The use of snow when persons are thirsty does not by any means allay
the insatiable desire for water; on the contrary, it appears to be
increased in proportion to the quantity used, and the frequency with
which it is put into the mouth. For example, a person walking along
feels intensely thirsty, and he looks to his feet with coveting eyes;
but his good sense and firm resolutions are not to be overcome so
easily, and he withdraws the open hand that was to grasp the delicious
morsel and convey it into his parching mouth. He has several miles of
a journey to accomplish, and his thirst is every moment increasing; he
is perspiring profusely, and feels quite hot and oppressed. At length
his good resolutions stagger, and he partakes of the smallest
particle, which produces a most exhilarating effect; in less then ten
minutes he tastes again and again, always increasing the quantity; and
in half an hour he has a gum-stick of condensed snow, which he
masticates with avidity, and replaces with assiduity the moment that
it has melted away. But his thirst is not allayed in the slightest
degree; he is as hot as ever, and still perspires; his mouth is in
flames, and he is driven to the necessity of quenching them with snow,
which adds fuel to the fire. The melting snow ceases to please the
palate, and it feels like red-hot coals, which, like a fire-eater, he
shifts about with his tongue, and swallows without the addition of
saliva. He is in despair; but habit has taken the place of his
reasoning faculties, and he moves on with languid steps, lamenting the
severe fate which forces him to persist in a practice which in an
unguarded moment he allowed to begin.... I believe the true cause of
such intense thirst is the extreme dryness of the air when the
temperature is low.--_Sutherland's Journal._