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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



FROST-FORMS ON ROAN MOUNTAIN. 



BY MKS. HELEN K. EDSON. 



THIS is the only habitable high mountain peak east of the 

 Pacific ranges. Its ( altitude, six thousand three hundred 

 and thirteen feet above the sea level, tempered by its latitude, 

 thirty-six degrees, together with its isolation from other moun- 

 tains of similar height, renders it one of the most favorable 

 places for the observation of atmospheric conditions. The clouds 

 here usually float about level with the summit, though they some- 

 times rise as much as five hundred feet above it, or sink two 



FIG. 1. 



Fro. 2. 



thousand feet below ; so that it may be said to lie in the track of 

 the clouds. 



I regret that I was not better equipped for a thorough study 

 of frost-forms produced by the lateral deposit of the frozen vapor 

 in the clouds during the severe winter of 1892-'93, which I spent 

 upon the summit of Roan Mountain for the sake of an invalid 

 daughter. There was not a hygrometer within reach, hence the 

 amount of moisture in the atmosphere at any given time can not 



