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. - J 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 



