Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
[Illustration: A WINTER SCENE]
Oh come to the window, dear brother, and see
What a change has been made in the night;
The snow is all over the big cedar tree,
And the ground, too, is covered with white.
_James Taylor._
WATER WONDERS EVERY
CHILD SHOULD KNOW
LITTLE STUDIES OF DEW,
FROST, SNOW, ICE AND RAIN
BY
JEAN M. THOMPSON
ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
BY WILSON A. BENTLEY
[Illustration: Publisher Logo]
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1907, by
Doubleday, Page & Company
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
languages, including the Scandinavian
TO G. W. R.
I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK, AS AN EXPRESSION OF APPRECIATION AND ESTEEM
NOTE
I am greatly indebted to Mr. Wilson A. Bentley for valuable assistance
in the arrangement of this book, and particularly for permission to
reproduce the microphotographs.
Jean M. Thompson.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. When the Dew Falls 5
II. The Coming of the Hoar Frost 37
III. Etchings by Jack Frost 65
IV. Mysteries and Beauties of the Snow 97
V. Ice and Its Formation 169
VI. The Beneficent Rain 205
ILLUSTRATIONS
A Winter Scene _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
3. Grass blade with dew deposit 5
4. Showing how sharp-pointed grasses collect and retain the
dewdrops 5
5. Grass blade holding two drops 5
6. Dewdrop on grass blade 5
7. Spider's web entire 9
8. Detail section of spider's web dew-laden 9
9. A dew-laden strawberry leaf 13
10. Dewdrop caught on vegetable hairs 13
11. The sleeping caterpillar was a good subject 13
12. The surface of a leaf dew-covered 13
13. Dew caught and held upon the down of plant stem 14
14. Dew upon the down of a leaf 14
17. Hoar-frost deposit upon a stick 18
18. Dainty lace-like formation of hoar frost 18
19. Winter tabular hoar frost resembling a group of butterflies 18
20. Like a piece of bleached coral 22
21. Tabular hoar frost 22
22. Tree form tabular hoar frost which grew in zero weather 22
23. A winter type of hoar frost 26
24. Columnar hoar frost upon a decaying log 26
25. Striking arrangement of hoar-frost crystals 26
26. Showing hoar-frost elaboration 33
27. Hoar-frost deposit upon grass blades 33
28. Moss-like hoar frost deposited upon surface of pond 37
29. Columnar hoar frost scattered over brook ice 37
30. An odd hoar-frost formation 41
31. Detail tabular hoar frost 41
32. Detail tabular hoar-frost crystals 41
33. Cup-form hoar frost 41
34_a_. Columnar hoar-frost crystals 45
34_b_. Columnar hoar frost 45
35. Linear-type window-pane frost 46
36. Showing initials crudely scratched upon glass 46
37. An exquisite lace pattern in frost 50
38. A beautiful example of two distinct types 54
39. Fern-like scrolls, delicate background 54
40. A perfect fern leaf 58
41. Raised fern-like arrangement 58
42. Showing in detail granular frost 58
43. Graceful feathers with curling ends 62
44. Strikingly beautiful example 62
45. One of Jack Frost's masterpieces 69
46. A mass of feathers scattered upon glass 69
47. Sometimes Jack Frost sketches oak leaves 73
48. Detail of frost crystals largely magnified 73
49. Twigs and leaves 77
50. Branch-like arrangement of twigs 77
51. Moss-like arrangement of frost 78
52. Twin freaks 78
53. An unusual design 82
54. A powdering of small flowers 82
55. A maple-leaf etching 86
56. Find the frost spider 86
57. Two distinct types of window-pane frost 90
58. Curious design suggesting a spider web 90
59. One of the choicest designs of window frost 97
60. A design of frost work from "the land of the pointed firs" 97
61. Blizzard type 101
62. Exquisite jewelled type 101
63. Solid, big-storm type 105
64. A very symmetrical crystal 105
65. High-altitude crystal 105
66. Freak crystal formed by broken sections uniting 105
68. Air inclusions unusually clear 109
69. Low-altitude type 109
70. Local-storm crystal 110
71. Freak trigonal crystal 110
72. Elaborately etched 110
73. The cuff-button crystals 114
74. Low-cloud crystal 114
75. A beautifully marked high-altitude crystal 114
76. Crystal coated with granular snow 118
77. Having flower-like petals 118
78. Very intricate design 122
79. Showing a perfect star 122
80. Frigid-altitude crystal 126
81. High- and low-altitude type combined 126
