The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1876-11-21
The Life of a Cloud,


reality. Clouds, though they do not
live, yet 60 through period of birth,
growth, maturity, and dissolution. l
will show you how
Come with me on a bright summers
day, to some out look-say, perhaps,
Dover cliffs, overlooking the bright sea.
We will suppose calm and almost
cloudless sky-an expanse of blue EN-.
pyrean., Tue warm air can sustain in
solution all the vapor it contains, and
consequently there is no cloud. This
vapor may be q good deal in quantity !;
the hot sun may have played on the
ground for day or two, drying it up
and carrying its moisture into the firma-
ment above. Now let US suppose, while
we are watching the sky, a gentle air
steals in from the sea- a gentle current
of air that has been resting on the wa.
ter, and is consequently much cooler
than the air over our heads, which has
been warmed by contact with the heated
earth. Mark the result. The air over
our heads is gently cooled: i. 1t had as
much moisture in it as it could dissolve
when warm but it cannot hold so much
when its temperature is lower 1t is
Obliged to part with the excess-that is
it deposits it as vapor, being no lon
ger able to retain it in the invisible form
A fine, delicate, filmy vapor appears
Fl ating in the atmosphere, called by
metrorologists 'scurrus This the birth
Of a cloud The same can be witnessed
on many calm summer evening. The
chill OF night coming on viii cool the
air, SO that it is Obliged to part with
some Of the moisture it has sucked up
from the earth during the sunshine OF
the day. Within half an hour the sur.
face OF the sky will change from clear
blue TO feathery clouds-not from fresh
clouds coming from distance, but from
their birth, in silu, by the cooling of the
air. 1t is evident that only when the
air is nearly calm can this beautiful
growth, apparently a creation cut Of
nothing, he observed
Our infant cloud, whose birth. we
have Witnessed, has precarious tenure
of existence. A warm current of ali
setting in, or the rays of warm sun
may at any time bring on dissolution
by enabling the air to take it up and
convert it from pisible vapor to invisiblt
moisture. It's outward form is gone
and although we know its essence sub
sists still, and indeed can never be de.
stroyed, vet its apparent existence has
ended. 1t has vanished, at the very
outset of its career, before the purposes
for which it was intended are accom-.
plished; and yet it is only the outward
form that sustains annihilation; its dee
per essence is untouched by death.
Let US suppose our infant cloud to
survive the peril of early life, what
changes does it undergo? There is no
standing still in life; and this applies as
much to cloud life as to that of poor
humanity. Escaped the dangers Of two
much warmth, it Is next exposed to the
winds and currents of heaven. Ii these
are gentle, they only slightly modify the
"cirrus," producing some Of its beauti-
full varieties, the mare stall, the pilchard
sky, and mackerel sky, loved by the
fisherman. r-s... -.,..r s7 @
These may be compared with the
beauty of youth, before the full bloom
of adult life is developed in its maturity
But if the currents be long continued,
or the winds be strong, a much greater
change takes place. The feathery frag
ments, carried along the sky, hulled one
against the other, become packed into
large dense masses. Perhaps some st
fractions goes on among their particles
However that may be, they take on
quite different aspect; instead of faint
light cobwebs, floating high in the at
mosphere, they bacome weighty aggre
cations of vapor@ compelled to rest
nearer the earth, where the atmosphere
is dense enough to sustain them. Theil
destiny, too, is shown by the fine bold
reflection they give of sunlight or day
light; and hence they are the painters
clouds, and form half the beauty ol
landscape. This is ecumulus," or cloud
in its maturity. Hr at. te 9aam
Even now they are subject to that de-
bility which springs from a life Of ease
and fortune. II the wind subsidies, and
they are left at rest, if the sun bleaks
out and pours his full rays on theil
rocky sides, what do we observe? :? Theil
surface becomes faky. They are melt
ing away under the influence of pros
perity. Their visible moisture is agair
vanishing into the invisible form in
which it existed before birth If the
''cumulus" be small and broken, it may
succumb to these influences and alto
gether disappear; il large, although il
may be weakened for the time, yet
when the warmth passes away, it will re
cruit its force, and be prepared to &C
forward with its mission.
And now we come to the end Oul
adult cloud has its mission to accom-
plish ; and that is something more thar
furnishing picturesque objects for Tur
ner to paint and Rlskin to write about
1t has to carry the moisture gathered
from distant parts to regions where it i.
needed. 1t may he long in the passage
1t may be transported hither and thlthe
by various winds, before an opportuni
ty arrives; all this while it is probabl,
gaining in close aggregations, the effec
of wind being to pack its particles clio
ser and closer together. At length /,
change takes place; it is approaching
the end of its career. Some interna
action prevades its molecules, perhaps
an electric current runs through tn,
mass; 1T becomes that dark lowerin.
cloud, which we call 'snimbus," the mois
ture is condensed into water, and de
scends in grateful showers to fertiliz
the soil The cloud is dead The mois
ture which was its essence, which th
warm dir took up in an invisible form
which the cool air rendered visible
which the winds of heaven sported with
has returned to the earth from which
sprang. Or, rather. it has come fror
distant seas and tropical climes, an
been showered on more thirsty lands
While write the rain drops PATTERN
a0ainst NV window NAV cOnsict of m o;c