St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-24
A SNOWFLAKE.
1t is Blue, Not White-Study of
Capitalization.

y
Baltimore Sun.
The first snow of winter is always
hailed with mingled feelings of pleasure
and apprehension. The youngsters well
come 1t with unalloyed delight, but their
elders realize that it is but the harbinger
of many and more severe storms which
will bring misery to some and discom-
fort to all. But even these cannot but
admire the beauty of the little crystals
of water as they fall so softly and gently
from the skies. Even in the mass its
pure whiteness and its soft feathery
character give snow charm peculiarly
its own, which has been celebrated in
proverb and poem, in all ages of man
kind. 1t came rather as shock to learn,
as the realistic painters showed and the
philosophers corroborated, that the
snow was not white, but blue; faint
and delicate blue 1t is true, but one we'll
marked in deep shadows and exactly
that of water when viewed in large
masses. Pure water IN small bulk is
almost perfectly transparent. bit in
large masses gives distinctly blue tint
to white objects when seen through 1t.
So the whiteness of the snow, due to
interference of the light by the ret1ec-
ton and refractlon Of the innumerable
facets OF minute crystals, is found to be
tinged with blue when these interfer-
ences are sufficiently numerous.
Fer snow is nothing more than cryS-
taliZed water, and its beauty in mass is
surpassed by the beauty of some Of the
individual crystals which catch ON ones
coat sleeve or fall on the ground, when
examined closely by the eye, or. still
nifying glass. MultitudeS of forms of
all degrees of compleXity from the
slender, straight needle to the most
complicated star-like figures have been
drawn and described; but in spite of
this great diversity they are all aDso-
lutely uniform in their primary design.
that of the heXagonal prism. The ordi-
nary form is that of straight needles of
ice radiating from common center.
and the straight needles occasionally
seen are regarded as broken or incom-
plete specimens of this class, but each
of these needles is capable of throwing
out other needle-like branches. always
at symmetrical distances. and always at
an angle of 60 or 100 degrees. OCCASION
ally little plates are seen, but these,
also, are invariably siX-sided planes, the
angles Of which are still 10 degrees.
What is the meaning of this rigid adj
herence to certain geometrical form?
Evidently the result is the action of
physical force of the individual mole
cules which make up the crystals, aud
evidently also this force is either all
pervading or else inherent in the mole
cules themselves, for the crystals figured
by Arctic explorers and those found in
tieally identical. There is scarcely a
possibility of doubt that the force,
whatever it is, which determines the
form Of crystals is inherent in the MOLE
cules of which the crystal is composed.
and. perhaps, represents the position of
the atoms in the molecules themselves.
The theory of crystalliZation has been
SO deliberately worked out that it is SEC
ond only to those of mathematics and
chemistry itself in eXaetness. So ac-
cIrate is it that the crystalline form
of substance unknown in other than
a liquid or q gaseous state, and even
that Of SUBSTANCE entirely unknown,
but whose existence is possible, can be
predicted with accuracy. This is the
last and greatest test Of scientific
theory. To most minds it is complete
proof Of the CORRECTNESS of that theory.
Crystallized water assumes the form
of a heXagonal prism. hot from chance,
but because it is compelled to assume
that form on account of its molecular
ARRANGEMENT, and the arrangement of
the molecules is due TO the forms which
the atoms themselves assume within
the molecuie, or rather to the restric-
tons of their several ranges of move
mept through their mutual attractions.
This IS the basis of the present theory
of the formation OF crystals. and it will
be seen that given the character and
number of the atoms and their arrange
ment in polecule it is per-
fectly possible to predict the
range of their movement in the
moleeule and thence the probable
character of crystal which would be
built up of many molecules. 1t is need
less to say that it is unnecessary to
carry the investigation of any compound
back to the atoms, and that the fact OF a
certain number and character of atoms
having been established in the mole.
cules Of any substance. it is possibIe at