s of the trees, and the interminable
lines of telegraph wire--are adorned with a white and dazzling trimming.
In such a fall of snow as this the delicate process of crystallization
is not disturbed by any agitations in the air. The feathery needles from
each little nucleus extend themselves in every direction as far as they
will, and combining by gentle contacts with others floating near them,
form large and fleecy flakes, involving the nicest complications of
structure, and filling the air with a kind of beauty in which the
expression of softness and gracefulness is combined with that of
mathematical symmetry and precision.

In a snow _storm_ the force of the wind and the intensity of the cold
usually change all this. The progress of the crystallization, which to
be perfect must take place slowly, and under the condition of perfect
repose, is at once hastened by the low temperature, and disturbed by the
commotion in the air. Across the broad expanse of open plains, along
mountain-sides, through groves of trees, and over the smooth surface of
frozen lakes and rivers, millions of misshapen and broken crystals are
driven by the wind, piled up in heaps, or accumulated in confused masses
under the lee of every obstruction, having been subjected on the way to
such violence of agitation and collision that the characteristic beauty
and symmetry of the material is entirely destroyed.

If we examine attentively the falling flakes, whether of snow _showers_
or of snow _storms_, at different times, under the varying circumstances
in which snow forms and descends, we shall be surprised at the number
and variety of the forms which they assume. They may be received and
examined upon any black surface--the crown of a hat, or a piece of black
cloth, for example--previously cooled below the freezing-point. At any
one time the crystallizations are usually alike, but different
snow-falls seem to have each its own special conformation. Sometimes,
however, a change takes place from one style of flake to another in the
course of the same storm or shower, and during the period of transition
both varieties fall together from the air. Persons interested in such
observations may easily make drawings with a pen of the different forms
that present themselves from time to time, and thus in the course of a
winter make a very curious and interesting collection.

The number and variety of the forms which the snowy crystallizations
assume seem greate