The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-24

form of castles, obelisks and spires. and
I the land presented extraordinary features.
I In some places The distant ice was so tx-
| tremely irregular and appeared so full of
! pinuacles that it resembled a forest of
/ naked trees. In others il had the character
! CT al extensive city. crowded " tn churches.
! castles and public edilices." Gen. A. W.
! Greedy, in bis American Weather" makes
a passing reference to the phenomenon
! He does not mention having seen a mir
age himself but he refers to the marcel
Gus tales which he has heard. more espe-
ciaily about their appearance in The Are
tie regions. and declares that he is pre-
pared to believe them.
Practically all writer's on the theory of
the mirage hold that VIII 10 the images
presented to the Observers eve NAV be
distorted and obscure, they have a certain
basis in fact. They are representations
accurate or inaccuratc) of real things.
Napoieon's army. crossing the sands of
Lower Egypt, saw remote villages which
were yet below the horizon lifted into
view a sea it is not uncommon to de-
tect ships that are yet too far away to
be seen normally. Indeed. there are null
uple images. one above the other, and
some of them upside down, perhaps. But
in spite of their eccentricities there is
real ship involved in the phenomenon.
In some mirages there is great mag
niicatiOn Of the objects seen. but only
in 4 vertical direction. The passage
just quoted from Scoresby Illustrates the
point in 4 measure. The effect is closely
allied to the apparent lifting of a scene
above its true position. or what sail )rs
call looming" For instance. a mirag,
once showed people at Hastings. England. |
the French coast near Bologne, forty or |
fifty miles away. The curvature of the |
earth is here sufficient TO hide one city |
from the other under ordinary ccIdi- |
tions. Prof J. d. Everett. of Belfast, |
ireland, in lecture delivered over a |
quarter of a century ago, dwelt at length |
on the false ideas of nearness and the |
distortion OF form that results from
looming. This vertical magnification IS
shown in cliffs and icebergs at sea" said
he, and produces an effect of pinnaclas.
spires, columns. or basaltic cliffs.
The magnificent columns which consti- |
tute a part of the Fata morgana "a mir
agel in the Strait of Messina are in Ike
manner to be attributed to vertical mag
nifcation. An appearance of the same
kind, known as the Merry Dancers is
'ften seen by boatmen off the Giants |
Causeway.''
In his book on Alaska mines Bruce says
hat The Silent City" has been identified
s view of Bristol. England. But II is
'oSslutt tHat ne mas somewhat hastily ! {
ccepted some one else's conviction on ! /
his subject. At any rate. there are sew
raj reasons for demanding further evil c
ence. II is doubtful whether any object /
hOwn in mirage was ever more than Il
or leo miles from the observer. and in I
lany Instances 1t has been much nearer b
rom Or. FiliDpi's account of the expe- c
ience Of the Duke OF the Abruzzi party il | h
evident that a line of hills only few q
lilies away afforded the basis of what they h
eheld Mr.. Bruce mentions the popular d
nspiciou that WilOu-hbys' picture was a p
lake and adds that he is himself under c.
lch obligations to the prospectcrs that
2 would hardly confess the truth II nc A
4d any doubts of his own Hence AIRY ii
ncied resemblance between that photo di
-aph and Bristol will not count for much. a
r. Filippis book contains no representa- W
on of the "Siiant City" although it is OF
III Of other photographs of Alaskan ! W
emery Perhaps the image was 100 st
lsteady for a camera to register it. II TT
e Vancouver expedition brings back a 70
ell-attested picture that looks like Bris- al
!. one viii be justified in taking stock as
the notion Of identity. But until then SO
is wiser to suspend judgment or to dis oh
edit the idea altogether. Indeed. the hi
enomena is enough of a marvel a
thout any such assumption.-New York dr.
ibune.