194 SNOW CEYSTALS. 



than what was necessary for the preparation of our 

 meals, and for melting our necessary supply of water. 

 To add to our astonishment, a heavy fell of snow was 

 followed by a shower of rain, a circumstance which I 

 had not previously witnessed in this latitude except 

 in the months of July and August, and then scarcely 

 more rain fell than on the present occasion. The 

 depth of snow precipitated during this period was 

 likewise remarkable, — the aggregate being 32 inches. 

 In one single day 19 inches were deposited, greater 

 by 5 inches than the entire accumlations of the win- 

 ter of 1853-54 at Van Rensselaer Harbor. The total 

 amount of snow which had fallen up to the first of 

 December was 48 inches. Being so far north of the 

 line of maximum snows, I was the more surprised, as 

 my former experience appeared to have shown that 

 the region of Smith's Sound was almost wholly free 

 from nubilous deposits. 



I was much interested at this warm period in ob- 

 serving how singularly perfect and beautiful were the 

 snow crystals ; and it is a somewhat singular circum- 

 stance that the perfect crystals are only exhibited 

 when the snow falls in a temperature comparatively 

 mild. I have not observed them when the thermom- 

 eter ranged below zero. The snow is then quite dry 

 and hard, and does not exhibit those soft, thin, trans- 

 parent tlakes of the warmer air. With the aid of a 

 magnifying glass, I was enabled to obtain very accu- 

 rate sketches of a large number of them. Their form 

 was always hexagonal, but the rays were very various 

 in their development, although they all possessed the 

 same radical foundation. The most perfect and full 

 suggested a diminutive fern leaf. 



As we neared the climax of the winter the satisfac- 



