The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-08-15
THE SPECTRE OF THE BROCKEN.
A sCuSTIFIC EXPLASAT ALTON or THE
MARVELLOUS.

known as the mirage is of three dis
tiuet kinds First. there is that form of 4
il where some distant object, below the
horizon. and consequently out OF lHe
range of vision. seems to be lltted up
into 1nid-air. and to hang suspehueu
there-sOmetimes suspended IN It's hdIu-
r,tl uositiou sometimes upside down. ana /
-s,,,ietin,es both wavs at once the image I
in tbis latter ease being doubled, like I
.sbinand ITS reflection in the water. Sec /
ondlv there is that form of it where
some object high up in the air. such as a
rIeud- or a village ON q hill, seems to be
l,roUrbt down and to lie floating in a
vast lake stretching miles away at the
spectators feet Thirdly. there is that
less frequent form of it, where the set
ting sun appears to fling huge shadows
nf terrestrial objects far out into space.
OF the first kind of mirage there are
some very striking instances on record.
While sailing in the Polar seas. in lS22-
Captain Scoresby saw the inverted image
of a ship. apparently suspended IN the
air. some miles distant. 1t was, ne
writes. $50 well defined that / could
distinguish every sail, the general rig OF
of the ship. and its particular character,
insomuch that / pronounced 1t my tath-
er'S ship the Fame, which II atterWaru
proved to be; though on comparing
notes WIFI lllN ldiIltI WIFI VIC AliCt- 4
found that our relative positions at the
time gave our distance from one anoth-
er at nearly thirty miles, being about
seventeen miles beyond the horizon, and
some leagues beyond the limit of direct
vision - In May. 1854, the captain OF
IL NJ. :. Archer, while cruising IN the
Baltic. saw a similar mirage OF the Whole
British fleet. consisting of nineteen sail.
Here. again. the distance between the
vessels was found to be full thirty miles.
In both these instances the objects seen
were inverted On the 9th Of June of
this wear. at Hastings, more striking
example of mirage was witnessed. The
whole coast of France, from Calais TO
Dieppe. though more than fifty miles
distant, and quite out of the range OF
ordinary vision. seemed to be lifted up
into mid-air and was seen there, not in
Verted, but in its natural position, dur
ing the space of three hours, by hun
,lreds of persons assembled upon the
beach. The most remarkable instance
of all, however. is that recorded by Dr,
Vince. From Ramsgate. the four tur-
rets of Dover castle may be seen on {
fine day over the top of an intervening
hill. While looking i'll this direction
one evening. DR. Vince saw the who'll
castle. not lifted up into the air abOv,
the hill ON the other side, but to all aI'
pearances brought over bodily on thi
side of it.. 80 strong was the image
saws DIR. Vince. that / could not SCI
the hill through it. The double mirag
is seen oftcnest on the shore of the Strait
Of Alessina. where the phenomenon
known as the Fata MOrgana. The i'm
ages IF men. horses, houses and ships al
projected into the air feet to feet, or ke'
to keel, as the ease may be. until the a
hrrup
which all these miscellaneous objects al
seen floating about together.
The second kind of mirage-tha
namely in which the object is brougt
down instead Of being elevated-Is mo
frequently seen in the arid deserts
Lower Egypt. where it often proves or
ely deceptive to the thirsty travele
Dotted about the waste are elevation
on which the natives have built the
villages. in order that they may he 81
from the floods during the periodical
undations of the Nile. In the heat
the day. the mirage brings down an il
age Of the sky upon the level. some fe
miles i'm front of the caravan. and pr
duces the effect of Il broad eNpanSe
water, i'm which each village. bTOUg
down also. appears as an islet. LUU
ON 10y the refreshing prospect. man al
beast push hopefully forward, oft
miles out of their track, to find the W
ter. and the islands. constantly recedi
from their view, until the evening con
and they vanish altogether. 10 co
plete is the delusion. that not only
perienced and scientific travellers, /
even the Arabs, themselves are often
Ccived by il.
The third kind of mirage is seen OF
from the top of the BrOcken, the his
est summit of the lIartZ Mount5
range in Hungary. 1t is there knO'
rs the BrukengespenSt.o or "Specter
the BroCkeu - and very speCter-like
looks i'll the red evening sun. You
sooner step out upon the plateau on [
top of the hill. than your shadow. or
and gigantic, is apparently flung rig
out against the eastern sky, where. W
all visible space for a playground, it fl
swiftly from place to place followi
your every movement. This mirage
only visible in the evening just Def,
sunset. 50 that the shadow is dOubly
aggerated. first by the distance and le-
of the sun, and then by the distance
the surface upon which it is projected.
HOW NIRAGEs ARE FORMED.
Each of these different kinds of mir
has its own separate cause. though Il
all depend fOT their existence upOI
special state of the atmosphere Bef
the phenomenon is possible the air m
be divided into strata of different degr
of density. That done. the mirage I
lows, sometimes by refraction. sometiu
by reflection. sometimes by the prof
tion of shadows. Let us take the mir;
by Tefraction first. Place q shilling
an empty bowl and walk backwards
til the coin, being hidden by the rim
the vessel. Is no longer visible to VI
Now. standing just where YOU are. 2
friend to fill the bowl with water. a
rs he does So the coin will gradua
come back within the range of visi
and YOU viii see it as plainly as ev
How Is this You have not moved. a
the coin has not been moved No:
the straight ray of light which. paSs
from your eye To- the BASIN enables y
To- see the coin ut first. has been bent
passing through the water. and YOU
now able. as il We're. To see round a c
ner. This is precisely what takes nj:
in eases or mirage like that seen bv G.
tain Seoresby and by the people of
beach at Hastings. The ravS of Ii.
thrown back by the ship i'm the one
stance and bv the French coast i'm
other. would. in ordinary states of
atmosphere have shot outward and
ward high into the air and left the
3ectS from which they were reflected
tailN invisible To persons at the dStal
ot thirty and fifty miles But i'm b,
cases the intervening air was ranged
strata of different degrees of GenSit
and Just as the rIy from the coin I'm
basin Is bent by passing through
water, 50 were the ravS from the 81
and the coast bent i'm PASSING tbrou0I