102 



NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 



Snvwflakes. 



Different 

 forms. 



thing like a rain of fiery red or yellow pebbles, 

 by having the shower between him and a red or 

 yellow sunset ; but this effect is of rare ob- 

 servance. 



Snow is the excess vapor in the air condensed 

 into spicules of ice. It forms whenever the 

 temperature is below freezing, and many are 

 the forms of flakes produced by the crystal- 

 lizing process. When the fall is light and 

 feathery, owing to a low temperature, countless 

 variations of the six-pointed star may be seen 

 on a dark ground, such as a coat-sleeve. When 

 the temperature is higher there is a tendency 

 toward agglomeration, or the union of many 

 flakes into one. Snow falling from a cold into 

 a warm stratum of air is softened around the 

 edges, and we have what is called a "wet" 

 snow that is, a snow containing considerable 

 moisture and in form large and fluffy. The re- 

 verse of this takes place when the snow is fall- 

 ing from a cloud warmer than the temperature 

 of the lower air. Then we have a hard, round 

 snow, sometimes called "ball " snow. It would 

 seem to be hardened and compacted by passing 

 through the colder, lower air ; and when it 

 reaches the earth its form is that of the fine 

 snow that falls in the long, cold storms of winter. 



