, 1874-01-02
WAS 1T A MIRAGE?


Firon. the .se,c 1'ork EuAst;n,
The Captain Of tho Steamship Java, which ar
rived At this port Oh the 13:h OF t!is month.
gives the following as his opinion as to tho
cause OF the late disaster to the steamer Vile 5n
Havre, viz: That Fa.a lorgana deceived tha
crew. aud consequently the passengers met their
most deplorable fate by All optical illusion
called mirage. or, in other Northern languages,
ElConung. Mirage, as most Of our renders ara
aware. ia E kind Of optical llIusion arising from
De unequal rctraction in the lower strata of ths
atmosphere, aud causing .enoie objects to be
seen double, as it redected in mirror, or
to appear as If suspended in tho air. Tho
lndist1nct and magnified appearance OF objects
seen in Particular states OF the atmosphere is >
species OF mirage. The mirage il frequently
Egypt. and also on the plnin5 Of Mexico aad in
other places, whereof the Trench physicist, Eliot,
in his Astronomic Phys:csle," " Vol. !, gives very
interesting details. Tho mirage, for instance,
presents to the caravan Of weary. a1haustod, aud
thirsty wanderers the appearance Of wa.er.which
induces them and more 3d. their fatisued ca1nels
aud paTched horses to hasten in the direction OF
the vision in order to get tho means OF queuching
their thirst. They find, alas! too late, tha. oulv
an optical delusiou had led them astrny, and are
doubiy disappointed ut last. In these deserts
generalJ.the objects themselves are seen. besides
8 reversed image OF them in the air. On the high
SEAS however, often three images can be observed.
one OF tho object itself in direct way. ard IN
m upright position next, one in the wafer ro-
verscd and caused BY its mirror-like su,iace ard
thirdly, q reflected ono of the former, but in an
upright position. - Fata liorgaaa' is pre-
teuded fairy, which, BY tho superstisio1s
Slc!ian fishermen, is held in great dread for the
fatal consequences she throws upon them By
leading them astray through her fictitious OBJ
iects. She brings forth her mlrases rising from
the sea by the water esapo1a:ing heat Of tho
sun, and they are the moro deceptive, as they
originate during the serene, warm, and quies
weather. They gradually transform to strange
hkcnesses OF shipB towers, castles. and 80 forth.
and deceive eTen the scientist BY tue motion OF
the water and thas of The air, those insubstantal
pictures receive motion themselves, and thus get
tina. magical appearance which is usually tina
case with those apparitlons OF the Fats MoEgana
peculiar to the Slclian coast. near tho Stfait OF
1Iessina,
4 distinguished passenger of tho Jara, a1r.
Moses L. Bench (tho former proprietor Of tbs
SUM, asserts that he witnessed Some sEch ap-
parition-tnat is to sny, in looking from one
part Of the ship he at ono and the same time OBJ
served heavy rain pouring down /; while looluna
Immediately a.terward at the phenomenon, from
another part Of the same vessel, le did not per-
ceye the least particle OF tho said occurrence,
and could not observe oven drop Of rain.
The idea is, then, that The supposed ap-
par;tioual place of the sailing vessel Loeb
Earn, resulting from observations nais
from different part OF the Vile 3s Har1o
from that which would have shown the true po-
sition of tho former LED to the fatal belief that
the distance between the two was greater than
it really was, aud SO produced the collision. TLe
conclusion, therefore, is arrived st ths:. for the
avoidance Of similar collisions in future, obse:-
yations-esp=cialiy when tho atmosphere is nm
usually loaded with the wateEy Tapor which
brings forth those reflected images-o1gnt to
30 made from two different points, and these
as wido apart at possible. It may be . fanc7
that the awful disaster alluded to was the pro-
duct Of an optical Illusion, but in seeking to ar
rive 1T the real cause OF tho catastrophe, tsc.
cies IS well US facts, as aids to Investigation,
may not unrcasonably be taken into account.