Marvels of the Universe 



347 



to be fully detected by the use of the 

 polariscope. 



There are innumerable examples of 

 beautj- to be found in Nature. Those 

 persons who are fortunate enough to 

 have their powers of observation so 

 educated as to see and admire the ex- 

 quisite designs apparent in most natural 

 objects ought to find the world less 

 sombre than those who pass unnoticed 

 Nature's lavish illustrations of symmetry 

 and ornate beauty. 



The foUov\ing account of a pheno- 

 menon which occurred many years ago 

 in Sweden regarding warm air highly 

 charged with moisture and the extra- 

 ordinary ways in which the moisture is 

 liberated when brought into contact with 

 cold air, will bear out some of the state- 

 ments just made. 



A large company had gathered in 

 a ballroom. The night was icy and 

 starlit. The air in the ballroom had 

 evidently become highly charged with 

 moisture. The heat was so oppressive 

 that several ladies fainted. An officer 

 present tried to open the window. The 

 trost-crystak had done their work, for 

 they had extended to all the crevices, 

 so that the window was frozen fast to 

 its casement. As a last resort he broke 

 a pane of glass ; the cold air rushed in, 

 and it snowed in the room. The warm air 

 could sustain its great load of moisture 

 no longer when mixed with the cold air 

 from the outside. This is vouched for 

 by Professor Dove, of Berlin. 



As children we were delighted when- 

 ever the curious frost-figures decorated 

 our bedroom windows. In our innocence 

 we may have thought that the ferns, the 

 seaweed, and the branches of trees had 

 been traced out in some mysterious way. 

 So they had ; and in a measure the full 

 secret of their beauty is still a mystery 

 to us. Then, when out of doors we saw 

 that all the blades of grass and all the 

 twigs were glistening, our wonderment 

 was greatly increased. 



A fan-shaped pattt-in 



vhich the fans overlap. 



Photos io] 



FROST CRYSTALS. 



[J. J. Ward. 



Here the Crystals have grouped themselves into long ribbon-like 

 forms, this beingr probably due to the trickling of moisture down 

 definite lines. 



