THE ARCTIC SEAS. 143 
through the air, and many crystals adhere together, 
and form the irregular aggregations called flakes of 
snow. The ordinary form is that of a six-rayed star ; 
but the rays are often furnished with minute side 
rays, like the beards of a feather, or are varied in 
almost infinite diversity. The angle, however, which 
is formed in crystalization, is invariably the same, 
namely, one of 60°; and hence arises their symmetry. 
Frost is a powerful antiseptic; as fermentation 
will not take place in a low temperature, animal 
substances may -be kept without decay for an inde- 
finite period. It is customary for the whalers to 
take out their meat unsalted, trusting to this well- 
known quality of cold. Captain Parry’s crew, fast 
locked up in the ice of Melville Island, enjoyed a 
Christmas dinner of roast beef, perfectly sweet, 
which had been put on board nine months before. 
The Mammoth which was dislodged by the falling 
of a cliff at the mouth of the river Lena, had been 
preserved from putrefaction for uncounted ages. 
And more affecting instances of this quality have 
been witnessed in the bodies of men, who, having 
died in these icy regions, had lain for yéars unburied 
without decay. In 1774, the uncouth form of an 
apparently-deserted ship was met with, strangely 
encumbered with ice and snow; on boarding her, a 
solitary man was found in her cabin, his fingers 
holding the pen, while before him lay the record 
which that pen had traced, bearing date twelve years 
before. No appearance of decay was manifest, save 
that a.little greenish mould had accumulated on his 
forehead. A strange awe crept over the minds of 
