32 SNOW HAIL. 



rain is the condensation of the clouds through the 

 effect of cold. When they are greatly condensed, 

 they become too heavy to float in the air, and de- 

 scend in drops. 



The cold of the higher regions of the atmosphere 

 is sometimes so great as to freeze the particles which 

 form clouds. If the particles become frozen before 

 they have had time to unite into drops, they de- 

 scend in the shape of small stars with six points ; 

 and several of these, joined together, form flaky 

 masses, which are called snow. 



The quantity of matter contained in snow is 

 small in proportion to its bulk. Snow, therefore, 

 meets with great resistance in passing through the 

 atmosphere, and consequently falls very slowly. 

 Its great surface, also, renders it very susceptible 

 of evaporation, which considerably diminishes its 

 weight, even in the coldest weather. 



If the cold is so moderate as to allow the particles 

 of water to unite into drops before freezing takes 

 place, they form pieces of ice called hail. Hail, when 

 first formed, is not larger than the drops of water 

 which fall in rain ; and, being formed from a fluid, 

 it must be perfectly round ; but when it arrives at 

 the earth it is often sharp-cornered, and as large as 

 nuts, or even as hens' eggs. In these cases, either 

 the particles composing such hailstones have begun 

 to dissolve, or they were sufficiently cold to con- 

 geal and attach to their surface the particles with 

 which they came in contact during their fall. 



If, when the sun is shining, a shower of rain falls 



