Jean M. Thompson

“ Beautiful beyond powers of description are the magical, fairy-like scenes which follow the passing of a great ice-storm. If you are out of doors just after such a storm, when the first rays of the sun begin to shine forth, lighting and touching every ice-sheathed twig with gold, and before the ice has begun to melt and fall from the trees, you can well imagine that you are catching a fleeting glimpse of fairyland! ”

“ In zero weather, in mid-winter, when the earth is frozen to a great depth below the surface, when in driving over the unpaved country roads they give forth a hard metallic ring; when the trees are all stripped of their coverings, with the exception of a few forlorn brown leaves, which cling tenaciously to the skeleton branches, which crack and sway in the chilly blasts; then indeed we may be fully assured that nature has utterly succumbed to the advances of the Frost King, and that “Jack Frost” himself has arrived in earnest. ”

“ Low altitude type
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Should you wander alone far afield, perhaps across some hilly pasture where above the soft snow hummocks last year’s drying seed-pods and grasses gleam frost-touched and sparkling in the sunshine, into the edge of the “spruce bush,” if you are a lover of nature in all her moods, aside from the glittering beauties which meet the eye upon every hand, you will be impressed by a wonderful calmness, a brooding silence, which came with the advent of the snow. ”

“ One of the most interesting and instructive phenomena in the lessons of nature is the falling of the dew—a seeming miracle which begins with the setting of the sun, and goes on mysteriously, collecting and distributing its countless exquisite water jewels, all through the long stillness of the night, only to be dispelled again by the heat of the rising sun. ”

“ Surely each changing month brings with its advent its own peculiar charms. The seasons of frost, snow and ice are full of beauty to those of us who have looked into, and delight to ponder over, the many secret ways of nature. ”

“ When autumn has reached the zenith of perfection, when the milkweeds and thistles which grow thick in the hedges have cast their gossamer, fairy-like seeds to the winds, and the goldenrod which flaunted its yellow banners so brightly through those last long, perfect days of dying autumn, has at last begun to fade, the first warning which we have of the approach of the frost is all at once seen in certain mysterious changes of colour which have taken place in the foliage of the trees. ”

“ In these severe winter snow-storms which our New England poets illustrate so aptly, we become familiar with the snow in all its unsullied purity, and if we are New England born, we never forget the white, frozen charms of those rigid winters, no matter where we stray, or how torrid the sunshine of our abiding place in later years. ”

“ Through the still, cool nights in autumn the Hoar-frost Fairy works steadily, covering vegetation with glittering frost-work, touching all unsightly places, decaying woods, old gray fence-rails lightly in passing, and upon the following morning, if you are fortunately stirring before the sun ruins the best work of the hoar frost, you will discover many wonderful works of art. ”

“ If you too, would rise with the squirrels, and go forth into the open fields and woods, you will be amply repaid for the small effort which it cost you, for the display which the delicate hoar frost makes upon a clear morning in early autumn, when first touched by the sunrise, is really fantastic and wonderfully beautiful. ”

“ One has been caught by the camera, perched upon the down of a mullein leaf, as shown in the photographic illustration.
During still nights in early spring and fall, when there are no disturbing winds, the water molecules or dewdrops in countless numbers form one upon another, all night long, and settle upon blades of grass and all growing plants, and in the morning sunshine dance and sparkle in strings of scintillating diamonds from every pasture and hedge row.
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The sharp-pointed grasses collect the dew very copiously and in a most interesting manner. ”

“ When in mid-winter, pond, lake, and river are covered with a glittering icy coat of mail, when the rushing babble of the little brook sounds strangely muffled and restrained because of its icy fetters, then we know that all nature is once more in the stern, iron grasp of winter, which brings with its piercing icy breath, great discomfort, as well as charm and exhilaration to all. ”

“ And the great green chestnut burs are bursting, just a trifle; they need one more, slightly sharper touch from the hoar frost, and then the plump, brown, satin-skinned nuts will come tumbling out of their burs to the ground. The eager squirrels have already begun to collect their winter supplies. They are early at work, even before the magical display created by the hoar frost has been touched by the sun. They mean to get ahead of the children in their nut gathering, if possible. ”

“ As soon as you move the lamp away from the glass, the pictures instantly begin to grow and develop. Delicate, feathery etchings of ice crystals first appearing around the outer edge of the water film, and according to the temperature of the room, form rapidly or slowly. Exquisite tracings, and fern-like leaves shoot out as by magic toward the centre of the glass, but as soon as they reach a dry place upon the glass, they instantly cease. ”

“ But once outside in the open country we are inclined to gaze forth upon the pure expanse of snow-covered hill and plain, resplendent and dazzling as it stretches afar under the pale winter sunshine, with a more kindly, tolerant mood ”

“ During great snowstorms the winds within such storms blowing spirally inward toward the storm centre near the earth, and at the same time upward and outward, above, exert the vast powers of bringing together the material, the water vapours, which in conjunction with the icy breath of the raging blizzard, perfects the formation of the snow crystal. ”

