Annotated bibliography of mirages, green flashes, atmospheric refraction, etc.

HTML created on Sat Jan 23 13:18:39 PST 2010 from the Jan version of the master file.
Don't try to print this — it's over 700 pages! (See here for how to use it.)
Aristotle
Meteorologica, with an English translation by H. D. P. Lee
(Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1962).

* Of course, it all begins with ARISTOTLE, who was quoted by Maltézos
* (1912). The oldest account of mirages seems to be Aristotle's brief
* mention in the "Meteorologica" (c. 340 or 350 BC) at 373 b in Book III
* (p.253 of the Loeb Library edition):
* "Distant and dense air does of course normally act as a mirror . . . ,
* which is why when there is an east wind promontories on the sea appear
* to be elevated above it and everything appears abnormally large;. . . "
* but unfortunately he then drags in the Moon illusion.
* So both MIRAGE and LOOMING were known to him.
* As Lee notes there, a similar (but much briefer) mention occurs in
* "Problems" XXVI. 53: "Why, when the east wind blows, do all the things
* seem larger?" Here are the Loeb Library editions:


Aristotle
Problems II, with an English translation by W. S. Hett
(Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1965).


Theophrastus
Enquiry into Plants, and minor works on Odours and Weather Signs, vol. 2
(Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1949), p. 411.

* THEOPHRASTUS was Aristotle's successor; he's cited by A. von Humboldt.
* The fragment given in the footnote suggests he was familiar with
* superior mirages as well: "si mons versus aquilonem extenditur . . . ",
* though the translator obviously is not ("with what meaning I cannot
* see.")
* However, it is the inferior-mirage passage that Holboldt refers to:
* "If promontories seem to stand high out of the sea, or a single island
* looks like several . . . ."
* This is the Loeb Library edition; the "weather signs" section is
* apparently just tacked on, after "on odours". The subtitle is
* "with an English translation by Sir Arthur Hort, Bart., . . . ."


Agatharchides of Cnidus
On the Erythrean Sea; translated, and edited, by S.M.Burstein
(Hakluyt Society, London, 1989).

* AGATHARCHIDES (2nd Century BC) is known only from fragments of his
* historical work on the areas around the Arabian peninsula quoted or
* paraphrased by the later writers (Diodorus, Strabo, and Photius) who
* cite him as a source. The book cited here is an attempt to collect what
* remains of his work.
* Let's start with a mangled account of mirages in the desert. On p. 116
* (Book 5, Chapter 66 of Agatharchides) we have:
*      "At the furthest reaches of Egypt and Trogodytice, . . .  because of
* the extreme heat produced by the sun at noon people standing next to
* one another are unable to see each other because of the density of the
* air resulting from its condensation." [Evidently the original story was
* "people standing *near* each other" -- meaning, perhaps, "within hailing
* distance" as opposed to "far away". This is a correct observation of the
* shrinking of the apparent horizon by the inferior mirage, and the hiding
* of objects a few hundred meters away by the mirage. The distortion of the
* sense of the passage in re-copying is quite typical of what copy editors
* do today; it is particularly common in re-told accounts of mirages and
* other refraction phenomena by someone who has not personally seen them.]
*      The next passage appears in both Photius and Diodorus, though in
* quite different forms. Here's Burstein's version of Photius; after
* commenting on the supposed lack of twilight at low latitudes: "Second,
* the sun appears to rise from the middle of the sea." [cf. Le Gentil's
* "whale" remark.] "Third, when it does rise, it is like a blazing coal,
* scattering great sparks, some into the disc of light and some beyond."
* [cf. the GF observers who speak of "flames" shooting out of the Sun.]
* "Fourth, people also say that the shape of the sun is not like a disc
* but most closely resembles a thick column which appears fatter at the
* end as if it had a head." [Ch. 107, p. 171] Here Burstein cites Salt,
* (1814) p. 93, for a similar description (q.v., below).


Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus of Sicily: The Library of History, Books II.35 - IV.58, with an English translation by C. H. Oldfather
(Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1933), pp. 241–245.

* DIODORUS SICULUS has the next earliest (c. 30 BC) known description of
* mirages. Oldfather's translation makes good sense, but he seems not to
* have appreciated the significance of this passage:
* "And both in this land and in Libya which lies beyond the Syrtis there
* takes place a marvellous thing. For at certain times, and especially when
* there is no wind, shapes are seen gathering in the sky which assume the
* forms of animals of every kind; and some of these remain fixed, but
* others begin to move, sometimes retreating before a man and at other times
* pursuing him, and in every case, since they are of monstrous size, they
* strike such as have never experienced them with wondrous dismay and
* terror. . . . although the natives, who have often met with such things,
* pay no attention to the phenomenon."
* "As for the movements which these shapes make in both directions, these
* . . . indicate no volition on their part, since it is impossible that
* voluntary flight or pursuit should reside in a soulless thing. And yet
* the living creatures are, unknown to themselves, responsible for this
* movement through the air; for, if they advance, they push by their violent
* motion the air which lies beneath them, and this is the reason why the
* image which has formed retreats before them and gives the impression of
* fleeing; whereas if the living creatures withdraw, they follow in the
* opposite direction, the cause having been reversed . . . . Consequently it
* has the appearance of pursuing men who withdraw before it, for the image
* is drawn to the empty space and rushes forward in a mass under the
* influence of the backward motion of the living creature. . . ."
* (from Book III.50 and .51)
* The need for calm air is repeated three times.


J. C. Rolfe
Quintus Curtius, Vol.II
(Harvard Univ.Press, Cambridge, 1956), pp. 162–165.

* QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS (History of Alexander, Book VII; c. 40 A.D.)
* The reference here is Curt. 7.5.4:
* "Then too a mist [caligo], aroused by the excessive warmth of the ground,
* obscures the light, and the aspect of the plain is not unlike that of a
* vast and deep sea."
* Many thanks to Prof. J.C.Yardley of the University of Ottawa for finding
* this passage!


H. Rackham
Pliny, Natural History
(Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1938).

* PLINY in the Loeb Library edition
* This passage from the "Natural History" is obviously not what Kircher
* had in mind: (from Book II, section LVIII)
* "In the third consulship of Marius the inhabitants of Ameria and Tuder
* saw the spectacle of heavenly armies advancing from the East and the West
* to meet in battle, those from the West being routed." (Vol. I, p. 285)


F. Josephus
The Works of Flavius Josephus
(William P. Nimmo, London, 1865).

* William Whiston's translation of FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS (c. 78 A.D.)
* This translation has been widely reprinted, up to the present day.
* It is also available on the Perseus website at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu
* and at http://www.coel.wheaton.edu.
* The passage suggestive of a mirage is in Book VI, Chapter V, section 3
* of the "Wars of the Jews" (near paragraph 289). He enumerates several
* omens around the time of the feast of unleavened bread, almost a week
* before Passover:
* "Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one-and-twentieth
* day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible
* phenomenon appeared; I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable,
* were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that
* followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for,
* before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were
* seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities."
* This does indeed sound much like a superior mirage or Fata Morgana.
* Cf. l'Astronomie 7, 392-393 (1888).


A. de Ferrariis
Liber de Situ Iapygiae
(per Petrum Pernam, Basileae, 1558).

* Very EARLY MIRAGE descriptions (1558) by Antonius de Ferrariis (1444-1517)
* also known as Antonio Galateo, Galateus Antonus, etc.
* Supposedly written in 1507-1509, but only published in 1558.
* Japygia is the old name; it became Apulia, and then Puglia.
* This passage is translated from the recent (2005) Latin/Italian version
* "La Iapygia" edited by Domenico Defilippis (Mario Congedo, Galatina):
* [18 10] (pp. 92/93): "In these swamps [near Nardò, on the Gulf of
* Taranto], as also in the fields of Manduria and Baleso and Copertino,
* certain apparitions are seen, which are called Mutationes or Mutata .
* The common people tell tales of I don't know what, vampires or witches or,
* as they say in Naples, janare [fairies], or as the Greeks say, nereids.
* It's amazing: this nonsense takes possession of the whole region and
* misleads the poor people. With no reliable authority, no reason, no
* demonstration, everyone believes in things they have not seen and are
* not true. And we oppose the testimony of the most ignorant people; we
* believe they are childish fantasies and old wives' tales, giving more
* trust to the ear than the eye. No one is an eye-witness, all accept
* what they have heard from others." (He then goes off to condemn popular
* beliefs in magic potions that can turn women into various animal forms
* at night; vampires; and other superstitions.) Then: "But let us return
* to those apparitions."
* [18 18] (pp. 96/97) "And sometimes you will see cities and castles and
* towers, and sheep and different colored cattle and images or specters of
* other things, where there is no city, no sheep, not even a thorn bush.
* I myself have sometimes had the pleasure of seeing these plays, this
* lusus naturae .
*      "They do not last long, but change as the vapors in which they appear,
* from one place to another, from one form to another, whence perhaps they
* are called Mutata , or because the sky is changed from sunny to rain
* by these apparitions.
*      "This happens in the morning, with calm air, beginning with a light
* breath of air (customarily) from the south. For as the strong south
* wind ceases, so at first it is gentlest and, as it is warm, it raises
* tenuous mists, which reflect images of cities, flocks, and other things
* like a mirror.
*      "And like the vapors, those images are moved, as things are seen
* moving in mirrors that are moved and shaken. And because the things
* directly face the vapors, they are seen directly, just like a shadow
* which falls opposite a luminous body; those that are oblique and turned
* produce images, which we also see turned, as also in water we see the
* tops of mountains and roofs at the bottom. For when some things are
* closer to the surface of the water, such as a foundation, to our vision
* they would appear far off; the images of rooftops, which are farther
* from the water, come nearer to us, and therefore are seen below.
*      "And so we find that in a closed building, with a little light coming
* through the slits, everything is seen reversed, such as the head of a man
* downward, feet above. For the lines of shadows do not proceed directly,
* but are transposed and intersect in the middle. This same thing happens
* in a concave mirror, so that the upper part of the mirror reflects the
* lower part of the thing seen, and the lower the upper.
*      "These apparitions that I have mentioned often deceive the gaze of
* travelers, who, when they suppose they are near a city, are very far away.
* And there have been seen in this region images in the air of men riding
* horses and marching on foot. And so writers have recorded that armed
* troops arrayed for battle have been seen in the sky, and these (as I
* think) images were of those far away from that place in which the images
* were seen, and could not be seen [directly].
*      "And thus we don't see a coin in the bottom of a vessel, but if the
* same vessel is filled with water, we see not the coin, but its image at
* the surface of the water, which is touching the air. For the surface
* of the water is analogous to the surface of a mirror, but whether these
* images may belong to the mirror, or the outer surface of the air, is
* another question."      And he cites Aristotle.      [18 24] (pp. 98/99)
*      "And as these figures are of mists, they give likenesses of ships
* and sails, where there is no fleet. These apparitions deceive not only
* the inexperienced. It is not long since the whole coast, from Hydrunto
* [Otranto] to Monte Gargano, at one and the same hour before sunrise,
* saw a fleet sailing from the east. It was thought to have been that
* of the Turks, and before that specter or delusion was revealed by
* the lightening dawn, various letters were composed here and there and
* messengers were sent concerning the approach of this imposing fleet."
* [NOTE: a Turkish fleet had just sacked Otranto in 1480, a few years
* before this was written; he assisted in its liberation.] He continues:
* "Perhaps in this way or another of which we shall speak, as I believe,
* someone (I don't know who) from Lilibeo [Marsala] saw a fleet leaving
* the port of Carthage."
*      The 1558 edition was recently republished by Forni.


T. Facellus
De Rebus Siculis decades duae
(Joannes Matthaeus Mayda et Francesco Caracca, Panormi, 1558).

* Thomas Facellus (Tommaso Fazello) briefly mentions mirages
* (Panormi = Palermo)
* Cited by Minasi; and, following him, P&E. They give the citation as
* Dec. 1, lib. II, cap. 1.
* The title page is imaged at
*      http://edit16.iccu.sbn.it/scripts/iccu_ext.dll?fn=60&i=18660#1
* I have not seen this.


A. Kircher
Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae
(Sumptibus Hermanni Scheus ex typographia Ludovici Grignani, Romae, 1646).

* ATHANASIUS KIRCHER (1646)
* This is the work cited by Castberg. The discussion of mirages and other
* meteorological phenomena is in Liber decimus, Pars secunda, pp. 800-804.
* "Liber decimus. Magia Lucis & Vmbrae . . . Pars Secunda. Magia
* Parastatica, siue de repræsentationibus rerum prodigiosis; per Lucem &
* Vmbram . . . Caput 1 De Repræsentationibus aeris: mentions "in libris
* Machabeorum" (p. 800)
* "Parastatis 1 Naturae, siue de Morgana Rheginorum in Freto Mamertino,
* siue Siculo" -- here, on p. 801, we have "Vocant autem Rhegini hoc
* spectaculum Morganam," followed by Angelucci's letter.
* p.802 mentions "Scipio Mazzellus, Regni Neapolitani; fol. 117".
* p. 803: "Refert Pomponius Mela, in Mauritania retro Atlantem regiones
* esse, in quibus circa meridiem inter montes varia spectra comparere
* soleant, quae gestus hominu' in omnibus æmulentur: videas ibi choreas,
* audias tubarum, tympanorumque strepitus. Refert quoque Plinius, intra
* Imaum in Scythia regionem esse, in qua quot-annis in vasta planitie
* appareant varia spectacula rerum sub figura hominum animaliumque, &
* instar exercitus; quibus viatores non rarò in auia, & deuia
* præcipitia ac denique in manifestam perniciem deducantur. Ad
* flumen Oby refert Haithon Armenus regionem esse, ad quam nullus adhuc
* penetrauerit, ob formidabilium, spectrorum, quae ex illa fluminis parte
* comparent, multitudinem."
* The reference to Pomponius Mela seems to be nonsense; there is nothing
* like this in his book. I have not found the Pliny passage, either.
* (For more evidence of Kircher's unreliability, see Lohne's paper on
* Harriot.)


Hevelius
“A certain Phenomenon, seen by Monsieur Havelius (sic), Feb. 5. 1674. St. No. not far from Marienburg in Boroussia - about the Sun a little before his setting . . .,”
Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 9, 26–27 (1674).

* HEVELIUS (1674)
*
* "Under the Sun, towards the Horizon, there hung a somewhat dilute small
* Cloud, beneath which there appear'd a Mock-Sun, of the same bigness (to
* sense) with the true Sun, and under the same Vertical, of a somewhat red
* colour. Soon after, the true Sun more and more descending to the Horizon,
* towards the said Cloud (as may be seen Fig. 4) the spurious Sun beneath it
* grew clearer and clearer, so as that the reddish colour in that apparent
* Solar disk vanish'd, and put on the genuine Solar light, and that the more,
* the less the genuine disk of the Sun was distant from the false Sun: Till
* at length the upper true Sun passed into the lower counterfeit one, and so
* remained alone; as appears Fig. 5.
*
* "Which Appearance being unusual, and having never been seen by me, I took
* the freedom of imparting it unto you, especially since here the Mock-Sun
* was not found at the side of the true Sun, as 'tis wont to be in all
* Parhelia's seen by me, but perpendicularly under it; not to mention the
* Colour, so different from that which is usual in Mock-Suns; nor the great
* length of the Tayl, cast up by the genuine Sun, and of a far more vivid and
* splendid light, than Parhelia's use to exhibit. Upon this appearance there
* soon follow'd here an exceedingly intense and bitter Frost, whereby the
* whole Sinus Puzensis was frozen up from this Town of Dantzick, as far as
* Hela in the Baltick Sea, which lasted unto the 25th of March; and the Bay
* was frozen so hard, that with great safety people run out into it with Sleds
* and Horses, for several of our Miles. Whether the recited Phaenomenon have
* had any influence for this extream Cold, I know not, but leave it for
* Astrologers to examine. Whether the like Appearance have ever been
* observ'd in England, I should be glad to be informed of."


P. Perrault
On the origin of springs, translated by Aurele LaRocque
(Hafner, New York, 1967).

* Translation of Pierre Perrault's "De l'origine des fontaines" (1674)
* and so filed here instead of at 1967. Orig. pub. by Pierre le Petit,
* Paris (1674).
* "Moreover the astronomers are certain that humid vapors either of the
* Sea, or of the Earth, cause much refraction, and cause many things to be
* seen otherwise than they really are: as when the Sun or the Moon
* sometimes appear to be oval, when they rise or set; . . . ." He then
* mentions their appearance "on the horizon before they have risen up to
* it," and offers the coin in a basin filled with water as an illustrative
* demonstration. In section (111): "I have made another more elaborate
* experiment, which shows that the vapors of the earth, according to their
* arrangement, can make distant objects appear now higher now lower, as if
* these objects were really raised or lowered. . . . I took as an object a
* pavilion about thirty-two feet in height half a league away, which I
* observed with a spyglass attached to and rendered motionless on a window
* sill in a large wall; and having aimed it at the top of this pavilion,
* which was on the thread of my spyglass, and level with it; I found that
* from two o'clock in the afternoon, when I began my observation, until
* night, the top of this roof had seemed to rise by eight feet, so that
* more than half this roof was above the thread of my spyglass." [He goes
* on to relate several days' observations, during which the building rose
* and fell by more than its full height.] "I have repeated the same
* experiment at another time when there was a great drought, which had
* lasted more than six weeks without respite, and I have always seen the
* same thing . . . the rising of my object happened regularly from noon to
* evening, and the lowering from morning to noon. . . ." (pp. 58-60)
* The translator suggests (p.182) that "this may be the earliest study"
* of such DIURNAL VARIATIONS in atmospheric refraction. N.B.: "half a
* league" is about 2 km; the building was about 10 m high; so the variations
* cover a range of about 1/200 radian or some 16' of arc.
*      Note that the book is dedicated to Christiaan Huygens, who picked up
* the refraction variations in his "Traité de la Lumière" (1690).


J. Picard
Voyage d'Uranibourg
(Imp.Royale, Paris, 1680), p. 8.

* Jean Picard's inferior mirage seen at Tycho's old observatory
* "Je mets à part les changemens qui arrivent à cause des Réfractions,
* & je diray seulement une chose que nous remarquasimes en faisant
* les Observations que nous venons de rapporter. Il y a proche de
* Copenhague une Isle appellée Amac, dont le terrain qui est assez bas
* nous estoit caché par la rondeur de la mer, en sorte néanmoins que nous
* y découvrions les sommets de quelque arbres. Or venant à pointer le
* quart de cercle vers l'endroit où ces arbres me paroissoient tranchez,
* j'estois asseûré que mon Rayon visuel recontroit l'extrémité visible
* de la surface de la mer, & néanmoins on auroit dit que ces arbres
* estoient dans le Ciel, & que la mer estoit terminée bien au dec,à de
* l'endroit où nous sçavions qu'il falloit pointer. La raison de cette
* apparence, est que la mer estoit fort unie, faisoit à nostre égard si
* exactement l'effet du miroir, que nous la confondions avec le Ciel."
* (Probably this is the island of Amager, where Copenhagen's airport is
* today -- about 30 km south of Hven.)
*      This memoir contains much else of interest: an eyewitness account of
* Tycho's original records, and his celestial globe: "nonobstant toutes
* les fortunes qu'il a couruës, ayant esté premiérment transporté de
* Dannemarck en Boheme, puis en Silesie, & enfin rapporté in Dannemarck,
* il est en dans son entier comme s'il venoit d'estre fait : son diametre
* est précisément de quatre pieds, sept pouces & une ligne, mesure de
* Paris." (p. 4)
*      Picard also enjoyed the collaboration of Erasmus Bartholin, who
* accompanied him to Uraniburg, as well as "un jeune Danois nommé
* Olaüs Romer, que M. Bartholin m'avoit fait connoitre, & qui estant
* ensuite venu en France avec moy, fut de l'Académie des Sciences, où
* il a donné plusieurs marques de son rare génie & se son esprit." (p.5)
*      He found Tycho's observatory completely destroyed, and the remains
* scattered. Placing his instruments on the surviving foundations of
* Tycho's observatory, he determined its location: the ground was about
* 27 toises [52.6 m] above the sea (p. 7); a latitude of 55° 54' 15''
* (p. 25); and a longitude 42m 10s or 10° 32' 30'' E of Paris. (p.28)
*      His stay in November 1671 was so difficult that "enfin le travail des
* veilles durant un froid auquel je n'estois pas accoustumé, & l'air de
* la Mer Baltique me causerent une langueur qui renoit un peu de scorbut,
* & qui me fit à la fin résoudre à quitter cette solitude, pour me
* retirer dans un lieu de secours avant que les glaces me fermassent
* le passage." (p.12) (He notes on the next page that scurvy was common
* "aux personnes sedentaires".) But he sent Romer back in the spring,
* to finish the observations.
*       Then, on p. 18, we find he has noticed (but not understood) the
* effects of annual aberration, "que j'observe depuis dix ans." Not bad!
*      Thanks to Sharron Huling for providing a photocopy!



*** NEW HAVEN GHOST SHIP FILE ***

[John Winthrop]
in Winthrop's Journal, ``History of New England'', Volume II James Kendall Hosmer LL. D. , ed.
(Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1908).

*
* Earliest mention seems to be in JOHN WINTHROP's Journal
* In the entries for 1648, we find on p. 346:
*      ``There appeared over the harbor at New Haven, in the evening, the
* form of the keel of a ship with three masts, to which were suddenly
* added all the tackling and sails, and presently after, upon the top of
* the poop, a man standing with one hand akimbo under his left side, and
* in his right hand a sword stretched out toward the sea. Then from the
* side of the ship which was toward the town arose a great smoke, which
* covered all the ship, and in that smoke she vanished away; but some saw
* her keel sink into the water. This was seen by many, men and women, and
* it continued about a quarter of an hour.''
* [cf. the FOG FILE for the "smoke".]
* A footnote says: "The spectral ship of New Haven, the tradition of
* which was taken up and characteristically developed by Cotton Mather, is
* one of the most weird of New England legends, and has become familiar to
* the later generations."


L. Bacon
Thirteen Historical Discourses, on the Completion of Two Hundred Years, from the Beginning of the First church in New Haven, with an Appendix
(Durrie and Peck, New Haven, 1839), p. 107.

* Leonard Bacon's account, largely taken from Winthrop's
* Here, after describing the loss of the ship sent out in January, 1646,
* he says: ``Two years and five months from the sailing of that ship, in
* an afternoon in June, after a thunder storm, not far from sunset, there
* appeared over the harbor of New Haven, the form of the keel of a ship
* with three masts, to which were suddenly added all the tackling and
* sails; and presently after, upon the highest point of the deck, a man
* standing with one hand leaning against his left side, and in his right
* hand a sword pointing towards the sea. The phenomenon continued about a
* quarter of an hour, and was seen by a crowd of wondering witnesses, --
* till at last, from the farther side of the ship, there arose a great
* smoke, which covered all the ship; and in that smoke she vanished
* away.''
* A footnote calls it an "atmospheric phenomenon"; mirages were well known
* by 1839, when this was published.


C. Mather
Magnalia Christi Americana, Books I and II, Edited by K.B.Murdock
(Belknap Press, Cambridge, 1977), pp. 169–170.

* COTTON MATHER's belated third-hand account
* This quotes a secondary source -- a letter from James Pierpont, who
* was pastor of the First Congregational Church of New Haven from 1685 to
* 1714, and therefore could not himself have been a witness. His
* second-hand account, reported to Mather in a letter, has the year of the
* original sailing wrong; and the details are by now vastly exaggerated by
* the fading memories of the (unnamed) witnesses:
*      "In Compliance with your Desires, I now give you the Relation of
* that Apparition of a Ship in the Air , which I have received from the
* most Credible, Judicious and Curious Surviving Observers of it.
*      "In the Year 1647, besides much other Lading, a far more Rich
* Treasure of Passengers, (Five or Six of which were Persons of chief Note
* and Worth in New-Haven ) put themselves on Board a New Ship , built at
* Rhode-Island , of about 150 Tuns; but so walty, that the Master,
* (Lamberton ) often said she would prove their Grave. In the Month of
* January , cutting their way thro' much Ice, . . . they set Sail. Mr.
* Davenport in Prayer with an observable Emphasis used these Words,
* Lord, if it be thy pleasure to bury these our Friends in the bottom
* of the Sea, they are thine; save them!      The Spring following no
* Tidings of these Friends arrived with the Ships from England:
* New-Haven's Heart began to fail her: This put the Godly People on
* much Prayer , both Publick and Private, That the Lord would (if it was
* his Pleasure) let them hear what he had done with their dear Friends,
* and prepare them with a suitable Submission to his Holy Will.      In
* June next ensuing, a great Thunder-storm arose out of the
* North-West : after which, (the Hemisphere being serene) about an Hour
* before Sunset a SHIP of like dimensions with the aforesaid, with her
* Canvas and Colours abroad (tho' the Wind Northernly) appeared in the Air
* coming up from our Harbour's Mouth, which lyes Southward from the Town,
* seemingly with her Sails filled under a fresh Gale, holding her Course
* North, and continuing under Observation, Sailing against the Wind for
* the space of half an Hour. Many were drawn to behold this great Work
* of God; yea, the very Children  cry'd out, There's a Brave Ship!      At
* length, crouding up as far as there is usually Water sufficient for
* such a Vessel, and so near some of the Spectators, as that they imagined
* a Man might hurl a Stone on Board her, her Maintop seem'd to be blown
* off, but left hanging in the Shrouds; then her Missen-top ; then all
* her Masting seemed blown away by the Board: Quickly after the Hull
* brought unto a Careen , she overset, and so vanished into a smoaky
* Cloud, which in some time dissipated, leaving, as everywhere else, a
* clear Air."
* To which, Mather adds: "Reader, There being yet living so many
* Credible Gentlemen, that were Eye-Witnesses of this Wonderful thing, I
* venture to Publish it for a thing as undoubted , as 'tis wonderful ."
* (Mather's book originally appeared in 1702.)


