How many millions of these exquisitely constructed jewels do we heedlessly crush and shatter unconsciously during a brief walk in the snow and how crude and imperfect seem the productions of human minds and hands when compared to those formed by the blind forces of nature.
The exquisite and varied types of snow crystals herein shown, were photographed in northern Vermont; a locality where the snow-storms are frequently long and severe and where the country by-roads are blocked and impassable for days, while huge drifts pile high above the fences, and often cover the windows.
73. The cuff button crystals. From a great storm
74. Low cloud crystal
75. A beautifully marked high altitude crystal
Whittier brings before us the whole picture so charmingly in his beautiful “Snow-Bound”:
“Zigzag, wavering to and fro,