THE AMERICAN 



MONTHLY 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



Vol. VL 



Washington, I). C, Decembkk, 1885. 



No. 12. 



The Red Snow.* 



BY THE EDITOR. 



The red snow which attracted 

 much attention from scientific gentle- 

 men when it was brought home from 

 the Arctic regions by Captain Ross 

 in the year 1818, was by no means 

 unknown before that time. De Saus- 

 sure, as early as 1760, obsei"ved it on 

 Mount Breven, in Switzerland, and 

 since then many others have noticed 

 it in the Alps, Pyrenees, and it seems 

 to occur frequently in all parts of the 

 world. Particular interest, however, 

 was manifested in the material brought 

 home by Captain Ross, and several 

 botanists secured specimens for ex- 

 amination. It will be interesting to 

 recall the narrative of Captain Ross, 

 as published in the description of his 

 voyage for the purpose of exploring 

 Baffin's Bay and discovering a north- 

 west passage. On the 17th of August, 

 1 8 18, when not far from Cape York, 

 in lat. 75^ 54 jN., long. 67° 15' W., 

 he observed that ' the snow on the 

 face of the clifis presented an appear- 

 ance both novel and interesting, being 

 apparently stained or covered by some 

 substance, which gave it a deep crim- 

 son color 



' At two p. M. it fell nearly calm, 

 and I sent a boat with Mr. Ross, mid- 

 shipman, and Mr. Beverley, assistant 

 surgeon, and a party, to bring oft' 

 some of the snow, and to make what 

 remarks they could on the circum- 

 stances attending it 



' They found that the snow was pene- 

 trated even down to the rock, in many 

 places to a depth of ten or twelve feet, 



* Read before the Biological Society of Washing- 

 ton, Dec. i2th, 1885. 



by the coloring matter, and that it had 

 the appearance of having been a long 



time in that state The snow was 



immediately examined by a micro- 

 scope, magnifying no times, and the 

 substance appeared to consist of par- 

 ticles like a very minute, round seed, 

 which were exactly of the same size, 

 and of a deep red color ; on some of 

 the particles a small dark speck was 

 also seen. It was the general opinion 

 of the officers who examined it by the 

 microscope that it must be vegeta- 

 ble, and this opinion seemed to gain 

 strength by the nature of the places 

 where it was found ; these were the 

 sides of the hills, about six hundred 

 feet high, on the tops of which was 

 seen vegetation of yellowish green 

 and reddish brown colours. The ex- 

 tent of these clifts was about eight 

 miles.' 



A colored engraving accompanying 

 this report represents the Crimson 

 Clifts, as they were named, the color 

 being bright crimson, extending down- 

 almost to the water. 



An examination of the red snow 

 was made by Dr. Wollaston, who re- 

 garded it of vegetable nature. His 

 report is published in the Appendix 

 to the work mentioned above. 



In February, 1819, about six months 

 after its first discovery by Capt. Ross, 

 Francis Bauer, F. L. S., received a 

 quart bottle full of the melted snow, 

 which he examined to determine the 

 nature of the coloring matter. His 

 results are given in full in a letter to 

 W. T. Brande, Esq., Seer. R. S., 

 which is published in the ^uart. 

 Journ. of Literature^ Science and 

 the Arts, vol. vii (1819), p. 222. 



