The same phenomena happen in relation to the moon, the planets, the comets, the stars, and every other celestial body, all of which appear more elevated, especially when near the horizon, than their true places. The variable and increasing refraction from the zenith to the horizon, is a source of considerable trouble and difficulty in making astronomical observations, and in nautical calculations. For, in order to determine the real altitudes of the heavenly bodies, the exact degree of refraction, at the observed elevation, must be taken into account. To the same cause we are to ascribe a phenomenon that has sometimes occurred--namely, that the moon has been seen rising totally eclipsed, while the sun was still visible in the opposite quarter of the horizon. At the middle of a total eclipse of the moon, the sun and moon are in opposition, or 180 degrees asunder; and, therefore, were no atmosphere surrounding the earth, these luminaries, in such a position, could never be seen above the horizon at the same time. But, by the refraction of the atmosphere near the horizon, the bodies of the sun and moon are raised more than 32 minutes above their true places, which is equal, and sometimes more than equal to the apparent diameters of these bodies. _Extraordinary cases of refraction in relation to terrestrial objects._ In consequence of the accidental condensation of certain strata of the atmosphere, some very singular effects have been produced in the apparent elevation of terrestrial objects to a position much beyond that in which they usually appear. The following instance is worthy of notice. It is taken from the Philosophical Transactions of London for 1798, and was communicated by W. Latham, Esq., F.R.S., who observed the phenomenon from Hastings, on the south coast of England:--‘On July 26, 1797, about five o’clock in the afternoon, as I was sitting in my dining-room in this place, which is situated upon the Parade, close to the sea-shore, nearly fronting the south, my attention was excited by a number of people running down to the sea-side. Upon inquiring the reason, I was informed, that the coast of France was plainly to be distinguished by the naked eye. I immediately went down to the shore, and was surprised to find that, even without the assistance of a telescope, I could very plainly see the cliffs on the opposite coast, which, at the nearest part, are between forty and fifty miles distant, and are not to be discerned from that low situation by the aid of the best glasses. They appeared to be only a few miles off, and seemed to extend for some leagues along the coast. I pursued my walk along the shore eastward, close to the water’s edge, conversing with the sailors and fishermen upon the subject. They at first would not be persuaded of the reality of the appearance; but they soon became so thoroughly convinced by the cliffs gradually appearing more elevated, and approaching nearer, as it were, that they pointed out and