Year: 1871

An EnenRntfnr spectocie-


Correspondence of Boston Journal. JAM II.


The 's ffost work" is one of the most
remarkable phenomena Jf this high al
titude. As few have ever seen it, md
none have attempted to describe it, and
as tie causes that produce it are but
Imperfectly understood, we shall per
hdps BE perdaned if we present some
rather crude ideas Id regard .o it,. II is
difficult also to convey in words aiiy
idea of its wonderful form and beauty
From the study given to it last winter,
and the opportunities we have had of
observing its formation, we are able to
give what seems to us d plausible, if
not CORE It theory, to account for
this, the most plastic of all handi-
work of nature. At our very first OBJ
ser%atiop we see that it forms only
when the Wild is nerthward, i. C., at
some point between north aid west ard
wind is southwark. IL begins with
mere points, on everything that the
wind reaches, on the f06ks; cn the snow,
on the railway, and on every part of the
buildings, even on the glass. On the
south side it is very slight, as the wind
reaches there only N eddying gusts.
When the surface is rough, the points,
as they begin. ate an inch or more
apart when smooth. it almost entirely
covers the surface at the very begin
ming but soon only a few points elon-
gate so, on whatever surface it begins
to form, it las very soen the same gen
10
the same beautiful feathery-like
forms. In going up the mountain we
do not see it until we get some distance
above the limit of the trees; it is near
ly a iai before it is seen in its charac-
teristic forifis, and it is only immedi-
ately about the summit it presents Its
most attractive features. We notice
also that it always forms toward the
wind-never from it-and the rapidity
with which it forms, and the great
length of the horizontal masses are
truly wonderful We placed round
stick an inch in diameter, in vertical
position, where it was exposed to the
full face of the wind, and in less than
two days some of the horizontal icicles
we call them icic1es for the want of a
more appropriate name-were two feet
in length and scarcely any thicker than
the stick itself. They formed on
every part of the stick that was ex-
posed, but of course some points were
much longer than others. They re-
mained several days, but with a change
of wind they were blown off. On some
of the piles of stones south of the house
these horizontal masses are now more
than five feet in length. On the south
ern expostire, instead of the "frost
work." there are only masses of pure
ice, which have always a peculiar hue
of greenish blue. In the early
part of December, when the
thermometer ranged from 25 to
% degrees and the wind was south
ward, the ice formed TO the thickness
of foot or more on the telegraph poles
near the house. These icy masses are
formed evidently by the condensation
of the vapor of the atmosphere, as it is
not uncommon for it to be above the
Fvi.t vf saturation. The 'fresh
WORK is afov fvrrnOd u, tL- eandonea
ton of vapor, but beside the vapor the
air must be filed with minute speculse
of ice. As the vapor condenses these
are caught and thus the horizontal
feathery masses are formed This ac-
counts for the facts that we have OBJ
served, namely, that il forms when the
wind is northward and always toward
the wind.