192 The Ottawa Naturalist. 



CLOUDS. 



By Principal J. A. Dresser B.A., of Richmond, Que. 



Read before the St. Francis College Literary and Scientific Societj', Feb. 3rd, 1897. 

 (An Abstract). 



In the opening words of Prof. Davis's admirable work on 

 the subject of Meteorology he says : " We dwell on the surface 

 of the land ; we sail across the surface of the sea ; but we live 

 at the bottom of the atmosphere. 



Its changes pass over our heads ; its continual fluctuations 

 control our labors. Whether our occupation is indoor or out, 

 on land or at sea, we are all more or less influenced by changes 

 from the clear sunshine of blue skies, to the dark shadows under 

 clouds ; from the dusty weather of droughts to the rains of 

 passing storms ; from the enervating southerly winds to the 

 bracing currents from the north. 



Few persons fail to raise some questions now and then con- 

 cerning the causes and processes of these changes ; some in- 

 quire more earnestly, desiring to inform themselves carefully on 

 the subject. 



No school study suggests more frequent questions from 

 schoolars, or allows more educative replies from teachers than 

 meteorology, the science of the atmosphere." 



To this it may well be added that the atmospheric pheno- 

 mena of sky and clouds furnish some of the grandest panoramas 

 of beauty that nature ever presents to our eyes. And yet, how 

 strange it is that while we recognize the different forms of earth 

 and sea, we so seldom distinguish the various features of the 

 atmosphere. 



We have an abundance of names for the different appear- 

 ances of land and water) as island, peninsula, isthmus, cape, 

 and mountain ; or, sea, gulf, bay, lake and river. But for the 

 many and beautiful aspects of the sky, only indefinite or figur- 

 ative language is commonly at hand. It is only fine or dull, 

 bright or cloudy. 



