26 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



the very great beauty which is shown in the forms of flakes 

 of snow : a beauty and regularity that is as little seen or sus- 

 pected by people in general, as if it had no existence. Take 

 this pocket magnifier, and examine with it some of those on 

 your sleeve. 



C — They are elegant and beautiful indeed : thin and 

 flat stars of transparent crystal, resembling in beauty and 

 variety of shape the forms produced by the kaleidoscope. 

 Scarcely two are found agreeing in shape. 



F, — Can you find no point in which they all agree ? 



C. — On closer examination, I perceive that all have 

 exactly six rays or points, and no more. 



F. — That circumstance reveals the secret of their regu- 

 larity : all crystallizing substances shoot out needles or points 

 at a certain definite angle ; which never varies in the same 

 substances, but has an almost infinite variety in different 

 substances. This is called the angle of crystallization : in 

 the freezing of water, this angle is one of sixty degrees, 

 exactly a sixth part of a circle : whatever part of a flake of 

 snow we examine, however complex it may be, we shall 

 always find the needle forming with the line from which it 

 shoots, an angle of 60°. We sometimes find fragments of 

 stars, but if there are two rays still attached, they bear this 

 unvarying relation to each other. 



C. — It would be a pleasing amusement to observe and 

 delineate the various forms of the flakes. 



F. — It is attended with difficulty : only in the open air 

 can they be examined ; for so frail is their nature, that the 

 slightest elevation of temperature above the freezing point 

 instantly destroys them. Even out of doors, unless the wea- 

 ther be very cold, the close proximity to the eye to which 

 they must be brought for microscopic examination is suffi- 

 cient to obliterate their form; and the open air, at a tempera- 

 ture far below freezing, during a snow-storm, is by no means 



