CHAP. 2. 12. OF CLOUDS. 73 



SECTION XII. 



Of Masses of Cloud not to be referred to any of 

 the Modifications. 



MASSES of cloud frequently appear, not refer- 

 able for a time to any of the modifications : but 

 even these, if they last long enough, generally 

 break out into some modification ultimately: 

 when they do not, they must be described in 

 journals as well as they can ; but I have seldom 

 seen any, which, if watched long enough, did 

 not show sufficiently the character of some one 

 of the modifications, to be registered under its 

 name. 



As I have before observed, it is not always an 

 easy matter to an unexperienced meteorologist 

 to determine to which modification every cloud 

 he sees is to be referred. There are intermediate 

 varieties of cirrus, cirrostratus, and cirrocumulus, 

 which approach so much to the nature of each 

 other that the assignation of a name becomes 

 very difficult. A tendency to the orbicular 

 arrangement, while the nubiculae are kept 

 asunder, is the distinguishishing character of 

 the Sondercloud; but sometimes features ap- 



