Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 6 1888.djvu/103

Rh mind which are. still current in the names that are used by rustics to denote certain forms of cloud, and then give the modern explanation of the origin of each type of cloud-structure.

Finally we will consider the difference in the attitude of mind induced by ancient and modern thought, and show the great superiority of what we may call the scientific spirit to the frame of mind that is influenced by poetry and by art.

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We will begin with that hairy or fibrous structure which is universally known as "cirrus," This is a form of cloud which unfortunately it is almost impossible to photograph. The picture now on the screen is a rather heavy wisp of cirrus taken near London, in which you see the fibrous structure of the end of the cloud. The picture was taken at sunset, so that the cloud appears dark against a bright background.

The next example is from a beautiful drawing by Mr. C. Ley, the great authority on clouds, where you see two typical examples of the commonest forms of cirrus. The upper wisps have often been called "cirrus claws," from a fancied analogy to the claws of a bird, while the lower mass, where a patch of cloud is drawn out into hairs, looks something like a flattened centipede.

Now a glance at these pictures will explain at once how in an early stage of civilisation people saw hairy monsters in the sky, and there is no doubt that many mythological stories have grown out of or been suggested by hairy cirrus.

There are numerous survivals of this attitude of mind in present use; "mares'-tails" (Fig. 1, see next page), or the long wisps of cirrus which often precede or accompany wind, are familiar to you all. So also is "goat's hair," to which we shall refer again, though here it will suffice to mention that one of the monsters of Greek mythology was called "Chimaera," or the she-goat.

Other less known forms of cirrus are known as "sea-grass," "cats'