VOL. LY.— No. 3,042. 



SATL'MDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1912 



THE 



GARDENERS 



MAGAZINE 



NOTE OF THE WEEK. 



Snow Flowers. 



tlie saiiio law governs the solidification of 

 all liquefiable bfKlies, induding the metals 

 and the gases, though not always easily 

 seen. The ,sanio law also determines the 



once renders the surplus wator, which iho 

 iair is unable t-o carry at the Iowcm- tem- 

 f)erature, visible at* <^louds, whah may or 

 may not coiulense further into rain, li 



In a reeeiut Note of the Weekj relating to forms Wh cli chemical bo lii^s assume in the molecules of waler cling together and 

 frosts, we a^uded to the curious fact that, super-saturated solutions. With a^iui, for fall, gathering u]) uu)ro and more a-s tljev 



at the moment of crystalLisation or congela- 

 tion of water, etc., molecules so arranged 

 themselves a« to require greater space than 



they occupy as a liquid, the resultant phe- 

 nomena being of vital importance in the 

 L^reat scheme of Nature as regards climate 

 and the conditions generally 

 in which organic life exists. 

 This increase of area^ How- 

 ever, is accompanied by other 

 phenomena than those men- 

 tioned, and especially those re- 

 h^ting to crystallisation. If 

 w hen snow is falling, par- 

 ticularly when the flakes are 



large, we permit a 

 Ihike to fall gently upon our 

 coat-sleeve, even with the 



instance, dissolved in hot wa u r until no 

 more can ibe taken up, as tlu^ ^^olution cools, 



the molecules invisibly suspended in the 

 water, arrange themselves either on the 



un<^s•^olviHl surplus < iy>tals. or, failing 

 those, on nucVi self-engemlered here and 



tairlv 



nak(^d eye w^e can detect that 

 it is not a mere woolly con- 

 ;lomeration of particles, but 

 i-ather a cluster of beautifval 



■ ta r-like 

 b^fiuite 



bodies 

 and 



of 



very 



symmetrical 

 nu t lire. Each star is pro- 

 y'nled with six rays, set at 

 ati angle of thirty degrees to 



Search as we 



find 



its neighbour. 



ma v. we shall never 

 two precisely alike in detail, 

 since these rays may be 

 iiiniple rods of greater or less 

 length in different flakes, or 

 they may be furnished with 

 lat(Mal projections, making 

 them more or less feathery 

 in appearance, or the inter- 

 stices between the rays may 

 entirely filled up^ so that 

 the flake becomes a perfectly 

 ^'x-sided disc, losing its star 

 ■^''ape entirely. Between these 

 ^xtiemes are all grades, 

 'J'lt all through the thirty 

 ^^^i^ee principle prevails, and, barring 

 ^l^^'J^^-^ges, all the parts will 

 •''■^ly in dimensions, and perfect sym- 

 y wdl prevail. A large flake usually 

 '^^'"^^ative of thawing conditions, is pro- 



agree ex- 



num- 



tl 



'I'Ked by fortuitous meeting of a _ 



/''I- €f the constituent stars or discs in fall- 

 "ifi- and a dozen or more of these may be 

 - ;nlh,.r.Mit. but each one will have its 

 I'"" nuhviduality. Suc'h fine snoav a,s we 

 "'»\e in a blizzard is no less artistically con- 

 •^trnoted, but on much finer and less ob- 

 ^'ons lines. The snovvflake thus shows us 

 tlio simpest possible form, the law of 

 -t^llisatinn as exemplified in water, and 



Ml 



\ 



ME. C. f>. FUIDGE. 



there in the containing vessel, and gradu- 

 ally buiJd up symmetrical and beautiful 

 crystals of the particular make and shape 

 peculiar to alum^ and possibly to alum 

 alone, $ince nearly every body has its pecu- 



descend, and .^o forming drojK-. Tiider 



freezing comlitions. ibe minut<* parti<-]esof 



suspt^ndcd water in the ch)iKls start de- 



sc<Mit as partichvs <t| wv, tli(» mi<-lci of the 



subst^quent stars and <|is<-s and a^irbnncr- 

 ated 



snow^ flak(\s. i be said nucb'i 



ing 



the 



tl 



It 



a 1 r 



llic\ 



cbill- 

 fall. 

 1- 



b^'t 



over tliem. 



as 



aijucous mol<^<'ides 



cqnally all 

 obeying the particular law 

 alluded to of a thirty degrees 

 angle (li attachment, and so 

 each ]-ay b<Hv>m<\s of equal 

 length, and of equal lirea<ltb 

 bv the lateral additions on the 



same principle. 



It 



is also 



due to the iwtion of this beau- 

 tiful law that we see such ex- 



quisite designs on 



and other 



wimbnv- 

 surfac*\s. 



pa nes 



where warm aerial moisture is 

 brought intocontac^t with cold 

 surfaces below the frei^zing 

 point. The curves of the fern 

 or moss-like ramification here 

 note<l are probably due in in- 

 ception to minute artificial 

 atches made by cleaning. 



but otherwise it will be seen 

 that the law of the thirtv de- 

 grees angle determines the de- 

 signs generally. The consi- 

 deration of the star or flower- 

 like forms assum<Hi by the 

 snowflake and the wonderful 

 imitations of ferns and mos.ses 



ass!nned in the frost pictines 

 of the windows-pane, invai i- 



ably suggest to the i n te 1 1 i- 



gent observer that there may 



be some link between the law 



of crystalisation in inorganic 

 life and that which in some 

 subtle fashion governs growth 

 of botli flowers and foliar vegetation. Each 

 plant may tlius l^c a law unto it«elf as re- 

 gartls its structural arrangement, as its 

 every organic biKly as regards its crvstai- 

 lisation, a similar polar or magnetic influ- 



liarities. iHere the crystallisation occurs once determaning its form on laws at any 

 because heated wiater is capable of holding rate aualngous if not identical, 

 more of the vSaJt in solution than cold w^ater_ 



Mr 



and, as the temperature falls, the sui-plusis 



deposited as described. With the snow ^ . . 



flake we see somethiug similar. The tlie secM-etai-ies of tlie varous associations 



time a verv interesting personality among 



■ r» 1 A 



amount of water invisibly sxif-pended in the 

 atmosplicrc depends entirely upon the 

 aerial temperature. In warm weather a 

 cold wdnd blowing into a warm region at 



>bject 



of horticulture, for he completes the for- 

 tieth year of his secretaryship of the South- 

 ampton Hoyal Horticultural Society con- 



