222 WAVES OF SAND AND SNOW 



not be supposed, however, that the larger the tree- 

 stump the more striking will be the appearanoe 

 of the snowcap. On the contrary, the remark- 

 able winter scene in the neighbourhood of Glacier 

 House is due to a chance proportion between the 

 size of the pedestals and the quantity of the 

 adhesive snow. Mr. Howard Chapman, of 

 Victoria, B.C., sent me photographs of snow- 

 caps upon the stumps of the giant red-wood trees 

 which grow farther west, and upon these snow 

 about 4 feet thick merely gives the appearance 

 of a white thatch with somewhat projecting eaves, 

 there being no mimicry of the mushroom. On the 

 other hand, snow cannot form a perfect, overhang- 

 ing mushroom top upon the stumps of small trees, 

 because the base is not large enough for the accu- 

 mulation of a deep deposit ; without depth there 

 can be no welding into a tenacious mass, and 

 without tenacity there can be no overhanging 

 eave. 



It is obvious that the dome shape of the snow- 

 mushroom is due to the increased bending of the 

 material at a greater distance from the central 

 support, and it may not be without interest to 

 remark that many trees also acquire a dome-shaped 

 top owing to the bending of their boughs under 

 the action of gravity. 



