94 
NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
Tnahtning 
and clouds 
at night. 
Rain- 
JSringes. 
illuminate them. Then they have a_pale- 
bluish coloring, the light-and-shade upon them 
is clear-cut, and the feeling of massive form is 
convincingly brought home tous. The great, : 
dark clouds lying underneath seem but the flat 
pedestals of the white peaks and spurs that far 
up the zenith seem to tower and rock slowly 
like icebergs on a stormy sea. At other times 
the clouds seem softer and roll upward in bil- 
lows and wreaths—great vapory masses of blue- 
white that boil and seethe with the force of the 
winds. And how the currents of lightning 
pass through these heavy clouds without pro- 
ducing the slightest disturbing effect upon 
them! If lightning were shaped like the 
classic bolt of Zeus, or zig-zagged and raw- 
edged, as popularly depicted, it might disrupt 
even cloud forms; but instead of that it runs 
in streams and rivulets, and when seen in pho- 
tograph it often looks like an outlined map of 
the Nile, with its many mouths leading to the 
Mediterranean. 
Another accompaniment of the thunder- 
shower is the fringe of rain that may be seen 
trailing from the clouds as the shower passes to 
one side of us. This fringe waves slightly with 
the wind, and when seen at a distance looks as 