H. W. Longfellow
“The Phantom Ship,” in Outre-Mer: a pilgrimage beyond the sea
(George Routledge & Co., London, 1851).

* Mather's account enshrined by the poet Longfellow
* (Thanks to Penny Porter for pointing this out!)


I. MacBeath Calder
The New Haven Colony
(Yale University Press, New Haven, 1934), pp. 160–161.

* A brief modern mention by Isabel MacBeath Calder
* On pp. 160-161 there is a description of "the attempt to build
* transatlantic vessels on Long Island Sound." The launch of the first
* ship, ``ill built and very `walt-sided,' '' in January, 1646, is
* described. On p. 161: ``After the lapse of many months a mirage of
* the ship was said to have appeared over the harbor at New Haven, but the
* vessel itself neither reached its destination nor returned to its port
* of departure.''
* Numerous citations are offered: New Haven Colonial Records,
* 1638-1649 , pp. 147, 283, 329-333, and ``Roxbury Land and Church
* Records,'' Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, Sixth Report ,
* p. 190 are not available to me; the others are cited here.



*** MIRAGE FILE ***

T. Shaw
Travels, or Observations Relating to Several Parts of Barbary and the Levant
(Theatre, Oxford, 1738), p. 362.

* (see also "Crocker Land" and "W.H.Lehn" files)
*
* MIRAGE OBSERVATIONS
*
* EARLIEST LOOMING? (THOMAS SHAW, D.D.; cited by T.Jefferson, 1787)
*      On the title page, Shaw is merely "Fellow of Queen's-College in
* Oxford, and F.R.S."; but on the title page of the 1746 Supplement
* (bound together with the original in the copy I managed to borrow), he
* is also "Principal of St. Edmund Hall, and Regius Professor of Greek,
* in the University of OXFORD."
* In Chap. III, p. 358, "Physical Observations &c. or an Essay towards
* the Natural History of Syria, Phœnice, and the Holy Land," we find
* the passage cited by Jefferson:
*      "We are likewise to observe further with Regard to these strong
* Easterly Winds, that Vessels or any Objects which are seen, at a
* Distance, appear to be vastly magnified, or loom , according to the
* Mariners expression." [N.B.: p. 362 -- not 302!]
*      But more surprising is the passage in Chap. IV, "Physical Observations
* &c. or an Essay towards the Natural History of Arabia Petræa" (p.377):
*      "Where any Part of these Deserts is sandy and level, the Horizon
* is as fit for astronomical Observations as the Sea, and appears,
* at a small Distance, to be no less a Collection of Water1. It was
* likewise equally surprizing, to observe, in what an extraordinary Manner
* every Object appeared to be magnifyed within it; insomuch that a Shrub
* seemed as big as a Tree, and a Flock of Achbobbas might be mistaken
* for a Caravan of Camels. This seeming Collection of Water, always
* advances, about a Quarter of a Mile before us, whilst the intermediate
* Space appears to be in one continued Glow, occasioned by the quivering
* undulating Motion of that quick Succession of Vapours and Exhalations,
* which are extracted by the powerful Influence of the Sun." [pp.378-379]
*      P.378 footnote at "Water":  "The like Observation is taken notice of
* by Diodorus Siculus in his Account of Africa, l. 3, p. 128" -- and the
* passage is quoted in the original Greek.
*      This theme is continued in the Supplement, which is dated 1746;
* pp. vi and vii of its Preface contain a Note to p. 378:
*      "To Note  1. add this  learned Remark, and corroborating Proof,
* from Dr. Hyde ; who in his Annotations on Peritsol's Itinerary,
* p. 15 deduces the Name of Barca and Libya , from this Phænomenon .
* [Quotation italicized in the original:] Et quidem (ut denominationis
* causam & rationem exquiramus) dictum nomen [Arabic transcription]
* [Hebrew transcription] splendorem seu splendentem regionem notat,
* cum ea regio radiis solaribus tam copiose collustretur, ut reflexum
* ab arenis lumen adeo intense fulgens, a longinquo spectantibus (ad
* instar Corporis Solaris) aquarum speciem referat; & hicce arenarum
* splendor & radiatio Arabibus dicitur [Arabic] serâb i.e. aquæ
* superficies , seu superficialis aquarum species . --- Hinc etiam
* nominis [Greek] ratio peti potest - cum [Hebrew] contractum sit pro
* [more Hebrew], a [Hebrew] flamma - a fulvescentibus arenis ardore
* pene inflammatis."
*      The full title of the Supplement is:  A Supplement to a Book Entituled
* Travels, or Observations, &c. wherein Some Objections, lately made
* against it, are fully considered and answered: with several additional
* Remarks and Dissertations."
*      The long s is used throughout; curious spellings such as "antient"
* are regularly used. Note the capitalized Nouns as well. . . .
* Note that Jefferson's editor (William Peden) appears to have mis-read
* the page reference from TJ's MS note: it is 362, not 302.


J. G. Gmelin
D. Johann Georg Gmelins Reise durch Sibirien . . . , Dritter Theil
(Abraham Vandenhoeks seel., witwe, Goettingen, 1752), p. 129.

* EARLY LOOMING (cited by Cranz)
* "Fuer einen gewissen Vorboten eines bevorstehenden großen Sturmes in
* der See, oder auch in den unteren Gegenden des Jenisei wird dieses
* gehalten, wenn Inseln oder jaehe Felsen, die bey stillem Wetter niedrig
* aussehen, groeßer als gewoehnlich zu seyn scheinen."
* NOTE: the umlauts are written as a small letter e over each vowel.


R. J. Boscovich and C. Maire
De Litteraria Expeditione per Pontificiam Ditionem . . .
(Typographio Palladis, Rome, 1755), pp. 94–96.

* ROGER BOSCOVICH sees some EARLY INFERIOR MIRAGEs, and looming
* The mirage observations are in paragraphs 173 and 174.
* These seem to be the first circumstantial descriptions of mirages.
*      To understand para.173, some explanation is required:
* They were starting the triangulation at the mouth of the Ausa river
* (near Rimini) in July, 1752, using a baseline measured along the shore
* some months previously. The "sign" used at each end of the baseline
* was three posts stuck in the ground, with a whitewashed sheet wrapped
* around their upper ends as a target to sight on. The angles were
* measured with a portable quadrant. Now read on:
* "As soon as the signs were erected, we went there to take angles, and
* at least at the Ausa's mouth everything went quite well. But as soon as
* we reached the other end, a quite wonderful phenomenon appeared to us.
* The second sign is separated from the first by only eight thousand
* paces [about 12 km in modern units], and more than 20 spans [1.5m] high;
* we had seen it quite plainly first thing in the morning. But when we
* arrived at this second end a little after noon, allowing for the
* curvature of the sea (for a straight line about eight miles long joining
* the two heads would pass well above the sea) could only hide much less
* of its height in this interval, for it was raised 20 spans; yet now with
* the telescope pointed to a place we knew very well, corresponding to
* a place at the port of Rimini next to the building where those who are
* accustomed to be cared for are liberated to health from a fear of
* pestilence [i.e., the quarantine hospital], nothing appeared at all.
* Really only the highest part of the buildings was seen, and even that
* wonderfully contracted, as also the sails of ships in the harbor, many
* of which were spread and appeared completely distorted. Struck by the
* novelty of the thing, I brought a ladder to the post of the sign, and
* having climbed up a few steps, with the telescope pointed to the place,
* I saw the webbing of the sign at Ausa, not emerging from the waters
* gradually, though it was broad, but all at once, at first as through a
* haze, then much clearer, and at first the thinnest line, then as I
* climbed higher it enlarged more, until it returned to its own form,
* as did that building I have mentioned, and the sails of the ships. Both
* Maire and I have watched this phenomenon quite astonished, again and
* again, now raised up higher by the steps, now lowering the eye; but toward
* sunset we had to return to our angles, which we could take even at this
* sign, by moving a wagon, which fortunately was there, to the very place of
* observation, and raising up the quadrant in it, we saw the sign quite
* plainly, and we completed our observations."
* [This is a fine description of an inferior mirage; the "all at once"
* business being a particularly nice touch; cf. Hardcastle (1905).]
* In para.174, he remarks that he has often seen "the ends of
* promontories, or the points of islands, as if raised in the air," and
* that this is a phenomenon of the same kind. He has noticed that this
* occurs only when the line of sight grazes the surface of the sea, and
* that it vanishes if viewed more obliquely from a higher location.
* In section 175, he mentions an instance of variable looming, which he
* correctly attributes to an "inequality" of the horizontal refraction.
* Thanks to Classics Prof. James Smith for assistance with the translation!
* According to the E.B., Christopher Maire was an English Jesuit.
* O'C #9


Maire & Boscovich
Voyage Astronomique et Geographique, dans l'Etat de l'Eglise . . .
(Tilliard, Paris, 1770), pp. 94–96.

* BOSCOVICH translated into French
* The same section numbering is used as in the original. There is a
* detailed map included, showing the region surveyed.


J. Byron
in Byron's Journal of his Circumnavigation, 1764-1766; R. E. Gallagher, ed.
(Cambridge Univ.Press, Cambridge, 1964), pp. 29–30.

* John Byron's probable superior mirage
* Nov. 12, 1764: "At 4 PM it thunder'd & Lightened very much, & looked
* very black almost round the Horizon, I was then walking the Quarter Deck
* when all the People upon the Forecastle called out at once Land right a
* head, I looked under the Foresail & upon the Lee Bow, & saw it to all
* appearance as plain as ever I saw Land in my life, It made at first like
* an Island with two very scraggy Hammocks upon it, but looking to Leeward
* we saw the Land joining it & running along way to the SE, we were then
* steering SW. I sent Officers to the Mast head to look out upon the
* weather Beam & they called out immediately they saw the Land a great way
* to Windward. I brought too & sounded & had 52 fm -- I now thought I was
* embay'd & as it looked very wild all round I wished myself out before
* night. We made Sail & steered ESE. All this time the appearance of the
* Land did not alter in the least, the Hills looked very Blue as they
* generally do at some little distance in dark rainy weather, & many of the
* People said they saw the Sea break upon the Sandy Beaches. After steering
* for about an hour, what we took for Land all at once disappeared to our
* great astonishment, & certainly must have been nothing but a Fog Bank.
* Tho' I have been at sea now 27 years & never saw such a Deception before,
* & I question much if the oldest Seaman breathing ever did, except it was
* some in that Ship when the Master made Oath of seeing an Island between
* the West End of Ireland & Newfoundland, & even distinguishing the Trees
* upon it, & which since has never been heard of tho' Ships have been sent
* out on purpose to look for it. And had the weather come on very thick
* after the sight we had for some time of this Imaginary Land so that we
* could not have seen it disappear as we did, I dare say there is not a Man
* on board but would have freely made Oath of the certainty of it's being
* Land. Course So 47° Wt. Dist 108 Ms Latt in 43° 46' So.
* Longde made 19° 47' Wt."
*      Note the reference to (evidently) "St. Brendan's island".
* [mentioned in Beauford's 1802 review of mirages.]


D. Cranz
Historie von Groenland
(Heinrich Detlef Ebers, Barby, 1765), pp. 64–65.

* VERY EARLY MIRAGE seen by David Cranz (FATA MORGANA + SUPERIOR MIRAGE)
* "Aber nichts hat mich mehr surprenirt und artiger anzusehen geduenkt,
* als wenn bey heiteren, warmen und stillen Sommer-Tagen die Kookoernen,
* oder die zwey Meilen von Godhaab gen Westen gelegenen Inseln, eine ganz
* andere Gestalt, als sie natuerlich haben, vorstellen. Nicht nur sieht man
* sie, wie durch einen Tubum , weit groesser, und alle Steine und die mit
* Eis angefuellten Ritzen so deutlich, als ob man nahe dabey stuende;
* sondern wenn dieses eine Weile gewaerht hat, so sehen sie alle wie ein
* einiges Land aus, und stellen einen Wald, oder eine geschorne Baum-Wand
* vor. Darauf sieht man sie allerley seltsame Figuren, als Schiffe mit
* Segeln, Wimpeln und Flaggen, alte Berg-Schloesser mit ruinierten Thuermen,
* Storch-Nestern und hundert dergleichen Dingen, vorstellen, welche sich in
* die Hoehe oder Weite ziehen und sodann verschwinden. Die Luft is alsdann
* zwar ganz still und klar, aber doch, wie bey sehr heissem Wetter, mit
* subtilen Duensten angefuellt, durch welche sich, nach meinen Gedanken,
* wenn sie zwischen dem Auge und den Inseln in einem gehoerigen Abstand
* sich befinden, die Objecte, wie durch ein convexes Glas, weit groesser
* vorstellen; und gemeiniglich folgt ein paar Stunden darauf ein sanfter
* West-Wind mit einem sichtbaren Nebel, da dann dieser Lusus naturae
* gleich ein Ende hat.(*)"
* FOOTNOTE: "(*) Etwas dergleichen habe ich bey Bern und Neufchatel von
* denen gegen Sueden gelegenen Gletschern observirt. Wenn sich dieselben
* naeher, deutlicher und groesser als gewoehnlich vorstellen, so rechnet
* der Landmann auf einen baldigen Regen, der sich auch gemeiniglich den
* folgenden Tag einstellt. Und die Tartern an der Muendung des
* Jenisei-Flusses in Sibirien haltens fuer einen Vorboten des Sturms, wenn
* die Inseln groesser scheinen. Gmelins Reise Th. III S. 129."
* Orthographic note: All double-s's are simply spelled out, using the long
* s for both. Umlauts are written as a raised e over the vowel.


H. Hamilton
Philosophical Essays. II. An Essay on the Ascent of Vapours, the Formation of Clouds, Rain, and Dew, and on several other Phaenomena of Air and Water
(W.Sleater, Dublin, 1766), pp. 31–88.

* HUGH HAMILTON
* Early mirage publication (mentioned by Huddart.)
* Footnote, pp.43-44: "This Fleece of vapourous Air that some times hangs
* over Water, is very discernable when we stand by the Sea-side in a hot
* calm Day, and is the Cause of some odd Appearances. For the lower Part
* of the Air, which is then much impregnated with Water, refracts the Rays
* of the Light more strongly than at other Times, and by this unusual Degree
* of Refraction, Houses on the Shore at a Distance from us appear almost as
* high as Steeples, remote Ships and Islands and the extreme Parts of
* Head-lands or Promontories appear to be raised quite out of the Water, and
* to hang in the Air above its Surface."


J. de Viera y Clavijo
“La famosa cuestión de San Borodón,” in Noticias de la Historia de Canarias, Tomo I Dr. A. Cioranescu, ed.
(Cuspa Editorial, Madrid, 1978).

* JOSEPH VIERA Y CLAVIJO (1772) -- Early mirage observations in CANARIES
* After recounting the legend of the mythical island, and quoting some
* first-hand observations, he concludes it is all due to atmospheric
* refraction.
* The mirage section is unusually long and detailed. It is Chapter 28 of
* Book 1.
* (Originally published by La Imprenta de Blas Roman, Madrid, 1772-1783)
* Thanks to Guy Vincent for calling this to my attention!


P. Brydone
A Tour through Sicily and Malta. In a series of letters to William Beckford, Esq. of Somerly in Suffolk; from P. Brydone, F.R.S. In two volumes
(W.Strahan and T.Cadell, London, 1773).

* PATRICK BRYDONE's account of the Sicilian mirages
* Though this is clearly a description of the Fata Morgana, that name
* never appears; instead, the apparitions are attributed to Old Nick
* [Note: "this place" is Messina]:
* "Do you know, the most extraordinary phœnomenon in the world is often
* observed near to this place? -- I laugh'd at it, at first, as you will do;
* but I am now thoroughly convinced of its reality; and am persuaded too,
* that if ever it had been thoroughly examined by a philosophical eye,
* the natural cause must long ago have been assigned.
*      "It has often been remarked, both by the antients and moderns, that
* in the heat of summer, after the sea and air have been greatly agitated
* by winds, and a perfect calm succeeds, there appears, about the time of
* dawn, in that part of the heavens over the Straits, a vast variety of
* singular forms, some at rest and some moving about with great velocity.
* These forms, in proportion as the light increases, seem to become more
* aerial; till at last, some time before sun-rise, they entirely disappear.
*      "Some of the Sicilian authors represent this as the most beautiful
* sight in nature; Leanti, one of their latest and best writers, came here
* on purpose to see it: He says, the heavens appear crowded with a variety
* of beautiful objects: He mentions palaces, woods, gardens, &c. besides
* the figures of men, and other animals, that appear in motion amongst
* these objects. -- No doubt the imagination must be greatly aiding, in
* forming this aerial creation; but as most of their authors, both antient
* and modern, agree in the fact, and many give an account of it from their
* own observation, there certainly must be some considerable foundation
* for the story. There is a Jesuit, one Giardina, that has lately writ
* a treatise on this phœnomenon, but I have not been able to find it:
* The celebrated Messinese Gallo has likewise published something on this
* singular subject; if I can procure them in the island, you shall have
* a more perfect account of it. The common people, according to custom,
* give the whole merit of it to the devil; and indeed it is by much the
* shortest and easiest way of accounting for it: Those who pretend to
* be philosophers, and refuse him this honor, are greatly puzzled what
* to make of it. They think it may be owing to some uncommon refraction,
* or reflection of the rays, from the water of the Straits; which, as it
* is at that time carried about in a variety of eddies and vortexes, must
* of consequence, say they, make a variety of appearances on any medium
* where it is reflected. -- This, I think, is nonsense; or at least very
* near it; and till they can say more to the purpose, I think they had
* much better have left it in the hands of the old gentleman. I suspect
* it is something in the nature of our Aurora Borealis; and, like many of
* the great phœnomena of nature, depends upon electrical causes; which,
* in future ages, I have little doubt, will be found to be as powerful an
* agent in regulating the universe, as gravity is in this age, or as the
* subtile fluid was in the last." (Vol. I, pp. 86-89)
* (Brydone's scientific specialty was electrical phenomena.)
*      This went through dozens of editions, in English and several other
* languages. In the "new edition" of T. Cadell and W. Davies (1806), the
* text has been tidied up a bit by minor editing, and changes in punctuation
* and spelling (making "ancients" and "phænomenon" instead of the variants
* above, for example); and the passage then falls on pp. 50-52.
*      I read somewhere that this originally appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine
* in 1773, but find no reference to it.
* Copies of the 1773 London (1st) and 1806 editions are on Google Books.


J. Marra
Journal of the Resolution's Voyage in 1771-1775
(N.Israel, Amsterdam, 1967).

* Possible mirages in the Antarctic in JOHN MARRA's Journal (1775)
*      [Dec. 15, 1773:] "Here the ice islands presented a most romantic
* prospect of ruined castles, churches, arches, steeples, wrecks of ships,
* and a thousand wild and grotesque forms of monsters, dragons, and all the
* hideous shapes that the most fertile imagination can possibly conceive."
* (p. 111)
*      [Jan. 26, 1774:] "At nine in the morning every body on deck imagined
* they saw land; and accordingly preparations were made for getting all
* things in readiness to cast anchor. At eleven crossed the antarctic
* circle to the southward for the 2d time, and hauled up S. E. by E. where
* they were persuaded land was. But to their great disappointment, the
* farther they sailed, the farther the land seemed to bear from them;
* and at length it wholly vanished." (p. 123)
* [Jan. 30, 1774:] "Came in sight of a fog bank, which had a great
* appearance of land, and many who were thought the best judges asserted
* that it was land; however it proved upon trial a deception, as well as the
* former. . . . Taking a view from the mast-head nothing was to be seen but
* a dreary prospect of ice and sea. Of the former might be seen a whole
* country as far as the eye could carry one, diversified with hills and
* dales, and fields and imaginary plantations, that had all the appearance
* of cultivation; yet was nothing more than the sports of chance in the
* formation of those immense bodies of congregated ice." (p. 125)
*
* This is a heavily-edited account, nowadays attributed to the journal of
* John Marra, a gunner's mate on the Resolution . Supposedly his editor
* was David Henry, of the Gentleman's Magazine . No author appeared
* on the title page of this when it was originally published, 18 months
* before Cook's official account (which does not mention these appearances,
* but only ice fields). The original title was:
*
*                                      J O U R N A L
*                                            of the
*                                RESOLUTION's VOYAGE,
*                        In 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775.
*                                                 on
*                  DISCOVERY to the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE,
*                                           by which
*       The Non-Existence of an undiscovered Continent,
* between the Equator and the 50th Degree of Southern
* Latitude, is demonstratively proved.
*
* Sources on the Web indicate that a French translation was published
* in Amsterdam in 1777, and it is evidently that which Biot had read.
*      This modern edition is Bibliotheca Australiana #15.


Le Gentil
Voyage dans les Mers de l'Inde, Tome premier
(Imp.Royale, Paris, 1779).

* LE GENTIL's observations in India
*
*      There are several sections of interest here, all in the Seconde Partie
* of Vol. 1:
*
* Ch. I, Art. III. Observations sur les Réfractions horizontales (p. 393)
* Remarques sur l'Observation des Hollandois dans la nouvelle Zemble en
*                                                                  1596 & 1597  (p. 416)
* Ch. I, Art. IV. Observations sur les Réfractions, à différens
*                                                        degrés de hauteur  (p. 426)
* Then, after the Supplément:
*                                    Observations sur les Réfractions terrestres  (p. 701)
*
* Full title:
*                                                 VOYAGE
*                                                  dans
*                                     LES MERS DE L'INDE,
*                                FAIT PAR ORDRE DU ROI ,
*                         A l'occasion du Passage de Vénus,
*                   sur le Disque du Soleil, le 6 Juin 1761,
*                        & le 3 du même mois 1769.
*


T. Gruber
Herrn Tobias Grubers Briefe hydrographischen und physikalischen Inhalts aus Krain, an Ignaz Edlen von Born
(bei Johann Paul Krauss, Wien, 1781), pp. 54–57.

