small quantities that it was hardly noticed. The radii of the stars were all of equal length, diverged in the same plane, and at exact angles of 60°, the length of each radius about the 1-7th of an inch. When the snow fell in quantities, these forms were no longer visible, and it appeared, as usual, in flocculi of minute needles irregularly associated. The state of the atmosphere on both the days when I observed these crystals was not materially different.

By referring to the article Neige, in the French Encyclopedia,* I found this subject there treated at large by Mons. De Ratte, the author of that article. The varieties spoken of by M. De Ratte, are found most beautifully and minutely

delineated in the same work, as copied from the Miscellanea Berolinensia, vol. vi. and amount to seventeen. The basis of the crystal in these stellæ remains the same in each, viz. a planular, hexangular star; and the varieties they exhibit seem rather to have the appearance of extrinsic decoration than any radical mutation. The modifications refer either to the radii or the centre. The following are those which came under my notice on the days above mentioned. They all seem to differ more or less from those delineated in the French Encyclopedia, except the first and second; but could I have inspected them by the microscope, it is probable I should have found a more general analogy,

1st. The crystal here is a simple hexangular star-the radii plain little needles of equal length and breadth, and the centre formed simply by their convergence-the angle of convergence in this as well as in all the succeeding, and in those given by M. De Ratte, being uniformly at 60 degrees. 2d. 'The radii and centre are both so expanded as to resemble the petals and disk of a compound flower. Seen also in Feb, 1818, by the Rev. Mr. Schaeffer, of New-York.

3d. The same as the first, i. e. a simple star, differing from it only in having the extremities of the radii bifurcated, these bifurcations being at angles of 60° to the parent radius, and about 1-4th the length of that radius.

4th. The ends of the radii are, in this

*Vide Encyc. des Arts et des Sciences.Folio, printed at Paris, 1774. (des planches Physiques.)

f Perpetual Secretary of the Royal Society of Sciences of Montpelier.

A. Anderson, sculp.

from nature.

variety, forked into three prongs, which are of the same length, and diverge as in the last, at angles of 60°. Proceed, ing from the centre of the star, and between every two radii, are petals of half the length of the radii.

5th. The radii three-pronged as before, and after the same manner-pinnated about midway, towards the centre of the star, the pinnæ or collateral branches being of equal length, and in the proportion to the main radius of about one to eight, Seen also by Mr. Schaeffer, 6th. A simple star, except a circular flat knob on the extremity of each radius—

the diameter of this knob about the 1-16th of an inch.

7th. Like the last, except that the radii converge also on a central knob, whose diameter appeared double that of the circumferal knobs.

8th. The centre an equilateral hexagonal plane; with a succession of similar hexagonal figures drawn upon it, one within the other. The radii proceed from each

angle of the plane, and are about equal in length to its diameter, i. e. about the 1-7th of an inch; hence this star was larger than the rest, though the radij remain of the same length in all. Each radius is supplied with pinna, which branch off from near the place of insertion of the radius. These pinnæ amount to four or five on each side, and gradually decrease in length towards the extremity of the radius, towards which also they all incline by angles of 60 degrees, the longest pair of pinnæ being nearly of equal length with the radius.

It will be remembered that all these modifications are upon the same plane, and that the radii are constantly six in number. This peculiar, extraordinary, and beautiful species of crystallization, as I have before remarked, has been noticed but by very few. Muschenbroeck saw two sorts only, viz. the six-petal'd-flower, and stars with little branches on each ray. M. Cassini saw, in 1692, the last kind mentioned by Muschenbroeck, with this modification, viz. the collateral branches had leaves branching from them. Erasmus Bartholini assures us that he has seen pentagonal stars; and that some have even seen octangular. But Dr. Grew* asserts, that when they do deviate from the hexangular it is always into the dodecangular forma

tion.

One solitary author, Beckman, declares that he saw niveous crystallizations in the form of hexangular pillars, that they occurred at Frankfort, upon the Oder, in 1667.† The analysis of these columns would present a deposition of so many hexagonal laminæ, so that the tendency to hexangular crystallization is apparent here

too.

CAUSES.

How snow should take on this beautiful stellated crystallization, and by what operation the various modifications of these stars are produced is not yet ascertained. Grew, however, has endeavoured to clear up this matter by comparing the crystals of snow with those of other substances. He has not particularized any modification excepting that wherein the radii of the stars are pinnated with collateral branches diverging at acute angles. The following are his own words: "Nitre crystallizes in the same slender spicula. Salt of hartshorn, sal ammoniac, and some other volatile salts, besides their main and longer shoots, have other shoots branched out

* Vid. Trans. of Royal Soc. Lon. No. 92, by Dr. Nehemiah Grew.

