Preserving Hailstones.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 13, 27 March 1912, Page 34

Preserving Hailstones.

The peculiar formation of hailstones and the probable conditions of their production have long been matters oi much interest to scientists. A thorough study of them, it is believed, might throw much light on various meteorological phenomena, especially in regard to aircurrent-. changes of temperature and ot pres-ure. et< .. in the upper strata of the lt osph > r A comp irison of them with the "ice flower- and snow crystals or -tar- which Tyndall and other prominent -< ientists have found -o fruitful a field of investigation might yield important result-. Heretofore, however the comparative rarity of their 0.-.-ur-re nee an! the great rapidity with which thev melt. has offered obstacles to this But Prof. Bori- Weinberg, of Tomsk 'iberia. ha- jil-t p-rfe ted an apparatus as we lea rn from l.e- Annul*--. which is . Ape. led to Obviate the-e difficulties He will gather the hailstones as oppor tunity offers and preserve th-rn by plunging them in a liquid of about the •arne density contained in a. double wall ed receptacle like a superior i<-- .-ream freezer, but “packed" with a mixture ol i.e and sulphate of copper As needed for study the stones can be removed sliced in extremely thin sections and ph''t'>gra|>hed by a polarizing triicroscops or auto hromatic plates, as is done with anatomical preparations.