The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-04-25
SKY PAINTINGS ARE COMMON
the Region Around Lake Ontario
nc4a.. T.a.t>d 70 q Mi-are.

The Region Around Lake Ontario
Often Treated to a Mirage.
The region about BunalO and for q
FOOD many miles east Of that city
seems to be a favorable one for seeing
the more distinct and remarkable ef-
fects Of that optical Illusion known
as the mirage, says the Hartford
Times. A surprisingly distinct one
was seen between and 10 o'clock
one morning recently by the people OF
Buffalo. Like a previous one, seen
by the passengers in a New York Gen.
trail train a dozen miles or more east
of Buffalo some years ago, the spec
tacle was at the north. The one seen
from the cars showed Lake Ontario
with all it's capes and other shore fes'
lures, including the trees, with re-
markable distinctness In the sky, al
though the real lake at its nearest
shore was thirty or forty miles away
and wholly invisible The one seen al
Buffalo was the entire city Of Toronto
In Canada, on the lake. some sixty
miles away. It's steeples, docks and
other features were seen, at great dis
tance, with wonderful distinctness OF
detail. Even the steamers on the lake
and a yacht were distinctly shown
the former pouring out the trailing
smoke from their smoke-stacks, and
the latter, showing exactly the posi-
ton Of the sails, could be seen careen'
ing before the west wind. The lake
itself was largely visible. 1t must have
been very surprising and impressive
exhibition.
Seen in the sky by the caravan traV
elers on the desert the mirage pre-
sents an appearance Of objects reflect
ed In q surface of water; cool lakes
with shady palm trees, mock the MOI
and thirst-stricken travellers. The
heated earth rarefes the lower air
faster than it can ascend and escape
The air is denser overhead-contrary
to the customary experiences; and the
flatness of the desert contributes to
the duration Of the attractive but de.
ceptive apparition. There must be
some real lake, In some cases, as I
basis for these reported exhiDluons
The mirage is caused by the excessive
rerractiou, or bending Of light rays
in penetrating adjacent layers OF air
Of greater differing densities, not far
above the surface Of the earth. Ihls
excessive refraction presents, when
the lower stratum Of air is heated by
very hot sun, an uplifted, distorted
or inverted image Of some actual OBJ
ject or scene. Along certain portions
Of the Italian coast 1t sometimes pro-
duces the exhibition Of an inverted
ship, up in the air-the real ship being
distant and invisible and, Of course
right side up. These aerial and ma
rine reflections, often strange and com
plicated, and known as mirage, loom
ing" and the Italian, 'fata morSana,"
according to the characteristics they
present are all allied to q general law
The school books have explained the
general phenomenon. 1t is 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 land invisible) object,
situated in the denser stratum, which
In these wonderful exhibitions lies
over instead Of being beneath the
rarefed stratum-as hill, a little
above the earth's surface-the rays
come In q direction nearly parallel
to the surface, and meet the lower,
rarer medium at very obtuse angle
Instead Of passing into that warmer
air, the rays are reflected back to the
denser stratum uDove-the common
surface Of the two strata acting as a
mirror Let the spectator De looking
from some eminence, at an object thus
situated, like himself, in the denser
air. and he will see it By directly trans.
mitted rays; but rays from it also will
be refected-f"om the upper surface
Of the lower, more heated alr-present
Ing the image inverted and in lower
position. In the reproduction OF dis
tant and invisible ohjects-as in the
case Of the city Of Toronto, seen So
plainly il the sky, sixty miles south,
at Buffalo-the phenomenon belongs.
apparently, to the class known 10 sull
o,- ~