Vid. Trans. of Royal Soc. Lon. He called it Nix Columnariş,

from them; resembling, as those the main, sa these the collateral points of snow. But the icicles of urine are still more near: for in the salt of hartshorn, although the collateral shoots stand at acute angles with the main, yet not by pairs at equal height; and in sal ammoniac although they stand diametrically opposite or at equal height, yet withal at right not acute angles. Whereas in the icicles of urine they stand at equal height and at acute angles both; in both like those of snow.* And it is observable that the configuration of feathers is likewise the same: the reason whereof," he quaintly remarks, "is because fowls having no organs for the evacuation of urine" (an egregious error by the by,) "the urinous parts of the blood are evacuated by the habit or skin, where they produce and nourish feathers." From all this reasoning he concludes, that the spiritous and aqueous particles of the drops of rain, descending into a colder region of the atmosphere, are apprehended in their de scent by those of a nitro-urinous, but chiefly urinous nature. The whole mass then congeals into these little starry crystals, which are variously modified as they meet with gales of warmer air, or impinge and rub against each other. By these means, says he, "some are a little thawed, blunted, frosted, clumpered; others broken; but the most hanked and clung in several parcels together, which we call flakes of snow.

Dr. Clarke too, observed the stellar crystallization of snow, on the 2d of April, 1800, during his travels in Russia.† The thermometer of Celsius stood at 5° below the freezing point, (i. e. 27° Fahrenheit). The crystals were all precisely alike, viz. of the shape of little wheels, of about the diameter of a pea, each having six spokes or radii. "This appearance continued," he remarks, “during three hours, in which time no other snow fell." He also states that the weather was calm; "the snow falling gently upon us as we drove along the streets" [St. Petersburgh].

So also Grew. "He who wishes to learn the nature of Snow," says Grew, "should observe it when it is thin, calm and still." The same is confirmed by Monge, President of the late French Institute, who has likewise noticed this beautiful phenomenon. Dr. Black too, corrobo

rates this fact, and remarks that the weather should also be "very cold."*

We hence perceive, that the observations of Grew, Black, Clarke and Monge, as well as my own, all tend to the conclusion, that these crystals are more frequent and more regularly formed, when the atmosphere is in a state of quiescence-a conclusion which might have been readily anticipated, when we call to our recollection that a state of quiescence is considered essential to the crystallization of all other substances.

But Macquart informs us, that niveaus crystals are observed at Moscow, "when it snows violently and the atmosphere is not too dry!"+

Dr. Black declares that they are pure icy concretions. That they are oftener formed in the clouds than upon the earth, Dr. Black very rationally supposes to be owing to the fewer obstacles which exist there to oppose the peculiar crystallic disposition of water. He thinks too, polarity has something to do with it. He does not believe that an admixture of saline or other particles is necessary to their formation, this being disproved on experiment; for the water of these crystals is purer than any other natural water. And hence he calls it a property of pure water.

Beccaria supposes the crystals of snow as well as the drops of rain attributable to electrical agency. In snow it acts with less energy than in hail, hence, says he,

the difference of density. In like manner he adds, the drops of rain from thunder clouds are larger than those from others.

In the opinion of M. De Ratte, the agents to which these extraordinary phenomena are ascribable, are the following: "the degree of cold, its mildness or its rapid accumulation, (sa lenteur ou son accroissement rapide,) the direction and violence of the wind, the part of the atmosphere from whence the snow falls, and the various kinds of exhalation mingled with the congealing water."* The agency of any extraneous matters, whether saline or other exhalations, in the formation of these crystals, as suggested by this author and Dr. Grew, must be doubted, after what has just been stated from Dr. Black. Monsieur De Ratte is, no doubt, right in supposing the crystallization of snow to be more or less influenced by the rest of these agents; but in regard to the immediate cause of their production, as with all the other results of the minute affinities of matter,† it is impossible perhaps ever to arrive at the truth. And it is as yet doubtful, whether philosophers have even approximated to this point. For without recurring to the less supposed influences, or taking any notice of Caloric, as connected with the explanation of this subject, we see the question still asked, whether or no, these phenomena are to be ranked in the great class of Galvanic or Magnetic agency, P. S. T.

syth united with his distinguished attain

ments as a man of letters, a soundness of judgment, keenness of perception, and general capaciousness of intellect that fitted him peculiarly for the survey of a country upon which so much has been said and written, and so little to the purpose. To be sure, there is Mr. Eustace, whose fine taste and classical enthusiasm have supplied us with many and glowing pictures of the remains of ancient art and

magnificence that are scattered over the surface of Italy. His descriptions of the scenery and climate, too, of that enchant

*Encyclop. des Arts et des Sciences-art Neige.

t Vid. System of Chemistry by that truly logical and accomplished writer Jno. Murray, Esq. of Edinburgh, vol. i. Art. Attraction; and Introduction.

