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SNOWDROP

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 296 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SNOWDROP , Galanthus nivalis, the best known representative of a small genus of the See also:

order Amaryllidaceae, all the See also:species of which have bulbs, linear leaves and erect See also:flower-stalks, destitute of leaves but bearing at the See also:top a solitary pendulous See also:bell-shaped flower. The See also:white perianth is six-parted, the See also:outer three segments being larger and more See also:convex than the inner See also:series. The six anthers open by pores or See also:short slits. The ovary is three-celled, ripening into a three-celled See also:capsule. The snowdrop is a doubtful native of See also:Great See also:Britain, but is largely cultivated for See also:market in See also:Lincolnshire. There are numerous varieties, differing in the See also:size of the flower and the See also:period of flowering. Other distinct species of snowdrop are the See also:Crimean snowdrop, G. any See also:soil or position, and when once planted should be See also:left to themselves. See also:SNOW-See also:LEOPARD, or See also:OUNCE (Felis uncia,) a large member of the See also:cat See also:family, from the high See also:mountain regions of Central See also:Asia. It resembles the leopard in See also:general conformation, but has longer See also:fur, See also:grey in See also:colour, marked with large dark rosettes. The dimensions of the See also:head and See also:body are about 4 ft. 4 in., tail 3 ft., and the height 2 ft.

This See also:

animal lives among rocks, and preys upon See also:wild See also:sheep and goats, and probably large rodents or birds. It carries off sheep, goats and See also:dogs from villages, and even kills ponies, but, it is said, has never been known to attack See also:man (See also:Blanford). Examples Shown in the Zoological Gardens of See also:London have been fairly tame and playful. SNOW-See also:LINE. In the higher latitudes, and in the most elevated parts of the See also:surface of the See also:earth, the See also:atmosphere may be normally so See also:cold that precipitation is chiefly in the See also:form of snow, which lies in great See also:part unmelted. The snow-line is the imaginary line, whether in See also:latitude or in See also:altitude, above which these conditions exist. In the extreme polar regions they exist at See also:sea-level, but below See also:lat. 78° the snow-line begins to rise, since at the See also:lower elevations the snow melts in summer. In N. Scandinavia the line is found at about 3000 ft. above the sea, in the See also:Alps at about 8500 ft., and on high mountains in the tropics at about 18,000 to 19,000 ft. These figures, however, can only be approximate, as many considerations render it impossible to employ the See also:term " snow-line " as more than a convenient generalization. SNOW-SHOES, a form of footgear devised for travelling over snow.

Nearly every See also:

American See also:Indian tribe has its own particular shape of See also:shoe, the simplest and most See also:primitive being those of the far See also:north. The Eskimos possess two styles, one being triangular in shape and about 18 in. in length, and the other almost circular. Southward the shoe becomes gradually narrower and longer, the largest being the See also:hunting snow-shoe of the Crees, which is nearly 6 ft. See also:long and turned up at the toe. Of snow-shoes worn by See also:people of See also:European See also:race that used by lumbermen is about .31 ft. long and broad in proportion, while the tracker's shoe is over 5 ft. long and very narrow. This form has been copied by the See also:Canadian snow-shoe clubs, who See also:wear a shoe about 31 ft. long and 15 to 18 in. broad, slightly turned up at the toe and terminating in a See also:kind of tail behind. This is made very Iight for racing purposes, but much stouter for touring or hunting. Snow-shoes are made of a single See also:strip of some tough See also:wood, usually See also:hickory, curved See also:round and fastened together at the ends and supported in the See also:middle by a See also:light See also:cross-See also:bar, the space within the See also:frame thus made being filled with a See also:close webbing of dressed caribou or neat's-hide strips, leaving a small opening just behind the cross-bar for the toe of the moccasined See also:foot. They are fastened to the See also:moccasin by See also:leather thongs, sometimes by buckles. The method of walking is to lift the shoes slightly and slide the overlapping inner edges over each other, thus avoiding the unnatural and fatiguing " straddle-gait " that would other-See also:wise be necessary. Immoderate snow-shoeing leads to serious lameness of the feet and ankles which the Canadian voyageurs See also:call mal de raquette. Snow-shoe racing is very See also:common in the Canadian snow-shoe dubs, and one of the events is a See also:hurdle-race over hurdles 3 ft. 6 in. high.

Owing to the thick forests of See also:

America the snow-shoe has been found to be more suitable for use than the See also:Norwegian See also:ski, which is, however, much used in the less-wooded districts.

End of Article: SNOWDROP

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