Snow

crystallized forms of water. Snowflakes are formed in the air by innumerable particles of moisture that gather together according to some physical law, invariably in flat six-sided bodies. In 1902 the United States Weather Bureau published a bulletin entitled Studies Among the Snow Crystals, giving a large number of snowflake patterns, photographed by Mr. W. A. Bentley of Jericho, Vermont. He photographed over 1,100 snowflakes, all built on the same plan, but no two alike. By catching the flakes on one's coat sleeve when they are falling quietly through the air, the six-pointed arrangement can be seen with the naked eye. A magnifying glass is a great help, however, in making out the different patterns, many of which are of extreme delicacy.

Snow forms in the upper regions over all parts of the earth, both land and sea, but in the tropics it melts into rain before reaching the ground. The area around each pole above 80 deg. of latitude is a region of perpetual snow, to which must be added the tops of high mountains everywhere. Starting at the sea level, at 80 deg. of latitude, the line of perpetual snow rises higher and higher as it approaches the equator. At 70 deg. it is about 1,000 feet above sea level, and at 60 deg. over 5,000 feet. At 30 deg. the line is over 13,000 feet above the sea, and on the equator it is at least 16,000 feet in altitude. Beneath the line of perpetual snow, a coating of snow is assured in winter to within 45 deg. of the equator, and occasional snowstorms advance much nearer the tropics.

To those who live in tropical countries, snow is an object of dread. Those who are accustomed to snow and who understand it see in it a wise provision of nature. Snow, being a poor conductor of heat, serves as a warm blanket that preserves the crust of the earth from losing its heat and from freezing to great depths in the winter time. A field that lies under snow seems to be in better condition for crops. Farmers in the wheat region sometimes say, "For every inch of snow, a bushel of wheat." In lumber regions, too, snow not only fills up ruts and affords a secure road, but teams can draw very much heavier loads on runners than they can on wheels. A snowy winter, if not too deep, is considered favorable for logging operations, for the accumulation of water in the form of snow made available all at once in the springtime, raises mere brooks into torrents that carry the lumberman's logs away to market.

On the other hand, a deep snow often renders it difficult to get around in the woods. Sometimes the fall is so great in the pine forests that it is impossible to bring out logs. Deer and other animals with sharp hoofs have great difficulty in getting about, especially when warm days form a thin crust of ice through which they break at every step. In time of heavy snowfall the squirrels and many other animals learn to burrow under the snow in traveling to and from their hoards of food. Partridges and prairie chickens frequently hole up for the night in loose snow.

In mountainous countries, accumulations of snow frequently slide down into the valleys, blocking up roads and sometimes destroying villages. Some of the transcontinental railroads build long tunnels or snow sheds of heavy timbers to protect their tracks in the mountain valleys. In prairie countries particularly, the snow that drifts into railroad cuts is a serious impediment to travel.

See Snowplow; Snowshoe; Toboggan; Ski; Reindeer; Ice; Partridge

Crystallization always gives out heat, the scientists say. Every flake and frost spangle has helped to warm the air. They not only warm the air in forming, but blanket the earth after falling. "He giveth snow like wool," says the Psalmist; and like a flannel robe it wraps and protects the earth. The melting drift in March shows the grass much greener under it than in the sunshine outside. Half-way to the pole, I have in early spring scraped away the snow and picked pansies that had blossomed beneath. We read how, by Lake Superior, the snowbound settlers used to dig through the deep drifts in the wood and find wild violets in bloom all winter. Dr. Kane, praising "the warm coverlet of the snow" in northern lands, said, "No eider down in the cradle of an infant is tucked in more kindly than this sleeping dress of winter about the feeble flower life." What seems a messenger of cold is really one of warmth--a blessed blanket spun from the sea and woven by the winds, to be renewed every winter and removed every spring, without giving us the trouble to take care of it the rest of the year.--Henry M. Simmons.