Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/267

 A Journey to Cloudland

���A majestic cumulus, passing into cumulus-nimbus. A very beautiful and common type

��THE clouds, like the stars, are among those common objects of Nature upon which men look, for the most part, with unseeing eyes. Some aspects of the clouds do, indeed, force themselves upon our attention — chiefly those that denote the imminence of a storm — but few of us realize to the full the beauty and scientific interest of the vapory pageant that is continually sweep- ing across our skies. Strange to say, many artists, skilled in painting land- scapes, are unable to paint plausible sky scenes. About half a century ago an English painter, Elijah Walton, pub- lished a book (now almost forgotten) in which he pointed out that the great ma- jority of out-door pictures, including those of the old masters, are very inac- curate in their skies. If the painter, whose business it is to observe Nature, has acquired so imperfect a knowledge of clouds, no wonder the average citi- zen needs instruction concerning them. At first sight, clouds seem infinitelv

��various, yet with a little study one can assign them all to a few broad classes. The scientific classification of clouds dates from the year 1803. when an Eng- lish chemist, Luke Howard, published a description of seven cloud-types, to each of which he gave a Latin name. W'ith a few additions and modifications, How- ard's classification is now generally used by meteorologists. This system is based upon three fundamental forms: viz, fibrous or feathery clouds (cirrus), clouds with rounded tops (cumulus), and clouds arranged in horizontal sheets or layers (stratus). Intermediate forms are described by compounding the names of the primary types ; e. g., cirro-cumu- lus, cirro-stratus, etc.

There is really no good reason why the intelligent schoolboy, who knows an oak from an elm and a crow from a turkey buzzard, should not be able to call the clouds by their names. The In- ternational Cloud Classification, now adopted for scientific purposes all over

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