106 
Snow 
prisms, 
NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
already given. That is, to repeat it, looking 
up we see the shadows of countless cloud-par- 
ticles ; looking down we sce light reflected from 
countless snow-surfaces. 
But the intensity of the white is not wholly 
explained by the difference between reflected 
and shadowed light. There is another reason 
for its whiteness, and perhaps it is not uninter- 
esting to know that if the new, fine snow is ex- 
amined under a magnifying glass each separate 
flake will be found to disperse as well as to 
reflect light, and everyone of them will show 
prismatic edges casting the rainbow colors. 
These colors are the component parts of light— 
light disintegrated, in fact. The tiny prisms 
scatter the hight into colors, but the mass of 
them taken together reunite the colors into 
light. It has long been known in painting that 
small stipplings of red, yellow, and blue, placed 
close together, will throw out more light than 
a pure white ground. Light recomposed from 
colors is stronger than light reflected. It is 
this principle, practically demonstrated by nat- 
ure, that lends something of peculiar brilliancy 
to the newly fallen snow. And how brilliant, 
how dazzling is that newly fallen snow only 
those know who have seen it in very cold coun- 
