_Snow_ is so very common in the arctic regions, that it may be boldly stated, that in nine days out of ten, in April, May, and June, more or less snow falls. With southerly winds, near the borders of the ice, or in situations where humid air, blowing from the sea, assimilates with a gelid breeze from the ice, the heaviest falls of snow occur. In this case, a depth of two or three inches is sometimes deposited in an hour. The thickest precipitations also frequently precede sudden storms. The form of the particles of snow presents an endless variety. When the temperature of the air is within a degree or two of the freezing point, much snow falls, frequently consisting of large irregular flakes, such as are common in Britain. Sometimes it exhibits small granular, or large rough white concretions; at others, it consists of white spiculæ, or rude stellated crystals. But in severe frosts, though the sky appears perfectly clear, lamellar flakes of snow, of the most regular and beautiful forms, are always seen floating in the air, and sparkling in the sunbeams, and the snow which falls in general is of most elegant texture and appearance. Snow, of a reddish or brownish colour, is not unfrequently seen. The brownish stain, which occurs on shore, is given by an earthy substance brought from the mountains by the streams of water, derived from thawing ice and snow, or the fall of rain. The reddish colour, as far as I have observed, is given by the mute of birds; though, in the example met with by captain Ross, in Baffin’s Bay, the stain appears to have been of a vegetable nature. The little auk, (_Alca alle_,) which feeds upon shrimps, is found, in some parts of the Polar seas, in immense numbers. They frequently retreat to pieces of ice, or surfaces of snow, and stain them all over red with their mute. Martens saw red snow in Spitzbergen, which he considered as being stained by rain-water running down by the rocks. The extreme beauty and endless variety of the microscopic objects procured in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, are perhaps fully equalled, if not surpassed, in both particulars of beauty and variety, by the crystals of snow. The principal configurations are the stelliform and hexagonal, though almost every shape, of which the generating angles of 60° and 12° are susceptible, may, in the course of a few years’ observation, be discovered. The various modifications of crystals may be classed under five general kinds, or genera. 1. _Lamellar_, infinite in variety, most delicate in structure, and capable of sub-division into several distinct species. 2. _A lamellar, or spherical nucleus, with spinous ramifications in different planes._ This genus also consists of two or three species. 3. _Fine spiculæ, or six-sided prisms._ The finest specimens resemble white hair, cut into lengths not exceeding a quarter of an inch. 4. _Hexagonal pyramids._ I have but once seen this kind of snow crystal.