* TOBIAS GRUBER's letter
* An amazingly perceptive summary of the salient points: flat, smooth
* ground; the hiding of objects below the "vanishing line"; the dependence
* on season, height of the eye and distance to the object -- all here in
* just a few pages. P. 55 has a nice ray diagram, too.
*      "Ein merkwürdiges Phänomen, welches ich auf meinen Reisen im
* Temeswarer Bannate so oft gesehen, und hier auf dem ebenen Seeboden
* samt meinen Gefährten wieder zu bemerken Gelegenheit hatte, kann ich
* unmöglich ganz vorbeylassen. Blos in sehr flachen, und auf viele
* Meilen weit sich erstreckenden Gegenden, besondere, wenn sich der
* ebene Horizonte in dem Himmel hinaus verliert, habe ich den über die
* Erde etwa 6 Schuh hoch liegenden Theil der Atmosphäre also verdicket
* gefunden, daß die unter einem sehr spitzigen Winkel darauf einfallenden
* Lichtstrahlen nicht durchgelassen, sondern abgeprellet werden; welches zu
* vielen optischen Blendungen Anlaß giebt. Also habe ich in einer Ferne
* von 1000 bis 2000 Klaftern blos die Dächer von Dorfgebäuden gesehen,
* welche mir wie ein durchsichtiges Wäldchen vorkamen. Also erschienen
* die hie und da auf der Ebene stehenden Warthügel ohne Grundlage.
* Also wurden die etwas höher emporragenden Objecte, als Bäume, Gebäude,
* Thürme, u. s. w. doppelt so hoch gezeigt, weil sie nämlich wie auf
* einer Wasserebene gespiegelt wurden. Also sah ich in der weiten Ferne
* zerstreute große Seen, die bis an den Horizont hinaus wie Meere wurden.
* Nach Maaß der Annäherung verschwanden sie, und entfernten sich immer.
* Ja so gar, wenn ich von meinem Sitze im Kalesche, wo ich sie noch sah,
* aufstund, und mich etwa 3 Schuhe in die Höhe richtete, so nahmen sie
* ab, oder erschienen nicht mehr. Als ich die Ursache dieses Spielwerkes
* der Lichtstrahlen noch nicht kannte, ward ich überdiemaßen durch diese
* Seltsamkeiten gerührt. Die öftere Ansicht in verschiedenen Umständen,
* das Erscheinen und Verschwinden nach Verhältniß der Erhöhung und
* Erniedrigung, und die Analogie aus optischen Experimenten entdeckten
* mir endlich das ganze Geheimniß." He explains it, with the use of the
* ray diagram. "Es ist eine ganz natürliche Sache, daß, wenn ein
* Lichtstrahl sehr schief in ein Mittelding einfällt, dessen Verdickung
* verhältnißmässig anwächst, derselbe den Grund des Mitteldings
* nicht erreiche, sondern in einer Entfernung vom Grunde, unter eben
* dem Winkel, unter welchem er einfiel, abgeprellet werde. Newton hat
* diese Eigenschaft bey allen spiegelnden Flächen aus der Theorie der
* abstossenden Kräfte erwiesen. Kommt nun die Direction ch vom Himmel,
* oder aus einer lichtgrauen Ferne, (wie es beym Zirknitzer See geschah,)
* so sieht man nichts von den Objecten, die unter der Linie ch stehen,
* und die reflektirte wird dem Wasser ähnlich seyn. . . .
*      "Auf diese Art erklärte ich mir alle ähnliche Erscheinungen.
* Die Sache fordert aber eine nähere Bestimmung, zu welcher ich zu
* wenig Zeit für diesmal habe. Ueberhaupt scheine ich mir mit Grunde
* schließen zu können, daß die durch gröbere Dünste nahe an der Erde
* verdickte Luft (welches ich meistens im Frühjahr bemerkte) bloß auf
* einer gewissen Höhe über den weiten Flächen (vielleicht auf 6 bis 7
* Schuhe) diese optischen Betrügereyen hervorbringen könne."
*      This is actually a Postscript (Nachschrift ) to the Fifth Letter,
* beginning on p. 40, and dated 20 April 1779, from Zirknitz.
*      Typographical note: this is all set in Fraktur, with little e's over
* the vowels as umlauts.
*
* Full title page reads:
*
*                               Herrn Tobias Grubers,
* Weltpriesters und k. k. Bau- und Navigationsdirektors
*
*                                B  r  i  e  f  e
*                                hydrographischen
*                                            und
*                          physikalischen Inhalts
*                               a u s      K r a i n
*                                                an
*                          Ignaz Edlen von Born,
*                         k. k. wirklichen Hofrath
*
* [Pogg. says "eigentlich Grüber."] See also Acta Carsologica 33,
* 277-298 (2004), available at
*        http://www.zrc-sazu.si/izrk/Carsologica/Acta332/Pdf3332/juznic.pdf
* for more information about Gruber and his book.
*      Ignaz von Born is profiled in European History Quarterly 36, 61 (2006);
* see
*        http://ehq.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/36/1/61.pdf


J. G. Büsch
Tractatus duo optici argumenti
(apud Carolum Ernestum Bohnium, Hamburgi, 1783).

* Joh. Georg BÜSCH's TRACTATUS DUO OPTICI ARGUMENTI (1783)
*
* Only the first 78 pages deal with mirages; the second "argument"
* of the tract is devoted to myopia -- which is how I discovered that
* the Becker Medical Library of Washington University (St. Louis) has
* a copy (see their website).
*      The preface explains that he was inspired to write by the problem
* posed by the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences ("Societas Hafniensis")
* in 1781. He also says he has translated his observations into Latin to
* make them available to the learned societies.
*      Here the "miles" are specifically German ones; and the barometric
* readings are explicitly in Paris inches and lines. Unfortunately,
* he scrupulously gives barometric readings, but no temperatures!
* Here, on p. 20, is the original "chamberpot" quotation in the original
* English: "Indeed, it looks like a Chamberpot turn'd upside down."
*      The first 38 pages are observations; then comes his theory: he
* thinks it has to do with electricity, and lightning. . . . He also
* supposes that (because only distant objects are miraged) the curvature
* of the ray depends on distance. . . .
*      Interestingly, he does invoke total internal reflection (p. 53).
*
* On p. 61, he quotes from Gruber's 1781 letter, translated from German
* to Latin. (For a while we have "Gruner" for "Gruber"; but the given
* name "Tobias" certainly identifies him, as well as the reference to
* Carniola; apparently Büsch confused Gruber with the Swiss naturalist
* and geologist G. S. Gruner, who also worked about that time.) Büsch
* discusses Gruber's letter extensively, appending notes to it -- perhaps
* his dissent from some of Gruber's remarks explains Gruber's later
* hostility toward Büsch.
*      Notably, "Non in vaporibus causa est sita."  (p. 68)  But he thinks
* the air is always denser at the ground than higher up (p.70), and
* argues that that the denser air cannot separate from the lighter to form
* a visible surface, "like two immiscible liquors, such as terebinth oil
* [turpentine] and spirit of wine".
*      He ends by offering advice to those who would investigate further:
* make observations in all seasons from a fixed place; use an instrument
* capable of measuring small angles; an achromatic telescope "for avoiding
* all confusion of the image that deceives the naked eye"; a level to
* observe "how much objects are raised and lowered for various conditions
* of the air". And it would also be useful, if convenient, to observe
* from the same place the Moon rising and setting over the sea. (pp.76-77)
*
* Title page reads:
*
* Ioannis Georgii Büsch
* Math. Prof. Hamburgensis
*        Tractatus duo
*       optici Argumenti
*            cum figuris.
*
* The internal title page of the first essay reads:
*
*                        I.
*            Observata nova
*                    in
* refractione horizontali
*             et inde nata
* mira imaginum reflexione.
*
* Special thanks to the ILL people for this one at last!


H. Swinburne
Travels in the two Sicilies, by Henry Swinburne, esq., in the years 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780
(P. Elmsly, London, 1783-1785).

* HENRY SWINBURNE's description of the FATA MORGANA
* Our interest is in pp. 263-266 of Vol. 2 of the 1790 Second Edition;
* presumably this first appeared in 1785. Here is what he says:
* . . . "Messina rises out of the waves like a grand amphitheatre; and
* the Faro, lined with villages and towns, seems a noble river, winding
* between two bold shores.
*      "Sometimes, but rarely, it exhibits a very curious phænomenon,
* vulgarly called La Fata Morgana *. The philosophical reader will find
* -------------------------------------------------------------------
* [the footnote on p. 263 says: "The name is probably derived from an
* opinion, that the whole spectacle is produced by a Fairy or a Magician.
* The populace are delighted whenever the vision appears, and run about
* the streets, shouting for joy, -- calling every body out to partake of
* the glorious sight."]
* -------------------------------------------------------------------
* its causes and operations learnedly accounted for in Kircher, Minasi,
* and other authors. I shall only give a description of its appearance
* from one that was an eye-witness. Father Angelucci is the first that
* mentions it with any degree of accuracy, in the following terms:
*      ``On the fifteenth of August, 1643, as I stood at my window, I was
* ``surprised with a most wonderful, delectable vision. The sea that
* ``washes the Sicilian shore swelled up, and became, for ten miles in
* ``length, like a chain of dark mountains; while the waters near our
* ``Calabrian coast grew quite smooth, and in an instant appeared as
* ``one clear polished mirror, reclining against the aforesaid ridge.
* ``On this glass was depicted, in chiaro scuro , a string of several
* ``thousands of pilasters, all equal in altitude, distance, and degree
* ``of light and shade. In a moment they lost half their height, and
* ``bent into arcades, like Roman aqueducts. A long cornice was next
* ``formed on the top, and above it rose castles innumerable, all perfectly
* ``alike. These soon split into towers, which were shortly after lost
* ``in colonnades, then windows, and at last ended in pines, cypresses,
* ``and other trees, even and similar. This is the Fata Morgana , which,
* ``for twenty-six years, I had thought a mere fable.''
*      "To produce this pleasing deception, many circumstances must concur,
* which are not known to exist in any other situation. The spectator must
* stand with his back to the east, in some elevated place behind the city,
* that he may command a view of the whole bay; beyond which the mountains
* of Messina rise like a wall, and darken the back-ground of the picture.
* The winds must be hushed; the surface quite smoothed; the tide at its
* height; and the waters pressed up by currents to great elevation in the
* middle of the channel. All these events coinciding, as soon as the sun
* surmounts the eastern hills behind Reggio, and rises high enough to form
* an angle of forty-five degrees on the water before the city, -- every
* object existing or moving at Reggio will be repeated a thousand fold upon
* this marine looking glass; which, by its tremulous motion, is, as it were,
* cut into facets. Each image will pass rapidly off in succession, as the
* day advances, and the stream carries down the wave on which it appeared.
*      "Thus the parts of this moving picture will vanish in the twinkling
* of an eye. Sometimes the air is at that moment so impregnated with
* vapours, and undisturbed by winds, as to reflect objects in a kind of
* aërial screen, rising about thirty feet above the level of the sea.
* In cloudy, heavy weather, they are drawn on the surface of the water,
* bordered with fine prismatical colours."
*      Evidently, Swinburne's account (largely translated from his mentioned
* sources) was the inspiration for a burst of interest in these mirages
* in the English journals. For the next 20 years, refraction phenomena
* were often compared to Swinburne's account, until Wollaston's
* introduction of the French term "mirage" (and Nicholson's longer
* translation from Minasi) superseded it.
*      Google Books has the Second Edition (1790, 4 vols.) on-line.
* Apparently the passage above is on p. 365 of the first volume of the
* two-volume (first?) edition.


T. Jefferson
Notes on the State of Virginia
(Norton, New York, 1982).

* THOMAS JEFFERSON's observations: notes the importance of DISTANCE
* " Having had occasion to mention the particular situation of Monticello
* for other purposes, I will just take notice that its elevation affords
* an opportunity of seeing a phænomenon which is rare at land, though
* frequent at sea. The seamen call it looming . Philosophy is as yet in
* the rear of the seamen, for so far from having accounted for it, she has
* not given it a name. Its principal effect is to make distant objects
* appear larger, in opposition to the general law of vision, by which they
* are diminished. I knew an instance, at York town, from whence the water
* prospect eastwardly is without termination, wherein a canoe with three
* men, at a great distance, was taken for a ship with its three masts.
* I am little acquainted with the phænomenon as it shews itself at sea;
* but at Monticello it is familiar. There is a solitary mountain about
* 40 miles off, in the South, whose natural shape, as presented to view
* there, is a regular cone; but, by the effect of looming, it sometimes
* subsides almost totally into the horizon; sometimes it rises more
* acute and more elevated; sometimes it is hemispherical; and sometimes
* its sides are perpendicular, its top flat, and as broad as its base.
* In short it assumes at times the most whimsical shapes, and all these
* perhaps successively in the same morning. The Blue ridge of mountains
* comes into view, in the North East, at about 100 miles distance, and,
* approaching in a direct line, passes by within 20 miles, and goes off
* to the South-west. This phænomenon begins to shew itself on these
* mountains, at about 50 miles distance, and continues beyond that as far
* as they are seen. I remark no particular state, either in the weight,
* moisture, or heat of the atmosphere, necessary to produce this. The only
* constant circumstances are, its appearance in the morning only, and on
* objects at least 40 or 50 miles distant. In this latter circumstance,
* if not in both, it differs from the looming on the water. Refraction will
* not account for this metamorphosis. That only changes the proportions of
* length and breadth, base and altitude, preserving the general outlines.
* Thus it may make a circle appear elliptical, raise or depress a cone,
* but by none of its laws, as yet developed, will it make a circle appear
* a square, or a cone a sphere."
*      At the word "diminished", there is a note, which is apparently due
* to the editor, William Peden; it says: "MS note by TJ . Dr. Shaw in
* his Physical observations on Syria, speaking of the Easterly winds,
* called by Seamen Levanters, says `we are likewise to observe further
* with regard to these strong Easterly winds, that vessels, or any other
* objects, which are seen at a distance, appear to be vastly magnified,
* or loom , according to the mariners expression.' Shaw's travels, 302.
* Ed. note. Thomas Shaw (1674-1751), English traveller and educator,
* author of Travels or Observations Relating to Several Parts of Barbary
* and the Levant (Oxford, 1738)." [p. 280]
*      N.B.: The page (302) that Peden attributes to TJ in this note is
* incorrect. The correct page number is 362. [Cf. Shaw, 1738.]
*      This was written in 1781 and revised in 1782.  Jefferson had a small
* edition privately printed in 1784 in Paris. A French translation
* appeared in 1786; the original English was published in 1787.
* The passage on "looming" appears on pp. 80-81 of the 1982 Norton
* paperback in our library, at the end of Chapter 7.
* Cited by Talman in his 1932 article in Yachting .


T. Gruber
“Physikalische Abhandlung über die Stralenbrechung und Abprellung auf erwärmten Flächen,”
Abhandlungen der Bömischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften 2, 298–330 (1786).

* Early mirages: Claims to have written to Abbe v. Herbert in 1776;
* cites his letter in 1781, published before Büsch's
* "Tractatus duo argumenti optici" of 1783.
*
* N.B.: "Klafter" = "die Länge des Menschens" (approx. 1.9 m)
* according to Grimm; Brockhaus says "6 Fuß; 10 Fuß; 1.7 m im Mittel"
* See also:
*
*        Hercule Cavalli
*        Tableaux comparatifs des mesures, poids et monnaies, modernes et anciens
*        (Dupont, Paris, 1874)
*
* (available at Google Books) for such obsolete units.
*
* First observations published in letters from Krain = Carniola, on the
* bed of seasonally-varying Zirknitzer See = Cirknisko Jezero = Lago
* Periodico near Zirknitz = Cerknica = Cirkonico, south of Laibach =
* Ljubljana. This southern former crownland of Austria, later titular
* duchy, was annexed by the Hapsburgs in 1335. Note the use of Viennese
* measures. This area is currently Slovenia.
*
* Both field measurements and indoor experiments with air heated by an
* iron strip.
* Detailed explanations of double images and image elongation at the
* fold line, with good ray diagrams.
*
* Abbé Tobias Gruber, K.K.Kameral-Baudirektor
* note obsolete spelling: "Stralenbrechung"!


N. J. Wetterling
“Von zwo an den schwedischen Küsten bemerkten Erscheinungen, Erhebung und Seegesicht,”
Neue Abh. Kongl. Schwed. Akad. Wiss. 9, 3–24 (1788).

* EARLY TREATMENT OF LOOMING & FATA MORGANA, with SUPERIOR MIRAGES
* more "FOG" (p.16)
* ". . . hier wähle ich zum Beyspiele meiner Beschreibung die bekannten
* Gunnilas Felsen, (Gunnilas Oerar) 3/4 schwedische Meilen ostwärts in der
* See von den Svenska Högar.
*      "Vermutlich sind diese Gunnilas Felsen auf gewisse Art vor mehr als
* zwei Jahrhunderten bekannt gewesen. . . ."


Le Gentil
“Extrait d'un mémoire sur des observations astronomiques faites sur les réfractions, en 1786, 1787 et 1788,”
Mém. Acad. Roy. Sci. 224–236 (1789).

* GUILLAUME JOSEPH HYACINTHE LE GENTIL's posthumous work on refraction
* Notable not only for an early OMEGA description, but also for the early
* use of the term se mirer and descriptions of mirages (pp. 233 ff.).
*      A comment on the RARITY of clear sunsets: ". . .  sur quatre mois
* entiers je n'ai vu qu'une seule fois le soleil se coucher complètement
* à l'horizon de la mer . . . ." (p. 227)
*      He also notes that Bouguer found a smaller horizontal refraction at
* sea in the tropics (25' to 27') (p. 227)
*      His own VARIATIONS in horizontal refraction were 5' at Pondicherry;
* but "il semble . . . que la réfraction a 10'' [sic; he means degrees]
* soit assez bien constatée . . . ." (p. 228)
*      The OMEGA descriptions are on pp. 229-232.  ". . .  c'étoit comme si deux
* soleils se fussent détachés l'un de l'autre, l'un avoit monté pendant
* que l'autre descendoit." (p. 230)
*      The etymology is on p. 233: "Les habitans des bords des côtes de
* Basse-Normandie, presque tous marins, appelent ces apparences se mirer .
* Ils disent qu'une isle se mire , qu'un rocher se mire ." He then
* disputes the French translation of a Dutch sailors' dictionary that
* invokes clouds in explaining this term, as "Cela n'arrive que dans un
* très-beau temps, et lorsqu'il n'y a pas la moindre apparence de nuages."
* (p. 234) -- Later on the same page is a classical description: "Je
* vis à la place comme des ruines d'une ancienne ville ou d'une ancienne
* colonnade, qui paroissoit au-dessus de l'horizon, et comme en l'air,
* sans distinguer ni voir de nuages quelconques."
*      Finally, he quotes from Maraldi's descriptions of mirages and looming
* of Corsica as seen from Gênes and Provence. (p. 235)
*      A footnote says Le Gentil died 22 Oct. 1792, just as the memoir was
* being printed.


G. M. Giovene
“Discorso meteorologico-campestre su l'anno 1790 del Sig. Don Giuseppe Giovene, Canonico della Cattedrale di Molfetta,”
Opuscoli Scelti sulle Scienze e sulle Arti, Parte I, vol. 14, 3–21 (1791).

* GIUSEPPE MARIA GIOVENE's original account -- very good!
* The mirage observations are on pp. 15-21: "It remains for me to speak
* of a phenomenon seen by me on the evening of 9 February, and of other
* similar phenomena, which are observed in these regions. For greater
* accuracy I shall copy almost literally from my journals for those which
* I have observed, and the reports of my friends, for those I have not
* seen with my eyes. The previous days were fine and clear, with rather
* strong winds from N. to W., and I found myself in a small country house
* which I prefer just because, enjoying a wide horizon there, I have the
* convenience of better observing the meteorological phenomena. It was
* one of those beautiful evenings that can happen in winter, and close
* to half past 5 in the evening I was stopped at a window that had a view
* directly to the SSW. I was enjoying the clear air, which was calm, as
* shown by the smoke from the chimneys of the nearby towns of Terlizzi,
* Ruvo, and Corato, which lay beneath my view; it had not any movement,
* but covered those towns motionlessly like an umbrella. Looking around,
* I thought I saw some clouds rising in the western part just along the
* horizon, which occupied about 20 degrees of the same. I determined to
* try to observe their path, with only the idea of being able to predict
* which way the wind would blow the next day, and consequently what could
* be the state of the air, which, as I found myself in the countryside,
* interested me. In fact, I observed that the supposed clouds rose more
* and more above the horizon until they had ascended about two degrees.
* But suddenly they began to take various shapes, so that finally I
* realized they were quite different from clouds. I therefore invited
* Dr. Andrea Tripaldi, a young man well versed in good physics, and who
* had had the courtesy to join me for some days in tranquil solitude,
* to observe with me. We placed ourselves to observe more attentively.
* The originally supposed clouds were always changing shape. They first
* gave us the impression of a city standing along the horizon. We saw the
* shapes of buildings, of towers, of campaniles. At that moment, we came
* to suspect that the landscape of Cerignola, reflected to be situated in
* the direction of the phenomenon, but thirty-four Italian miles distant
* from the place of observation, was presented to our eyes by a powerful
* refraction of light in the atmosphere. But we saw the scene gradually
* change, and two little hills appeared, one facing the other, and these
* later were raised up, and squared off into magnificent towers with great
* apertures like windows, which let the light of the twilight pass through.
* I would hardly be able to describe the diverse shapes and the varied forms
* that were presented to our eyes. But later on our surprise increased.
* The twilight was very bright, and I noticed that waves of more vivid
* light were rising from time to time from the edge of the horizon up to
* an altitude of six or seven degrees. I first believed it could be an
* illusion of my eyes, and informed Sig. Tripaldi, who affirmed that he too
* saw what I said I saw. To assure ourselves, we agreed to inform each
* other when one of us perceived these waves of light. We always found
* ourselves in agreement. We went to another window, which faced directly
* to the WNW, and the thing appeared the same. The waves of light extended
* as far as the twilight extended, and were more vivid where it was more
* vivid, and less vivid where it ended. Five or six waves would come, and
* then a pause for one or two minutes, then they would recommence again.
* Meanwhile, the most capricious shapes were appearing on the line of the
* horizon. The spectacle lasted, charming and pleasant, near half an hour.
* As the twilight grew darker, so the striking appearance decreased in
* beauty, and ended completely after three quarters of an hour. The calm
* lasted all night. In the morning of the following day, 10 February, some
* mists rose, and cloudlets, from the W. At 10 1/2 in the morning the wind
* came from the W rather strong, but near evening the air clouded up, and
* the wind shifted to the N.W. with strong force; on the following day (the
* 11th), the thermometer suddenly fell by many degrees, there was a shower
* of snow, which even froze in some places more exposed to the cold wind.
*      "This phenomenon, although peculiar in its circumstances, is
* nevertheless not new in Puglia, as it is not even new in Iapigia, today
* called the Province of the Land of Otranto, and I shall expand a little
* on this article so much more willingly as this class of phenomena is
* either completely unmentioned by the writers, or reported confusedly,
* or even with changes engendered by the ignorance and superstition of the
* populace. The one who has mentioned them with the greatest vivacity and
* accuracy is the celebrated Antonio Ferrari, called Galateo after his
* birthplace, a writer of the last years of the fifteenth, and the first
* of the sixteenth Century. in his elegant little book, reprinted so many
* times, De Situ Iapygiæ :" -- and here he quotes from Ferrari's Latin
* account (1558) in extenso .
*      "The reader will forgive the long quotation.  But it is not only in
* the places named by the Galateo that the mutate are seen. I find
* from the reports, it is also seen at Galatone, Soleto, and many other
* towns and villages of the cape of Lecce, that is, Cape Japigio.
* The mutate (as is written to me from there) consist of seeing in a
* great plain, now a sea, now a woods, now a town. These apparitions are
* observed only at the rising and setting of the sun.
*      "In Puglia Peucezia, similar phenomena are also seen, and are called
* lavandaja [washerwoman], for what reason, I cannot say. They have
* taken it as a sign of change of weather. In fact, when after the wind
* has blown for a long time from a point on the horizon, the atmosphere
* calms to give place to an opposite flow, then is precisely the time when
* the lavandaja shows itself most beautifully. So too the season in
* which it most frequently appears is the autumn, and the winter too,
* although it is not rare in summer, and not extremely rare in spring.
* Indeed in summer there takes place almost daily a sort of little
* lavandaja , after midday, while the time of the phenomenon is properly
* around sunrise and sunset.
*      "The ordinary appearance of the lavandaja  from Molfetta is on
* Mt. Gargano. This mountain, about 50 miles distant from that city,
* appears like a cloud of a fairly deep blue color resting upon the
* horizon from the W.N.W. to the N.N.W. Of course, I shall not say
* that this mountain is the barometer of the Puglian sailors, and that
* visible or invisible, high or low, covered either completely by clouds,
* or as if by an umbrella of clouds, lets them predict the wind and the
* state of the Puglian atmosphere; I shall speak only of the lavandaja .
* The first time I saw this meteor, knowing nothing of the thing,
* I confess to have been distressed by it in the first moments. I was
* seeing the whole mountain shake, and undulate, as if an extremely violent
* earthquake shook its foundations, and made it totter. So I was seeing
* one part of the mountain collapse, forming a great valley; and then
* this, little by little, rose to form a new peak superimposed on the
* mountain. Beside this peak rose a second, a third; and these, little
* by little, were squared off into high towers; then they too collapsed
* and became valleys again. In sum, I was seeing that mountain in the
* most terrible convulsions. Afterwards, accustomed to observing such
* phenomena, I have very many times seen with the greatest pleasure the
* varied scenes that the view of this mountain offers. It assumes the
* most varied and the most capricious forms, and a warped or slightly
* heated imagination, comparing these figures to well-known objects,
* believes it sees horses, and armies, castles, ships, towers, and towns.
*      "And too, a partial lavandaja  is seen from the Town of Molfetta,
* especially when a soft wind blows from the east after sunset. That
* peak, of which Lucan sang,
*
*              Apulian Garganus extends into the Adriatic waves
*
* continually takes on new forms and figures, now seeming extremely
* long, now shrinking and then dividing into many pieces, which look like
* islands in the open sea. It also happens that sometimes one portion of
* the sea appears notably higher than another, and some other time the sea
* in the distance looks as if in the greatest storm, when in reality it
* was completely calm. But to finish the little story of these phenomena,
* I shall describe another charming display that presented itself to me
* one morning in October, 1789, at the appearance of the sun on the horizon.
*      "I found myself in my customary countryside retreat, and as it was
* a beautiful morning with little, or indeed no wind, I hastened to enjoy
* it at a window that looked directly to the N.E., and to observe the
* thermometer and the hygrometer, which hung there. I was really
* surprised to see the most delightful and certainly moving scene.
* The town of Biseglie, which was in my view, in the N.W. part, although
* it was seven miles away, appeared so near that I would have believed
* it only two miles off. I was seeing the pavement of a wide square,
* which is there before the walls of the town, was almost counting the
* houses, and the vision was made not only with the greatest distinctness,
* but also with a certain vividness, which absolutely touched the soul.
* It was observable that the houses seemed more elongated than widened,
* as it was most observable that the bell towers were in their natural
* state. That is to say that at a certain height of the land, the view
* was the normal one. In the part to the W., all the little hovels and
* the houses scattered through the countryside appeared as high pyramids
* or spacious towers. I enjoyed this display, which later became more
* delightful, for almost an hour, in the company of my inseparable friend,
* the aforesaid Dr. Andrea Tripaldi. The town of Trani, placed a little
* more to the W. at a distance of perhaps more than eleven miles, and
* which, in the ordinary state of the air, cannot be seen, except for
* just one cathedral with its high campanile, began to be seen entirely,
* and with the greatest distinctness, so that it seemed to have approached
* by at least six miles. At the start of the next hour, while Biseglie
* was slowly going away, Barletta began to be seen. It is even more to
* the west than Trani, and about eighteen miles distant, and completely
* invisible in the ordinary state of the atmosphere. And this town seemed
* no more remote than seven or eight miles. My colleague and I distinctly
* saw the coast between Barletta and Trani, and were counting all the little
* boats that were fishing along there. Near nine in the morning, that is,
* after more than three hours since we had begun to observe the phenomenon,
* everything seemed to return to normal. But I wanted to go onto the
* terrace, which was higher than the window by about twenty Paris feet.
* I was more surprised to find that from that height the phenomenon
* could still be seen in all its beauty, and Barletta and Trani seemed a
* few miles away. I informed Sig. Tripaldi of it as he stood at the window
* while I was on the terrace. We assured ourselves that the phenomenon was
* now invisible at the height of about 40 Paris feet, extremely visible from
* about 60 feet from the ground. In the whole duration of the phenomenon
* the thermometer was between 12 and 15 degrees Reaumur, and the hygrometer
* between 21 and 25 degrees absolute, which means in temperate heat,
* and moderate dryness; or at least, certainly not in great humidity.
*      "By comparing my observations with the little left written of it by
* Antonio Galateo , it is easy to see that the mutate of Japigia and
* the lavandaja of Peucezia are the very same thing, although I will admit
* that the fuochi fatui [will-o'-the wisps] and the capre saltanti ,
* which are not seen by us at all in Peucezia, are extremely frequent
* in Nardò, and in Copertino. The complex of these meteors, and of
* the phenomena described above, gives credence to the tales of witches
* and magicians among the people of Nardò and Copertino; fables that
* nevertheless have begun to lose credit today even among those low people.
*      "Meanwhile, everyone sees that the mutate  and the lavandaja
* are nothing but the play of variable refraction of visual rays in the
* atmosphere, as from variable refraction comes the increase and decrease of
* our visual horizon by twenty or thirty miles. But a conversation on the
* phenomenon I had seen on the evening of 9 February with the celebrated
* Sig. Thouvenel (whose coming to Molfetta expressly to visit the famous
* natural nitrate deposit of this City gave me the honor of accomodating
* him in my house, and the pleasure of hearing him, . . . ) made my ideas
* go a little farther, and formed conjectures, which will be appraised
* by the Physicists for what they are. Why does this lavandaja always
* have to appear on the western side and never to the east of Molfetta?
* Why must it always be seen along the line going from the famous Apulian
* [Mt.] Vulture, an extinct volcano, as everyone knows, and entering the sea
* at the farthest promontory Gargano, passing by the island of Pelagosa,
* recognized as volcanic by the celebrated Sig. Ab. Fortis, and going
* directly to the N.E. to join the volcanos of Morlachia? Why are the
* mutate of Lecce seen along the line of Galatona, Nardò, Copertino,
* and adjacent towns, put on land where there is some rising heat, and
* where pyrites and coal are found? Why is the famous fata morgana of
* Reggio in Calabria, which nevertheless is very similar to the lavandaja
* of Puglia, and to the mutate of Salento, is found just on the line
* of coal, which passed directly under the Faro of Sicily in Calabria,
* and is also seen in the open air behind Messina, and at Briatico on the
* opposite side? This phenomenon of the lavandaja , that is, of the
* mutate , is certainly, as I have said, a play of refraction, and to
* make such a play it is necessary that a certain quantity of vapors and of
* exhalations change the state of the atmosphere. Even this is not enough.
* Because the striking appearance, despite the calm, means that the wind is
* in continuous movement, the very air is like an uprising, and agitated.
* Those waves of light that I saw the evening of 9 February must be the
* effect of a shaking given to the air. So it seems that either electrical
* fluid or other emanations of some gas rise from the regions above which
* are seen the described phenomena, and force the incumbent atmosphere to
* be disturbed or to undulate. The violent agitations and convulsions,
* to which the same atmosphere is accustomed, occur after the appearance of
* such meteors, which indicate the same. I have not thought it necessary
* to give a complete history of this kind of phenomenon in our regions in
* this memoir. For me, it is enough to have given a small sample of it.
* Meanwhile, one must confess that meteorology is still, at most, in its
* early adolescence, and that there would never be as many careful observers
* of meteorological instruments as observers in the open countryside,
* and with a free horizon."
*
*      This was mostly translated into German by Zimmermann later, and then
* reprinted by Gilbert in 1802.
*      Thanks to Maria Toscano for supplying the citation to this, and
* helping with the translation!


