO IN WINTER. WORK FOR THE CITY. 



No question has been more frequently repeated 

 than " What can be done in the Winter ? ' 



First of all may be mentioned the study of minerals. 

 What can be more delightful than to analyze with 

 blowpipe and test-tube the specimens gathered from 

 cliff and quarry during the open months. Directions 

 for this work are to be found in any of the manuals 

 referred to in the list of books, which is given on an- 

 other page. 



Chemistry is another science which can be pursued 

 in winter as well as summer, and as it lies at the base of 

 nearly all the other natural sciences, students in other 

 departments may well devote the time when they are 

 debarred by weather from outdoor work to its culti- 

 vation. In fact, however, there is hardly a branch of 

 natural history that cannot be followed even out-of- 

 doors for many days of every month in the year. 



One of the things which those who live in cities 

 can do, is to make drawings of snow-crystals, to ex- 

 change for specimens more easily found in the coun- 

 try. Catch the crystals, as they fall, on a dark 

 cloth. Look at them through a magnifying-glass, 

 if you have one, and draw as well as you can from 

 memory. Photograph them if possible. 



The drawings should be made of a uniform diam- 

 eter of half an inch. Six drawings may be made 

 nicely on a card as large as a postal-card. For con- 

 venience in exchanging, we all may make them of 

 the same size and arrange them in the same way, as 

 follows : 