-

ing land, can scarcely be surpassed in the richness and, we believe, truth of their colouring. His observations on paintings, statues, cameos, &c. may also be read with interest, nor are we at all inclined to quarrel with the vehemency of his invective against the late masters of Italy; neither is our spleen moved against him because he was a catholic, and, of course, an extreme admirer of the Pope and his cardinals, and a well-wisher to the order of things that subsisted in that best of all possible times, the period immediately preceding the Reformation-an event which we had always been accustomed to regard, erroneously, no doubt,-as the triumph of true religion, but which the Reverend Mr. Eustace has taken especial care to leave us no excuse for longer contemplating as such, by informing us that it sprang "from consciousness of power on one side, and the rage of innovation on the other,' —a very luminous and satisfactory explanation, and one which we take the liberty of recommending, as a model of brief and oracular exposition, to the supporters of the true Faith, whenever they are so unfortunate as to become entangled in controversy with Protestant prejudice and bigotry. Again, we say, it is not because Mr. Eustace looked upon the French Revolution as the alpha and omega of human crime and misery, or because he was a staunch adherent of the Romish Church, that we object to his lucubrations on a country where that Revolution has left some of its deepest scarsand where that Church is so maternally attentive to the spiritual welfare of her children, that all her ingenuity seems to be directed to the leaving them as little else to think about, as she well can. All this we conceive, is very beautiful,-only rather late in the day, and not altogether adapted to the darkness of the present age, which in spite of the benevolent remonstrances of Mr. Eustace, and writers of that genus, appears determined to persist in its own crude notions, and to reject, as something partaking of the ridiculous, all his pathetic dissertations and panegyrics upon the divine origin, humbleness and sanctity of the only saving faith.-No, it is for reasons substantially different from objections of a religious nature, that we rank Mr. Eustace, as a writer and observer, in a very inferior rank to that which we would assign to the unprejudiced and eloquent author of the "Remarks," &c. a book which every person intending to visit Italy, should previously peruse we can assure them it is no undelightful task-and deposit in their

malle du voyage, ready to be consulted among the scenes it so pictorially describes.-It is the prejudice-the blind prejudice-that pervades the pages of Mr. Eustace-his determination to lift up the Italians—the modern Italians—above all other nations-the unbounded veneration for antiquity that makes him regard with a complacency truly amusing and edifying acts, which, had they occurred in modern times, he would, and very properly, have branded with reprobation—his absurd endeavours to underrate the value of French literature, and to place the feeble triflers of Naples above VOLTAIRE, MONTESQUIEU, and BUFFON-together with the affectation of archaiological sensibility which frequently assumes the appearance of a desire to impose himself upon you for an ancient Roman, and which in one instance, he does not hesitate to say, made him pass by, without visiting, a spot (among the mountains in the vicinity of Verona) inhabited by a very singular race of people, totally distinct from the general population of Italy, and supposed to be descended from the remains of the Cimbri and Teutones, defeated in this neighbourhood by Marius;—these constitute some of the grounds on which we would take our stand against Mr. Eustace as an Italian traveller :-the general aim and desire evinced in his volumes, and not seldom with considerable ostentation, seems to be, the holding forth the Romans, and pretty universally the Italians as the only people deserving the name of a civilized nation, or whose history and monuments ought to excite our curiosity and admiration. Now, we think that there were many features in the Roman character worthy only of unequivocal abhorrence :-sprung from a race of robbers, the Romans appear always, more or less, to have retained the undoubted tokens of their descent;-their arts-their literature-were borrowed tastes-but for war and rapine they were cursed with an innate and almost savage predilection ;—ambition in its simplestgrossest-form, was the true passion of this unrefined and cruel people-the mere extension of their dominion furnished the single impulse by which they were actuated in all their foreign enterprises;-not that they were a martial, but that they were only a martial, people is it that we would point out the Romans as the very worst model for a nation to mould its manners and habits after;-the Greeks were ambitious, but their ambition was not confined to the object which formed its ex, clusive motive with the Romans-havoc, fraud, and oppression always followed in