A. Ellicott
“Extract of a letter from Andrew Ellicott, to David Rittenhouse, Esq. dated at Pittsburg, November 5th 1787, containing observations made at Lake-Erie,”
Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. 3, 62–63 (1793).

* Early looming and mirage observation (apparently a 3-image mirage)
* "On the thirteenth of last month [i.e., October], while we lay on
* the banks of Lake-Erie, we had an opportunity of viewing that singular
* phenomenon, by Seamen termed looming. . . . the 13th was cloudy; but
* without rain: about ten o'clock in the morning, as I was walking on the
* beach, I discovered something that had the appearance of land, in the
* direction of Presque-Isle; about noon it became more conspicuous and;
* when viewest by a good Achromatic-Telescope, the branches of trees
* could be plainly discovered --- From 3 o'clock in the afternoon, till
* dark, the whole Peninsula was considerably elevated above the horizon,
* and viewed by all our company with admiration. --- There was a singular
* appearance attending this Phenomenon, which I do not remember to have
* seen taken notice of by any writer --- The Peninsula was frequently
* seen double, or rather two similar Peninsula's, one above the other,
* with an appearance of water between:--- the separation, and coincidence
* was very frequent, and not unlike that observed in shifting the index
* of an adjusted Godfrey's quadrant. . . . The next morning Presque-Isle
* was again invisible, and remained so during our stay at that position.
* Presque-Isle was about twenty-five miles distant, its situation very low."
* The marginal note says "Read Nov. 21, 1788".


S. Dickenson
“A Description of a Phaenomenon caused by Haze seen at Sea Aug. 10, 1759,”
Gentleman's Magazine 63, 601–602 (1793).

* EARLY DRAWING of SUPERIOR MIRAGE (FATA MORGANA + SUPERIOR MIRAGE)
* by the Rev. Samuel Dickenson, LL.B. the Chaplain of the Dunkirk
* Man of War. . .
* "The term haze , prefixed to the foregoing account, is adopted from the
* phrase then used by the sailors, perhaps improperly; for, there was not
* the least appearance of mist or fog, or thickness of atmosphere; on the
* contrary, the air seemed uncommonly clear."


J. Huddart
“Observations on horizontal Refractions which affect the Appearance of terrestrial Objects, and the Dip, or Depression of the Horizon of the Sea,”
Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 87, 29–42 (1797).

* EARLY OBSERVATION & EXPLANATION OF INFERIOR MIRAGES


J. Huddart
“Observations on horizontal Refractions which affect the Appearance of terrestrial Objects, and the Dip, or Depression of the Horizon of the Sea,”
William Nicholson's "A Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the Arts" 1, 145–152 (1797).

* The same, reprinted:
* Note: Nicholson's Journal merged with Phil. Mag. in 1813.


W. Nicholson
“An Account of the Fata Morgana; or the Optical Appearance of Figures, in the Sea and the Air, in the Faro of Messina. With an Engraving.,”
William Nicholson's "A Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the Arts" 1, 225–227 (1797).

* Nicholson's summary of MINASI's Fata Morgana paper
* He begins by quoting James Thomson's lines from "The Castle of Indolence",
* Canto i. Stanza 30: "As when a shepherd of the Hebrid' Isles. . .
*        (Whether it be lone fancy him beguiles,
*        Or that ae"rial beings sometimes deign
*        To stand, embodied, to our sense plain) . . .
*        A vast assembly moving to and fro:
*      Then all at once in air dissolves the wondrous show."
* -- an interesting reference, considering the reports of mirages from
* the Orkneys and other northern outliers of Britain.
*      He then cites Brydone and Swinburne as making "mention of a very
* striking phenomenon . . . known by the name of Fata Morgana, or, as some
* render it, the Castles of the Fairy Morgana. The accounts differ from
* each other . . . . How far the effects themselves may be subject to
* variation, or to what extent the imagination of the narrators, who speak
* of the exhibition as calculated to produce astonishment, may be subject
* to irregularity, would admit of discussion. . . ."
*      Nicholson borrowed a copy of Minasi's work from Sir Joseph Banks,
* and says, "In this treatise the facts are related with much simplicity
* and precision, and the philosophical reasoning of the author is kept
* distinct from the narrative." [But see Gilbert's scathing commentary!]
*      Now comes Nicholson's translation of Minasi's description:
*      "When the rising sun shines from that point whence its incident
* ray forms an angle of about forty-five degrees on the sea of Reggio,
* and the bright surface of the water in the bay is not disturbed either
* by the wind or the current, the spectator being placed on an eminence
* of the city, with his back to the sun and his face to the sea; -- on
* a sudden there appear in the water, as in a catoptric theatre, various
* multiplied objects, that is to say, numberless series of pilasters,
* arches, castles well delineated, regular columns, lofty towers, superb
* palaces, with balconies and windows, extended alleys of trees, delightful
* plains with herds and flocks, armies of men on foot and horseback, and
* many other strange images, in their natural colours and proper actions,
* passing rapidly in succession along the surface of the sea during the
* whole of the short period of time while the above-mentioned causes remain.
*      "But if, in addition to the circumstances before described, the
* atmosphere be highly impregnated with vapour, and dense exhalations not
* previously dispersed by the action of the wind or waves, or rarefied by
* the sun, it then happens that in this vapour, as in a curtain extended
* along the channel to a height of about thirty palms, and nearly down
* to the sea, the observer will behold the scene of the same objects not
* only reflected from the surface of the sea, but likewise in the air,
* though not so distinct or well defined as the former objects from the sea.
*      "Lastly, if the air be slightly hazey and opake, and at the same time
* dewy and adapted to form the iris, then the above-mentioned objects
* will appear only at the surface of the sea, as in the first case,
* but all vividly coloured or fringed with red, green, blue, and other
* prismatic colours."
*      Nicholson's translation seems to have become the canonical version
* of Minasi's account in English (though in Brewster's 1830 "Edinburgh
* Encyclopedia" and some later copies, "alleys" became "valleys").
* (Google Books shows dozens of copies, right up to the present day.)
* Nicholson refers to Minasi's note on "the etymology of Morgana . . . which
* is so foreign to the Roman idiom, . . . considering the great exultation
* and joy this appearance produces in all ranks of people, who on its
* first commencement run hastily to the sea, exclaiming Morgana, Morgana!"
*      "In the second chapter the author describes the city of Reggio,
* and the neighbouring coast of Calabria; by which he shews that all the
* objects which are exhibited in the Fata Morgana are derived from objects
* on shore." (I take "derived from" in a different sense, though!)
*      In dealing with Minasi's crank theory (in the 3rd chapter) that the
* tides have something to do with it, he takes from Minasi that "It is high
* water, that is to say, the northern current ceases, at full and change,
* at nine o'clock. There is probably a small rise and fall, though the
* annotation to a large chart before me affirms that there is none."
*      The additional crank ideas following the 4th chapter, in which Minasi
* "collects the opinion and relations of various writers . . . , namely,
* Angelucci, Kircher, Scotus, and others," are elided, "because it seems
* difficult to make any clear or productive statement either from the
* narrative or the reasoning." [Pace , Gilbert!]
*      His summary includes: "3. That the Morgana Marina presents inverted
* images below the real objects, which are multiplied laterally as well
* as vertically; and that there are repetitions of the same multiplied
* objects at more considerable vertical intervals. This I gather from
* the appearance of the dome and other objects in the plate." And:
* "8. By attentive reflection upon the facts and reasonings in Mr.
* Huddart's paper, we may form a theory to account for the erect and
* inverted images . . . ; but for the lateral multiplication we must have
* recourse to reflecting or refracting planes in the vapour, which appear
* nearly as difficult to deduce or establish, as those which have been
* supposed on the water."
* Issue dated August 1797


W. Latham
“Account of a singular Instance of atmospherical Refraction. In a Letter from William Latham, Esq. F.R.S. and A.S. to the Rev. Henry Whitfield, D.D. F.R.S. and A.S.,”
Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 88, 357–360 (1798).

* William LATHAM's observations of LOOMING, seen from Hastings
* "On Wednesday last, July 26, about five o'clock in the afternoon, . . .
* the coast of France was plainly to be distinguished with the naked eye.
* I immediately went down to the shore, and was surprised to find that,
* even without the assistance of a telescope, I could very plainly see the
* cliffs on the opposite coast; which, at the nearest part, are between
* forty and fifty miles distant, and are not to be discerned, from that
* low situation, by the aid of the best glasses. They appeared to be only
* a few miles off, and seemed to extend for some leagues along the coast.
* . . . the cliffs gradually appearing more elevated, and approaching
* nearer, as it were . . . .
*      "Having indulged my curiosity upon the shore for near an hour, during
* which the cliffs appeared to be at some times more bright and near,
* at others more faint and at a greater distance, but never out of sight,
* I went upon the eastern cliff of hill, which is of a very considerable
* height, when a most beautiful scene presented itself to my view; for
* I could at once see Dengeness, Dover cliffs, and the French coast,
* all along from Calais, Boulogne, &c. to St. Vallery; and, as some of
* the fishermen affirmed, as far to the westward even as Dieppe. . . . This
* curious phenomenon continued in the highest splendour till past eight
* o'clock, (although a black cloud totally obscured the face of the sun
* for some time,) when it gradually vanished.
*      "I should observe, the day was extremely hot, as you will perceive
* by the subjoined rough journal of a small thermometer, . . . and the three
* preceding days were remarkably fine and clear. . . . Not a breath of wind
* was stirring the whole of the day . . . .
*      Latham's temperature log shows that at 10 A.M. each of the previous
* 3 days, the temperatures were 65, 66, and 66 (F), and 68 on the day of
* looming; but at 5 P.M. it was 76. The 10 A.M. temperatures on the next
* 4 days were 72, 70, 72, and 70; so it appears the looming accompanied
* the arrival of a warm front.
*      Reprinted in Nicholson's Journal 2, 417-419 (1799).


L. A. Milet-Mureau
Voyage de La Pérouse
(Imp. de la République, Paris, 1797).

* early report of SUPERIOR MIRAGE, by Jean François Galaup de La Pérouse:
* (filed slightly out of order to stay with the English translations)
* The mirage observation itself is on p. 10 of Tome 3:
*      "Les journées du 15 et du 16 furent très brumeuses ; nous nous
* éloignâmes peu de la côte de Tartarie, et nous en avions connaissance
* dans les éclaircis ; mais ce dernier jour sera marqué dans notre
* journal par l'illusion la plus complète dont j'aie été témoin depuis
* que je navigue.
*      "Le plus beau ciel succéda, à quatre heures du soir, à la brume la
* plus épaisse ; nous découvrîmes le continent, qui s'étendait de l'Ouest
* un quart Sud-Ouest au Nord un quart Nord-Est, et peu après, dans le
* sud, une grande terre qui allait rejoindre la Tartarie vers l'Ouest,
* ne laissant pas entr'elle et le continent une ouverture de 15d. Nous
* distinguions les montagnes, les ravins, enfin tous les détails du
* terrain ; et nous ne pouvions pas concevoir par où nous étions entrés
* dans ce détroit, qui ne pouvait être que celui de Tessoy, à la recherche
* duquel nous avions renoncé. Dan s cette situation, je crus devoir serrer
* le vent, et gouverner au Sud-Sud-Est ; mais bientôt ces mornes, ces ravins
* disparurent. Le banc de brume le plus extraordinaire que j'eusse jamais vu
* avait occasionné notre erreur : nous le vîmes se dissiper ; ses formes,
* ses teintes s'élevèrent, se perdirent dans la région des nuages, et nous
* eûmes encore assez de jour pour qu'il ne nous restât aucune incertitude
* sur l'inexistence de cette terre fantastique. Je fis route toute la nuit
* sur l'espace de mer qu'elle avait paru occuper, et au jour rien ne se
* montra à nos yeux ; l'horizon était cependant si étendu que nous voyions
* parfaitement la côte de Tartarie, éloignée de plus de quinze lieues."
*      This observation was made the 16th of June, 1797 -- just in the middle
* of superior-mirage season, for mid-latitudes (they were about 44° N).
* The location was off the coast of the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, ENE
* of present-day Vladivostok. The introductory remark indicates that
* La Pérouse was familiar with mirages.
*      Furthermore, they had directly observed a strong thermal inversion a
* few weeks earlier (May 26), a little farther south in the Sea of Japan:
*      "Si les nuages ne nous avaient par annoncé ce changement, nous avions
* eu néanmoins un avertissement que nous n'entemdîmes pas, et qu'il n'est
* peut-être pas facile d'expliquer : les vigies crièrent du haut des mâts
* qu'elles sentaient des vapeurs brûlantes, semblables à celles de la
* bouche d'un four, qui passaient comme des bouffées et se succédaient
* d'une demi-minute à l'autre. Tous les officiers montèrent au haut
* des mâts et éprouvèrent la même chaleur. La température était alors
* de 14d sur le pont ; nous envoyâmes sur les barres des perroquets un
* thermomètre, et il monta à 20d : cependant les bouffées de chaleur
* passaient très-rapidement, et, dans les intervalles, la température de
* l'air de différait pas de celle du niveau de la mer." (T.2, p.389-390)
*
* Title page reads:
*
*                          V O Y A G E
*             D E      L A      P É R O U S E
*                        AUTOUR DU MONDE,
*                               publié
* conformément au décret du 22 avril 1791,
*                          ET RÉDIGÉ
*        par M. L. A. MILET-MUREAU
*
* Thanks to Luc Dettwiller for discovering the mirage report!


L. A. Milet Mureau
The Voyage of La Pérouse round the World
(John Stockdale, London, 1798).

* 1st English translation of La Pérouse:
* This edition uses the long-s, and seems to have been the "popular"
* rather than the "official" translation. The mirage story reads:
*      "The 15th and 16th of June were very foggy days.  We kept within a
* small distance of the coast of Tartary, and got sight of it at intervals;
* but the last of these days will be distinguished in our journal by the
* most complete illusion I have witnessed since I have been a seaman.
*      "At four in the afternoon a perfectly clear sky succeeding to the
* thickest fog. we descried the continent extending from W. by S. to N. by
* E. and soon after, an extensive land in the south, running towards Tartary
* in the west, where it left an opening of less than fifteen degrees.
* We distinguished the mountains, hollows, and all the variations of the
* ground, but could not imagine how we had entered this strait, which must
* necessarily be that of Tessoy, of which we had given up the pursuit.
* In this situation I thought it necessary to haul the wind, and steer
* S. S. W.; but these hills and hollows soon disappeared. The most
* extraordinary fog-bank I had ever beheld occasioned this deception,
* and we soon witnessed its dispersion. Its forms and its tints mounted,
* and vanished in the atmosphere among the clouds; and enough of day still
* remained fully to demonstrate that land to be unsubstantial and imaginary.
* I stood on, during the night, over the space it had appeared to occupy,
* and at day-break no object presented itself to our view. The horizon was
* even sufficiently extensive to admit of our distinctly seeing the coast of
* Tartary, although more than fifteen leagues distant. I shaped my course
* towards it, but at eight in the morning the fog again surrounded us."
* [The above passage appears on pp. 27-28 of Vol. II.]


L. A. Milet Mureau
A Voyage round the World, performed In the Years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, by the Boussole and Astrolabe, Under the Command of J. F. G. de la Pérouse
(G.G. and J.Robinson, London, 1799).

* 2nd English translation of La Pérouse:
* This edition uses the short s, and is written in a more formal style.
* The mirage story is on p. 7 of Vol. II:
*      "The 15th and 16th were very foggy.  We sailed along the coast of
* Tartary at no great distance, and had sight of it at intervals, when
* the fog dispersed a little; but the 16th will be distinguished in our
* journal by the most complete illusion that I ever witnessed since I have
* been at sea.
*      "At four in the evening the most beautifully clear sky succeeded the
* thickest fog. We discovered the continent, which extended from west by
* south to north by east; and very soon after, to the south, an extensive
* land, running west towards Tartary, so as not to leave an opening of
* 15° between it and the continent. We distinguished the mountains,
* the valleys, and all the particulars of the land; and could not conceive
* how we had entered into this strait, which could be no other than that
* of Tessoy, the search after which we had given up. In this situation
* I thought it advisable to haul our wind, and steer south-south-east.
* But soon these hills and valleys disappeared. The most extraordinary
* fog-bank I had ever beheld was the cause of our illusion. We saw it
* disperse; it's shapes, it's colours, ascended, and vanished in the region
* of clouds; and we still had day-light enough left to remove every doubt
* about the existence of this fantastic land. I sailed all night over
* the space of sea it had appeared to occupy, and at day-break nothing of
* it was visible, though our horizon was so extensive, that we distinctly
* saw the coast of Tartary upwards of fifteen leagues distant."
* [NOTE: the abnormally large distance to the horizon shows that inversion
* conditions were still present.]
*      The previous inversion observation appears in this edition on p. 537
* of Vol. I:
*      "The sky was clear and serene, but it grew very black, and I was
* obliged to stand off the shore, that I might not be embayed by the
* easterly winds. If the clouds did not give us warning of this change,
* we had an indication of it, which we did not understand, and which it
* is not perhaps easy to explain. The men at the mast-head cried out,
* that they felt burning vapours, resembling those of the mouth of an
* oven, coming in puffs every half minute. All the officers went to the
* mast-head, and felt the same heat. The thermometer at that time was
* at 14° upon deck. We sent one up to the cross-trees, and it rose
* to 20°. These puffs of heat, however, passed with great rapidity,
* and in the intervals the temperature of the air did not differ from that
* of the temperature of the level of the sea."
*      Note: this edition has the dates in the margins, like the original.


S. Vince
“Observations upon an unusual horizontal Refraction of the Air; with Remarks on the Variation to which the lower Parts of the Atmosphere are sometimes subject,”
Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 89, 13–23 (1799).

* early report of SUPERIOR MIRAGE, by Vince:
* ``The uncertainty of the refraction of the air near the horizon has long
* been known to astronomers, the mean refraction varying by quantities
* which cannot be accounted for from the variations of the barometer and
* thermometer. . . .''
* ``In fact, the images were visible, when the whole ship was actually below
* the horizon. . . . The discovery of ships in this manner might, in some
* cases, be of great importance. . . .''
* ``As the phenomena are very curious, and extraordinary in their nature, . . .
* They appear to be of considerable importance; as they lead us to a
* knowledge of those changes to which the lower parts of the atmosphere are
* sometimes subject.      . . .  it might throw further light upon this subject,
* and lead to useful discoveries respecting the state of the atmosphere. . . .''
*
* This was the Bakerian lecture.
* According to the paper's title, Vince was the Plumian Prof. of Astronomy
* & Experimental Philosophy (i.e., physics) at Cambridge.


