Warren sheaf., 1894-09-27
a REGION OF MIRAGE.
Sky Paintings Not Rare Around Lake


Ontario.
The region about Buffalo. and for a
good many miles east of that city,
seems to be a favorable one for seeing
the more distinct and remarkable eff
fects of that optical illusion known as
the mirage. A surprisingly distinct
one was seen between nine and ten
O'clock one morningsrecently by the
people of Buffalo. Like previous one
seen q dozen miles or more east of Buff
l $falo, some years ago, the spectacle was
at the north. The one seen from the
cars showed Lake Ontario, with ali It's
capes, and other shore features, includ-
ing the trees, with remarkable dis
tinctness in the sky, although the
real lake at its nearest shore was
thirty or forty miles away and wholly
invisible. The one seen at Buffalo the
other day was the entire city of Toron-
to, in Canada, on the lake some sixty
miles away. Its steeples, docks and
other features were seen, at great dis
tance, with wonderful distinctness of
detail. Even the steamers on the lake,
and yacht, were distinctly shown
the former pouring out the trailing
smoke from their smokestacks, and the
latter, showing exactly the position Of
the sails, could be seen careening be-
fore the west wind. The lake itself
was largely visible. It must have been
q very surprising and impressive exhi-
bition.
Seen in the sky by the caravan trav-
elers on the desert, the mirage pres
ents an appearance Of objects reflected
in surface of water; cool lakes, with,
shady palm trees, mock the hot and
thirst-stricken travellers The heated
earth rarifies the lower air faster than
It can ascend and escape. The air ts
denser overhead contrary to the Gus
tomary experiences; and the fatness OF
the desert contributes to the duration
Of the attractive but deceptive appari-
tion. There must be some real lake, IN
some cases, as a basis for these report,
ed exhibitions. The mirage is caused
by the excessive refraction, or bending,
oflight rays, in penetrating adjacent
layers OF air of greatly differing
densities, not far above the surface Of
the earth. This excessive refrac-.
ton presents, when the lower stra-
tum of air is heated by a very. hot
sun, an uplifted, distorted or inverted
image Of some actual object or scene.
Along certain portions Of the Italian
coast it sometimes produces the eexhibi-
tion Of an inverted ship, up in the air
the real ship being distant and invis-
ible, and, of course, right side up
These aerial and marine reflections,
often strange and complicated, and
known as mirage, looming" and the
Italian ''Fata sMorgana,n according to
the characteristics they present, are all
allied to q general law. The school
books have explained the general phe-
nomenon. tbs out of the usual course
of things for the lower stratum of air
. to be rarer than the one above it, but
it sometimes happens. Suppose the
light rays are coming from a distant
(and invisible) object, situated in the
denser stratum, which in these wonder
full exhibitions lies over, instead of be-
meath, the rarifed stratum as a hill,,a .
little above the earth's surface-the
rays come in a direction nearly parallel
+: to the surface, and meet the lower,
rarer medium at a very obtuse angle.
Instead of passing into that warmer.
air; the rays are reflected back to the
denser stratum above-thei common
surface of the two strata acting as a
mirror. Let the spectator be looking,
from some eminence, at an Object thus
situated, like himself, in the denser air,
and he will see by. directly transmits.
ted rays; but rays from it also will be
refected-from the upper surface Of
the lower, more heated air presenting
the image inverted and in a, lower posi-
ton. In the reproduction of distant
and invisible objects-as in the case OF
the city of Toronto, seen so. plainly III
the sky, sixty miles south, at Buffalo
the phenomenon belongs, apparently,
to the class known to sailors as 'sloom-
ing."-Hartfords Times. ssE ss.s -sts.'