The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-01-13
A SNOWFLAKE'S COMPOSITION.

A sNoWFLAKE's COMPOSITION.
The Crystalized Water Is Really Blue,
Not White.
| The first snow of winter is always
hailed with mingled feelings of pleas
ure and apprehension The youngsters
welcome it with una1loyed delight, but
their elders realize that it is but the
harbinger of many and more severe
storms which will bring misery to some
and discomfort 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 witness and its
soft feathery character give snow a
charm OF its own, which has been cele-
brated in proverb and poem in all ages
of mankind. 1t came rather as
shock to learn, as the realistic painters
showed and the philosophers corrob-
Grated, that the snow was not white.
but blue: faint and delicate blue it 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, but in large masses gives
distinctly blue tint to white objects
when seen through it. So the white
ness of the snow. due tointerference
of the light by the reflection and re-
| fraction of the innumerable facets of
minute crystals is found to be tinged
with blue when these interferences are
sufficiently numerous
For 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 better. when looked
at through magnifying 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 de-
scribed, but in spite of this great di-
versity they are all absolutely uniform
in their primary design, that of the
hexagonal prism. The ordinary form
is that of six straight needles of ice
radiating from a common center. and
the straight needles occasionally seen
are regarded as broken or incomplete
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 12o degrees. Occa-
sionally little plates are seen, but these
also are invariably six-sided planes,
the angles of which are still 120 de-
grees.
What is the meaning of this rigid
adherence to certain geometrical
form? Evidently the result is the ac-
tion of physical force on the individual
molecules which make up the crystals,
and evidently also this force is either
all-pervading or else inherent in the
molecules themselves, for the crystals
figured by Arctic explorers and those
found in the mountains of the Andes
are practically identical There is
scarcely possibility of doubt that
the force, whatever it is, which deter
mines the forms of crystals is inherent
in the molecules of which the crystal
is composed, and, perhaps, represents
the position of the atoms in the mole
cules themselves The theory of crys-
tallization has been SO elaborately
worked out that it is second only to
those of mathematics and chemistry it
self in exactness. So accurate is it
that the crystalline form of a substance
unknown in other than liquid or gas
eous state, and even that of substance
entirely unknown, but whose existence
2. Tod wit
curacy. This is the last and greatest
test of scientific theory. To most
minds it is complete proof of the cor
rectness of that theory.
Crystalized water assumes the form
Of a hexagonal prism, not 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 molecule or rather to the restric-
tions of their several ranges of move
ment 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 a molecule it is perfectly posi-
BILE to predict the range Of their move
ment in molecule and thence the
proba BILE character of a crystal which
would be built up of many molecules.
1t is needless to say that it is unneces-
sary to carry the investigation of any
compound back to the atoms and that
the fact of certain number and char
acter of atoms having been esta blished
in the molecules of any substance it is
possible at once to predicate the ar
rangement they would assume and the
crystalline form the molecules would
take.
The little crystals which make up the
snow are, therefore, the resultant of
physical and chemical forces of the uni
verse and each represents in its perfect
form the unalterable character of the
laws OF nature, which regulate alike
the shape of the great globe of the
earth and the tiny feathery flake which
falls on a coat sleeve on dark winters
day.-Baltimore Sun.
Leather That Looks Like Velvet.
The manufacture of leather is reach
ing what must be almost the highest
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