418 M. Peschiet''s Physico-chemical Inquiry into [June^ 



ginous earth, which the winds carry away, and let fall on the 

 «now, as elsewhere. 



Does not the red snow give rise to certain superstitions ? 



Absolutely to none in our country ; the people do not evea 

 pay attention to it. 



Has it been observed whether it is more or less abundant 

 according to the temperature of the air ? 



It has not been observed, but the more the season advances, 

 the more abundant it is ; because as the winds bring fresh sup- 

 plies of earthy matter, they are the more easily perceived. 



In particular, would it not be more or less abundant in propor- 

 tion as the melting of the snow has been more considerable '.' 



The melting of the snow and the rain occasion little streams,. 

 Avliich flow over the snow and make furrows in it. In these 

 fmTOWs, hollows are formed, as there are in a rivulet ; it is there 

 that it is more particularly red, because the water, carrying M'ith 

 it the colouring matters, allows them to precipitate, on account 

 «f the diminution of the force of the current. 



In what places is the red snow seen the most frequently, and in 

 Jthe greatest abundance ? 



It is where the snow resists dissolution the longest ; at the 

 Ijottom of declivities covered with snow, because the red sub- 

 stances are carried and deposited there by the currents. 



Do the chronicles, manuscripts, or ancient works, make anj 

 ^mention of this snow? 



I have never found any thing on this subject. 



Does it exist on the Appennines as well as the Alps ? 



I have never thought of inquiring. 



Is it observed rather on one side of the Alps than on thfr 

 »ther ? 



It is found on one side as well as on the other. 



Has any body ever seen it fall red ? 



^ever ; not even old people. 



1 have seen the same effects on snow occasioned by substances- 

 wFanother colour; these consisted of little particles conveyed by the 

 -winds, ^^ hich had been taken up from the ground, or rocks, in the 

 aieighbourhood, which were of clay or plumbago ; then the 

 snow was black, and presented the same phenomena as the 

 Ted. I remember to have seen somewhere that an author ascribed 

 the colour of the red snow to the beams of the sun combined with 

 it. But why then should not snow be every where red, since the 

 «un-beams fall on one mountain as well as on another? It is to be 

 jobserved that sometimes the edges of the snow which are most 

 an contact with the ground are also coloured in the same manner^ 

 There are pretty generally in our mountains soils ferruginous by 

 pyrites. There are even spongy slates {arduises spongieuses') 

 ■which contain pyrites, which have left vacancies by their 

 ^solution, and which, being carried away by the water that flowfr 



