Graham's Magazine, Vol. XL, No. 3, March 1852Various
Science
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XL, No. 3, March 1852
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
If, in addition to the circumstances already
described, the atmosphere be highly impregnated with vapor and dense
exhalations, not previously dispersed by the action of the wind and
waves, or rarified by the sun, it then happens that, in this vapor, as
in a curtain extended along the channel to the height of above forty
palms, and nearly down to the sea, the observer will behold the scene of
the same objects not only reflected on the surface of the sea, but
likewise in the air, though not so distinctly or well-defined. Lastly,
if the air be slightly hazy and opaque, and at the same time dewy, and
adapted to form the iris, then the above-mentioned objects will appear
only at the surface of the sea, as in the first case, but all vividly
colored or fringed with red, green, blue, or other prismatic colors.”
Aerial images of terrestrial objects are frequently produced as the
simple effect of reflection. Dr. Buchan mentions the following
occurrence:—“Walking on the cliff about a mile to the east of Brighton,
on the morning of the 18th of November, 1804, while watching the rising
of the sun, I turned my eyes directly to the sea, just as the solar disc
emerged from the surface of the water, and saw the face of the cliff on
which I was standing represented precisely opposite to me, at some
distance from the ocean. Calling the attention of my companion to this
appearance, we soon also discovered our own figures standing on the
summit of the opposite apparent cliff, as well as the representation of
a windmill near at hand. The reflected images were most distinct
precisely opposite to where we stood; and the false cliff seemed to fade
away, and to draw near to the real one, in proportion as it receded
toward the west. This phenomenon lasted about ten minutes, till the sun
had risen nearly his own diameter above the sea. The whole then seemed
to be elevated into the air, and successively disappeared. The surface
of the sea was covered with a dense fog of many yards in height, and
which gradually receded before the rays of the sun.” In December, 1826,
a similar circumstance excited some consternation among the parishioners
of Miqué, in the neighborhood of Poitiers, in France. They were engaged
in the exercises of the jubilee which preceded the festival of
Christmas, and about three thousand persons from the surrounding
parishes were assembled. At five o’clock in the evening, when one of the
clergy was addressing the multitude, and reminding them of the cross
which appeared in the sky to Constantine and his army, suddenly a
similar cross appeared in the heavens, just before the porch of the
church, about two hundred feet above the horizon, and a hundred and
forty feet in length, of a bright silver color tinged with red, and
perfectly well-defined. Such was the effect of this vision, that the
people immediately threw themselves upon their knees, and united
together in one of their canticles. The fact was, that a large wooden
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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