806 



Popular Science Monthly 



"Snow of the Penitents" these peaks are called in the 

 Andes. The snow is first blown into waves by the 

 wind, and the hollows are deepened by sunshine 



One plausible suggestion is that 

 dust lying on the snow is blown into 

 patches by the wind, and acceler- 

 ates the melting of the snow be- 

 neath it, for the same reason that 

 any dark object laid on a* bed of 

 snow sinks more or less rapidly 

 under sunshine, its color causing it 

 to absorb more solar heat than does 

 the snow. An abundance of dust is 

 deposited in mountainous 'regions 

 from meteors. 



Though the most perfect exam 

 pies of "penitents" are found in the 

 Andes, more or less similar forma- 

 tions occur in other mountains. 

 Some remarkable snow "honey- 

 combs" approaching the form of 

 nieve penitente are produced in hot, 

 dry summer weather among the 

 glacier fields of Mount Rainier. The 

 cups or hollows are a foot or more in 

 diameter, and no water is seen any- 

 where, as evaporation is rapid. 



Snow Honeycombs and "Penitents" 

 of South America 



rHE most bizarre of all forms assumed 

 by snow is probably that known as 

 nieve penitente. In the high Andes of 

 tropical Argentina and Chile are found in- 

 numerable pointed or jagged blocks of 

 snow or glacier ice, which at a distance — 

 especially in the moonlight — bear an un- 

 canny resemblance to throngs 

 of white-robed human beings. 

 This appearance has given 

 them their Spanish name, 

 nieve de los penitentes, "snow 

 of the penitents," and the 

 international name nieve pen- 

 itente. These figures are from 

 four to seven feet high, 

 on an average, though they 

 are sometimes twenty feet. 



The origin of "penitents" 

 has been the subject , 



of much contro- 

 versy. Probably the 

 snow is first blown 

 into waves by the 

 wind, and the hol- 

 lows are undoubt- 

 edly deepened by 

 strong sunshine, but 

 it is not easy to see 



why the intervening 

 mounds remain. 



Hatching Chickens in Glass Globes 

 by Electricity 



THERE is always a certain element of 

 risk in hatching chickens in an incu- 

 bator, for unless the incubator is watched 

 very carefully the temperature may get too 

 low and the eggs spoil. 



Electricity may be depended upon more 

 than any other form of heat. A new in- 

 cubator has been perfected 

 which is heated by elec- 

 tricity. It offers an ideal 

 method of hatching and 

 brooding chicks. The in- 

 cubator may be attached to 

 any electric light socket. The 

 distribution of heat in the 

 egg chamber is always very 

 even and there is a welcome 

 absence of gases and fumes. 

 The electric incubator is 

 provided with a glass globe 

 so th[e chicken 

 fancier may see just 

 what is going on in- 

 side the incubator. 

 The heat is given by 

 an electric light 

 which is so regulated 

 that it gives the re- 

 quired heat inter- 



The incubator globe and stand may be con- 

 nected with any electric light socket 



mittently. A ther- 

 mometer is provided . 



