208 OF ELECTRICITY. CHAP. 7- 



antiquity of which, though it be now newly 

 revived as a subject of philosophical speculation, 

 there appears some traces in the accounts left 

 of the religion of Zoroaster, or the worship of 

 the spirit of fire, as the soul of the universe, 

 the source of all motion and of life. 



In attributing the forms of Clouds, the pro- 

 duction of Rain, and other atmospheric phaeno- 

 mena, to Electricity, I would not be understood 

 to involve any particular theory of the mode 

 of electrical action. It is merely intended to 

 ascribe similar appearances to similar causes, 

 and to extend the principle of action upon 

 which the phaenomena of artificial Electricity 

 are explained, which has been identified with 

 that of Lightning, to other atmospheric pro- 

 ductions, which, at first sight, are less obviously 

 referable to similar agencies. 



I have already, in treating of M. Howard's 

 theory of the modifications, shown how recon- 

 cileable that theory was to the various phae- 

 nomena exhibited by the clouds. There are 

 many things, however, which I have not yet 

 sufficiently explained, which may be mentioned 

 in this place. 



