The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-01-21
CURIosITIEs OF ICE.

'One not summer day entered shop
on the Strand On the window frag-
ments of ice were lying in a basin The
tradesman gave me permission 10 take the
pieces of ice In my hand. Holding the
first piece, l attached all the other pieces
in the basin TO it. The thermometer
was then above sixty degrees, and vet all
the pieces were frozen together.'' In this
way Mir. Tvndall formed chain of ice.
THIS experiment may be made even III
bot water. Throw two pieces Of ice in
pail full of almost boiling water. keep
them in contact, and they will freeze to-
gether despite the high temperature. Mr..
Farraday made another experiment of the
same sort. He threw into vessel full
of water several small pieces of ice
They fioated on the face of the water.
The moment one piece touched another
there was an instantaneous refreezing.
Attraction soon brought all the pieces in
contact, so that in an instant an ice chain
was formed
An ice wheel turning on a surface of
ice refreezes the point of contact. DIR
ing the rotation a series of cracks are
| heard, which show the ear that successive
refreezing is constantly taking place
The phenomenon of refreezing is easily
explained. At the surface of piece of
ice the atoms, which are no longer in
equilibrium on the outside, tend to leave
their neighbors, as happens III boiling or
evaporation. Melting ensues. But if
there are two pieces of ice brought tugeth-
er, the atoms on the the surface are re-
TED to their equilibrium, the attractive
action becomes what it was, the atoms
! resume their relations with their neighbors,
and jhxtaposition ensues. In consequence
of this property, ice is endowed with
Elasticity. A rope and knot or a buckle
may be made of ice. 1t may be moul Id
! ed. The schoolboy who fills his hands
with snow and compresses it into a ball
produces the phenomenon of refreezing,
and forms an ice-ball sufficiently hard to
prove dangerous projectile.
This explains the extraordinary rigidi-
! ty of the bridges of snow which are often
seen in the Alps suspended over deep
| crevisses. The Alpine guides by eau
tiously walking on those snowy masses
freeze the particles together and trans
form the snow into ice. If snow be com
| pressed into moulds ice slatueitcs may be
obtained. Fill a hollow ball with snow,
| pressed in as hard as possible, and YOU
may obtain ice balls admirably translucid.
! Nothing would be easier than TO dine
with service made of moulded snow
! plates, glasses, decanters, all Of snow
! 4 gentleman of Paris recently served
/ sherry wine to his friends before a hot
| fire in breakers of snow. Snow COM
! in 4b,S WOW ,lpaS Mt male
/ i lily IS might e thought. Ice requires
great deal of heat before it melts. A
| layer of ice often becomes a protection
against cold. If you prevent anything
! from sinking to a temperature below
thirty>two degrees during the very severe
| lrosts, we know you have but TO wrap it
in wet rags.
The process of freezing gives to the en-
virUning bodice all the heat necessary TO
destroy it. The water in the rags, slow
! ly forms small pieces OF ice on the rags,
and in the meantime disengages heat.
which warns the object wrapped in the
rags.
a tree wrapped in rags, or in moss
saturated with water, does not freeze
even when the thermometer is several de-
! erees below the point. The slowncss
with which ice melts is we'll known.
| During the winter Of l740 the Czar built
Al 81. Petersburg a magnificent palace of
ice, which lasted several years, Since
then cannons have been made of ice, and
they have been loaded with balls and
fired. They were fired ten times without
bursting. 1t is consequently indisputab!e
that ice melts slowly. and may be turned
TO good account In the Polar regions -
In Siberia the windows have panes of ice.
! The remarkable property with which par
ticlcs Of ice are endowed of moulding
themselves into different shapes by re-
freezing, easily explains how glaciers
make their way through narrow gorges
and expand in valleys. The ice is broken
into fragments which refrecze whenever
they touch.
Professor Tyndall says: "When two
pieces Of ice at the melting temper
ature are placed in contact with each
other they freeze together, and even
when two pieces floating on water touch
each other they freeze together. To this
freezing together the term regeIat'on has
been applied. 1t is by pressure and reg
elation that glaciers are formed the
SHOWS granules, when powerfully squeez
ed together, regelate, and form coherent
mass. Ii is by this property that a
glacier accommodates itself TO the valley
which it fills. We can thus out of small
fragments form a sphere Of ice; out of
the sphere we can form lens out of
the lens cup. Two ice-cups, placed
edge to edge, freeze together and form a
hollow sphere In these cases the ice is
first crushed and then regulated; but
when the passage is very gradual the
change is gradual, and the ice behaves
/ like soft wax 1t can be moulded into
any form. Rings, vases, statuetts, can
be thus made of ice, and these once pro-
duccd may be turned to the following