48 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



golden rod, wayside asters, meadow daisies and rare lilies, cast 

 forth a dim and tremulous line of shadow, that lies long all the morning, 

 shortening till noon, and creeping out again all afternoon, until the 

 sun descends yon western horizon. Meanwhile, the clouds drop 

 shadows like anchors, that reach the ground, but will not hold ; 

 every browsing creature, every flitting bird, every unconscious travel- 

 ler writes itself along the ground in dim shadow. And, speaking of 

 the clouds, let us pause a few moments while we look with admira- 

 tion at the ever changing variety and beauty ; at the gorgeous 

 scenery of summer cloudland, the exquisite variety of tints, the 

 graceful motions, and the changing shadows which flit over hill and 

 dale. The finest dyes and most skilful looms can never equal the 

 tapestry with which God decorates our earthly abode. These are 

 pictures shut up in no secluded gallery, to be seen only by the rich, 

 but they are spread alike before the lowly and the lofty, in the city, 

 and in the remotest solitudes, where all may drink in their beauty, 

 and discern the wisdom and skill of Him who made them. Even 

 the child, as he gazes dreamily at the tiny white speck floating far 

 away in the blue ether, has his little soul filled with interest, and 

 when he sees dark masses of vapor come rolling up slowly and 

 majestically, fold after fold, from the distant horizon, his imagination 

 will transform those fantastic shapes into gigantic snow-capped 

 mountains, towering peak upon peak, until he almost longs for wings 

 to fly and explore their far-off summits. But, how compa-atively 

 few, children or adults, ever pause to give themselves a matter of 

 fact explanation of the actual formation of clouds, the unerring laws 

 of their creation or dispersion, or the vast beneficent part they take 

 in the economy of Nature. The question may be asked why there 

 are on some days clouds, and again on others none ? The answer 

 is, there are clouds always, although not always visible, or to be 

 more correct, the material of which clouds are made is always there ; 

 for if the air is warmed by the shooting down of the sun's rays for 

 days past, it holds in solution, invisible, the vapor it has imbibed. 

 But let that air begin to cool, and it parts with its mass of moisture ; 

 in other words it deposits it in the shape of white vapor, being no 

 longer able to retain it in an invisible form. This delicate little 

 cloud, or mass of vapor, however, is of very precarious existence. 

 One ray of bright sunshine, the faintest return of heat, would send it 



