Snow, of a reddish or brownish colour, is not unfrequently seen. The brownish stain, which occurs on shore, is given by an earthy substance brought from the mountains by the streams of water, derived from thawing ice and snow, or the fall of rain. The reddish colour, as far as I have observed, is given by the mute of birds; though, in the example met with by captain Ross, in Baffin’s Bay, the stain appears to have been of a vegetable nature. The little auk, (Alca alle,) which feeds upon shrimps, is found, in some parts of the Polar seas, in immense numbers. They frequently retreat to pieces of ice, or surfaces of snow, and stain them all over red with their mute. Martens saw red snow in Spitzbergen, which he considered as being stained by rain-water running down by the rocks.
The extreme beauty and endless variety of the microscopic objects procured in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, are perhaps fully equalled, if not surpassed, in both particulars of beauty and variety, by the crystals of snow. The principal configurations are the stelliform and hexagonal, though almost every shape, of which the generating angles of 60° and 12° are susceptible, may, in the course of a few years’ observation, be discovered. The various modifications of crystals may be classed under five general kinds, or genera.
1. Lamellar, infinite in variety, most delicate in structure, and capable of sub-division into several distinct species.
2. A lamellar, or spherical nucleus, with spinous ramifications in different planes. This genus also consists of two or three species.
3. Fine spiculæ, or six-sided prisms. The finest specimens resemble white hair, cut into lengths not exceeding a quarter of an inch.
4. Hexagonal pyramids. I have but once seen this kind of snow crystal.
5. Spiculæ, or prisms having one or both extremities inserted in the centre of a lamellar crystal. This genus resembles a pair of wheels, united by an axle-tree.
In low temperatures, the greatest proportion of crystals that fall are, probably, perfect geometrical figures.
Some of the general varieties in the figures of the crystals may be referred to the temperature of the air; but the particular and endless modifications of similar classes of crystals can only be referred to the pleasure of the great First Cause, whose works, even the most minute and evanescent, and in regions the most remote from human observation, bear the impress of His own hand, and display to his intelligent creatures his vast and beneficent wisdom. If, on these forms of unintelligent matter, he has bestowed such excellent workmanship, with how much more transcendent loveliness will he clothe those who are redeemed by the exceeding riches of his grace, and who, beyond the history and productions of all worlds, will reflect the beauty of his glorious countenance!
Frost-rime, or frost-smoke, is a meteor peculiar to those parts of the globe where a very low temperature prevails for a considerable time. It consists of a dense frozen vapour, apparently arising out of the sea, or any large sheet of water, and ascending, in high winds and turbulent seas, to the height of eighty or one hundred feet, but, in light breezes and smooth water, creeping along the surface. The particles of which it consists are as small as dust, and cleave to the rigging of ships, or almost any substance against which they are driven by the wind, and afford a coating of an inch or upwards in depth. These particles adhere to one another until the windward surface of the ropes is covered, and form long fibres somewhat of a prismatical or pyramidal shape, having their points directed towards the wind. Frost-rime adheres readily to articles of clothing; and, from the circumstance of its lodging in the hair, and giving it the appearance of being powdered, the sailors humorously style it “the barber.” Such of the frost-rime as is dislodged from the rigging whenever the ship is tacked, covers the deck to a considerable thickness, and, when trod upon, emits an acute sound, resembling the crushing of fine particles of glass. The cause of this phenomenon, which generally is not observed until the cold is reduced to 14°, may perhaps be similar to that producing rain, and may be explained according to Dr. Hutton’s theory.