102 
NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
Snow flakes. 
Different 
forms. 
thing like a rain of fiery red or yellow pebbles, 
by having the shower between him and a red or 
yellow sunset ; but this effect is of rare ob- 
servance. 
Snow is the excess vapor in the air condensed 
into spicules of ice. It forms whenever the 
temperature is below freezing, and many are 
the forms of flakes produced by the crystal- 
lizing process. When the fall is light and 
feathery, owing to a low temperature, countless 
variations of the six-pointed star may be seen 
on a dark ground, such asa coat-sleeve. When 
the temperature is higher there is a tendency 
toward agglomeration, or the union of many 
flakes into one. Snow falling from a cold into 
a warm stratum of air is softened around the 
edges, and we have what is called a “wet” 
snow—that is, a snow containing considerable 
moisture and in form large and fluffy. The re- 
verse of this takes place when the snow is fall- 
ing from a cloud warmer than the temperature 
of the lower air. Then we have a hard, round 
snow, sometimes called “ball ” snow. It would 
seem to be hardened and compacted by passing 
through the colder, lower air; and when it 
reaches the earth its form is that of the fine 
snow that falls in the long, cold storms of winter. 