“ When the ice flowers or crystals first begin to appear, it is usually upon the surface of the water, and close to the sides of the pail. Frequently they push out in long, delicate, needle- or lance-like forms while upon the plain edges of these sharp lances, scallops and delicate serrations quickly follow. But the individual or flower type of crystals which grow and scatter themselves over the surface of the water, do not attach themselves to any object, but grow in a detached fashion, and are really the most interesting crystal for observation and study. ”

“ How many millions of these exquisitely constructed jewels do we heedlessly crush and shatter unconsciously during a brief walk in the snow and how crude and imperfect seem the productions of human minds and hands when compared to those formed by the blind forces of nature. ”

“ But with all the marvellous works of the mighty Frost Spirit, nothing is quite so fascinating and interesting as the curious phenomena or frost formations which he creates and deposits upon the window-panes in mid-winter. ”

“ If such a crystal alights—and sometimes it is weary waiting, for in a storm lasting an entire day, frequently but two or three perfect crystals deign to alight upon the receiving board—but when the perfect crystal arrives, then with infinite skill, and just the right touch, which must be acquired by practice, the little crystal is gently lifted upon a tiny, sharp-pointed stick, transferred to the slide and photographed as quickly as possible, before it has had an opportunity to dissolve, and become again a mere drop of uninteresting moisture. ”

“ If you happen to be in the country, direct your steps across the pasture lands, where the short thick grass is powdered heavily with the hoar frost, and do not fail to pause at the old, gray rail fence, leading into the cornfield, to study the fine effects, the magic work which the Frost Spirit has left there during the night. ”

“ The rainbow, that wonderfully beautiful bow of prismatic tints, which sometimes throws its ethereal arch across the heavens for a brief while, is caused by the reflection of the sun’s rays shining upon drops of rain, the colours being arranged in definite order; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The lunar rainbow, which occasionally forms at night when the moon shines, is not of frequent occurrence, but very beautiful when it does deign to show itself. ”

“ When, as we sometimes remark, “Mother Goose is shaking out her feather bed,” and the white flakes come drifting down in large loose feathery flakes, then we may more readily discover a crystal without the aid of a glass. It is then that we find the lace-like, open, branchy and star-like shapes. These usually form during a local storm, or from a storm preceded by a warm wave. But the hard pellet-like crystals which sting our window-panes in falling, are from a very high altitude, and have been great travellers. ”

“ Columnar ice, section shown in detail, largely magnified
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Nothing can compare in grandeur, to the marshalling of Nature’s forces together and the raging fury of a great thunder-storm. Truly the roar of the thunder may well be likened to Heaven’s artillery, and no pyrotechnic display ever equals that which the jagged, forked lightning creates amid the inky, ominous clouds of the heavens. ”

“ Most of us have given little time or very serious thought to the study of the snow, and the marvellous detail which goes to fashion the individual snow crystal. In fact, if we live in a crowded city, we are inclined to look upon a heavy snowfall as something of a nuisance, to be shovelled and carted away as expeditiously as may be by the army of men employed by the city for that purpose. ”

“ There are many more difficulties to be encountered by crystal photographers in the study of ice formation, and its minute detail, than in that of either the snow or frost. Still many instructive and very interesting experiments have been made and facts obtained relating to the formation of the ice, and it has recently been possible to secure a valuable set of photographs which are wonderfully interesting, inasmuch as they serve to show the singular formation and development of ice crystal structure from start to finish. ”

“ The ice films always begin to develop upon the colder portions of the glass first. Feathery plume-like designs form first upon shaded portions, and slowly follow the fading sunlight as it passes from one pane to another, until the entire window is often covered with these transparent ice pictures. ”

“ If you observe very closely, you will discover that meanwhile, in the little open spaces, between the bolder fern-like designs, more delicate feathery forms are gradually appearing, formations which sometimes resemble fine coral branches. As soon as the water-film ice crystallisations are completed they are closely followed by the true frost crystals, which form upon the various dry places upon the glass, delicate lines and stars and also in a thin, dew-like deposit, which rapidly freezes, and assumes a granular, snow-like form. ”

“ Perfect crystals are by no means common, and it requires infinite patience and skill to capture and photograph them in perfection. During a great blizzard or snow-storm, lasting for days, which one might reasonably hope would be quite prolific of many perfect specimens, perhaps only one or two really perfect or noteworthy crystals may be obtained. ”

“ Large masses of rock are constantly being split and reconstructed by its mighty blasting powers, and great sections of solid material are converted in the same manner into soil by the secret action of the frost, which works continually with the other elements of heat and water to effect these changes. These powerful agents working year after year cause vast and important changes to occur in the formation of mountains and valleys. So great is the power of frost, that it has frequently been utilised in blasting ”

“ The night time seems to be most favourable for the finest efforts of Jack Frost; usually in mid-winter or early spring. He prefers to select a still, cold night, zero weather, for his best out-of-door display, but it is usually in the coldest winter weather that he applies his very choicest designs upon the glass of our windows, and just how charming and interesting they are, you may judge by the photographed designs herein shown. ”

“ The phenomenon of the dew is simply explained, and well worthy of a short study as it is really a most important factor in nature’s laws. Simply explained, the dew is really an actual deposit of water from the atmosphere upon the surface of the earth, and is formed when the earth is sufficiently cooled during the night by radiation. ”