Evening star., 1951-05-30
Lower California Called
Lund Of GhostIy Miroees
Legend Of Indions Recalled
In Report by Scientist
By Thomos R. Henry

A land Of ghostly mirages is West
ern Sonora, bordering on the Gulf OF
California.
In this desert country, according to
the ancient Indian legend, the demon
Hoatziqui. eater of souls, had his abode
on the shores Of a persistent mirage
lake. Across the rocks and sands many
reported seeing lie Reina, the phantom
ship Of the Gull of California, sailing
under full sail. The nature Of these
mirages has just been reported to the
American Geophysical Union by DR..
Roland L. Ives Of Cornell University.
They are due to the stratification Of
air over the desert and are not greatly
unlike those found in other dry lands
near great bodies of water They, how
ever, have q strangeness all their own.
Images Of the mountains OF Lower
California regularly loom into visibility
above the horizon and false sea hori-
IONS are common at midday. Among
the most common illusions are those OF
blue and gray lakes on valley floors.
These mirages form in midmerning
and disappear in late afternoon. False
dawns are common in the early morn
ing with their tinted clouds arranged in
the forms of grotesque towers. These.
says DIR. Ives, can be photographed
with an ordinary camera. A quite SIM
liar phenomenon is common to the des-
erts of North Africa, Asia Minor and
Australia.
False Horizon Visible.
From the coast on hot, clear days.
there is false horizon, several degrees
higher than the real horizon. Ships can
be seen sailing OF into the sky. AS
ship reaches the apparent horizon it
may be accompanied by a sister ship
sailing upside down. Sometimes one
ship will stay on the horizon while the
two others are seen sailing through
the sky.
Quite common is the type Of mirage
known as fata morgana, weird melange
of diffused and ever-changing images.
Such illusions perhaps are magnified
and distorted views of distant actual OBJ
jects. A mirage of this kind is most
likely to be seen in the early morning
when the air is cold relative to the
water.
Also common is the looming Of noun
tains," which actually are hidden around
the curve Of the earth. This is true es-
pecially of the Angel de la Guardia
Mountains of Lower California, which
under normal circumstances are en-
tirely invisible from 80 to 130 miles
away. At first they appear shrouded
in desert haze. They make their hrst
appearances about noon, but remain
quite obscure in outline until about an
hour before sunset. Then the images
sharpen and the peaks appear in dull
reds, browns, and green's. The phenom-
enon usually lasts about a half hour.
Sometimes in the early evening clusters
These probably are projected from some
distance fishing village.
There is something in red pepper
which causes liver cancers-but only
when fed with diet deficient In pro-
teins, the nitrogen containing foods
which are the building stones of the
body.
If there is plenty of protein in the
food, the red pepper chemical apparently
Is harmless. These findings apply to
rats. That they are equally applicable
: to human beings is quite probable. al
though not absolutely proved.
The problem is now being studied at
the medical school Of the University of
Virginia. Believed to be capsaicin, the
chemical is thought to be the same sub
stance responsible for the chile taste.
Serious Problem in East.
It is pointed out that the problem is
quite serious in parts Of Asia and Africa
where food is highly seasoned with pep
per but is quite deficient in proteins.
Liver cancers are quite rare In the
United States and Europe. They are be-
lieved to be quite rare in Mexico and
parts of South America where red pep
per is used abundantly but ordinarily
balanced by sufficient proteins.
Milk, for example. completely will
prevent the formation Of these cancers
in rats and probably would do the same
with humans. This is what makes the
problem so serious in the tsetse fly areas
Of Africa, where 1t is impossible to main
tain milk cattle.
Efforts now are being made to frac-
tionate the offending chemical, due to
the possibility that some small impurity.
usually present, may be responsible for
its carcinogenic property.
Black pepper. 1t is pointed out, has
no such effects.