82. Having beautifully etched center 126
83. A diamond pendant 126
84. Clean-cut prism-like crystal from high altitude 133
85. Suggesting a Masonic emblem 133
86. The Egyptian crystal 133
87. Unusually symmetrical and clearly defined 137
88. Singular detail 137
89. Trigonal crystal 137
90. Young germ crystals 141
91. Granular pellet crystals 141
92. Columnar six-sided type 141
93. Sleet, sharp and stinging 142
94. Old snow, re-crystallised 146
95. Freak crystal 146
96. Snow rollers 150
97. Scattered like huge muffs over large tracts of land 150
98. A freak crystal 154
99. Two broken crystals united 154
100. A society emblem 154
101. A twin crystal 154
102. A feathery type 161
103. Leaf-like terminations 161
104. Delicately etched centre 165
105. High-altitude crystal 165
106. Solid type 169
107. Star type 169
108. Very unusual centre formation 169
109. Mosaic like 169
110. Feathery type 173
111. Clear prism-like branches 173
112. Solid type 173
113. Low-altitude crystal 173
114. Having notably elaborate centre 174
115. Very elaborate design 174
116. The arrow crystal 174
117. Low-altitude type 174
118. High-altitude crystal 178
119. A daintily etched centre design 178
120. Branchy trigonal crystal 182
121. An uncommon type 182
122. One of the most elaborate crystals shown 186
123. A rare design because of its open petal-like formation 186
124. Very frigid altitude crystal having remarkably etched
centre 186
125. A snow crystal covered with granular deposit of frost 186
126. Local-storm type 190
127. Cold high altitude 190
128. Germ or birth of ice crystal 197
129. Second stage in which crimps begin to appear 197
130. Third stage of development 197
131. Fourth stage flower-like shape beginning to show 201
132. Ice flower completed 201
133. Flower-like shape fully formed 201
134. Ice flower beginning to show shadings 201
135. Ice crystals growing downward into the brook 205
136. Group of ice crystals 205
137. Lance-like form seen pushing out from banks of brooks 205
138. Second stage of lance-like ice crystals 206
139. Lance-like form completed 206
140_a_. Freak ice crystals 206
140_b_. Group of ice crystals containing germs 206
141_a_. Coral-like branch showing the "feather type" in detail 210
141_b_. Window-pane ice 210
142. Beautiful type of window-ice growing like delicate seaweed 214
143. Window-pane ice 214
144. Another type of window-pane ice 214
145. An example of columnar ice 218
146. Columnar ice 218
147. Columnar ice, section shown in detail 218
148. Very great thunder-storm drops 222
149. Rain from cirro-stratus high clouds 222
150. Rain from low nimbus clouds 222
151. Thunder- and hail-storm type 226
152. From a great rain storm which lasted 15 hours 226
153. Thunder cloud 230
154. Nimbus or low stratus clouds 230
WHEN THE DEW FALLS
[Illustration: 3. Grass blade with dew deposit--three drops held in
suspension on top of blade]
[Illustration: 4. Showing how sharp pointed grasses collect and retain
the dew drops, while blunt or broken blades collect none]
[Illustration: 5. Grass-blade holding two drops--dew drop preparing to
fall]
[Illustration: 6. Dew drops on grass blade; showing inverted landscape
held in drop]
CHAPTER I
WHEN THE DEW FALLS
"Everything shone with the dew drops that sparkling and trembling lay
Scattered to left and to right, and the webs of the spiders were hung
Thickly with pearls and diamonds; light in the wind they swung."
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.
We are more or less familiar, through casual observation, with the
varied beauties of the dew. A walk in the country or park, in the early
midsummer morning, just after the sun has risen, if possible, will
enable you fully to appreciate its charms; especially if the dewfall
during the preceding night has been a copious one. Every bit of
plant-life and vegetation will sparkle and twinkle in the early
sunshine, hung and embellished with millions of glittering jewels. The
very smallest grass blade, you will discover, has not been neglected by
the Dew Fairy. And even the delicate, gossamer-like spider's web swung
from twig to twig or caught among the grasses, is dew laden, and an
object of beauty well worthy of consideration.
[Illustration: 7. Spider's web entire: showing manner of collecting dew]
[Illustration: 8. Detail of spider's web dew-laden. Observe the
pearl-like strands.]
