“Light chaff and leaflets, flitting, fill the air,
And sportive feathers circle on the lake.”
All these are electrical.
In England, where the action of such isolated clouds is less intense, the different electricities in different portions of the cloud, whose opposite and changing action produce all the phenomena, the condensation, the cold and congelation, the currents, etc., have been accurately ascertained. We can not get into the situation occupied by Mr. Wise. But every man may observe these intestine motions occasionally, in the advance condensation of an isolated thunder-shower, in front of, but near the smooth line of falling rain. They are more lateral than upward or downward, and are often exceedingly rapid in movement.
I have said that hail has often been found to fall from particular and well-defined portions of a cloud, and rain from the other portions, the hail being positive, and rain negative. An instance of very striking character may be found in Espy’s Philosophy of Storms (Introduction, page xx.) Doubtless in all cases thunder-showers, which are isolated and distinct, have opposite electricity in different portions, to whose active agency all the phenomena are owing. And the return of electricity to the earth in the rain explains the greater fertilizing effect of the latter compared With all artificial watering. He was a true philosopher who attempted to stimulate vegetation by electricity.
Sounds may sometimes aid the observer in doubtful cases in foretelling the weather. The roar of the surf, or breaking of the waves on the shore, when great bodies of water are disturbed by a precedent storm-wind, often heard before the wind is perceived on the land, I have already alluded to. And thus Virgil:
“When storms are brooding—in the leeward gulf
Dash the swelled waves; the mighty mountains pour
A harsh, dull murmur; far along the beach
Rolls the deep rushing roar.”
The moaning or whistling of the wind all have noticed. It is not uncommon to hear the expression, “The wind sounds like rain.” Jenner says:
“The hollow winds begin to blow.”
And Virgil:
“The whispering grove
Betrays the gathering elemental strife.”