26 OF CLOUDS. CHAP. 1. 9. 



Having in this section given a sketch of the 

 modifications, and of the principal circumstances 

 which relate to their formation and peculiarities, 

 I proceed in the next to a further examination 

 of the same subject. 



SECTION IX. 



BY what has been said above, it appears that, 

 according to M. Howard's theory, the origin 

 of clouds is from the surface of the earth and 

 waters. That the vapour upraised by the acces- 

 sion of the diurnal temperature, in the manner 

 described, is condensed into a visible cloud, 

 either by cold, or by the air, from other causes; 

 losing its power of holding so much water in 

 solution as before; or by the joint influence of 

 these causes. That cumuli are the immediate 

 result of this process; and that in the evening, 

 when the heat is diminished, the ah- deposits its 

 vapour again in the form of dew, which gravitates 

 to the ground, becoming more dense as it ap- 

 proaches the earth, because the lower atmosphere 

 is now the coolest; and finally lodges on the 

 surface of the herbage, or of the ground, where 

 it awaits the reascending sun to be again eva- 



