THE CAMERA 



293 



the Eastman plate tank with a twenty 

 minute developer, made the negative 

 on a Cramer crown plate which is as 

 fast as a Seed 30, and the print on 

 professional soft Cyko paper, g'lossy 

 finish. I dropped the lace curtains be- 

 hind the plant before making the ex- 

 posure, which, in my estimation, gives 

 the picture a pleasing background. 



I trust that this information about 

 photographing flowers may be helpful 

 to some of your readers. 



Very truly your, 



Harry F. Beaxciiard. 



Mr. Blanchard desires to correspond 

 with any of our photographers who 

 have photographs to sell — especially 

 of odd things or life in the country. — 



'Ed. 



The Treasures of the Snow. 



BY Till-: RKVEREXn MAXLEY B. TOWNSEND, 

 NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



In the book of Job occurs the query, 

 "Hast thou entered into the treasures 

 of the snow? 1 " The treasures of the 

 snow! What riches of hidden treasure 

 can be revealed to us by the cold, 

 white frozen vapor that we call snow? 

 The author of Job found beauty, poetry 

 and lessons of transcendent value in 

 the snow. He was right. Even in so 

 common a thing as the snow on the 



ground we may find marvels to excite 

 our keenest admiration, and lessons 

 to incite us to high and noble reflec- 

 tions. 



Did you ever examine a flake of snow- 

 under a microscope? What a revela- 

 tion of beauty! What a marvel of 

 symmetry and grace ! Not every flake 

 will be suitable for the purpose, for the 

 greater number become damaged in 

 their fall. But there are always plenty 

 left, some of them marvelously perfect. 

 Perhaps your most wonderful dis- 

 covery will be that no two snowflakes 

 are exactly alike. They present an in- 

 finite variety of geometrical designs, 

 always hexagonal in form. Always 

 they have six sides in the tabular forms 

 and six points in all others. What a 

 marvel ! Always hexagonal in form, 

 yet no two ever alike ! Evidently there 

 is here at work some constant law that 

 we do not understand, a law that gives 

 eternal unity in endless variety. 



Tyndall called snowflakes "frost- 

 flowers." In fact, a study of snow cry- 

 stals is a direct road to fairyland. To 

 stick a student a winter storm is no 

 gloom}- thing to be dreaded, but a 

 source of inspiration and joy. Even a 

 blizzard becomes a source of keenest 

 enjoyment, for it brings to him from the 

 surging ocean of clouds, forms that 

 thrill his eager soul with pleasure. It 