G. Monge
“Sur le phénomene d'optique, connu sous le nom de Mirage,”
Memoires sur l'Égypte 1, 64–79 (1799).

* GASPARD MONGE explains the INFERIOR MIRAGE as total internal reflection,
* and reports REFLECTED RAINBOWS
* Cf. Le Gentil (1789) for "se mirer".


J. G. Büsch
“Beobachtungen über horizontale Strahlenbrechung und die wunderbaren Erscheinungen, welche sie bewirkt,”
Gilberts Ann. Phys. 3, 290–301 (1800).

* EARLY MIRAGES; DISTORTED MOONRISE
* extracted and translated from:
* Jo. Geo. Büsch tractatus duo optici argumenti, Hamburgi 1783, 132 S. 8.
* "Ich bemerkte dieses Phänomen schon in meiner Jugend bey den
* Ueberfahrten von Hamburg nach dem eine Meile entlegnen Harburg, wo mein
* Grossvater lebte. Wenn der Wind die Wellen mitten im Strome ziemlich
* heftig um das Schiff bewegte, schien das Wasser am Ufer vollkommen ruhig
* zu seyn, gleich einer Spiegelebene. Dieses komme, sagten mir die
* Uferbewohner, von den Untiefen am Strande her; allein, wenn wir eine Höhe
* erstiegen, und von da nach dem entgegengesetzten Ufer sahen, war auch das
* Wasser voll Wellen."
* (cf. Abbott, 1854, who reports the same phenomenon in India!)
* includes a distorted moonrise: "Der Mond, der beynahe voll war, ging
* auf, wie ihn Fig. 6 zeigt. Als ich die anderen Passagiers fragte, ob
* ihnen nicht etwas besonderes am Monde vorkomme, antwortete einer:
* `Meiner Treu, er gleicht einem umgestürzten Nachtgeschirr.'"
* [See Büsch, Tractatus duo (1783) for the original quote in English.]
*
* Prof. Johann Georg Büsch (1728 - 1800) taught at the academic
* Gymnasium in Hamburg. About 1780 he allowed Reinhard Woltman to attend
* his lectures and use his extensive library. Woltman in turn became the
* supervisor of Heinrich Wilhelm Brandes, who was in charge of the water
* works on Neuwerk in 1794-95, and was recommended by Woltman to the post
* of "Deichconducteur" in Eckwarden in 1801, where he continued Woltman's
* observations of refraction phenomena.


L. W. Gilbert
“Beobachtungen besonderer Strahlenbrechung von Boscowich, Monge und Ellicot,”
Gilberts Ann. Phys. 3, 302–308 (1800).

* EARLY MIRAGES
* summaries of the work of others by Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert:


T. Gruber
“Beobachtungen über die Strahlenbrechung auf erwärmten Flächen,”
Gilberts Ann. Physik 3, 377–396 (1800).

* EARLY EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF MIRAGE
* Abbé Tobias Gruber (Grüber?) -- see his 1786 paper.


R. Woltmann
“Beobachtungen über die Brechung der Lichtstrahlen, die nahe über der Erdfläche hinfahren,”
Gilberts Ann. Physik 3, 397–438 (1800).

* QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS of MIRAGES and VARIABLE REFRACTION
* Reinhard Woltman (Not "Woltmann", says Pogg.)
* Gilbert attributes the term "Spiegelung" to Woltman.
* [It seems that Woltman was Brandes's supervisor in 1794-95.]
* VARIATIONS:
* "Auch die astronomische Horizontalrefraction würde daher wenigstens
* um eben so viel, d.i. etwa um 1/6 ihrer ganzen Grösse veränderlich und
* ungewiss seyn."
* TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE between AIR and WATER:
* ". . . allemal, wenn das Wasser um 2° Fahrenh. oder mehr wärmer als
* die Luft war, eine Erniedrigung der Strahlen, die sich über die
* Wasserfläche erstreckten, und (vorausgesetzt, dass die Gegenstände
* sichtbar waren) eine Spiegelung herabwärts stat find. War dagegen des
* Wasser um 2° F. kälter als die Luft, so fand Hebung der Strahlen
* und nie eine Spiegelung herabwärts statt."
* Note that Gilbert prints double-s as a long followed by a short s.


T. Gruber
“Theorie der mit Spiegelung verbundnen Senkung und Hebung der Objecte am Horizont,”
Gilberts Ann. Physik 3, 439–446 (1800).

* EARLY THEORY OF MIRAGE
* Abbé Tobias Gruber (Grüber?)


J. L. Heim
“Eine merkwürdige Erscheinung durch ungewöhnliche Strahlenbrechung,”
Gilb. Ann. Physik 5, 370–375 (1800).

* a simple case of LOOMING in the mountains
* Gilbert unaccountably makes more of this than it deserves. His final
* footnote contains: "Auch bei uns, mitten im Deutschland, ist also die
* Fata Morgana zu Hause, obwohl bei weitem seltener als in dem heissen
* Unter - Italien und unfern der See. Denn dass die wundervolle
* Fata Morgana zu dieser Klasse ungewöhnlich starker Refractionen
* gehört, glaube ich in einem der folgenden Stücke der Annalen ziemlich
* ausser Zweifel setzen zu können." But he recognizes that it's similar
* to Latham's observation.
* This may be the earliest MIS-USE of "FATA MORGANA" for a simpler case.


W. H. Wollaston
“On double Images caused by atmospherical Refraction,”
Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 91, 239–254 (1800).

* William Hyde WOLLASTON's paper on mirage theory:
* Wollaston re-invents Hooke's (1665) two-liquid demonstration here.
* He distinguishes between "two opposite states of the atmosphere" that
* produce double or triple images; he also notes what we would call
* looming, and explicitly mentions mirages on roads.


[J. A. ] de Luc
“Über eine scheinbare Erhöhung der Gegenstände über den Horizont,”
Neue Schriften der Ges. Naturf. Freunde zu Berlin 3, 168–179 (1801).

* Jean André de Luc's inferior-mirage observation, and disbelief
* A curious paper: "Es ist allgemein bekannt, dass am Ufer der Seen und
* der breiten Flüsse und am Strande der Meerbusen eine gewisse optische
* Täuschung oft statt findet, wenn der Zuschauer sich auf einem erhöhten
* Standpunkte befindet; er sieht nemlich alsdann unter gewissen Umständen
* das entgegengesetzte Ufer wie in der Luft schwebend, und man pflegte
* dieses Phänomen auf die Strahlenbrechung zu reduciren: ich glaube aber
* nicht, dass es von dieser Ursache herrühre."
* He nicely describes the effects of eye height; but manages to convince
* himself the apparent "sky" is just a band of haze, "eine Dunstschicht",
* that manages to be indistinguishable from the sky. (This seems incredible
* to anyone living in a dry climate, but is perhaps not so far-fetched
* for someone living in hazy Germany.) At the end of the 10th page
* of the paper (p.177), he lets the cat out of the bag: "Ich zweifle
* kaum dass dies der wahre Grund aller Erscheinungen dieser Art wirklich
* sei, und zwar um so weniger, da ich nie habe begreifen können, wie
* Strahlenbrechung etwas dergleichen hervorbringen könnte."
*      The observation was made over a peat-bog; the miraged trees were
* "ohngefahr eine deutsche Meile" away (6 or 7 km).
*      The GNF had a number of well-known members, including Adelbert von
* Chamisso, Alexander von Humboldt, Adolf Traugott, and Johann Elert Bode.
*      Reuss fails to give the year, but other citations to this volume say
* 1801 [confirmed by e-mail from Hans-Ulrich Raake of the
* Universitätsbibliothek, Humboldt-Universität Berlin (30 July 2002).]
* Prof. De Luc was Swiss.


W. H. Wollaston
“Untersuchungen, wie durch atmosphärische Strahlenbrechung doppelte Bilder von Gegenständen entstehen,”
Gilb. Ann. Phys. 11, 1–65 (1802).

* Gilbert's translation of Wollaston's 1800 paper, with copious notes:


J. Giovene
“Wunderbare Phänomene nach Art der Fata Morgana, beobachtet vom Canonicus J. Giovene, Grossvicar des Bischofs von Molfetta in Apulien,”
Gilb. Ann. Physik 12, 1–19 (1802).

* Gilbert's version of Giovene's observations, heavily annotated
* Here Giuseppe Maria Giovene is Germanized to "Johannes"; the whole
* thing is taken from Zimmermann's "Allgemeiner Blick auf Italien".
* A good first-hand account of a Fata Morgana observation from near
* Molfetta, on the Adriatic coast (about 300 km north of Reggio):
* "Die von mir selbst beobachteten Phänomene dieser Art schreibe ich
* wörtlich aus meinen Journalen ab; von den übrigen theile ich die
* Nachricht meiner Correspondenten unverändert mit.
*      "Ich befand mich am 9ten Februar 1790 auf einem kleinen Landhause,
* wo ich mich wegen des freien Horizonts vorzüglich gern aufhalte.
* Die Tagen vorher waren heiter gewesen, und es hatte ein mässiger
* Nordwestwind geweht. Der ausnehmend schöne Winterabend lockte mich
* ungefähr eine halbe Stunde nach Sonnenuntergang an ein Fenster, das
* sich gerade nach S.S.O. öffnet. [Giovene's original Italian indeed has
* "S.S.O."; but "O" stands for "ovest"; so the directions are wrong here.]
* Die Luft war so still, dass der Rauch von den Städten Terlizzi , Ruvo
* und Corato , auf die ich die Aussicht hatte, sich gar nicht bewegte,
* sondern über diesen Städten wie ein grosser Sonnenschein hing.
* [Certainly "Sonnenschirm" was intended here; this correction is made
* by P&E on p. 164, without comment.] Indem ich am Horizonte umher sah,
* schienen mir an dem äussersten Ende desselben gegen Westen einige Wolken
* aufzusteigen, die etwa 20 Grad einnahmen. Um daraus auf den Wind und auf
* die Witterung des folgenden Tages urtheilen zu können, wollte ich ihren
* Zug beobachten. Sie stiegen bald auf 2° Höhe, fingen dann aber an
* mannigfaltige Gestalten anzunehmen, und dieses Spiel überzeugte mich,
* dass sie ganz etwas anderes waren, als Wolken.
*      "Ich bat daher den Doktor  T r i p a l d i ,  einen sehr unterrichteten
* Mann, der mich gerade auf einige Tage besucht hatte, an der fernern
* Beobachtung Theil zu nehmen, und wir schickten uns beide dazu auf das
* sorgfältigste an. Die vermeinten Wolken nahmen alle Augenblicke eine
* andere Gestalt an. Zuerst sahen wir im Hintergrunde eine Menge Palläste
* und Thürme, die eine grosse Stadt vorstellten, so dass wir glaubten,
* vermittelst einer sehr verstärkten atmosphärischen Refraction den
* Flecken Cerignola zu sehn, der in der Richtung lag, jedoch über 8
* deutsche Meilen, (in gerader Linie nur 6,) enfernt war. Allein gar bald
* veränderte sich das Schauspiel: wir sahen zwei Hügel gegen einander
* über, die immer höher und höher wurden, und sich dann in viereckige
* Thürme mit grossen Fenstern verwandelten, wodurch das Licht von der
* Abenddämmerung einfiel. Doch ich kann unmöglich alle die verschiedenen
* Figuren beschreiben, die mit der grössten Schnelligkeit abwechselten.
*      "Unsre Verwunderung wurde indess bald noch sehr vermehrt.  Die
* Dämmerung war sehr hell, und ich sah verschiedne Mahl Lichtströme
* vom äussersten Horizonte bis zu einer Höhe von 6 bis 7° aufsteigen.
* Ich hielt dieses anfangs für eine Täuschung, allein D. T r i p a l d i
* sah sie gerade so, und der Zeitpunkt, worin wir einen neuen Lichtstrahl
* wahrnahmen, stimmte jedes Mahl vollkommen überein. Wir stellten uns
* darauf vor das eine Fenster, das gerade nach W.N.W. lag, und sahen das
* Phänomen eben so. Die Lichtwellen gingen gerade bis an die Grenzen
* der Dämmerung; da, wo die Dämmerung stärker war, waren sie lebhafter,
* und gegen die Grenzen der Dämmerung zu schwächer. Fünf oder sechs
* lichte Ströme erschienen unmittelbar nach einander, darauf erfolgte
* eine Pause von 1 oder 2 minuten, worauf sich neue Ströme zeigten, und
* während dieses Spiels wechselte eine unendliche Mannigfaltigkeit der
* seltsamsten Figuren am äussersten Rande des Horizonts ab. Dieses schöne
* Schauspiel währte etwa eine halbe Stunde; es verlor an Schönheit, so
* wie die Dämmerung abnahm, und nach 3/4 Stunden war es gänzlich vorbei."
*      Giovene points out that such phenomena are not rare in Apulia and
* Lecce province (Terra d'Otranto, the old Japygia). But writers have
* ignored it, except in folklore, with one exception: he cites Antonius
* de Ferrariis (Galatheus) (De situ Japygiæ , 1558) for reporting the
* name of Mutata . (p. 9)
*      A useful common observation: "Nach Versicherung der Einwohner des
* Vorgebirges von Lecce ist die Zeit dieser Erscheinung vor Aufgang
* oder nach Untergang der Sonne, und in der Ebene soll man dabei bald ein
* stürmisches Meer, bald eine Stadt, bald einen Wald sehn." (pp. 10-11)
*      He also says: "Die Seeleute von Molfetta nennen sie Lavandaja
* (Wäscherinn,) -- warum, weiss ich nicht -- und halten sie für Vorboten
* einer Veränderung in der Witterung. In der That erscheint die
* Lavandaja in ihrer grössten Schönheit, wenn der Wind lange Zeit geweht
* hat und nun eine Stille erfolt. Im Herbste und Winter ist sie häufiger
* als in den übrigen Jahreszeiten, wiewohl man sie auch oft im Sommer
* und zuweilen im Frühling sieht. Im Sommer haben wir fast alle Tage
* eine Art kleiner Lavandaja des Nachmittags; indess ist sie auch hier
* vor Sonnenaufgang und nach Sonnenuntergang am prächtigsten.
*      "In Molfetta sieht man die Lavandaja mehrentheils über dem Monte Gargano ,
* einem Gebirge, welches in die See vorspringt, von Molfetta 60 ital.,
* (15 deutsche,) Meilen entfernt ist, sich von dort am äussersten Horizonte
* zwischen W.N.W. und N.N.W wie eine dunkelblaue Wolke zeigt, und aus dessen
* Ansicht, je nachdem es sichtbar oder unsichtbar ist, und die Wolken den
* Fuss oder den Gipfel desselben bedecken, oder einen grossen Hut darüber
* bilden,) die Schiffer das Wetter mit vieler Zuverlässigkeit vorhersagen.
* Beim ersten Mahle, als ich daran die Lavandaja , ohne noch von ihr
* gehört zu haben, sah, wurde ich wirklich unruhig. Das ganze Gebirge
* war in einer zitternden Bewegung ; ein Theil des Berges versank und
* liess ein grosses Thal zurück; an derselben Stelle erhob sich einige
* Minuten nachher ein neuer Berg, höher als der vorige, und neben diesem
* stiegen mehrere andere kegelförmige empor, nahmen aber sogleich die
* Gestalt grosser viereckiger Thürme an, die sich eben so in einem
* Augenblicke versenkten und grosse Thäler eröffneten. Endlich schien
* mir der ganze Berg fürchterliche Erschütterungen zu leiden. --- Ich
* habe diese Abwechselungen oft mit dem grössten Vergnugen beobachtet.
* Die wunderbarsten Figuren folgen in einem Augenblicke auf einander,
* und eine nur etwas warme Phantasie wird sich sehr leicht überreden,
* Pferde, Menschen, Schiffe, Thürme und Städte zu sehn.
*      "Noch eine besondere Lavandaja zeigt sich hier, besonders wenn die
* Sonne gegen Westen steht und ein leichter Ostwind weht. Das Vorgebirge
* Gargano verändert dann mit der grössten Geschwindigkeit seine Gestalt
* auf eine unendlich mannigfaltige Weise. Es verlängert sich, zieht
* sich wieder zusammen, und scheint in viele Theile zerstückt, die das
* Ansehn von Inseln im offenen Meere haben. Zuweilen scheint ein Theil des
* Meeres viel höher zu seyn als das übrige, und das Wasser in der Ferne
* scheint von einem heftigen Sturme bewegt zu seyn, ob es sich gleich in
* vollkommner Ruhe befindet." (pp. 11-14).
*      He then goes on to describe a case of looming at sunrise on 15
* Oct. 1789, "in meinem Landsitze eine halbe Meile von Molfetta," which
* brought into view several towns normally hidden. This was also seen by
* Dr. Tripaldi. "Um 9 Uhr, nachdem wir 3 Stunden beobachtet hatten, war
* alles wieder wie gewöhnlich. In Hoffnung, das Phänomen wieder zu sehn,
* wenn ich höher träte, stieg ich auf eine Terasse, die ungefähr 20 par.
* Fuss über dem Fenster liegt, und wirklich sah hier das Schauspiel noch
* in seiner ganzen Schönheit.  . . .      Da  D.  T r i p a l d i  am Fenster
* geblieben war, so überzeugten wir uns, dass damals das Phänomen 40 Fuss
* über der Erde gar nicht, in 60 Fuss Höhe aber vollkommen sichtbar war."
* (p. 16)
*      Giovene recognized that these were all refraction phenomena; but he
* tried to connect them with minerals in the ground. As usual, "Dünste"
* get the blame. Still, he suspects "eine . . . wellenförmige Bewegung" of
* the air is responsible for the motions.


A. Minasi, W. Nicholson, and L. W. Gilbert
“Des P. Minasi Beschreibung der Fata Morgana oder der See- und Luftgebilde bei Reggio im Faro di Messina, ausgezogen von Nicholson und beurtheilt vom Herausgeber,”
Gilb. Ann. Physik 12, 20–33 (1802).

* ANTONIO MINASI's classic (if rather exaggerated) Fata Morgana review
* This is Gilbert's translation into German of Nicholson's translation
* into English from Minasi's original Italian, with commentary by
* both Nicholson and Gilbert. . . .
* Gilbert is very hard on Minasi: "Ich entlehne diesen Aufzug aus Minasi's
* Werke über die Fata Morgana aus Nicholson's Journal of nat. philos.,
* Vol. I, p. 225. Da Minasi's Träumereien selbst bei einem so
* nüchternen und scharfsinnigen Physiker, als Nicholson, Eingang gefunden
* haben, so hielt ich es für nicht unverdienstlich, darzuthun, dass
* Minasi's Nachrichten mit so viel Einbildungen versetzt sind, dass man
* sie im Ganzen kaum für etwas mehr, als für ein Mährchen nehmen darf,
* und sie bei einem Versuche, die Fata Morgana zu erklären, lieber ganz
* bei Seite legt." [footnote attached to the title!]
*      Here I credit all three as authors; none is named explicitly.


W. Beauford
“A dissertation on the reflection and refraction of light from vapours, fogs, mists, &c.; with an account of some curious phænomena proceeding from those causes, seen in Ireland in the years 1796, 1797, and 1801,”
Phil. Mag. 13, 336–341 (1802).

* William Beauford's perceptive review, just before Wollaston's
* Probably this should be the first entry in the FOG file. However, his
* perceptive remarks requite its presence here, despite his curious
* explanation: "Of all the phænomena exhibited by nature in her various
* operations, there are none more curious and extraordinary than those
* represented by the reflection and refraction of light from fogs and
* vapours arising from the sea, lakes, and morasses, replete with marine
* and vegetable salts. For such vapours, by means of the said salts,
* form various polished surfaces, which reflect and refract the light of
* the sun, and even the moon, in various directions; thereby not only
* distorting but multiplying the images of objects represented to them in
* a most surprising manner; forming not only images of castles, palaces,
* and other buildings, in various styles of architecture, but the most
* beautiful landscapes, spacious woods, groves, orchards, meadows, with
* companies of men and women, with herds of cattle, walking, standing,
* lying, &c., and all painted with such an admirable mixture of light and
* shade that it is impossible to form an adequate conception of the
* picture without seeing: not any scenery represented by the
* camera obscura can be more beautiful, or more like faithful
* representations of nature."
* Nice discussion of TERMINOLOGY: "The only ones which seem at present
* to have attracted the attention of the curious, are those frequently,
* during the summer season, seen on the southern coasts of Italy, near the
* antient city of Rhegium; and even to this attention they were directed
* by the fishermen and country peasants, who in their native tongue call
* them fata morgana , or dama fata morgana . They are, however,
* frequently noticed by the English, Erse, and Irish peasants, fishermen,
* and mariners; and denominated in the languages of the two latter
* feadhreagh mairethmhe , or sea fairies, and duna feadhreagh , fairy
* castles. . . . On the eastern and western coasts of South America, even
* on the highest summit of the Andes, the fata morgana is met with.
* Also far out at sea, in the midst of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans,
* the adventurous mariner sometimes observes them; and though well known
* under the name of fog banks , yet has their appearance been so imposing
* as to illude the nicest scrutiny, and to promise refreshments to the
* fatigued and sea-worn mariner which he could not obtain. The most
* antient account of these aërial castles and islands which has been
* transmitted to us, is the representation of a beautiful island situated
* nearly in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, between the coasts of
* Ireland and Newfoundland, first observed by Danish and Irish fishermen
* about the year 900, and from that period to the commencement of the 14th
* century frequently by the Anglo-Saxon, English, and French fishermen and
* mariners.
*      "But, as this island could never be approached, it was called the
* inchanted island , and supposed by the maritime inhabitants of Scotland,
* Ireland, France, and Spain, to be the country of departed spirits, and
* consequently denominated in Erse Flath Innis , or the Noble Island; in
* Irish Hy Brasil , or the Country of Spirits; by the Anglo Saxons,
* Icockane , or the Country in the Waves; and by the French and Spanish,
* who supposed it to consist of two distinct islands, Brasil and
* Assmanda ; or the Islands of Ghosts."
* He then describes the Irish mirages in agonizing detail: "The country
* seemed laid out in lawns and improvements, in which were situated three
* gentlemen's seats; the houses well defined, the windows and doors
* distinct; some of the windows appeared open, and brass knockers were
* seen on the doors." [etc., etc., at some length.]
* Then we get more factual details: ". . . none of those aërial
* exhibitions continue any length of time, and always in calm weather and
* a clear sky, if the picture is brilliant; for, though those fog banks
* often appear in dark or cloudy weather, the reflection is imperfect, and
* represents only confused images of rocks, mountains, and capes."
* Then the final, fatal admission: "For the vapour, being formed into
* different parts, the light refracted through them causes the confused
* appearance of ruins, houses, woods, lawns, &c. in the same manner as a
* board covered in an irregular manner with black and white spots mixed
* with lines, will at a certain distance resemble a landscape with woods,
* ruins, houses, trees, castles, &c., and under such imposing forms as to
* appear real representations. Of this species of the fata morgana seem
* to be those seen at Youghal in 1801 before spoken of; but in whatever
* manner the representations from vapours and fogs are formed, the weather
* must be calm and serene, otherwise the vapours will be broken and
* dispersed by the wind." (cf. Baur, 1857)
* There is a passing mention of Commodore Byron's Voyage round the World.
* Note that Beauford cites both Swinburne's Travels and Crantz's
* History of Greenland . The long s is used throughout.
*      NOTE: In his letter to me of 2 Feb. 2002, Irish folklore expert
* Miceal Ross has some harsh words for Beauford's scholarship here:
* "I do not know where he gets his Irish from. I never heard a word
* called feadhreagh and if it existed the declension would be faulty and
* also the spelling. The 'e ' after dh would be impossible. . . . Duna should
* be Dúnta. It looks like the same William had no Irish and probably
* little access therefore to tradition.
*      "Flath Innis [recte Flaith Inis] means the isle of princes; Hy Brasil
* or Brazil is in Irish `Í Bráth-saol' The island of eternal life."
*      [Yet the criticized words appear in some 19th-Century books; cf.
* M`Farland, 1853. . . .]


W. H. Wollaston
“Observations on the Quantity of horizontal Refraction; with a Method of measuring the Dip at Sea,”
Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 93, 1–11 (1803).

