42 OF CLOUDS. CHAP. 2. 1. 



comoid, linear, or filiform, its extremities are 

 always fine evanescent points. This is a fact 

 very conformable to our present idea of its 

 nature. For when surrounded by dry air, 

 which is an electric, there is not a free passage 

 for communication; and the cirrus necessarily 

 assumes that form which is best calculated for 

 conducting, the evanescent terminations being 

 probably points for the transmission of the 

 fluid, and they are directed towards that part of 

 the sky with which the electric communication 

 is to take place. 



On Friday, the 30th of August, 1811, the air 

 being very dry, according to the hygrometer, the 

 cirri were spread about in a lofty region; they 

 were of a fibrous texture, one end terminating in 

 transmitting points, the other frequently more 

 massy; they passed on gently with the wind, 

 in succession; by the evening none were to be 

 seen. Cumuli also, formed during the day in 

 a lower atmosphere, moved along in the N. W. 

 current, and likewise disappeared at night. The 

 dryness of the air might be the reason why these 

 two kinds of clouds did not unite and produce 

 cumulostratus. At night cirrocumulus floated 

 over from S. W. 



In wet weather, when the air is damp, the 



