396 Scientific Intelligence. 
formed a mucilaginous substance, of the consistence, colour, and 
feeling of starch, when prepared for domestic use. The tumbler 
was then set in a safe place, where it remained undisturbed for 
two or three days, and it was found to have all evaporated, ex- 
cept a small dark-coloured residuum adhering to the bottom 
and sides of the glass, which, when rubbed between the fingers, 
produced about a thimbleful of a fine ash-coloured powder, 
without taste or smell. With concentrated and diluted muriatic 
and nitric acids, no chemical action was observed, and the mat- 
ter remained unchanged. With the concentrated sulphuric acid, 
a violent effervescence ensued, a gas was evolved, and the whole 
substance nearly dissolved . — American Journal of Science , 
vol. iio p. 335. 
13. Singular Appearance of Snow and Hail . — In January 
1809, the Rev. D. A. Clark observed, in Morris County, New 
Jersey, a regular formation of cylinders of snow. When a deep 
snow was upon the ground, a shower of rain fell, and, in conse- 
quence of a sudden cold, the rain was congealed on the surface of 
the snow, and formed upon it a cake of ice. Another shower of 
snow fell to the depth of three-fourths of an inch, and the sky 
having suddenly cleared, the cold became very intense, and the 
wind blew a gale. “ Nature,” says Mr Clark, “ now began her 
sport. Particles of the snow would move upon the icy crust 
from 12 to 20 inches, and would then begin to roll, making a 
track upon the ice shaped like an isosceles triangle. The balls 
enlarged according to circumstances, and, aided by the declivity 
of the ground, the rolls were of the size of a barrel, and some 
even larger. Thus the whole creation, as far as the eye could 
see, was covered with snow-balls, differing in size from that of a 
lady’s muff to the diameter of 2J or 3 feet, hollow at each end 
to almost the very centre, and all as true as so many logs of 
wood shaped in a lathe.” 
About two years before, Mr Clark observed in the heat of 
summer hailstones about one-fourth or three-eighths of an inch 
thick, and of sufficient size to hide a shilling. Almost every one 
of them was perforated in the middle, as if they had been held 
between the fingers, till the fingers by their warmth had melted 
away the middle, and had met. When the perforation was not 
complete, there was in every case an inclination to perforation; 