* WOLLASTON picks up Monge's use of "mirage" in his Bakerian Lecture:
* Here is also a fine illustration of the SMOOTH BEND where the erect
* and inverted images meet; the figure on p. 3 is the same one reprinted
* as Tafel VII, Fig. 6 in Gilb. Ann. vol. 23, showing the bent oar. It
* is worth quoting his passage about this (pp. 3 and 4):
*      "I was sitting in a boat near Chelsea, in such a position that my eye
* was elevated about half a yard from the surface of the water, and had a
* view over its surface, that probably somewhat exceeded a mile in length,
* when I remarked that the oars of several barges at a distance, that were
* then coming up with the tide, appeared bent in various degrees, according
* to their distance from me. The most distant appeared nearly in the form
* here represented; dd being my visible horizon by apparent curvature
* of the water; ab the oar itself in its inclined position; and bc
* an inverted image of the portion be . By a little attention to other
* boats, and to buildings on shore, I could discern that the appearance
* of all distant objects seen near the surface of the water was affected
* in a similar manner, but that scarcely any of them afforded images so
* perfectly distinct as the oblique line of an oar dipped in the water.
*      "A person present at the time (as well as some others to whom I have
* since related the circumstance) was inclined to attribute the appearance
* to reflection from the surface of the water; but, by a moderate share
* of attention, a very evident difference may be discovered between
* the inversion occasioned by reflection, and that which is caused by
* atmospherical refraction. In cases of reflection, the angles between the
* object and image are sharp, the line of contact between them straight and
* well defined, but the lower part of the image indefinite and confused,
* by means of any slight undulation of the water. But, when the images
* are caused by refraction, the confines of the object and its inverted
* image are rounded and indistinct, and the lower edge of the image is
* terminated by a straight line at the surface of the water."
* (Similar advice is given by Bravais, 1853.)


H. W. Brandes
Gilb. Ann. Physik 14, 250–253 (1803).

* Brandes's first communication about refraction mentions Woltman
* "Ich hoffe Ihnen nächstens eine Reihe von Beobachtungen über
* die Refraction , denen ähnlich, die Sie von Hrn.      W o l t m a n n
* kennen, übersenden zu können."
* This item is under the heading "Auszüge aus Briefen an den Herausgeber"


Dr. Castberg
“Ueber die Fata Morgana und ähnliche Phänomene,”
Gilberts Ann. Physik 17, 183–199 (1804).

* Castberg's FATA MORGANA review (translated by Gilbert)
* Several very early references here: Pomponius Mela, Thomas Facellus,
* Athanasius Kircher, Pliny and Haithon. But he is mostly concerned with
* the F.M. classics: Minasi and Angelucci. There are also references to
* then-recent discussions by Gilbert, including looming and mirages.
* Castberg leans heavily on the idea that, if this were a simple mirage,
* the locals would recognize the miraged objects: they don't, so it isn't.
* He makes the good point that the cities are too far apart (6500 toises):
* at this distance, one would be hard pressed to make out individual
* buildings, let alone individual figures, trees, sheep, etc.
* [This matter of DISTANCE is often overlooked in fantastic reports.]
* Furthermore, if it were a mirage of Messina seen from Reggio, then the
* reverse should be true; but (he says) there are no reports of the
* Morgana being seen from Sicily.
* He concludes that it is the shadows of the city cast on mists!


Doctor Brandes
“Einige kritische Bemerkungen über Höfe, Ringe, Nebensonnen, Fata Morgana, u.s.w.,”
Gilb. Ann. Physik 19, 363–371 (1805).

* Brandes comments on atmospheric optics, including FATA MORGANA
* The Fata Morgana is discussed on p. 367, where he comments on Castberg's
* report in Ann. 17, 183. There is an amusing crack: "Die Bilder sind
* gewöhnlich so verzerrt, und der Gegenstand selbst erscheint unter so
* veränderter Gestalt, dass man leicht mit Hülfe einer italiänischen
* Phantasie Säulengänge, Wasserleitungen, u. s. w., in diesen
* Erscheinungen finden kann."
*      See also the Brandes papers from vols. 17 & 18 in "Terrestrial Refr."
* [from a letter dated 2ten Febr. 1805]


H. W. Brandes
“Fortgesetzte Beobachtungen über die irdische Strahlenbrechung,”
Gilb. Ann. Physik 20, 346–353 (1805).

* Brandes reports his progress to Gilbert
* There is some interesting background here: he explains how he was led
* by Pictet's observations of the diurnal cycle of temperature gradients
* at different heights, which showed the same pattern he had already seen
* in his own observations of variable terrestrial refraction, to make such
* temperature measurements himself.
* [from a letter dated 16ten Mai 1805]


Professor Kries
“Ueber Luftspiegelung,”
Gilberts Ann. Physik 23, 365–379 (1806).

* Friedrich Christian Kries points out the lack of explanation in the
* reports of Vince and Wollaston, and tries to explain away Wollaston's
* experimental results as an artifact due to surface tension at the
* edge of the glass. However, his explanation of the 2-image superior
* mirage is exactly the same as Wegener's, apart from using (here) a flat
* Earth. Because of omitting this vital detail, he fails to understand
* how a 3rd, upright, image can be formed. So he introduces the crazy
* notion of a perfect reflection in the sea , which he supposes is
* inverted to form the uppermost, erect, image.
*      But there is a prophetic phrase in which he foresees the actual
* complexity of thermal inversions:
* "Und da Luftspiegelung oberwärts mit starken Hebung verbunden zu
* seyn pflegt, so ist es nicht unwahrscheinlich, dass alsdann mehrere
* Luftschichten von verschiedener Dichtigkeit über einander liegen."
*      According to Pogg., Kries was born in "Thorn, Westpreuss." -- the
* home town of Copernicus.


D[r]. Brandes
“Einige kritische Bemerkungen zu den in den Annalen befindlichen Aufsätzen über die irdische Strahlenbrechung, und Nachricht von der Vollendung seiner Refractions-Beobachtungen,”
Gilb. Ann. Physik 23, 380–393 (1806).

* Brandes comments at length on earlier reports, and announces his
* forthcoming ("um Michaelis") monograph (1807) [below].
* Several nice quotes here. On p. 383, good advice for astronomers:
* "Da wohl ohne Ausnahme über einer Erdfläche die Luft Nachts, dicht
* an der Erde kälter ist, als in der Höhe, . . . ." He notes that, with
* strong looming, the sea often appears concave rather than convex (p.385).
* Remarking on the stories Busch was told by the dike-workers, he says:
* "Ueberhaupt hat der gemeine Mann selten die Gabe, eine Erscheinung so zu
* beschreiben, dass der Physiker die Erzählung gebrauchen kann." (p. 386)
* On the next page is another suggestion for the origins of strange
* reports: "Ich sah neulich auch früh Morgens von hier aus das weiss
* übertünchte Schloss zu Varel und einige andere Gegenstände mit blossen
* Augen so auffallend hell, dass ich es wohl für näher hätte halten
* können; von besonderer starker Refraction war aber nichts zu bemerken,
* sondern ich konnte keinen anderen Grund finden, als dass diese
* Gegenstände hell von der Sonne beschienen wurden und die übrige Gegend
* im Schatten von Wolken lag. Grösser erschienen die Gegenstände auch
* nicht, aber bei so starker Beleuchtung kann ein scharfes Auge einzelne
* Theile der entfernten Gegenstände erkennen, und dies mochte die
* Täuschung verursachen, dass man sie für grösser hielt."
* The Figures show a distorted sunset, probably with mock mirage.
* He wonders if Heemskerk's observations on Nova Zembla were not this?
* [From letters dated 18ten April & 15ten Mai 1806.]
*      Note that his drawing of a mock mirage in Tafel VII, Fig. 3 & 4,
* is probably the EARLIEST such sunset recorded pictorially.


W. H. Wollaston
“Bemerkungen über die horizontale Strahlenbrechung, und über die Vertiefung des Seehorizonts,”
Gilb. Ann. Physik 23, 394–407 (1806).

* Wollaston's 1803 article translated by Gilbert.
* His Fig.6 is remarkable for showing the smooth bend in a miraged oar
* extending from a rowboat to the water. This vertical magnification
* is what makes the inferior-mirage flash visible to the naked eye.


Dangos
“Observations sur les réfractions terrestres,”
Mém. Présent. Inst. Savans Étrangers, Sci. Math. Phys. 1, 463–468 (1806).

* DANGOS reports his observation of early OMEGA (and looming of Etna)
* "Ayant lu depuis peu, dans la connoissance des temps de l'an 12, une
* observation curieuse sur les réfractions terrestres, faite par un
* savant physicien anglois, j'ai pensé que l'Institut national verroit
* avec plaisir les détails d'un phénomène à peu près semblable, qui se
* montra à Malte en 1784, et dont tous les habitans de l'île furent les
* témoins.
*      "Le 20 mars vers 1 heure de l'après-midi, je fus instruit par des
* grands cris qui retentissoient dans les rues, qu'une île venoit de
* s'élever dans le canal de Malte, et j'aperçus bientôt, de dessus les
* terrasses de l'observatoire, une terre très-blanche, entourée d'eau,
* et dont la forme étoit celle à peu près d'un cône droit
* irrégulièrement tronqué. Des marins et des pêcheurs étoient déja
* partis pour aller reconnoître cette île et pour en prendre possession.
*      "La figure de cette terre, sa blancheur et surtout sa position, qui
* se trouvoit exactement dans la direction de la mire que j'avois tracée
* depuis long-temps vers le mont Etna, me firent reconnoître bien vîte
* que cette terre n'étoit autre chose que le sommet toujours neigé de ce
* mont élevé de 3326 mètres . . . ." [The modern figure is 3323 m.]
*      ". . .  cette apparence extraordinaire dura environ 30 minutes depuis
* l'instant où j'en eus connoissance. . . . La mer étoit calme, le vent
* nord-est foible, le thermomètre à 14° 4'; . . . le temps étoit
* humide, et il avoit régné un brouillard épais toute la matinée,
* ainsi que la veille."
*      From his further description of a repeat of this performance on 17
* April 1785 at 6:10 a.m., it appears that the island had been hidden by a
* superior mirage that reflected the sea: ". . . l'horizon de la mer qui
* l'entouroit étoit extrêmement net. . . . L'île . . . survint un instant
* de confusion, et lorsque je la cherchois dans les airs, je la vis, avec
* étonnement, assise à sa place. Tout le mont et les côtes de Sicile,
* qui avoient été invisibles, se montrèrent bientôt en entier, et
* furent visibles le reste du jour." On this occasion, he measured the
* "depression" and found it 15' 17'', "ce qui donneroit pour sa distance
* apparente de l'observatoire, à peu près 18000 mètres . . . ."
* [The actual distance is about 130 km.]
*      He notes this cannot be a simple reflection, "comme on le prétendit
* dans les journaux d'Italie : car alors l'image auroit dûe être
* renversée, et elle étoit droite . . . ." So I suppose it is the isolated
* 3rd image of a 3-image mirage.
*
*      Now comes the OMEGA report:
*      "Je finis en rappelant un phénomène assez curieux qui tient à
* l'objet de ce mémoire, phénomène bien connu des marins, des
* astronomes qui ne sont pas fort éloignés de la mer, que j'ai vu assez
* souvent à Malte et surtout à l'observatoire de Rouen.
*      "Le soleil prend quelquefois, vers son lever, une forme un peu
* allongée qui se rétrécit tout-à-coup dans sa partie inférieure, et
* qui est terminée par le bas, par une ligne droit, de sorte qu'il
* ressemble à une urne sur son piédestal." (Jules Verne, did you read
* this?)
*      "La cause de ce fait est bien simple, d'après la théorie de
* M. Monge sur le mirage . . . ."
*
*      ``Lu le 27 prairial an 10'' which works out to June 15, 1803 if my
* arithmetic is correct.
*
* NOTE: I have filed the 1814 German translation in the Colton file.
* It lacks the last paragraph connecting the Omega display with Monge's
* mirage. (Cf. Jacques Cassini's Omega sunrise, nearly a century earlier!)
*
*      This is indexed under different titles; I have not seen the actual
* title page of the volume. The Royal Society Catalogue says it was
* ``Mémoires présentés à l'Institut des Sciences, Lettres, et Arts par
* divers Savans, et lus dans ses Assemblées : Sciences Mathématiques et
* Physiques'' for Vols. I and II (1806-1811). The later title, according
* to the same source, was ``Mémoires présentés par divers Savans à
* l'Academie [Royale] des Sciences de l'Institut de France; ou Collection
* des Mémoires des Savans Étrangers'' from 1827 on. However, the
* page headers read ``Mémoires présentés a la classe des sciences
* mathém. et physique'' and the footer has ``Sav. Étrangers. 1. T. 1.''
* The ILL people got a copy by asking the Bibliothèque de l'Institut for
* ``Memoires de l'Institut national de France.'' Take your pick.


"EMERITUS" [Thomas Young]
“Article I [remarks on looming, or horizontal refraction],”
Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts 17, 153–156 (1807).

* THOMAS YOUNG's remarks on mirage theory
* Young comments on the inadequacy of Wollaston's demonstration.
* He proposes a model very similar to that of August Schmidt (1878)!
* "If the variable medium be only thick enough to admit the passage of
* rays below [the height where the conjugate point turns around], there will
* be no direct image, but an inverted one only. . . . the case being nearly
* similar to a very oblique internal reflection." (p. 154) -- cf. Wegener!
* "The points K and ε may be considered as conjugate foci, with
* respect to the refraction of the variable medium."
*      He considers DUCTING and CRITICAL REFRACTION: the assumed temperature
* gradient of 1 degree (F?) per foot of height produces a ray curvature of
* 1 second of arc in 16 feet of path length; "The curvature of the earth's
* surface becomes a second in 102 feet; consequently . . . a change of
* temperature of a degree in 6 or 7 feet, would be sufficient to produce
* a refraction equivalent to the apparent depression of a distant object
* arising from this cause, and to elevate the coasts of a wide channel,
* so as to make them visible to each other. This result may also be more
* simply obtained from Simpson's investigations respecting atmospheric
* refraction, the refractive density being inversely proportional to the
* distance from the centre of the earth, when the temperature varies 1°
* in 6 or 7 feet; for, as Dr. Young observes in his extensive system of
* natural philosophy lately published, Vol. II, Art. 461, `If the refractive
* density of a medium vary as a given power of the distance from a certain
* central point, the angular deviation of a ray of light will be, to the
* angle described round the centre, as the exponent of the power to unity.'"
* (p. 155)
*      Then there is a Postscript (pp. 155-156) that continues the discussion,
* finding the image position.
*      Note that Plate V faces p. 153, the title-page of the article.
* This is usually known as "Nicholson's Journal"; dated July.


H. W. Brandes
Beobachtungen und theoretische Untersuchungen über die Stralenbrechung
(in der Schulze'schen Buchhandlung, Oldenburg, 1807).

* Heinrich Wilhelm BRANDES uses temperature gradient info
*
* ". . . die großen Aenderungen, denen die scheinbare Höhe eines
* bestimmten Gegenstandes, den man aus einerlei Standpunkt betrachtet . . . "
* "Schon mehrere Beobachter hatten zwar die ungleiche Erwärmung der Luft
* in verschiedenen Höhen, als einen vorzüglichen Grund mancher hier
* vorkommende Phänomene angegeben; aber so viel mir bekannt ist, hatte
* noch keiner durch Beobachtungen gezeigt, daß die Aenderungen der Refraktion
* ganz genau mit der Aenderung der Unterschiede der in verschiedenen
* Höhen statt findenden Wärme übereinstimmen. Dieses darzuthun,
* waren meine ferneren Beobachtungen bestimmt, und wenn die ersten
* Beobachtungen nur dahin leiten konnten, empirische Regeln für die
* Bestimmung der gleichzeitigen Aenderungen der scheinbaren Höhe
* verschiedener Gegenstände anzugeben, so müssen die leztern,
* wofern sie ihren Zweck erreicht haben, uns in der theoretischen Bestimmung
* der Refraktion einen Schritt weiter bringen." [p. 5]
*
* EARLY MIRAGE OF SUN (cf. the similar publication in Gilberts in 1806.)
* (section 78, p.126): "Eine Erscheinung muß ich noch erwähnen, die
* ebenfalls hier gehört. Am 8. April 1806 nämlich erschien die Sonne beim
* Untergange in einer solchen Gestalt, wie Fig. 18. zeigt. Hier ist offenbar
*      a c b      das aufrechte,      d c e      das umgekehrte und      d f e      das zweite
* aufrechte Bild. Ich hatte damals kein Fernrohr zur Hand, aber am folgenden
* Tage, wo die heitre Witterung mit Ostwind fortdauerte, zeigte sich beim
* Untergange der Sonne etwas ähnliches, obgleich die Spiegelung
* schwächer war, und diese Erscheinung habe ich mit dem Fernrohr beobachtet.
* Die Sonne erschien nämlich wie Fig. 19. und als sie tiefer sank,
* trente sich das Stück oberhalb des Einschnitts ab, schwebte noch
* abgesondert einen Augenblick und verschwand dann. Etwas später trente
* sich noch ein zweiter solcher Streifen. -- Die Sonne erschien zitternd und
* daher schlecht begrenzt, indeß war diese Erscheinung sehr deutlich. --
* Tages vorher waren Nachmittags auch einige südlich liegende
* Gegenstände oberwärts gespiegelt.
*      "Diese Spiegelung der Sonne könte, dünkt mich, gar nicht statt
* finden, wenn die Schichte, worin die starke Brechung erfolgte, sich sehr
* weit, z.B. über den ganzen Gesichtskreis, erstreckt hätte.
* Stellt nämlich (fig. 20.)      d c      die oberfläche der Erde,      b      die
* Gegend vor, wo der Scheitel des Strals [sic] lag, so würde, wenn in      a
* eben so starke Brechung, als in      b      statt finde, keine Vervielfachung des
* Bildes möglich gewesen sein."
*


H. W. Brandes
“Darstellung seiner Untersuchungen über die irdische Strahlenbrechung, und über die sogenannte Luftspiegelung; und was in dieser Materie noch zu thun ist,”
Gilb. Ann. Physik 34, 133–151 (1810).

* Further observations by Brandes, with an appeal for support by Gilbert
*      The letter from Brandes to Gilbert actually begins on p. 135; the
* first 2 pages are Gilbert's comments, citing the earlier works.
*      Most of Brandes's letter is a summary of the high points of his book.
* However, he has a few comments at the end about what needs to be done,
* which would be good advice to mirage observers generally (pp. 148 ff.).
*      He notes the TRIPLE IMAGE often associated with superior mirages:
* "Eine genaue Betrachtung der Umstände, welche diese Spiegelung fast
* unstreitig bewirken, zeigt, dass man eigentlich dann immer drei
* vollständige Bilder und in dem höchsten alle Mahl die Spitzen der
* Gegenstände sehen sollte . . . ." (p. 146) as well as its association
* with the Fata Morgana.
*      There is also a nice comment about the Fata Morgana : "Sie scheint
* mir eine veränderliche Spiegelung zu seyn, die in einem Augenblicke
* vielleicht in demselben Punkte des Horizonts einen Gegenstand zeigt, der
* Meilen weit hinter dem liegt, welchen man im nächst vorhergehenden
* Augenblicke sah. . . .      Freilich könnte auch dann noch, wegen der
* Mannigfaltigkeit der Gegenstände, die hinter einander in einerlei
* Richtung liegen, sich mancherlei zeigen; aber gewiss würde man bei
* solchen Beobachtungen doch eher zu einer Erklärung gelangen, als durch
* die Beschreibung von Feenschlössern und andern Herrlichkeiten, die
* gewiss nur die Fantasie sah, und nicht das Auge." [p. 147]
*      And (p. 151): "Allem, was ich bis jetzt von Beschreibung dieser
* Phänomene kenne, scheint ganz der philosophische Geist zu fehlen,
* welcher nötig ist, um gerade das Rechte zu treffen, und aus dem Chaos
* von zerstreuenden Nebendingen nur den Hauptpunkt hervor zu heben."
*      He also notes the bad seeing that accompanies the inferior mirage:
* ". . . mit dieser Spiegelung . . . fast ohne Ausnahme ein heftiges Zittern
* der Gegenstände verbunden ist . . . ." [p. 150]


J. B. Biot
Notices sur les Opérations exécutées en Espagne, en France, en Angleterre et en Écosse, pour mesurer la courbure de la Terre et la variation de la pesanteur sur l'arc du méridien qui s'étend depuis l'îsle de Formentera, la plus australe des Pythiuses, jusqu'à Unst, la plus boréale des îsles Shetland
(Academie des Sciences, Paris, 1810).

* Biot and Arago's expedition recounted
* The "Notice sur les Opérations d'Espagne et de France" (pp. 1-30
* here), "Lue à la séance publique de la classe des Sciences de l'Institut,
* le 2 janvier 1810" is the account quoted in the 1821 book by Biot & Arago;
* see below (at 1821) for excerpts.
* Now available at
* http://www.academie-sciences.fr/membres/in_memoriam/Biot/Biot_pdf/Notice_EsFr_1810.pdf
* but they don't give the exact citation; probably this appeared in one of
* the Academie's serial publications. . . .
*      This was reprinted in Biot's  Mélanges Scientifiques et Littéraires
* (M. Levy, Paris, 1810), pp. 47 - 68.
* Thanks to Luc Dettwiller for pointing out the availability of this item!


J. B. Biot
Recherches sur les réfractions extraordinaires qui ont lieu près de l'horizon
(Garnery, Paris, 1810).

* BIOT + ARAGO's observation (reported in BIOT's MIRAGE book)
* "Bientôt nous ne vîmes pas seulement deux lumières, mais trois,
* quatre ou davantage. Elles se formoient et disparoissoient ensuite sans
* que le nombre de celles qui paroissoient ensemble eût rien de
* déterminé. . . .      Cette formation successive a beaucoup d'analogie avec un
* autre phénomène que nous avons observé plusiers fois dans l'autres
* stations. On voyoit le point lumineux s'allonger comme une petite colonne
* de feu sous le fil vertical de la lunette, et s'étendre ainsi jusqu'à une
* certaine longueur, après quoi la colonne se rompoit tout à coup et
* formoit deux images dont le plus basse étoit sensiblement rouge, et la
* supérieure sensiblement verte; ou bien elle se concentroit de nouveau sur
* elle-même; et redevendroit un point lumineux unique, de dimension
* insensible, comme auparavant. . . . " (p.15 -- his experiments with Arago)
* See their 1821 report for more details!
* [cf. M.O. 24, 13 (1954)]
*
* This is a remarkable work: it is not only the first theoretical monograph
* on mirages, it explores many important ideas later forgotten and
* rediscovered, such as the relation between the locus of the minima in the
* ray-paths and the occurrence of erect or inverted images (pp. 41 - 63;
* cf. Tait, 1883); the divergence of rays above the horizon, and hence the
* need for the minimum to occur between observer and object if a mirage is
* to occur (p. 65; cf. Meyer, White, Fraser, et al.); the importance of the
* Earth's curvature, and caustic curves (pp. 151 ff.); the role of
* temperature in determining the dip of the horizon; the possibility of
* ducting (p. 196), and hence of negative dip and a false horizon (p. 203);
* etc. -- and all supported by quantitative measurements!
*      August Schmidt's (1878) comments are appropriate.
* [cf. the German treatment by Brandes, 1814.]
*      This is occasionally cited as
* Recherches sur les réfractions extraordinaires qui s'observent
* très-près de l'horizon, avec 9 planches; lu le 8 août 1808
* (Mémoires de l'Institut national des sciences et arts 10, pp.1-266)
* as that title (from "sur" on) appears on the first page of the text.
*
*      Note that the drawings are by Mathieu (cf. Delambre, 1827)
* Jean Baptiste Biot


J. B. Biot
Traité Élémentaire d'Astronomie Physique, Seconde Édition
(Klostermann, Paris, 1810), pp. 224–234.

* Some of the same figures appear in Biot's textbook:
* The miraged man (Fig. 41); the distorted sunsets (42 & 43) in Pl.9
* ORIGIN of the term "MIRAGE" (cf. Le Gentil, 1789!):
* After describing the ordinary inferior mirage over hot sand, such as was
* seen by the French army in Lower Egypt, he says: "On observe
* à-peu-près la même chose à la mer dans des tems très-calmes. Un
* navire, vu dans le lointain et à l'horison, offre quelquefois deux
* images, l'une directe, l'autre renversée; celle-ci absolument pareille à
* l'autre, souvent égale en intensité, en un mot parfaitement semblable à
* l'effet de la réflexion dans un miroir. De là est venu le nom de
* mirage que les marins ont donné à ce phénomène." (p.229)
*      This first volume bears a dedication to Laplace (cf. Biot's anecdote!)
*
*      Sergey Kivalov points out that in the second volume of this 3-volume
* work, on pp. 558-560, Biot calculates the flattening of the full Moon
* at the horizon; this establishes a long-standing interest in this topic
* that helps explain his discovery of the magnification theorem in 1836.
* [NOTE: we have this book in our Special Collections; when I went to look
* at those pages, I found them uncut. I was the first person ever to have
* read that passage in our copy, in nearly 200 years!]
*      Unfortunately, the treatment here is oversimplified: he supposes the
* Moon so small that its image is symmetrical, and (worse) repeats Kepler's
* error of supposing the difference in refraction of the upper and lower
* limbs to correspond to the difference in altitudes of the true (rather
* than diminished) vertical diameter. Having neglected an appreciable
* second-order effect, he then evaluates the effect of refraction on
* the horizontal diameter, which he finds diminished by about 3 parts
* in ten thousand.
*      The publication date of the second volume is 1811.
* A very poor copy is available from Gallica. Google Books also.


