86 D. L. Cosari on Remarkable Hailstones. 



nucleus. The diameter of all the fragments of this class was 

 from nine lines to nearly four inches. 



(6.) There was another class of fragments resembling those 

 we have last described, as it regards the size and the interior 

 structure, but whose surface was covered with transparent crys- 

 tals, in the form of hexahedrons, as was evident by one of their 

 sides. Many among them were incomplete ; whilst some others 

 presented the section of a pyramid, with a quadrangular base. 

 The length of these crystals did not exceed two lines. 



(7.) Other hailstones were smooth on the surface, transparent, 

 and enclosed a mass of an opaque white colour, not striated, and 

 without any distinct nucleus. The diameter of these did not 

 exceed an inch. 



(8.) There was yet another class, the surface of which was 

 smooth and transparent, and when cut did not present any of 

 those lines which were so commonly noticed. They, however, 

 contained bubbles either of common air, or of some other gas, 

 around which a fine whitish net-work might be perceived, but so 

 minute that at first view the whole appeared to be transparent. 

 These pieces of ice, which were about an inch in diameter, were 

 exceedingly abundant, as, in truth, were all the other varieties. 



The opaque layers of ice were of the same consistence with 

 the transparent ones, for neither of them could be penetrated by 

 a fine and sharp metallic point. In many of the hailstones the 

 nucleus was softish, and in many others it was as hard as the 

 layers which surrounded it. It was generally observed, that, in 

 the small striated hailstones, the whitish nucleus was harder than 

 in those of larger dimensions. 



The size of the different striae in the hailstones described in 

 the paragraphs marked 5 and 6, were always proportioned to the 

 diameter of the hailstones to which they belonged. They were 

 irregular also, when the surface of the hailstone was irregular. 

 The fragment described under the paragraph 2, belonged to this 

 category. 



The hailstones described in the paragraphs marked 5, 6, and 

 8, when plunged into water, rose to the surface, though they did 

 not rise high above its surface; whilst the hailstones described 

 in the paragraphs marked 4 and 7, on the contrary, rose up high 