Happy indeed are you, if you have enjoyed a stroll in an old-fashioned
country flower garden in the early morning. No need to dwell upon its
charms if you have enjoyed that pleasure, for you will long remember the
refreshment and peace which came to you with the close companionship of
the great pink, damask roses, their petals still heavy with the night
dews; the tall, sentinel-like lilies, cool and fragrant, their cups
filled with dewy nectar, which great blundering bees were eagerly
plundering; clean-smelling phlox, waist-high, each velvet cluster moist
and bent with its weight of dew. Then the beds of gray-green mignonette;
and best of all, down in an out-of-the-way corner, a tangle of
unobtrusive old-fashioned pinks, where you knelt and buried your face
for a moment to inhale their spicy fragrance, and found them doubly
sweet and satisfying after their drenching dew bath. While the beds of
simples and humbler things, the sage and wormwood, with their silvery
leaves heavy with dew, exhaled a pungent, aromatic odour as you brushed
them in passing. For the dew had refreshed them and enhanced their
dormant spiciness tenfold.
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.
Upon a pleasant day during summer, especially if the sun shines
brightly, much aqueous vapour or mist is held suspended in the air, and
if the temperature at sunset falls below the dew point, that vapour can
no longer be retained in suspension in the air, and falls to the earth.
The dew is the vapour of the air. Sometimes it can readily be seen
falling in a fine mist resembling rain. It is the humidity of the air
deposited upon all surfaces of the earth with which it comes in contact.
When the temperature falls below the dew point, or 32°, the dew then
becomes converted into frost, and we have a deposit of hoar frost,
instead of the dew. It has been remarked that horizontal and flat
surfaces exposed to the dew receive a greater deposit than sheltered or
oblique surfaces.
[Illustration: 9. A dew-laden strawberry leaf with dew jewels set in
each serration about the edges]
[Illustration: 10. Dew drop caught on vegetable hairs of mullein leaf]
[Illustration: 11. The sleeping caterpillar was a good subject and
received a copious collection of dew]
[Illustration: 12. The surface of a leaf dew-covered]
Dew has frequently been quoted as "A shower from heaven," but this is
not literally correct. True, it appears rather mysteriously from a clear
sky, and upon a still, cloudless night covers thickly every blade of
grass and plant life with seeming raindrops, and that frequently where
rain clouds rarely appear, and the rain seldom falls. In such climates,
where a rainfall is rare, it is certainly a most beneficial and wise
provision, for it gathers upon all herbage and vegetation, in sparkling,
refreshing profusion; while it avoids instinctively all barren rocky
formations and all things which could not be benefited by its grateful
cooling, moisture. Also, in cold, damp climates, where the air is
continually saturated with moisture, and where an additional amount is
not required, the gathering clouds and the dampness of the chilly
atmosphere prevent a radiation of heat from the earth, and the dew never
falls in such climates.
There are three requisites which appear to be essential for the
formation of the dew: First, that the air should be moist; second, that
the surface upon which it falls shall be cold, and third, that the sky
be clear.
Of course the atmosphere always contains a greater amount of moisture
after a rainfall, when the air has been greatly cooled. Evaporation is
then continually going on among all objects lying near the surface of
the earth. Blades of grass and all plants near the ground gradually cool
and assume a lower temperature after sunset; they are preparing for the
fall of the dew.
It has been remarked that certain plants possess greater powers of
radiating heat and of expelling moisture through evaporative process
than others; upon such plants the dew deposit is always more profuse,
while those plants possessing less powers of radiation and evaporation,
collect little dew.
[Illustration: 13. Dew caught and held upon down of plant stem]
[Illustration: 14. Dew upon the down of a leaf]
There are very many plants whose leaves are downy, with a thick growth
of tiny vegetable hairs; the mullein leaf is a good example, its thick
velvety leaves are thickly covered with this growth of vegetable down,
and present a velvety surface; these leaves always collect a fine
display of dew jewels. 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.
The sharp-pointed grasses collect the dew very copiously and in a most
interesting manner. Dewdrops formed upon the grass blades, it will be
observed, are arranged in a truly wonderful symmetrical fashion, and one
marvels at the orderly arrangement. Frequently one large dewdrop, clear
as a diamond, is deposited upon the very tip of the little grass blade,
sometimes two and even three large drops are held in suspension thus,
while upon the extreme sharp edge of one or both sides of the blade a
collection of small, bead-like drops cling in orderly, precise fashion,
strung from tip to root of the grass blade. A broken or blunted blade of
grass collects no dew, or very little. When the large dewdrop perched
upon the tip of the grass blade decides to fall, it descends rather
slowly at first, following the extreme edge of the blade in its course,
and thus meets and collects all the other dewdrops which it encounters
strung along the edge of the blade, until forming at last one heavy
drop, it suddenly falls to earth, where it is instantly absorbed, and
goes to give life and strength to the very roots of the plant.