Biot
“Untersuchungen über die ungewöhnlichen Strahlenbrechung, welche zuweilen nahe am Horizonte Statt findet, frei bearbeitet von H.W.Brandes, Prof. d. Math. in Breslau,”
Gilberts Ann. Physik 47, 237–313 (1814).

* The German treatment of Biot's monograph, by Brandes
* In the first 2 pages, Brandes explains why and how he has abridged this
* partial translation.
* This is only the first of two installments. As usual in Gilberts Ann.,
* the notes are as valuable as the text.
*      On p. 245, commenting on Biot & Arago's observation of red/green
* dispersion of the signal light (p. 15 of Biot's book), Brandes remarks
* on "die prismatischen Farben," and cites Herschel's 1785 double-star
* catalog, p. 52 [an error: really p. 83]. His translated quotation
* attributed to W.H. is very much abbreviated, however.
*      On p. 257 [Biot p. 26] appears the "magic number" of 1° 23'.
*      On p. 275 [Biot p. 65] is the discussion of the minimum of the
* trajectory. Biot says the rays must be horizontal to give a mirage
* -- this is the later mis-named "Fraser's theorem". Brandes explains
* that the order of inclination of the rays at the eye is also their order
* in any layer, in the branch above the horizontal. And immediately
* afterward is Tait's belated rediscovery about the ordering of the
* minima and the nature of the image (Biot p. 66). This is discussed in
* detail later [p. 279 = Biot p. 72], after the locus of the minima is
* discussed [Brandes p. 278; Biot p. 71].


Biot
“Untersuchungen über die ungewöhnlichen Strahlenbrechung, welche zuweilen nahe am Horizonte Statt findet, frei bearbeitet von Brandes, Prof. d. Math. in Breslau,”
Gilberts Ann. Physik 47, 366–441 (1814).

* The German treatment of Biot's monograph, by Brandes -- part 2


J. F. Erdmann
“Beobachtungen über die Strahlenbrechung und sogenannte Luftspiegelung in den Steppen des Saratowschen und des Astrachanschen Gouvernements,”
Ann. Physik 58, 1–28 (1818).

* MANY OLD REFERENCES and some current observations (MIRAGE HISTORY)
* Cites Quintus Curtius Rufus, as well as many references to mirages
* ("Sarab") in the Koran and other Arab writings
* (Johann Friedrich von Erdmann, according to Roy.Soc. index)
* Available at:
*        http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC05854993&id=-QUAAAAAMAAJ


Biot & Arago
Recueil d'Observations Géodésiques, Astronomiques et Physiques
(Courcier, Paris, 1821).

* BIOT & ARAGO (details)
* This gives the real story of the expedition: how Delambre and Méchain
* began the project, to determine the length of the meter; how the
* southern part of the arc was lost by Méchain's death; and how the
* completed part was published by Delambre in Base du Système
* métrique . The work reported here was done in 1806-07. The very
* breezy Introduction (it is explained in a somewhat apologetic Note) "est
* tirée d'une notice lue par M. Biot, à la séance publique de
* l'Académie des Sciences, pour l'année 1810." It gives the general
* public the bare outlines of how geodesy is done -- along the way,
* offering one of the earliest comparisons of the smoothness of the Earth
* to the peel of an orange (p. vi) -- and reviews the great
* accomplishments of French geodesists, from Picard (1670) and the
* Cassinis, through "Bouguer, Godin, la Condamine, Clairaut, le Monnier,
* Maupertuis et La Caille, tous nos compatriotes, et membres de
* l'Académie des Sciences".
*      "Malgré tant d'efforts, malgré tant d'entreprises, on pouvait
* faire mieux encore; . . . les instrumens d'Astronomie étaient bien
* éloignés alors de la perfection qu'ils ont maintenant acquise,
* perfection telle, qu'on peut régarder comme le dernier terme de la
* précision que l'on atteindre par des évaluations mécaniques, surtout
* depuis qu'un autre français, Borda, aussi membre de l'Académie des
* Sciences, eut trouvé le secret d'atténuer indéfiniment les erreurs
* des observations partielles, en les faisant suivre et succéder les unes
* aux autres sur le limbe circulaire de l'instrument auquel il a donné le
* nom de cercle répétiteur." (p. viii)
*      So (p. ix), the Bureau des Longitudes has chosen Arago and Biot to
* finish the job. The big problem (p. xi) is that one of the sides of the
* Yvice triangle must be some 160 km long, "environ quarante et une lieues
* de longueur. [ Assuming, as the footnote says, a league of 2000 toises;
* "je n'ai employé cette dénomination vague que pour rendre sensible à
* l'esprit la grandeur de nos triangles, par des évaluations encore
* habituelles pour beaucoup de personnes, mais que, sans doute, avec le
* temps, on finira par abandonner pour les évaluations métriques qui ont
* sur les autres l'avantage d'avoir toujours, et partout, la même
* signification." -- now, read on: ] A de si grandes distances, des
* signaux de jour auraient été complètement invisibles. On devait y
* suppléer per des lampes à courant d'air, derrière lesquelles on
* plaçait de grands miroirs de métal poli, pour réfléchir la lumière,
* et toutes les observations devaient se faire de nuit."
*      Desierto de las Palmas  is so called "parce qu'il y croît en
* abondance une petit espèce de palmier à feuilles en éventail, que les
* botanistes nomment le chamærops humilis ." (p. xii)
* Then come all the anecdotes: Biot's ship is driven by a storm to the
* tiny islet of Espalmador, inhabited only by a lighthouse keeper and a
* family of poor fishermen. "Jamais on ne vit de plus profonde misère;
* mais, dans cette misère même, il y avait encore de la vanité: le
* gardien de la tour méprisait beaucoup les pauvres pêcheurs." (p. xiv)
* There are the French consuls who helped the expedition, only to lose
* everything later, having to seek refuge in France. (p. xvi) There is
* the loss of one repeating circle, broken in shipment (p.xvii). He
* describes the wonderful view of the Kingdom of Valencia (p. xviii),
* including the site of Méchain's death and entombment; and "les tours
* de la brillante ville de Valence, heureux séjour du peuple le plus
* insouciant et le plus frivole. Mais ces beautés . . . n'avaient alors
* pour nous aucun attrait. Tout remplis, de la seule idée qui nous
* occupait, nous ne songions, nous ne pouvions songer qu'à nos travaux,
* et aux invincibles obstacles qui . . . ." (Well, you get the idea.)
* Here is the story of the tents blown into the sea by a gust of wind;
* "et nous n'avions pu en préserver notre pauvre cabane qu'en passant
* par-dessus des câbles, et la liant au rocher." (p. xix)
*      After 2 months of futile effort, they figured out how to spot the
* signals at Ybice, by pointing the telescope to the summit of Campvey
* just after sunset. "Je ne saurais exprimer l'émotion que nous
* éprouvâmes, lorsqu'après tant de peines et tant de doutes, nous
* eûmes enfin la certitude de réussir." (p.xxi) And then Biot
* dramatically reveals Méchain's letter, to top it off!
*      We also have the story of the station in the Favaretta mountains
* where Arago tried to establish a station; "mais nous fûmes obligés d'y
* renoncer, à cause de l'abondance des neiges qui couvraient presque
* tout-à-fait les tentes, et aussi parce que les brigands, maîtres de
* ces montagnes, exigeaient que l'on fît un traité avec eux pour avoir
* le droit d'y séjourner." (p. xxii)
*      Then there is the episode where Biot leaves the English safe-conduct
* with Arago and promptly gets himself captured by Ragusan pirates. (p. xxvi)
*      The original note of 1810 is now available as a PDF file at
* http://www.academie-sciences.fr/Membres/in_memoriam/Biot/Biot_pdf/Notice_EsFr_1810.pdf
*
* But of course our real interest is in the refraction observations.
* These commence on pp. 84-85: "en observant Iviza un instant auparavant,
* la lumière de cette station nous paraissait partagée en plusieurs
* lumières distinctes et bien séparées . . . ." (25 Dec. 1806) This
* story continues on p. 106: "Tems parfaitement calme depuis plusieurs
* jours. . . .      Mais à la quatrième ou à la sixième . . . , l'un de nous
* commenc,a de voir à Campvey deux lumières, exactement dans la même
* verticale et éloignées l'une de l'autre d'une quantité que, sur le
* fil, on estima au moins de trois minutes. La vraie lumière . . . était
* à sa place ordinaire; l'autre . . . était plus élevée dans le ciel
* . . . ; elle était aussi plus grosse, plus dilatée, plus irisée." They
* first took it to be a star. There was a problem caused by the two
* observers requiring different eyepiece settings; but when "l'autre
* observateur dut amèner sa lunette sur ce même point, non-seulement il
* apperçut deux lumières, mais il en vit trois et quatre les unes
* au-dessous des autres. . . . Quelquefois on appercevait plus de quatre
* lumières . . . . Le autres, toujours plus élevées dans le ciel, se
* formaient ensuite successivement . . . ." The regular image brightened as
* the others appeared; sometimes the extra images were still brighter than
* the bottom one. No color reported. Biot's monograph is cited.
*      Similar phenomena are reported on pp. 134-135, in observing the signal
* at Desierto from Cullera. Again, the multiplicity of images is
* accompanied by brightening.
* It gets really interesting in the observation from Mongò (p. 144),
* in which DISPERSION is at last reported (though not recognized):
* "Tems parfaitement calme, mais vaporeux; lumière de Cullera bien
* visible; celle du Desierto faible, quelquefois diffuse comme si on la
* voyait à travers une gaze; d'autres fois alongée en un
* parallélogramme vertical; d'autres fois brillante et bien terminée.
* Pendant la 16e observation, on l'a vue double; on l'a vue double aussi
* pendant la 20e. Dans ces deux cas, l'une des deux lumières paraissait
* rouge, l'autre paraissait d'un vert pâle. La première nous a semblé
* à tous deux répondre à la place qu'occupait un instant auparavant la
* lumière véritable; le seconde image, celle qui était verte,
* paraissait, dans le champ de la lunette, au-dessous de la lumière
* rouge, ce qui la mettait au-dessus en réalité, puisque les lunettes de
* nos cercles renversent les objets; en sortant de la cabane, nous
* observâmes qu'il y avait des masses de brouillards moutonnées sur la
* mer, comme lorsque nous observâmes de la station de Desierto plusiers
* lumières à Campvey." (13 Feb. 1807; both B&A again.)
*      Another DISPERSION report comes from La Mola de Formentera;  "Les
* habitans de cette petite île sont très-peu nombreux, et ceux d'Yviza
* les regardent comme des sauvages, quoiqu'ils ne soient pas eux-mêmes
* très-civilisée." (p. 170) But I digress; the good stuff is on p.
* 175, where we have both Arago and Biot observing again, 27 April 1807.
* The light on Mongò was ordinarily "un petit point rond bien terminé;
* mais quelquefois elle s'alongeait verticalement et occupait plus d'une
* minute décimale. Il nous a semblé remarquer alors que cette image
* n'était point de même couleur dans toute son étendue. le rouge était
* en haut, le verd en bas dans la lunette qui renverse. . . . Tems calme."
* Full title is:
* Recueil d'Observations Géodésiques, Astronomiques et Physiques,
* exécutées par ordre du Bureau des Longitudes de France, en Espagne, en
* France, en Angleterre et en Ecosse, pour déterminer la variation de la
* pesanteur et des degrés terrestres sur le prolongement du Méridien de
* Paris, faisant suite au troisième volume de la Base du Système
* métrique; rédigé par MM. Biot et Arago, Membres de l'Académie des
* Sciences, Astronomes adjoints du Bureau des Longitudes, etc.
* (Umberto Eco mentions this in section 84 of ``Foucault's Pendulum'',
* calling this title ``phantasmagorical''!)
* available at Google Books


W. Scoresby
“Description of some remarkable Atmospheric Reflections and Refractions, observed in the Greenland Sea,”
Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh 9, 298–305 (1823).

* SUPERIOR MIRAGES of SHIPS
* cf. Rees, 1988 for inversion


H. H. Blackadder
“On unusual atmospherical refraction,”
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal 13, No. 25, 66–72 (1825).

* Info kindly supplied by A.R.Macdonald, librarian at ROE:
* Henry Home Blackadder
* "In adverting to this subject, one can hardly avoid noticing the
* remarkable inattention of not a few to what is passing under their
* immediate view, while they eagerly search after that which is distant,
* and far removed from the sphere of their contemplation. . . . Is nothing
* interesting but what is distant?"


H. H. Blackadder
“On some phenomena of vertical and lateral mirage observed at King George's Bastion, Leith,”
Edinburgh Journal of Science 3, No. 5, 13–15 (1825).


R. R. Madden
Travels in Turkey, Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine, in 1824, 1825, 1826, and 1827 (Vol. II)
(Carey & Lea, Philadelphia, 1830), p. 123.

* This is the reference mentioned (but not cited) by Bayfield (1835)
* whose quotation is not strict. The original reads:
* "At one moment, the rippled surface of a lake was before my eyes; at
* another time, a thick plantation appeared on either side of me; the
* waving of the branches was to be seen, and this view was only changed
* for that of a distant glimpse of a city; the mosques and minarets were
* distinct, and several times I asked my Bedouins if that were not Suez
* before us; but they laughed and said it was all sand; and what appeared
* to me a city, a forest, or a lake, the nearer I endeavoured to approach
* it the farther it seemed to recede, till at last it vanished altogether,
* `like the baseless fabric of a vision, leaving not a wreck behind.'
*      "If I were to speak of the nature of the Mirage  from my own
* sensations, I should say, it was more a mental hallucination than a
* deception of the sight; for, although I was aware of the existence of
* the Mirage, I could not prevail on myself to believe that the images
* which were painted on my retina were only reflected, like those in
* a dream, from the imagination, and yet so it was."


W. Kelly
“On the temperature, fogs and mirages of the river St. Lawrence,”
Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec 3, 1–45 (1832).

* Dr. William Kelly's first mirage paper
* Here he introduces some half-baked ideas, later retracted. But he has
* already discovered for himself the difference between the inferior and
* superior mirages. In the original text, he cites only Humboldt; in the
* later commentary, he reviews the papers by Latham, Vince, Huddart,
* Wollaston (whom he consistently calls "Woolaston"), Biot, and Parry.
* He says he has seen the mirage in Egypt. Note the FOG in the title;
* also (p.11): "There was generally with the mirage an appearance of a fog
* bank on the horizon . . . . The air within the horizon was at the same time
* perfectly clear."
* Effect of HEIGHT OF EYE mentioned repeatedly: "All these unusual
* appearances were generally lost in ascending the rigging from ten to
* thirty steps, when objects were seen in their natural shapes."
* Effect of DISTANCE noted: "The appearances differ much; owing,
* apparently, to the ships being more or less remote." And, in discussing
* Vince's report on p. 34, he says, "The refracted objects were all without
* the natural line of the horizon; those within it retaining their usual
* appearance." (This point was already made by Vince.)
* HEIGHT and DISTANCE COMBINED: (p. 12): ". . . during the mirage, which
* occurred in a calm with a considerable swell of the sea, the appearances
* presented by two small islands or rocks, at different distances from us,
* was very remarkable; for as the vessel rose on the wave, the more
* distant seemed to sink, and the nearer to be raised up; and again as the
* vessel sank, the first rose, and the near one was lowered. Even the
* different parts of the same island were variously affected, appearing to
* dance as the vessel rose and fell."
* Reflection in an apparently SMOOTH MIRROR (inf. mir.): "The portion of
* reflected sky between the inner islands and the vessel, resembles a
* perfectly smooth lake." (p. 17)


H. W. Bayfield
“Terrestrial refraction in the St. Lawrence,”
Nautical Mag. 4, 91–93 (1835).

* Captain Bayfield's first 3-image report (with Kelly); seen June 19, 1832
* With air 5° F warmer than sea surface, a vessel 7 miles away was seen
* "with her hull occasionally raised, so as to shew it distinctly above
* the horizon, although the height of our eyes was not over eleven feet.
* Her sails appeared elongated laterally, but were perhaps only shortened
* vertically, which made then appear so elongated." (This probably
* explains many other reports of APPARENT HORIZONTAL MAGNIFICATION as well.)
* There was a very light breeze from the west.
*
* This item is followed by two rather ordinary inferior-mirage reports
* from A. Inderwick in Mexico, and R. R. Madden in Egypt, on pp. 93-94, and
* p. 94, respectively. The latter's comment, taken from his "Travels in
* Turkey, Egypt, . . . ", that "I should say it was more a mental hallucination
* than a deception of the sight; for, although I was aware of the existence
* of the mirage, I could not prevail on myself to believe that the images
* which were painted on my retina were only reflected, like those in a
* dream, from the imagination, and yet so it was" -- is apposite.
* (Though to him "the mosques and minarets were distinct," the Bedouins
* "laughed at me, and said it was all sand.")


W. Kelly
“On some extraordinary forms of mirage,”
Nautical Mag. (London) 8, 394–399 (1839).

* FIRST observation of FIVE IMAGES?
* William Kelly, M. D. was an acute observer:
* "When my attention was directed, some years since, to the different
* forms of objects, seen through mirage in the St. Lawrence, one of these,
* which I particularly remarked, was the flower-pot shape assumed by small
* islands, when affected by the mirage, which depends on the contact of warm
* moist air with a surface of water colder than its dew point. Whatever
* the real shape of the island, or rock might be, its top seemed raised and
* flattened; generally extending in a straight horizontal line so far on
* each side, as at least to equal the base in extent; often beyond it;
* whilst, midway between the base and distorted top, the figure was
* contracted, having the appearance of a neck. When two islands lay close
* together, these flattened tops sometimes met, giving the appearance of an
* arch from one to the other. In all cases of mirage, depending on the same
* cause, the tops of objects seemed straight and horizontal in the same way,
* but the sides were like a wall. They frequently presented an appearance
* as if they were horizontally stratified."
* He describes an instance in detail: "A line answering to the horizon,
* was also seen on a level with the upper flat part of the inverted image of
* the island, and extending from it to a sandy point on the main. The true
* horizon was quite distinct, and well marked beneath. The sandy beach
* between us and the point seemed raised like a wall."
* Another case "presented to the naked eye nothing more than the flat top
* and walled sides usually seen in this form of mirage. But on examining it
* carefully with a telescope, in some parts of the flattened top, the
* picture of a beach was seen above the trees; thus shewing that this form
* also depended upon a second inverted image lying above, and confounded
* with, the upright one."
* "All the various forms assumed by objects, under the influence of this
* mirage, seem to be the result of two or more images, alternately erect and
* inverted, either distinct or mingled together in a greater or lesser
* degree."
* In June, 1832, "in passing Point des Monts, where the breadth of the
* river is very considerable, we saw the three images distinctly marked,
* such as they have been described by Vince and Scoresby. . . . We have
* frequently since seen treble images in the estuary and gulf . . . ."
* GOOD ADVICE TO OBSERVERS:
* "A telescope, if at hand, should always be employed in observing mirages
* of any kind, as it enables us to detect particulars, that would escape the
* naked eye. On one occasion, to the naked eye, the hull of a ship seemed
* raised to an enormous height, and the sails very small, the telescope
* shewed three distinct images. . . . By the help of the telescope we were
* afterwards enabled to detect five distinct images, though the whole gave
* to the naked eye the impression of only one almost shapeless mass. . . ."
* Another time, with the air 48° and the water 39°.5, ". . . a vessel
* with all sail set, at one moment looked like an immense black chest, no
* sails or masts being visible. On observing her for a time the black body
* seemed to seperate horizontally into two parts; and two sets of mingled
* sails occupied the intervening spaces, with one set of very small sails
* above. The figures afterwards became more distinct, and three images were
* clearly discerned. Another vessel changed also from the form of a great
* square flat-topped chest, to five distinct images, the upper with sails
* erect, and the two lower double images with their sails rather confusedly
* intermingled. A raised horizon was parrallel to the upper figure of the
* hull. . . . Captain Bayfield and Mr. Bowen observed five distinct images of
* another vessel after I left the deck. When I first noticed extraordinary
* appearances, like those I have endeavored to describe, I was not aware of
* the advantage of employing a telescope for the examination of objects at
* inconsiderable distances." [spelling errors all sic ]
* "It seems probable that the horizontally stratified appearance, which
* the coast often assumes under this species of mirage, may be the effect
* of multiplied images of the horizon, or level sea at its base. The number
* of images may well exceed five, as we find they do three, which I believe
* was the greatest number hitherto noticed by any observer."
* IMPORTANCE OF MIXING in stratified waters:
* "Several rivers empty themselves into the sea at this place [the Mingan
* islands], the waters of which, in calms, float on its surface, which thus
* is sometimes several degrees warmer than the water at a depth of a few
* inches. A moderate current of air, which amongst small islands is often
* partial, sometimes, by agitating the water at one place, renders the
* surface there cold, whilst it continues warm in places sheltered from the
* wind. We have hence occasionally strange combinations of mirage." Thus,
* starting from an ordinary inferior mirage, where "The horizon on this side
* was low and near -- a rock, three miles distant, seemed above it. As the
* breeze sprung up from the S.W. the horizon receded beyond this rock, and
* the islands generally appeared to have flattened tops, shewing the mirage
* of the opposite kind. But the extreme points of the most distant island
* seemed still in the air, notwithstanding, the island generally presented
* the same flat level top as the others -- thus shewing, in its different
* parts, the opposite forms of mirage at the same time."
* ALTERNATION OF ERECT AND INVERTED IMAGES DISCOVERED:
* "Whatever the number of images may be, they appear in every instance to
* be alternately erect, and inverted."
* DISCONTINUOUS HORIZON:
* "But on one occasion near the Labrador coast, the point of junction of
* the two species of mirage was so well marked that it appeared like a step
* in the horizon."
* ASSOCIATION WITH STRAITS:
* "The most remarkable mirages over water have occurred in straits; those
* seen by Mr. Vince at Dover, and the celebrated Fata Morgagna at Measina.
* In the St. Lawrence they are most frequently observed, and present the
* greatest varieties in similar situations: as at Bic, Point des Monts,
* and the strait of Belle-isle." [typos strictly sic .]
* VARIATIONS IN DIP:
* He also cites a case in which the dip, measured with the dip sector,
* increased from 3' 15" to 4' 11" as the water temperature changed from 43.5
* to 46.5 F (both as seen from 12 ft. 6 inches elevation).


C. Lyell
Travels in North America in the years 1841-42; with Geological Observations on the United States, Canada, and Nova Scotia (Vol. II)
(Wiley and Putnam, New York, 1845), p. 85.

* Sir Charles LYELL's textbook example of LOOMING:
* "June 14, 1842. - From Queenstown we embarked in a fine steamer for
* Toronto, and had scarcely left the mouth of the river, and entered Lake
* Ontario, when we were surprised at seeing Toronto in the horizon, and
* the low wooded plain on which the town is built. By the effect of
* refraction, or `mirage,' so common on this lake, the houses and trees
* were drawn up and lengthened vertically, so that I should have guessed
* them to be from 200 to 400 feet high, while the gently rising ground
* behind the town had the appearance of distant mountains."
* (No photocopy; this is on P-10 microform.)


W. Kelly
“On the dip of the horizon, and mirages of the Gulf and River St. Lawrence,”
Nautical Mag. (London) 15, 393–398 (1846).

