Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1888-03-27
Atnospheric UuriosItles.


Professor Tyndall on one occasion, while
travelling in the Alps, observed the shadow
of his body projected at night time on mist
by lamp behind him, and luminous circle
surrounding the shadow. An enthusiastic
traveller, Mr.. J. A. Fleming, has for years
been endesvoring to realize this phenomenon
without the aid of lamp. At last, on the
summit of one of the Welsh hills, he aud a
friend succeeded. A gentle breeze thinned
away the mists in front of the sun and a
burst of sunshine illumined the hill-tops
Along the valley the wind drove masses of
thin mist and on this they saw, to their sur
prise, thu shadow of the summit of the hilI
on which they stood, and their own sharply
marked shadows projecting on it in giant
shape. Surrounding these figures they OBJ
served two complete circular rainbows, quite
concentric, the center being the shadow of
their heads. During all this time the sun
was shining brightly on their backs. And
in the Coolin hills, in Skye, two Dundee gem
tlemen observed their shadows thrown
against the precipitous side of a deep CORY
two hundred feet distant.
Here are some other instances of the ap-
pearances of this phenomenon as youched
for by authentic and trustworthy authorities
In the Sierra de Nevada in Spain, Mr.. Marr,
of the geodetic survey, was one day con
fronted by monster figure of man stand
ing in mid air before him upon the top of
clearly defined mountain peak, with the mist
of the valley for resting place. Around it
were two circles of rainbow light and color;
on it's head was glorious halo and from its
body shot rays of color. He was indescriba-
bly, startled and he threw up his arms at the
sight of the awe-striking apparition of gi-
gantic stature. Immediately on this move
ment the awful spectre of darkness threw
| out its arms and approached him. When
the SUMS brightness was obscured the shad-
ow melted away. Mr.. Wbymper, in his
s'Aecent of the Matterhorn, !" mentions an in
stance in which the rainbow colors assumed
the shape of crosses insteadsof circles. This
| effect occurring. as it did, soon after a fatal
| accident in the Alps, filed the minds of the
guides with superstitious horror. To Mr.. G.
r. Gilbert of Washington, a distinguished
| physicist, the phenomenon was also present
| ed when he was on the plateau of Table
| Cliff, in Utah 1.-TWO miles above sea-leyel. }
The air was moist and scattering clouds
| hugged the sky. Standing before sunset on
| the edge of the cliff, he saw his own shadow
distinctly outlined on the cloud, apparently
| about fifty feet from him About the head
was bright halo, with diameter several
| times greater than the head. Outside the
halo there appeared two eoncentric circles
with brilliant rainbow eolors. M Lecocu
has also witnessed the phenomenon. In
| March last, at nalf-paSt seven o'clock in the
morning, he was riding on horseback up the
slope of the deep ravine at the bottom Of the
mountains of the Puy-de-Dome The wall
=, was almost perpendicular; the valley which
he was just crossing was filed with very
dense and cold mist which covered the trees
with hoar-frost. All on a sudden he escaped
from the mist and found himself again in
the full blue sky. The ravine was filed
with the vapor, resembling the surface of
a lake. He was approaching the foot path of
the road when the shadows of the horse and
/ himself were projected on the surface of the
mist These shadows were surrounded by a
luminous circle presenting all the colors Of
the rainbow, the violet being inside and the
| red outside. All the colors were very vivid.
| The shadows were separated from the corona
| by circle of yellowish hue, and the whole
| effect was most wonderful.
| But the phenomena observed at Adams
Peak, in Ceylon, eclipse all that have been
seen of this nature in the whole world.
Many travellers have given an account of the
remarkable peculiarities. and the Hon. Ralph
Abercromby, in his enthusiasm for meteoro-
logical research, went there with two scienti-
fic friends to witness the strange appearance.
This mountain rises in an abrupt cone one
thousand feet above the chain and seventy
| three hundred and ffty-two feet above sea-