Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1871-01-28
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IOLines, or abcnt 100 Words, make ,qua,s

small bubbles when the ice is thin. II il.
probably air excluded in the process Of
crystaiizaiion, and when there is added
IL sundry gases formed from doGayiux
matter IN The water, 1t amounts during the
winter TO aFcOnsiderable quantity Such
sollections of air. like the bubble in as,,irt-
ieVil, are IN very uneasy condition, and
are rapidly transferred from one place 10
another on any casual disturbance of the
level, giving rise to one Of the numerous
noises which are always more or less he Ard
On lake covered with ice-at least, we
used always to attribute to this cause =
peculiar Sruaning sound which was very
common, Now, if there should be any
casual inequality in the lower surface Of
the ice, the air will naturally collect there,
and if ii is above 32 deg. F., which in 81
far as it consists Of evoled gas it probably
will be increaced by thawing. 4 dome
shaped cavity will thus be gradually for
med, which will finally reach the surface
air will escape from below, and the surface
water, of which there is almost always
more or less after the snow has fallen viii
run down from above wearing the little
Jagged channels which are characteristic
OF air-holes. The whole thing will then
alter q while freeze up again, leaving an
indication ofwhere the air-hue has been in
l have tried several such air hole with an
axe when first formed, and have always
found them to lead to such boue-shaped
cavity. | remember on one occasion au
otter ircqucntin9 large air-hole which re-
NAMED open Tor some time, and which
must have been from mile and a half 70
two miles distant irem the nsarest open
water. How did he reach it ? for 10 otter
can travel that distanc under water with
out access to air The Indians say that
they will go TO greater distance still under
the ice, and that they always find air there
1t is likely enough that there may be many
such done-shapcd cavities, which have
not yet reached, and may never reach
the surface as air-holes, but one would
imagine the air they contain to be not of
the most wholesome character However,
this otter did frequent that air hole for
about a week, which it certainly did n0s
reach by travlin on the ice, and thought il
had few chances Of breathing there in
the daytime at any rate, it cOntriyed dur
ing that period to elude the snares of
white man aud an Indian, who wasted
good deal Of time in looking after it,
So far, the process OF the formation Of
airholes, if l am right in my explanation,
is isintelilgible enough but sometimes they
are formed in manner which is difficult TO
account for. Upon one occasion l had
crossed the lake 10 friends house, about
four miles of, and we had determined to
start together next morning to our nearest
town, but l had to 20 home first. | iirst
went over by daylight, when there certain
ly was nothing unusual in the appearance
of the ice, which might be four or live inch
es thick ut the time, with slight sprink-
ling OF wettish snow on il. l returned
home abOu! eleven at night, and, az il was
bright starlight, with only few floating
clouds, | should have noticed any change
but L came straight across, and saw moth
ing to attract attentiOn; out when l crossed
ugan at daylight in the morning, in one
part Of the lake the whole surface was CO.
vered with air-hoies--there must have been
hundreds of them. Al first J gave them a
rather wide berth, but Oh approaching ono
, to examine it, found it frozen up again,
| the elegr ice III the hole, with very few i'll
dicGtiOns Of the characteristic Jagged edges,
being the only sign that there had been an
open air-holo there during the night. l
had no axe with me TO Try whether they
were connected with any cavity, but the
appearance was as if holes of from two 10
five or six inches in diameter had been
punched through the ice. Of course we
attributed It to electricity, as people will do
nyLhing which they do not otherwise un-
derstand. and l have never been able 10
give any more intellgible explanation Of
the phenomenon. There certainly had
been some faint sheet lightning that night,
very unusual thing in winter but what
connection, if any, there may have been
between the two things, L cannot tell
From Mature. JOHN LANGToN,