of the Australian Alps. 129 



degrees of moisture or of temperature. It is not unusual 

 after a snowstorm to find at night that the snow which has 

 fallen in the open is more luminous than that which has 

 fallen in the shade of timber trees. This peculiar phosphor- 

 escence is no doubt due to exposure during the day of the 

 many reflecting surfaces of the small speculse of ice to the 

 sun's rays, and to their retaining the light after the sun has 

 set.* The year 1882 was apparently an exceptionally 

 snowy season, both at Omeo and at the higher levels. Mr. 

 Easton, an old resident, informs me that the greatest depth of 

 snow which fell during 24 hours, within his recollection, 

 was a little over a foot in the open at Omeo during July, 

 1869. On July, 1876, fully 11 inches fell at Omeo during 

 24 hours ; since then the average fall at one time has not 

 exceeded 6 inches. It must be borne in mind, however, that 

 a uniform fall of one foot of snow at a time is very unusual 

 in the British Islands/)* and consequently even at 2000 feet 

 elevation at this latitude, 37° south, such a fall would also 

 be unusual. From a calculation of the quantity or depth of 

 snow which fell at Omeo for the period under consideration, 

 we shall find that the mean annual fall does not exceed 

 2 feet 3 inches, or nearly the same as that at New Jersey in 

 North America. The heaviest fall on record at Grant 

 (according to Mr. Harrison, jun.), which is nearly 2000 feet 

 higher than Omeo, was from 2J to 3 feet ; while Mr. 

 Boustead informs me that the average maximum fall of snow 

 at Mount St. Bernard (5000 feet) measures 14 feet, with 20 

 to 30 feet in the drifts. I have observed near the summit 

 of Mount Kosciusko, at an elevation of 7200 feet, masses of 

 consolidated snow fully 30 feet deep — maiden glaciers — 

 resting in the hollows of verdant slopes during mid-summer. 

 And as the huge masses of tabular granite which form the 

 rocky crests of this important mountain chain (presenting 

 in many places escarpments fully 40 feet above the gentle 

 slopes which surround them) are covered with snow early 

 in June of each year, it is not improbable that the annual 

 fall at this elevation amounts to 50 feet, corresponding to an 

 annual rainfall of from 50 to 60 inches. I am not aware 

 that there is any rule for increase of fall of snow with 

 -elevation. I am inclined to believe that there are vapour 



* Loomis' Met., p. 126. 

 t Scott's Met., p. 141. 



