128 mature'* dfcfracles, 



snowflake Nature does some of her most beau- 

 tiful work. A snowflake first forms with six 

 ice spangles, radiating from a common center. 

 Shorter ones form on these six spokes, stand- 

 ing at an angle of about sixty degrees, on each 

 side of each spoke, of such length and arrange- 

 ment as to form a symmetrical figure or 

 flower. They do not always take the same 

 form, but follow the same laws that govern the 

 formation of ice crystals. The structure of a 

 snowflake may be often found upon a window 

 pane of a frosty morning. Here, however, the 

 free arrangement of the parts of a snow crys- 

 tal are interfered with by its contact with the 

 window pane, but while floating gently in the 

 air there is the utmost freedom for the play of 

 nature's forces as they apply to the work of 

 crystallization. 



The difference in structure of snowflakes is 

 chiefly due to the conditions under which they 

 are formed. If the moisture is frozen too 

 rapidly the molecular forces that are active in 

 crystallization do not have time to carry out 

 the work, in its completeness of detail, as it 

 will where the freezing process, as well as the 

 condensing process, goes on more slowly. 



