34 
NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
The fall of 
sunbeams. 
Sun-shafts 
and rain. 
is not seen ; but just as soon as a flash from the 
sun breaks through a torn portion of the 
cloud, the shaft falls to earth and is apparent 
from its shadowy envelope. It appears to fall 
earthward in a straight line, but, like all sun- 
beams, it in reality describes a curve through 
the lower atmosphere, especially if the sun is 
low in the heavens. The trajectory is not 
point-blank, but falls short like a spent rifle 
ball. Yet this is not seen by the eye and is 
known only to scientific calculation. To all 
appearances the shaft falls straight and remains 
fixed. It is the shadow of the cloud that glides 
across the meadows, up the valleys, and over the 
mountains ; the sun-shaft does not shift except 
where it falls more obliquely as the earth rotates 
from west to east, or its direction is changed 
by cloud breaks. 
The sun-burst is perhaps seen more frequently 
during showery weather or with thunder-storms 
than at other times, and it is usually more lumi- 
nous after than before a rainfall. As the first- 
comers of the storm-clouds begin to cover the 
sun, the shaft is often seen in a yellow beam 
falling diagonally toward the earth. When the 
shower is passing and the sunlight begins to 
show again, the shaft reappears frequently in 
