Most of us have given little time or very serious thought to the study of the snow, and the marvellous detail which goes to fashion the individual snow crystal. In fact, if we live in a crowded city, we are inclined to look upon a heavy snowfall as something of a nuisance, to be shovelled and carted away as expeditiously as may be by the army of men employed by the city for that purpose. There it lies, soiled and unlovely, impeding pedestrianism and traffic, and thoroughly undesirable until it is cleared away.
But once outside in the open country we are inclined to gaze forth upon the pure expanse of snow-covered hill and plain, resplendent and dazzling as it stretches afar under the pale winter sunshine, with a more kindly, tolerant mood; for there we may view the snow in all its unsullied charm; and it will surely bring fine sleighing, we concede, and the children are hilarious and happy over prospective snow sports.
But I wish to give you a brief glimpse into a realm of snow which is filled with charm and mystery, and when you have looked into that realm and studied for yourself the marvellous phenomena and detail of snow-crystal formation, you will doubtless ever after, when gazing forth upon a snow-covered expanse, or in watching the fluttering, swirling flakes as they descend, exclaim: Oh, the wonder and mystery of it all! How can it be possible for such exquisitely beautiful jewelled crystals to fashion themselves in the vast spaces of the heavens, among the clouds!
61. Blizzard type
62. Exquisite jewelled type
Snow is, in itself, the water in solution, crystallised into irregular and regular, more or less geometrical forms and designs, of which there are two distinct types; the crystalline and the granular forms. The granular formations embody a special type, and the crystalline formations are usually transparent or ice-like, and vary in size greatly, some being about three-quarters of an inch in greater diameter. They fall either singly or bunched together, according to whether the temperature and humidity is high or low.
The structural formation of snow crystals is generally found to be of hexagonal shape, usually six-cornered or pointed, although rare types have been discovered and photographed where such was not the case, as the trigonal crystals shown. Snow crystals have been classified, as to structural formation, into two types; the tubular and columnar. The columnar types are formed of long, slender, needle-like crystals or columns, usually tapering at one end, while the tubular crystals are developed upon an extremely thin tubular plane. Frequently we find that two types have united, thus forming the “compound” crystal, which is rare, and frequently a very beautiful, showy snow jewel.
The tubular crystals are of more common occurrence and exhibit greater beauty and diversity of outline than the plain columnar types.