ATMOSPHEROLO(^Y. — CLOUDS. 41-9 



SECT. VII. 



Aqueous Meteors , including Observations on 

 Clouds, Rain, Hail, Snow, Frost-rime, Hoar' 

 frost and Fog. 



Very little clear weather occurs in the Green- 

 land Seas ; for often when the atmosphere is free 

 from any visible vapour on the land, at sea it is ob- 

 scured by frost-rime in the spring of the year, and 

 by clouds or fog in the summer ; so that scarce- 

 ly one-twentieth of the season devoted to the whale- 

 fishery can be said to consist of clear weather. 



The clouds most generally consist of a dense stra- 

 tum of obscurity, composed of irregular compact 

 patches, covering the whole expanse of the heavens. 

 The cirrus, cirro-cumulus, and cirro-stratus, of How- 

 ard's nomenclature, are occasionally distinct ; the 

 liimbus is partly formed, but never complete ; and 

 the grandeur of the cumulus or thunder-cloud, is 

 never seen, unless it be on the land. A cloud 

 bearing some resemblance to the cumulus, some- 

 times appears near the horizon : this, when partly 

 intercepted by the horizon, has an appearance so 

 very similar to that of the mountains of Spitzber- 

 gen, that it is often mistaken for land. In the at- 

 mosphere over the coasts of Greenland and Spitz- 

 bergen, where the air is greatly warmed by the cou- 



D d 2 



