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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  forget, 
  fog 
  in 
  all 
  its 
  moods 
  and 
  circumstances 
  plays 
  compellingly 
  

   upon 
  the 
  whole 
  gamut 
  of 
  human 
  emotions. 
  

  

  CLOUD 
  FORMS. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  passing 
  strange 
  that 
  the 
  ancient 
  Arabs, 
  Greeks, 
  and 
  others 
  

   should 
  have 
  given 
  a 
  name 
  to 
  every 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  heavens, 
  and 
  

   to 
  numerous 
  individual 
  stars 
  — 
  names 
  still 
  in 
  current 
  use 
  through- 
  

   out 
  the 
  civilized 
  world 
  — 
  and 
  yet 
  have 
  failed 
  to 
  name 
  any 
  one 
  of 
  

   the 
  many 
  kinds 
  of 
  clouds 
  that 
  are 
  even 
  more 
  conspicuous 
  in 
  the 
  

   sky 
  than 
  the 
  stars 
  themselves 
  or 
  their 
  constellations. 
  Perhaps 
  

   giving 
  them 
  names 
  long 
  seemed 
  both 
  useless 
  and 
  impracticable 
  

   owing 
  to 
  their 
  infinite 
  variety 
  and 
  ceasless 
  changes, 
  for 
  indeed, 
  

   as 
  Shakespeare 
  puts 
  it 
  : 
  

  

  Sometimes 
  we 
  see 
  a 
  cloud 
  that's 
  dragonish, 
  

  

  A 
  vapour 
  sometimes 
  like 
  a 
  bear 
  or 
  lion, 
  

  

  A 
  towered 
  citadel, 
  a 
  pendent 
  rock, 
  

  

  A 
  forked 
  mountain, 
  a 
  blue 
  promontory 
  

  

  With 
  trees 
  upon't 
  that 
  nod 
  unto 
  the 
  world 
  

  

  And 
  mock 
  our 
  eyes 
  with 
  air. 
  

  

  That 
  which 
  is 
  now 
  a 
  horse, 
  even 
  with 
  a 
  thought, 
  

  

  The 
  rack 
  dislimns 
  and 
  makes 
  it 
  indistinct 
  

  

  As 
  water 
  is 
  in 
  water. 
  

  

  But 
  whatever 
  the 
  cause, 
  there 
  was 
  not, 
  down 
  the 
  ages, 
  until 
  the 
  

   very 
  modern 
  year 
  1801, 
  any 
  attempt 
  whatever 
  to 
  classify 
  the 
  clouds, 
  

   although 
  from 
  the 
  beginning 
  everybody 
  everywhere 
  talked 
  about 
  

   the 
  weather 
  and 
  many 
  wrote 
  about 
  it. 
  This 
  first 
  attempt, 
  made 
  

   in 
  1801, 
  as 
  just 
  stated, 
  was 
  by 
  the 
  French 
  naturalist, 
  Lamarck. 
  It 
  

   received 
  little 
  attention, 
  however, 
  and 
  no 
  general 
  acceptance 
  ; 
  owing 
  

   in 
  part, 
  presumably, 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  expressed 
  in 
  the 
  words 
  

   and 
  phrases 
  of 
  a 
  distinctly 
  local 
  or 
  national 
  language 
  unfamiliar 
  

   to 
  the 
  world 
  at 
  large. 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  time 
  for 
  a 
  practical 
  classification 
  of 
  the 
  clouds 
  was 
  ripe. 
  

   The 
  need 
  for 
  it 
  was 
  felt 
  by 
  the 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  educated 
  and 
  cul- 
  

   tured 
  people 
  who 
  were 
  then 
  taking 
  an 
  active 
  and 
  inquisitive 
  interest 
  

   in 
  the 
  weather 
  and 
  its 
  ways. 
  Hence 
  in 
  a 
  little 
  while 
  another 
  classi- 
  

   fication 
  was 
  proposed, 
  this 
  time, 
  1803, 
  by 
  the 
  Englishman, 
  Luke 
  

   Howard. 
  Like 
  that 
  of 
  Lamarck's, 
  it, 
  too, 
  was 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  appearance 
  

   of 
  the 
  clouds, 
  but 
  the 
  names, 
  instead 
  of 
  being 
  only 
  locally 
  under- 
  

   stood, 
  were 
  all 
  in 
  tolerably 
  familiar 
  Latin 
  — 
  the 
  Esperanto 
  of 
  the 
  

   day. 
  At 
  any 
  rate, 
  whether 
  this 
  universal 
  language 
  had 
  much 
  to 
  do 
  

   with 
  it 
  or 
  not, 
  Howard's 
  classification 
  soon 
  became 
  well 
  known 
  and 
  

   extensively 
  used; 
  so 
  much 
  so 
  indeed 
  that 
  all 
  subsequent 
  practical 
  

   classifications 
  have 
  been 
  but 
  extensions 
  of 
  this 
  original 
  one 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  in 
  1803, 
  with 
  the 
  addition, 
  perhaps, 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  unusual 
  and, 
  

  

  