34 



Gambles witb nature Students 



I have read somewhere that no fewer than a 

 thousand different patterns and devices have been 

 found of these snow crystals, and as we examine the 

 flake we have placed beneath the glass, we see for 

 ourselves something of the indescribable beauty of 

 these ' ice-morsels.' The silvery frost-work upon the 



window-pane shows the 

 same crystalline law, only 

 the stars are often merged 

 into continuous tracery, so 

 that the six rays are not 

 always so easily discerned 

 as in the snowflake. 



Several winters ago the 

 severe frost wrought won- 

 derful effects in my garden. 

 The tree-branches, down 

 to the finest twigs, appeared 

 as if they had been turned 

 into spun glass, and when 

 the sun shone out the effect 

 was beautiful beyond de- 

 scription. Every shrub 

 had some special form of 

 frost decoration, accord- 

 ing to the shape of its 

 leaves. 



I could have spent hours in sketching the various 

 designs, so marvellously intricate were they and 

 beautiful, but the cold was too severe to admit 

 of that, and I can only reproduce from memory 

 the laurel fringes which are shown in the illus- 

 tration. 



The frost-needles were quite half an inch long, and 



FROSTED LAUREL LEAF. 