[Illustration: 17. Hoar frost deposit upon a stick. The butterflies have
settled to rest]
[Illustration: 18. Dainty lace-like formation of hoar frost collected
upon a straw]
[Illustration: 19. Winter tabular hoar frost resembling a group of
butterflies]
Cobwebs attract the dew in a rather singular manner. It is yet to be
discovered why the dew forms only upon the horizontal threads of a
spider's web, while the vertical threads, though smaller, collect no dew
deposit. This curious fact is well shown in the photograph of the entire
spider's web, also in the section of a web, showing the dew deposit in
detail. Wonderfully beautiful are these dew-laden webs. It will be
observed that each drop is similar in size, and closely resembles
several strings of well-matched pearls, although in the sunshine they
appear as clear, flashing diamonds. Certain leaves collect the dew drops
in a novel manner, notably the strawberry leaf, and similar plants
having serrate edges. The strawberry leaf, besides being plentifully
decorated upon its surface with water beads, holds in each tiny
serration about its edge a large, clear, sparkling dewdrop, which gives
the leaf a wonderful jewelled effect.
We are all familiar with the so-called "sweating" of a glass or pitcher,
or a metal pipe containing cold water; this is another phase of the dew,
and may be observed in the daytime.
A cool night in spring or autumn, after a hot day, we usually receive a
more copious fall of dew, which gradually increases as the night becomes
cooler. Should clouds gather, the precipitation of the dew at once
ceases. Wherever a bush or bit of vegetation overhangs a spot, it has a
similar effect to that of a cloud, and the dew does not collect at all,
or not as copiously, in that spot.
In the tropics, and in certain countries where there are no rain clouds;
where they rarely have rain for many months at a time, the dewfall is so
heavy that it quite supplies the lack of rainfall. If it were not for
this providential visitation of the dew all vegetable life must
certainly perish, scorched and withered by the torrid heat.
[Illustration: 20. Like a piece of bleached coral. Hoar frost discovered
under a building]
[Illustration: 21. Tabular hoar frost]
[Illustration: 22. Tree form tabular hoar frost: grew in zero weather]
In the East, in the region of Palestine, the dew frequently is so heavy
that it closely resembles rain. Upon the great burning deserts alone the
dew never falls; for the moment the dew vapours or molecules encounter
the scorching breath which arises from the face of these barren seas of
sand, they evaporate and are redissolved, dissipated and consumed by the
heat. So it will be seen that the fixed molecules which compose
vegetation alone have the power to attract and arrest the water
molecules of the air with which they come in contact, and thus form, in
combination, the dew.
When the temperature is below 32°, the tiny particles which go to form
the dew become hoar frost. It is often of great value to the farmer or
vegetable grower to be able to know just the temperature of the dew
point, because, if he discovers it in time, he is enabled to save his
garden from a sudden blighting visitation of the frost.
Another interesting fact, and one which is known to few of us, but which
may readily be seen, if we take time to study the dewdrop minutely is;
that each tiny drop of dew is in itself a miniature mirror, for upon its
clear, crystal-like surface it holds and faithfully portrays upon its
rounded form the image of any near-by object. The picture is, of course,
naturally inverted. But you will find it; a bit of blue sky holding a
scrap of fleecy cloud, or a pigmy forest of trees caught and mirrored in
the dewdrop. Often sleeping and dormant insects when caught out in the
open during the night, receive a copious deposit of dew. The caterpillar
shown in the photograph was a good subject, and quite a collection of
dew was deposited upon his furry coat.
[Illustration: 23. A Winter type of hoar frost]
[Illustration: 24. Columnar hoar frost upon a decaying log]
[Illustration: 25. Striking arrangement of hoar-frost crystals upon
broken edge of ice, water showing beneath]
Nature in all her moods, and they are many, is always entertaining and
instructive, and perhaps one of her greatest marvels is that which takes
place in the silence of the brooding night--the falling of the gentle
dew.
[Illustration: 26. Showing hoar-frost elaboration about the edge of a
leaf]
[Illustration: 27. Hoar-frost deposit upon grass blades]
THE COMING OF THE HOAR FROST
[Illustration: 28. Moss-like hoar frost deposited upon surface of pond]
[Illustration: 29. Columnar hoar frost scattered over brook ice]