mate of England isolated showers are often of this character--the
polarity existing in rings. Showers are doubtless thus found with us. Mr.
Wise got into one of them; see his description (Theory and Practice of
Aeronautics page 240).

I have, in another place, alluded to the upward attraction of the dust
beneath the advance condensation of a shower. Jenner alludes to it in the
following lines:

"The whirling winds the _dust_ obeys,
And in the rapid eddy plays."

So Virgil:

"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 t