3°4 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



In regard to the apparently imitative 

 work of the frost : Hoarfrost, in com- 

 mon with other water crystals, has a 

 habit (we know not why any more 

 than we know why one tree grows one 

 way and another a different way) of 

 crystallizing in a manner that resem- 

 bles natural objects, such as trees, leaves, 

 ferns, stars, etc. The designs are not 

 influenced by objects near them nor, 

 in the case of window hoarfrost, by ex- 

 ternal objects. The temperature, the 

 humidity, the nature of the surface 

 upon which they form and the play of 

 the mysterious electromagnetic forces 

 determine their forms. We may be sure 

 also that the size of the particles of 

 water vapor in the air has something 

 to do with form determination ; i.e., if 

 they are of truly molecular dimensions 

 (too small for the most powerful micro- 

 scope to reveal) the crystals will be 

 ivhollx crystalline in nature and form, 

 fashioned rigidly according to the rule 

 of six, according to their crystalline 

 habit of growth and formation, and will 

 have well defined axes, facets, lines, 

 etc., such as true crystals have. But 

 in the case of hoarfrost on windows 

 and of window ice formation, doubtless 

 a large number of the water particles in 

 the air that form them are larger than 

 true water molecules, consisting in part 

 of groups of water molecules and par- 

 ticles of water of various (though of 

 course extremely minute) dimensions, 

 and hence not completely under crystal- 

 line laws. Water forms composed in 

 part of these vapor particles larger 

 than molecular water particles have a 

 much greater latitude of formation, 

 and we find them assuming the grace- 

 ful curving forms and the various 

 shapes not possible for wholly true crys- 

 tals to take. The forms of window frost 

 (?) that your correspondent mentions 

 were probably not frost forms at all, but 

 window ice crystals. Window ice forms 

 always on wet windowpanes, frost only 

 on dry windowpanes. Practically all the 

 large so-called window frost designs are 

 window ice crystallizations. Window ice 

 assumes many graceful, curving, leaf- 

 like, vine-like and other similar designs. 

 — W. A. Bentley. 



The Ambergris King. 



Ever hear of an 

 ambergris king? 

 Probably not; 

 for there is only 

 one in the world 

 —and here he is. 

 Only a ton and a 

 half of ambergris 

 has been offered 

 for sale in the 

 history of the 

 world ; and of 

 that quantity the 

 "king" has hand- 

 led more than 

 half. 



Skunks bathe frequently, but will 

 not swim unless forced into deep water. 



Photograph from 

 G. A. Walton. 



Down in the quaint old town of 

 Provincetown, Massachusetts, at the 

 head of a wharf in Commercial Street, 

 is an unpretentious little building that 

 is anything but attractive to one who 

 comes to look for places of historic in- 

 terest ; yet it contains the throne of one 

 of the most interesting men in the coun- 

 try — that of David C. Stull, known as 

 "the Ambergris King." 



A ton of ambergris, at prices that 

 have been paid there for it, would bring 

 $92,000, or twice the amount that a ton 

 of gold would produce. And, of the 

 ton and a half of ambergris known to 

 have been offered for sale in the history 

 of the world, Mr. Stull, as agent for a 

 famous firm of French perfumers, has 

 handled more than half. 



There is a never-ceasing cry for more 

 of this substance from across the water, 

 and it is a known fact that nothing in- 

 vented as yet by man's fertile brain will 

 in the least compare to ambergris as a 

 base in the manufacture of choice per- 

 fumes. Dissolved in alcohol, it holds in 

 solution the various oils and essences 

 that compose the scents dear to the 

 feminine heart. 



The ambergris comes from a whale 

 that has been careless about his diet, 

 according to scientists. It is said that 

 when he eats more squid and cuttlefish 

 than is good for him he is attacked by 

 this peculiar kind of mal-de-mar. These 

 marine dainties have long, hard, and 



