644 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



venture to predict, from the ranks of those who study and clearly 

 understand the physical processes of cloud formation. 



Cloudland, for a realm so near us and so closely associated 

 with our welfare, has been sadly slighted by man's genius. The 

 ancients were surprisingly stupid in their views and discussions 

 of air, wind, and clouds. The wisdom of Aristotle, filtered through 

 the mind of his favorite pupil Theophrastus of Eresus, does not 

 show to advantage in these subjects. Nor have the moderns 

 achieved much that is worthy of detailed mention until a com- 

 paratively recent period. 



Our cloud names date from the beginning of the century. At 

 a meeting of the Askesian Society in 1802, a young chemist of Tot- 

 tenham read an essay in which he proposed the terms stratus or 

 sheet, cumulus or heap, and cirrus or feather for cloud names. 

 One attempt at cloud classification had been made previously, but 

 Howard's scheme was so superior that it at once received recogni- 

 tion. The essay was reprinted, translated, and officially adopted 

 in all the great countries of the world. While Howard's name 

 is known to all meteorologists, little has been handed down con- 

 cerning the man himself. He is quaintly described on the title- 

 page of his three-volumed Climate of London, as a Citizen of Lon- 

 don, Honorary Citizen of Magdeburg, and Honorary Associate 

 of the Art Societies of Hamburg and Leipsic. No less a person 

 than Goethe was among those who were charmed by Luke How- 

 ard's work. A friendship sprang up, a long correspondence was 

 carried on, and the poet sings of Howard as one worthy of all 

 honor. 



Within the past few years the leading countries of the world 

 through their representatives on the International Meteorological 

 Committee have decided to depose the Howardian nomenclature. 

 The proposal was made four years ago at the Munich Conference, 

 and at Upsala last year a new classification was formally approved. 

 Some of the more prominent sponsors for the new system are Hil- 

 debrandsson, Koppen, Neumayer, and Rotch. Modern meteorol- 

 ogy demands more than a record of the appearance of the cloud. 

 It seeks the meaning of each formation. The cloud is primarily 

 valuable not on account of its beauty but because it makes mani- 

 fest atmospheric motions and conditions not otherwise noticeable. 

 A striking illustration of the use which modern meteorology 

 makes of the clouds is found in the storm of August 26 to 29, 1893. 

 This is the storm more familiarly known as the Sea Islands storm, 

 in which eleven hundred lives were lost. At a critical moment 

 the telegraph lines were blown down and all reports were missing 

 south of Savannah. It is said that the storm center was accurate- 

 ly located by the forecasting officials by means of the clouds at dis- 

 tant stations. 



