WINDOW-PANE CRYSTALS 195 



In Nature the snow performs a great work, 

 owing to the gradual way in which it thaws on the 

 mountain tops, and thus supplies streams of running 

 water. In this respect it is less destructive than 

 rain. A sudden downpour of rain sweeps all before 

 it. 



In hot climates snow tempers and modifies the 

 burning heat by cooling the winds that travel over 

 the snow-clad mountain tops. In temperate climates 

 it protects the plants against the frost, owing to the 

 air it contains, and in the northern regions it serves 

 as a shelter to the animals which bury themselves in 

 it. A winter without snow is a destructive one for 

 plants. There are at least fifteen references to snow 

 in the Bible, the most beautiful being David's request 

 in the 5ist Psalm : 'Wash me, and I shall be whiter 

 than snow.' 



In the Book of Job snow is mentioned on four 

 occasions, the last is in the 38th chapter, where the 

 Lord interrogates Job, and reviews Nature both as 

 regards this earth and also as regards the stars in the 

 heavens, a chapter that cannot fail to impress every 

 one who reads it as it should be read. 



Professor Huxley says : ' More than a thousand 

 different kinds of snow crystals have been described, 

 but various as these are, they are all characterised by 

 the same kind of symmetry. 



'The most perfectly shaped crystals are formed 

 when the air is still ; but if a rough wind prevails 

 the snow may fall in pellets, or if the snow passes 



