2036. Why do not sailors get cold, who are frequently wet all day with sea-water?
2037. Because the salt of the sea retards evaporation; and (as the heat of their bodies is drawn off gradually) the sensation of cold is prevented. Also, the salt of the sea acts as a stimulant, and keeps the blood circulating in the skin.
2038. What is the cause of snow?
2039. When the air is nearly saturated with vapor, and condensed by a current of air below freezing-point, some of the vapor is condensed, and frozen into snow. A few years ago, some fishermen (who wintered at Nova Zembla), after they had been shut up in a hut for several days, opened the window; and the cold external air rushing in, instantly condensed the air of the hut, and its vapor fell on the floor in a shower of snow.
2040. What is the cause of sleet?
2041. When flakes of snow (in their descent) pass through a bed of air above freezing point, they partially melt, and fall to the earth as half-melted snow.