Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1881-06-29

A very little prac1ce Will enable any
body to read the language of the clouds.
About eight years ago Luke Howard,
an English Quaker, whose business re-
qlired him to take long walks In the
open air, completed classification of
clouds that has ever since been In gen.
eral use. One of the most wonderful
phenomena ever witnessed in the sky
was the great dry fog of 1873, that over
spread the whole of Europe and part of
Asia and America, reaching to the sum-
mits of the Alps, and lasting from one
to three months, according to the local
ity. The greatest terror prevailed and
the end of the world was thought to be
at hand.
Howard noticed that there are three
principal kinds of clouds, which he call
ed cirrus, cumulus, and stratus. Any
body can see the difference between
these clouds at glance. The cirrus is
the highest of all clouds. You must
have often seen it in the form OF white
filaments sometimes called ''mares' tails
and "cats' tails" Stretched across the
blue sky like delicate lace work, it is
very beautiful. Travellers say that on
the summit of lofty mountains peaks,
from which they could look down upon
the heavier clouds, they have seen these
wispy cirri floating overhead, apparent
ly as far away as when seen from the
earth. In calm summer evenings, long
after sunaown, these clouds may be
seen rejecting the most delicate tints of
color from the last rays of sunlight that
illuminate the higher regions of the at
mosphere.
The cirri are composed of little crys-
tails of ice. These clouds and their de-
rivatives cause the halos that are some
times seen about the sun and moon.
Cirrus clouds indicate both storms and
clear weather, according to their ap-
pearance. If they appear In their most
delicate forms after stormy weather,
they are sign that period of settled
weather is at hand When they show
themselves in parallel streaks after fair
weather has lasted for some time. they
are the first indication of approaching
change Cirri, when greatly tangled
and knotted, show stormy weather close
at hand If their borders grow faint
and indistinct, there is rain coming.
Cumulus clouds are characteristic of
summer. The farmers call them thun-
der heads when they poke their smooth,
white, rounded submits, glittering IN
the sun like silver, above the horizon.
In that form they are the forerunners
of local thunder storms. These noun
tainous-looking clouds sometimes act
ually exceed the greatest peaks of the
Andes or Himalayas in size. When
cumulus clouds appear in warm,
pleasant day, not very large, distinct
though soft in outline, and resembling
cotton balls, they indicate continued
fair, dry weather On the other hand,
when they grow larger, darker, and
more formidable looking they foretell
storms. Just before q rain they some
times seem to throw off little tieecy
clouds around their edges. Goethe,
the great German poet, who was fond of
studying the clouds, said that as long as
cumuh have sharply defined borders and
white color a continuance of good
weather may be expected. Cumulus
clouds often form soon after sunrise and
temper the heat of the summer day. III
they gradually disappear toward even
ing the weather will remain serene, but
if as the sun goes down they grow dark
er and more numerous, then look out for
rain
The stratus Is most common at night
and in winter They always appear in
the form of stripes or broad, low cur
tains, covering more or less of the sky.
The night stratus is formed of mists
from swamps, rivers and moist ground.
1t generally rises and changes into
small cumuh clouds on summer morn
ings. The other kinds of stratus, ap-
pearing at considerable heights in the
fall, winter and early spring, is, as |
have said, an invariable forerunner of
stormy weather.
These three kinds of clouds do not al
ways appear in their simple forms.
They are frequently mingled together,
and four varieties of these derivative
clouds have been distinguished. The
cirro-cumulus consists of little roundish
white clouds, floating at a high eleva-
ton, and often resembling a flock of
sheep resting upon the blue background
of the sky. In winter these clouds fire.
quently appear before thaw. Between
summer showers they accompany in
creased heat. They are common in dry
weather.