FROST-PHENOMENA IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA. 687 



This sort of thing does not often occur in England, and, when it 

 does, it lasts but a few hours at the outside ; but, in certain latitudes, 

 the requisite meteorological conditions sometimes continue for days 

 and even weeks together, and then the results are most disastrous. 

 The rain continues to fall, and to freeze as it falls ; and the crust of 

 ice grows thicker and thickei-, until tall trees and miles of telegraph 

 wire are broken down by the enormous weight. Fortunately, the 

 ]>]ienomenon is generally arrested before it attains this extreme degree 

 of development, and, when it does occur, seems to be almost entirely 

 confined to the steppes of Southern Russia. 



It may be remembered that, during the winter of 18T6-'77, frequent 

 references were made in the newspapers to the state of the South Rus- 

 sian telegraph lines, many of which, especially those in the govern- 

 ments of Kherson and Taurida, were rendered perfectly useless for 

 weeks by just such an accumulation of ice as we have been describing. 

 A German gentleman, Herr Bernhard Bajohr, happened to be journey- 

 ing from Nicolajew to Berislaw about the middle of December, when 

 things were at their worst ; and as the phenomena are seldom seen so 

 fully developed, even in Russia, as they were at that time, it may be 

 worth while to give some account of what he saw. His road lay be- 

 tween two telegraph lines ; one the Indo-European, the other that of 

 the Russian government, so that he had ample opportunity of observ- 

 ing and comparing the different effects produced upon the two. But, 

 before describing these, we must say something as to the meteoro- 

 logical conditions required for the formation of this peculiar ice- 

 incrustation. 



In long-continued and severe frost, the earth is frequently chilled 

 to a considerable depth, and to such a degree that it absorbs the 

 warmth from the lowermost stratum of air, w^hich becomes icily cold 

 in consequence ; while the trees, buildings, etc., within the cold stratum 

 naturally share the surrounding temperature. This cold stratum may 

 be from twenty to forty feet in thickness, while the air above is many 

 degrees warmer. If rain fall from these warmer regions, though there 

 will not be time for it to freeze during its short passage through the 

 colder air, yet, directly it touches the ground or any other ice-cold 

 substance, it will congeal and cover it, whatever it be, with a glaze 

 of transparent ice, as noticed above. Herr Bajohr observed that, • 

 when the ice first began to form upon the telegraph wire, it was in the 

 shape of a cylindrical roll, which instead of hanging from the wire, or 

 being crystallized round it, as one would have expected, merely rested 

 upon it, the wire touching its lower circumference only. As rain con- 

 tinued to fall, the cylinder increased in size, until its diameter measured 

 from half an inch to three inches. This was the first stage of devel- 

 opment ; but then the intensity of the cold abated somewhat, and the 

 rain which was still falling, instead of freezing the moment it touched 

 the roll of ice, had time to trickle over it, and form long rows of icicles, 



