54 Mr Shuttlefworth en the Colouring Matter 



aids to that of pathology ; and the unexpectedness of some of 

 the results is the best augury of what may be looked for in fu- 

 ture, from the enlarging scope of the inquiry, and the new in- 

 struments and means with which it is pursued. 



Upon, the Colouring Matter of Bed Snow. By R. J. Shuttle- 

 worth, Esq.* (With a Coloured Plate.) 



On the 25th of August 1839, being at the Hospice du 

 Grimsel, I learned that some patches of snow in the neigh- 

 bourhood were beginning to acquire a red tint. The weather 

 for some days previous had been very bad ; and quantities of 

 snow had actually fallen, which, at the same time, soon began 

 to melt under the influence of milder weather, and of warm 

 rains. The 24th was a day of thaw and mist ; the 25th was 

 clear, the temperature being agreeable, and even hot in the 

 sun, the gentle breeze which prevailed being by no means cold. 

 Accordingly, I hastened to visit the spot, accompanied by my 

 friend Dr Schmidt, and by MM. Muehlenbeck, Schimper, 

 Bruch, and Blind, distinguished Alsace naturalists, who that 

 day, to my agreeable surprise, arrived at the Grimsel. 



It w^as in those places where the snow never entirely melts 

 that we found the patches in which the red snow was begin- 

 ning to appear. The patches were somewhat inclined, with - 

 an exposure towards the east and north-east. Their surface 

 was more or less bestrewed with small earthy particles, which 

 gave them that dirty grey appearance which old snow always 

 presents at inferior heights, and in positions which are over- 

 looked by more elevated ground. The surface was, moreover, 

 furrowed, and slightly hollowed out, owing to the eifects of 

 the wind, and the run of water produced by the partial thaw 

 on the surface, which was much promoted by the great absorp- 

 tion of heat by the earthy particles. Here and there spots 

 were remarked, of a rosy hue, or of the colour of very pale 

 blood, whose form and extent were indeterminate, but which 

 were most conspicuous in the furrows and hollow places. Old 

 snow being always more or less coarsely granular in its nature, 



* Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve, No. 50. Fevrier 1840. 



