THEORY OF CLOUDS. 
36’3 
the rest flew away, with undiminished velocity 
to leeward. The other example that I have to 
mention, relates to Benlomond. I ascended this 
mountain on a fine clear day, in the month of Oc¬ 
tober. There were indeed some flying clouds in 
the air, the wind being high, but these were 
small and few. The summit of Benlomond, how¬ 
ever, was capped with a stationary cloud. This 
cloud proved to be of the nature of mist, of the 
densest kind. The particles of vapour were re¬ 
markably small, and were flying rapidly past me 
by the action of tire wind. At the very top, in¬ 
deed, the gale was so strong that I could scarcely 
keep my feet; yet the cloud steadily maintained 
its position for several hours. Now, as the cloud 
could not possibly remain stationary on the moun¬ 
tain, without moving to windward with a velocity 
equal to that of the gale, a notion which it would 
be absurd to entertain, its apparent fixedness can 
only be attributed to progressive deposition of 
aqueous vapour, or formation, on the one hand, 
and to equal solution and dispersion on the other. 
It is, therefore, absolutely certain, that the sta¬ 
tionary appearance of the cloud, in this instance, 
was the effect of condensation produced on the air, 
as it approached the mountain, and absorption 
as it receded from it; so that, while the cloud 
seemed, to a distant observer, to be tire same 
