?6 matured Afracle*. 



The rain cloud is called the nimbus, and 

 may be said to be the extension of a cumulo- 

 stratus. When it reaches this condition it is 

 condensed to a point where the vesicular 

 globules collapse and a number of them run 

 together, forming a solid drop of water, and 

 here it begins to fall. It may be very small at 

 first, but in its fall other condensed globules 

 will adhere to it and if the conditions are 

 right, sometimes the rain drops will have the 

 diameter of a quarter of an inch by the time 

 they reach the earth. 



IJnder other conditions, such as we have 

 sometimes during dry weather, the rain drops 

 will start to fall, but instead of growing 

 larger, they grow smaller by absorption into 

 the thirsty air, and will not be allowed to reach 

 the earth. Often there are showers of rain in 

 the air that fall to a certain distance and are 

 taken up, as in the process of evaporation, to 

 again be formed into cloud, without ever hav- 

 ing touched the earth. 



Thus it will be seen that clouds assume 

 various forms under various conditions of at- 

 mosphere, as it is related to moisture, tempera- 

 ture, and density. Clouds sometimes appear 

 to be stationary when they are only continu- 

 ally forming on one side and continually 

 being absorbed into invisible moisture on the 

 other. I remember seeing some wonderfully 

 beautiful cloud effects in the regions of 



