364 WAVES OF SAND AND SNOW 



the group I have been able to see the beginning: 

 of the formation of a new member of the series. 

 The perfect bar-hke form, with straight edges, does 

 not impart the impression of a swirUng motion, but 

 I have often seen them begin as separate circular 

 or oval whirls of cloud, each like a puff of smoke, 

 the whirls in each transverse row growing in size 

 so that they come closer together until the 

 transverse row of whirls becomes a continuous 

 bar. 



The best photographs which I have taken of 

 these clouds were obtained on August 5, 1900, 

 at Branksome Chine, near Bournemouth. The 

 barometer stood at 29-7 inches. At 8 a.m. the 

 sky was clouded and the air exceptionally clear, 

 indicating that rain was near at hand. The rain 

 began at 9 a.m. and continued until 3.30 p. mi. 

 At 4.30 some hlue sky was visible, some low, 

 drifting clouds, and higher cirrus cloud. I noticed 

 the latter beginning to fall into ripples, so I went 

 indoors and got my cameras. On coming out I 

 found that the ripples were already finely formed, 

 low down in the West. Later on the rippled clouds 

 spread up to the zenith, and by 6.30 p.m. they 

 were low down in the east, the sky overhead an^ 

 to the west being now all clear blue. Thus the 

 area of rippled cloud moved east before the west 



