402 PELTIER ON THE CAUSES OF THE 
more resinous, the inferior less resinous ; that is to say, there 
are transparent clouds differently charged with electricity, and 
floating in the atmosphere at different heights. When a lower- | 
ing of the temperature condenses these transparent vapours, the 
superior masses form resinous clouds, the inferior masses form 
vitreous ones; the superior, repelled by the earth, maintain 
themselves at a greater elevation than accords with their specific 
weight ; the inferior descend lower than they would by their 
weight alone, being drawn near by the attraction of the globe. 
In fact when they are superposed they attract each other, 
and as all the portions of these masses are moveable and par- 
tially preserve their independence, their position and their 
form vary incessantly, and, according to the resultant of these 
different forces which are present, the phenomena are per- 
petually altered. 
46. This transformation of elastic vapour into opake vapour 
and of opake vapour into elastic vapour is reproduced a certain 
number of times, according to the atmospheric circumstances 
of temperature, wind and humidity. These secondary clouds, 
resinous in the superior regions and vitreous in the inferior re- 
gions, repassing into the state of elastic vapour under the same 
inductions, vitreous above and resinous below, form clouds highly 
charged with electricity ; the resinous tension of the superior 
clouds becomes greater in proportion as they rise in the atmo- 
sphere and are impelled by the terrestrial repulsion beyond the 
point which is assigned to them by gravitation. 
These masses of vapour, which pass a third time to the clastia 
state under the contrary inductions of the earth and of space, the 
first becoming more and more resinous, the others less resinous, 
are reconverted into opake clouds at the first cooling, in order 
to reproduce the same series of phenomena, by a succession of 
alternate condensations and evaporations. The new products 
being charged more energetically, if we follow the same mass o 
vapour in the series of numerous transformations which take 
place during a great part of the year, like those of the cumuli 
during the heat of the day, to form again during the cool of the 
night ; or again, if we follow the cwmuli formed by the vapours 
of the day, and which dissolve themselves in the strata of dry air 
high in the atmosphere, we shall see that the ponderable quan 
tities ought to diminish in this succession of transformations 
that the vapour in ascending becomes rarefied at the same tim 