* Dr. William Kelly seems to have been as sharp an observer as Willard Fisher
* He recognizes the two main types: "In one (the mirage of Arctic regions)
* the horizon is elevated, the forms of objects distorted, and frequently
* two, three, or even as many as five images of the same object are seen,
* alternately erect and inverted -- the lowest always being erect. This
* kind of mirage is only met when the water is colder than the air. In the
* other kind of mirage, (the mirage of the desert), the horizon is
* depressed, distant points of land seem raised into the air, the form of
* objects is seldom materially changed, there are never more than two images
* of an object, and when a second is seen, the lower is always inverted, the
* upper erect. When this kind of mirage is seen, the water is usually
* warmer than the air."
* Kelly grants that the temperature difference between water and air is
* the main factor, but thinks humidity plays a part as well. He notes
* that mirages are favored by calm, but "Still I have seen both forms in
* fresh breezes, and the mirage with depressed horizon during a strong
* gale."
* He gives a few extreme examples of dip, and notes a DIURNAL VARIATION in
* dip. The variations of dip parallel those of the mirages.
* On the whole, a careful, cautious argument; should be taken seriously.
* No.8, August, 1846.


G. A. Bedford
“Observations on the phenomena of terrestrial refraction,”
Nautical Mag. (London) 16, 67–70 (1847).

* Commander Bedford thinks it has to do with water vapor, not temperature.
* See detailed discussion below, following the reprint in J. Franklin Inst.
* I have only a very bad copy of this from a scratched microfiche.
* Full title is "The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle".


G. A. Bedford
“Observations on the phenomena of terrestrial refraction,”
J. Franklin Inst. , series 3, 13, 279–282 (1847).

* Commander Bedford thinks it has to do with water vapor, not temperature.
* But he recognizes that the difference in temperature of sea and air is
* the decisive factor. He has observed carefully:
* "The occurrence of mirage during strong, or even fresh, winds, can be, I
* imagine, but seldom, particularly of that kind with elevated horizon. . . ."
* Despite the title, this is about mirages. This seems to be a verbatim
* reprint of his Nautical Magazine article, in response to Kelly.


K. B. Martin
“Mirage at Ramsgate,”
Nautical Mag. (London) 16, 457–459 (1847).

* A curious report, including claims of LATERAL MIRAGE
* ". . . the said light became perfectly distinct , and proved to be, (as
* in a former instance communicated to you, Calais Light , and in a
* position 2 3/4 points from its real bearing. . . . right over the middle
* of the North Sand."
* A Classical allusion: "The pilot of Ulysses was deceived, as Ithaca
* melted into mist . . . ."
* Cited by Lt. Raper.
* Capt. Martin is listed as "Harbour-Master, Royal Harbour, Ramsgate."
* Full title is "The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle".
* Sept. issue.


R. Leighton
“Notes on a passage through the Grecian archipelago,”
Nautical Mag. (London) 18, 414–420 (1849).

* HEIGHT DEPENDENCE mentioned for BLACK SEA mirages
* In the section headed "Black Sea" (p. 418), Capt. Leighton says:
* ". . . I have found that dark overcast rainy weather occurs frequently,
* . . . and this weather sometimes clears off suddenly to beautiful clear
* weather, but leaves a miraged horizon. This, when it occurs at night is
* very deceptive, as it cannot then be seen, and may mislead you by false
* altitudes of stars. I have seen it several feet high all round the
* horizon during the day, appearing like broken water, or the tops of trees
* upon a low plain just rising above the horizon, that did not disappear
* until the eye was fifty feet above the sea. I have also observed the
* land to be affected by this mirage, particularly near Cape Fontane."


A. T. d'Abbadie
“Sur un météore peu observé jusqu'ici,”
Mem. Acad. Toulouse 5, 296–303 (1849).

* EARLIEST BLANK STRIP ?? Note references to "DRY FOG" throughout
* Many good descriptions and a DRAWING of black bars across the Sun!
* The "météore" is evidently a DUCT, which he says is known as "qobar"
* in the language of the Ethiopians. "Toutes les langues éthiopiennes
* ont un mot spécial pour le désigner et pour éviter les périphrases."
* (According to the E.B. (9th ed.), d'Abbadie compiled a catalog of
* existing Ethiopian manuscripts; see the article on Ethiopia.)
* "Vu de loin, aux limites de l'horizon, le qobar semble disposé par
* couches, le plus souvent horizontales, à tranches nettes, sans bavures,
* et tellement denses que le soleil s'y éclipse comme derrière l'écran
* le plus opaque. Ainsi, dans Ynarya nous vîmes, le 24 janvier 1844, le
* soleil disparaître complètement derrière un banc de qobar qui devint
* ainsi visible négativement. A mesure qu'il descendait, son disque
* paraissait, au-dessous de la limite inférieure du qobar, aussi net et
* exempt de déchirures que si l'on avait enlevé d'un trait de diamant la
* moitié supérieure d'un disque de verre rouge. Cette couche de vapeurs
* sèches avait une légère réfraction de lumière rouge sur sa surface
* supérieure pendent que l'astre était caché derrière, et nous pûmes
* voir ainsi que cette surface était tant soit peu plus déchiquetée que
* la surface inférieure."
* "Le caractère le plus frappant de notre météore, outre l'énorme
* sécheresse qui l'accompagne toujours, c'est sa faculté d'éteindre
* la lumière." N.B.: Drawing shows a VERTICAL COLUMN -- cf. Livesey, 1985.
* ". . . et toutes ces couches interceptaient totalement et sans
* déchiqueture la lumière du soleil."
* Many nice accounts of phenomena over a small lake (Tana).
* The comments following on pp.303-304 by the Commission of referees say
* that d'Abbadie was from a family of the Midi, and educated in Toulouse;
* he apparently inherited wealth, which he used to support scientific
* expeditions. This connection explains his presenting the paper here, and
* his final paragraph thanking the city fathers for their support of the
* Toulouse Observatory.


J. B. Cherriman
“On the atmospheric phenomena of light,”
Canadian Journal 1, 6–8, 26–28 (1852).

* A very SUCCINCT SUMMARY of all of atmospheric optics
* J. Bradford Cherriman's review article deserves to be better known!
* He covers everything: refraction, mirages, scattering, absorption,
* rainbows halos, glories and coronae. He explains superior and inferior
* mirages, and says: "To this class of phenomena belong the well-known
* Fata Morgana , the appearances seen on the sandy plains of Egypt, and
* called by the French Mirage , and the Looming occasionally seen in
* parts of Great Britain."
* N.B.: The Roy. Soc. Cat. has this under "Bradford".


Mr. M`Farland
“On the Fata Morgana of Ireland,”
Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Transactions of the Sections for 1852 22, 29–30 (1853).

* IRISH Fata Morganas, some with COLOR
* The first sentence is: "These singular illusions are termed in the
* Irish language Duna Feadhreagh , or Fairy Castles."
* After citing several rather fantastic reports, the author describes
* his own observation: ". . . in June, 1833, he himself and a party of
* friends, when standing on a rock at Portbalintrea, perceived a small
* roundish island as if in the act of emerging from the deep, at a distance
* of a mile from the shore; at first it appeared but as a green field,
* afterward it became fringed with red, yellow and blue; whilst the forms
* of trees, men and cattle rose from it slowly and successively; and these
* continued for about a quarter of an hour, distinct in their outlines,
* shape and colour; the figures, too, seemed to walk across it, or wandered
* among the trees, the ocean bathed it around, the sun shone upon it from
* above; and all was fresh, fair, and beautiful, till the sward assumed a
* shadowy form, and its various objects, mingling into one confused whole,
* passed away as strangely as they came."
*      Further instances are mentioned, but do not seem to be first-person
* accounts. A few references are offered for these later examples.
*      There seems to be no standard abbreviation for these Reports; see
*
*       http://www.scholarly-societies.org/history/1831baas.html
*
* The full title of the volume is: Report of the twenty-second meeting of
* the British Association for the Advancement of Science; held at Belfast
* in September 1852.
*      Note: these "Transactions of the Sections" are paginated separately
* from the rest of the Reports, though both are bound together. They
* are headed "Notices and Abstracts of Miscellaneous Communications to
* the Sections", and follow the first 355 pages of the volume. According
* to the Indexes that appear at the end of this section, the first part
* of the volume is "Reports on the State of Science", while the second
* is "Miscellaneous Communications to the Sections."
*      Following p. 144 of this section comes yet a third, separately
* paginated, section of the volume (again starting on p.1) that lists
* "those Members of the British Association . . . to whom Copies of this
* Volume [for 1852] are supplied gratuitously . . . ." -- with separate
* lists of "Honorary Members", "Life Members", and "Annual Subscribers".
* This is followed by several un-numbered pages listing the past volumes.
*      Note that the M of M`Farland is followed by a left single quote mark.
* He does not appear in any of the lists of members.


A. Bravais
“Notice sur le mirage,”
Annuaire Météorologique de la France pour 1852 4, 227–280 (1853).

* BRAVAIS reviews mirages
* (This 53-page article is filed separately.)
*
* EARLY USE of "INFERIOR" and "SUPERIOR" mirage terminology:
* "Description du mirage ordinaire ou mirage inférieur" (p. 234)
* "Mirage inverse ou mirage supérieur" (p. 264)
*
* This is an outstanding review of the early literature, containing many
* results not re-discovered until much later. EXCELLENT INSIGHT into
* the problem, despite being confined to simple analytical cases.
* Very complete REFERENCES to the earlier literature, even mentioning
* Quintus Curtius (p.227)
*
* Much discussion of the fact that the inferior mirage is usually smaller
* than the direct image (pp. 233, 241, etc.), and tentatively attributes
* it to the CURVE of the Earth: "J'ai remarqué que, lorsque l'oeil est
* près de la surface des eaux, à 1 mètre ou 2 mètres au plus de
* hauteur, les objets étant rapprochés, les deux images ne diffèrent
* pas beaucoup de l'égalité; mais que, si l'oeil est beaucoup plus
* élevé, par exemple à 10 ou 12 mètres d'elévation au-dessus du
* niveau de la couche liquide, le rétrécissement de l'image inférieure
* devient extrêmement sensible: d'après cela, il me paraît probable
* que la courbure de la terre joue un rôle assez actif dans ce
* phénomène." (p.241) [cf. Riccò et al., 1888.]
*
* CARE in observing: "Pour bien discerner le mirage, il faut
* non-seulement une vue longue et étendue, mais savoir observer des
* détails, et avoir l'habitude de l'horizon. Aux voyageurs, aux marins,
* aux météorologistes, cet exercice est devenu familier; le reste des
* hommes s'en doute à peine; vous leur montrerez le mirage et ils ne le
* verront pas, ou ils ne verront qu'un peu de brouillard et de fumée
* à l'extrême horizon." (p.235)
*
* EFFECT of INFERIOR MIRAGE on HORIZON (WAVES):
* "L'horizon sensible de l'eau paraîtra presque toujours offrir un
* léger tremblotemont: si le mirage est fort, il sera bordé par une
* crête dentelée dont les sinuosités paraîtront sans cesse monter et
* descendre, s'effacer et reparaître." (p.235)
* How to tell REFLECTION on water from inferior mirage, p.237.
* "En général, dans le cas du mirage, le raccordement d'une ligne
* oblique avec sa symétrique située au-dessous se fait, non par un angle
* à sommet net, mais par un arc de courbe ayant son principal élément
* vertical." (p.238) [cf. Wollaston, 1803; & Gilbert's 1806 transl., Fig.6 !]
*
* OPTIMAL HEIGHT of EYE: "Il est très-probable qu'il existe une certaine
* hauteur de l'oeil pour laquelle l'angle entre l'horizon apparent et la
* ligne de partage des objets situés à une distance donnée est un
* maximum. Ce maximum, dont la hauteur doit varier avec les circonstances
* météorologiques du mirage, paraît avoir lieu pour une élévation
* de l'oeil de 1m.5 à 2m . . . ." (p. 242)
*
* Effect of UNEVEN GROUND: ". . . le mirage des plaines ne pourra jamais
* offrir une régularité aussi parfaite que le mirage des mers ou des
* lacs." (p. 244)
*
* Notices "que le niveau de la caustique ne peut jamais s'élever . . .
* au-dessus de l'horizon apparent." (p. 250) -- a hint of The Theorem.
*
* An early EXPLANATION of NEGATIVE DIP (cf. Kimmfläche, and Biot):
* the space below the level where ray has constant height "est pour
* l'observateur comme s'il n'existait pas, c'est-à-dire comme si le sol
* ou la mer s'élevaient . . . ." (p. 262)
*
* His numerical difficulties (bottom of p. 272): ". . . j'ai été arrêté
* par la difficulté de cette analyse, et surtout par la complication
* des calculs numériques."
*
* He also emphasizes the parallels between inferior and superior mirages,
* and deals with the paradox of the missing 3rd image in inferior mirages:
* "le sol interceptera les trajectoires qui la forment et fera disparaître
* l'image directe secondaire qui devrait cette fois se montrer en dessous
* de l'image renversée." (p. 274)
* "Cette non-observation de la troisième image, dans le cas du mirage
* ordinaire, ne forme donc point une objection sérieuse contre la
* théorie que nous venons d'exposer." (p. 275) Yet Wollaston has seen
* it in the lab (p. 276).
*
* ADVICE to observers: ". . . il est très-utile d'être muni d'une longue
* vue, ou à son défaut, d'une lorgnette de spectacle groissant au moins
* deux à trois fois, et que certains détails échapperaient à l'oeil
* nu qui pourront être facilement saisis par une lunette . . . ." (p. 280)
*


J. Abbott
“On the mirage of India,”
J. Asiatic Soc. of Bengal 23, 163–169 (1854).

* Mostly superior mirages, with DRAWINGS
* "I have also observed upon the Nurbudda and other large rivers that,
* whereas the nearer current is too rapid and turbid to reflect the rocks
* upon its banks, the more distant current, equally rapid and equally
* turbid, presents a perfect reflection of the banks without any waving of
* outline. This may be attributable to the transparent vapour, ever hanging
* over streams, acting as a mirror to reflect surrounding objects." (But
* then he allows that it might be due to the combined reflections from wave
* crests -- cf. Budde (1885) and Venturi (1889).)
* EARLIEST WAVE-CREST THEORY?
* cf. Büsch, 1800, for a similar observation.
* Major James Abbott


Parès
“Note sur le mirage des côtes du département de l'Hérault,”
Mem. Acad. Sci. Lett. Montpellier 3, 1–11 (1855).

* Long verbal descriptions of inferior mirages; no drawings
* Remarks on effects of height of eye, etc.
* From 37 m height, "l'image inférieure était moindre de moitié."


Parès
“Sur le mirage,”
Annuaire de la Société Météorologique de France 3, 247–252 (1855).

* Possible FATA MORGANA with SUPERIOR MIRAGES with a fine fold-out plate.
* A very detailed account of observations from 37 m with 40x telescope.
* DIP VARIATIONS of 4' reported.
* "Abnormal" refraction is in fact normal:
* "Ces divers effets, je les ai observés si fréquemment, qu'on pourrait
* dire que c'est l'état normal de la contrée."
* A reasonable interpretation of "FOG":
* "Ce nuage est venu du côté de la haute mer. Sa largeur est faible, sa
* teinte et sa consistance sont celles d'un nimbus. It est probablement
* l'image du sol vu de profil." (p.248)
* "Il s'annonce par une vapeur générale qui couvre le ciel à l'horizon,
* sur une hauteur d'environ 3'." (p.251)
* A "BREATHING" MIRAGE:
* ". . . montant . . . et . . . redescendant renversées : one dirait qu'il les
* aspire à son passage."
* ". . . it n'eût ondulé, au point qu'il semblait danser , selon
* l'heureuse expression de M. Humboldt."
* At one point the inverted image disappeared, leaving 2 erect ones.
* (cited by Mascart)


H. Emsmann
“Luftspiegelung an der Sonne; beobachtet von Prof. H. Emsmann,”
Pogg. Ann. Phys. Chem. , series 2, 98, 642–643 (1856).

* SUNSET MIRAGE
* "Auf einmal bemerkten wir, dass unsere Schatten, die wir vor uns liegen
* hatten, da wir ostwärts gingen, doppelt waren und zwar in der Weise,
* dass über unseren Köpfen im Schatten noch ein zweiter Kopf deutlich
* und scharf hervortrat. Ich sah mich um nach der Sonne, und
* es zeigten sich im Westen . . . zwei klare Sonnen vertikal
* übereinander. Der vertikale Abstand beider Sonnen von einander betrug
* etwas über einen Sonnendurchmesser."


Prof. C. W. Baur
“Ueber Erdrundung und Luftspiegelung auf dem Bodensee,”
Jahreshefte des Vereins für vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg 13, 79–86 (1857).

* A good account of mirages seen on the Bodensee ( = Lake Constance)
* with many DRAWINGS and a good description of the DISTANCE EFFECT:
* "Ein in der Richtung nach Constanz fahrender Dampfer bot die bequemste
* Gelegenheit dar, die Erscheinung nach allen Modifikationen, welche die
* zunehmende Entfernung mit sich brachte, zu verfolgen."
* (The description is a whole page long -- too long to quote here.)
* He also notices the slight vertical compression of the inferior image,
* and mentions (but does not cite) a mural mirage "nach den Comptes rendus
* der Pariser Akademie . . . neuerdings an der südlichen sonnenerwärmten
* Aussenwand des Börsengebäudes in Paris . . . ."
*
* There is a good concluding EXPLANATION of the FANTASTIC SCENES often
* reported: "Wie ist es aber möglich, dass die Luftspiegelung Gegenstände
* darbietet, welche in der Wirklichkeit gar nicht vorhanden sind, Gebäude
* mit Kuppeln, Balkonen, Säulen, Palmenhaine, wo der enttäuschte Reisende
* nichts findet als Felsblöcke, Sandhügel und Gestrüpp? Bringen wir in
* Abzug, was auf Rechnung der Phantasie und der Vergrösserung durch die
* Fama beim Übergang der Beschreibung von Mund zu Mund, von Buch zu Buch
* kommen mag, so bleibt vielleicht folgende natürliche Auflösung des
* Zaubers. Ich sah hie und da eine rundliche Masse wie einen Baum,
* Steinhaufen oder dgl. mit ihren verkehrten Spiegelbild zu einem
* Doppelgebild zusammenfliessen, das an beiden Seiten den Anschein von
* senkrechten Wänden darbot. Hie und da zeigte sich am Seenufer ein
* steiler, senkrecht wie von Erdrissen durchstreifter Absturz, wo ich keinen
* solchen vermuthen konnte, und auch bei der nachfolgenden Betrachtung
* Nachmittags oder von einem höheren Standpunkte aus nur den schmalen Saum
* einer Kiesbank oder eines sonstigen unbewachsenen Bodens vorfand. Wie aus
* einem Felsblock dieser Art ein Gebäude, aus einem kurzen senkrechten
* Fleck eine Säule, aus Gestrüpp ein Wald werden kann, wenn der Wunsch und
* die Phantasie das ihrige dazuthun, mag einleuchten." (cf. Beauford, 1802)
*      This paper makes no sense until you know that the German "geogr. Meile"
* was 1/15 of a degree, or 4 nautical miles.
* This is the only place outside of America where I have seen ' used for
* feet and " used for inches!


Parès
“Deuxième note sur le mirage aux environs de Montpellier,”
Mém. Acad. Montpellier (Section des Sciences) 3, 493–504 (1855-57).

* A more direct account of the inferior and superior mirages than the
* following one. Good descriptions of FOG ("nuage").


Parès
“Deuxième note sur le mirage aux environs de Montpellier,”
Annuaire de la Société Météorologique de France 7, 125–132 (1859).

* A rather tedious account of inferior mirages seen at Montpellier
* FOG : "La mer la première se couvrait de la vapeur du mirage, vapeur
* blanchâtre qui le signalait toujours."
* TURBULENCE: ". . . un fort miroitement se prononçait dans le région du
* mirage, malgré le calme qui régnait dans toute la contrée; les images
* y flottaient, comme agitées par un vent violent . . . ."
* DEMAGNIFICATION: "Cette précision des images rendait encore un autre
* service: elle permettait de voir que l'image réfléchie était d'un tiers
* au moins plus petit que l'objet." (seen from 37 m height)
* (cited by Mascart)


E. E. Kummer
“Über atmosphärische Strahlenbrechung,”
Monatsber. Kgl. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 5, 405–420 (1860).

* KUMMER's paper on super-critical refraction in dense atmospheres:
* Multiple complete images of the whole sky and the whole surface of the
* planet, even for an outside observer.
* Novel treatment of the problem from a mathematical point of view;
* Kummer has fun with PDE's.
* ". . . das erste Bild [der Sonne] welches . . . zu einer sehr schmalen
* Ellipse abgeplattet erscheinen müßte . . . ."
*      Available at last from
* http://bibliothek.bbaw.de/bibliothek-digital/digitalequellen/schriften#A9
*      The volume for 1860 was published in 1861.  Meeting date: 12. Juli
* [cf. Bouguer (1749) and J.de Graaff-Hunter (1913)]


Verdet
“Mémoire sur la réfraction atmosphérique; par M. Kummer,”
Ann. Chim. Phys. , series 3, 61, 496–507 (1861).

* VERDET translates Kummer's paper
* The section is headed "Mémoires sur la physique publiés a l'étranger.
* Extraits par M. Verdet."
* (available from Gallica)


E. E. Kummer
“Über atmosphärische Strahlenbrechung,”
Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik 61, 263–275 (1863).

* An exact reprint of Kummer's original paper:
* (this is the version reprinted in Kummer's collected papers, edited by
* André Weil (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1975) pp.337ff.)


E. B. Hunt
“Key West physical notes. 9. A water moonrise,”
American Journal of Science and Arts , series 2, 35, 395–396 (1863).

* Hunt's observation of an OMEGA MOONRISE in Key West
* "When becalmed in a beautiful evening between the Reef and the Key, the
* water being very tranquil, I saw the moon rise over the sea with some
* interesting appearances. The long reflection of the emergent disc on the
* water was well defined, and seemed to be a part of the moon itself. As
* the under semicircle of the disc began to rise above the water, there was
* an appearance of drawing in at the sides of the combined luminous figure.
* As this seeming contraction progressed, the outline showed a curved
* figure, like that made by water in raising a cohering disc from its
* surface. There was no cusp point between the disc and the
* disc-reflection, but a seemingly distinct curve, concave outwards. As
* the disc rose above the water, this curve opened, and a broad connecting
* column seemed to bind the disc and its reflection, just like a coherent
* water column between the lifted disc and the level water surface.
* Instantly this seeming column parted as if broken, when the moon was seen
* to be distinctly above the water by about a fourth of its diameter, as
* nearly as I could estimate. The sudden shock of rupture appeared
* perfectly distinct, and the semblance of a material connection between the
* disc and reflection was perfect, both before and at the instant of visible
* separation. This observation has interest in its relation to the contact
* phenomena of eclipses." So he mis-interpreted what he saw, in spite of
* very accurately recording the details.
* This is a short numbered section at the end of the longer paper called
* "Key West Physical Notes". Am.J.Sci. was also known as "Silliman's
* Journal".


J. Parnell
“On a mirage in the English Channel,”
Phil. Mag. , series 4, 37, No. 250, 400–401 (1869).

* John Parnell's MULTIPLE-IMAGE MIRAGES at Folkestone, 13 April (1869)
* "The lighthouse at Cape Gris Nez gave five images in a vertical line: --
* the lowest erect but somewhat magnified; above that and separated from
* it a pair of images of the centre and highest portion of the building
* only, one erect and the other inverted; and over these another pair, the
* inverted image being like the former one, but the erect image showing the
* whole building."
* These are often supposed to be the first observations of more than 3
* images, though Kelly saw 5. However, Parnell reports seeing both 7 and
* 9: ". . . some fishing-luggers were observed hull down, so that the
* position of the horizon could be ascertained . . . but over these were pairs
* of images of vessels which ordinarily would have been invisible. In some
* instances three and even four pairs could be observed placed in a vertical
* line, the lower image in each pair being inverted. With the exception of
* the uppermost pair, the images seemed to represent the maintopgallant
* sail only, and that considerably elongated; but the highest erect image
* showed the mizzen- and the fore masts and the jib, but in no instance
* could the hulls be seen. In all cases the inverted images were of about
* twice the height of the erect. Soon after 3 o'clock vessels between the
* observer and the horizon began to be affected. The Varne light-ship,
* which is about 8 1/2 miles from the English coast, had her mast-flagstaff
* and stanchions elongated to some three times their proper length: this
* effect lasted for about ten minutes, when they shrank to less than half
* their usual size, and the hull began to rise till it was nearly as high as
* it was long, and formed a most conspicuous object even to the naked eye."
*
* There had been "fog" in the morning, but at 2 pm "in the course of a few
* minutes the fog had disappeared, leaving the atmosphere in a state of
* unusual transparency."
* ". . . wind S.W., very light at 2 o'clock and dropping to a calm . . . ."
* "The place of observation was about 30 feet above high-water mark."
* Observations made "through a small telescope with a 25-power".


Janssen
“Extraits des séances de la Société Météorologique: Séance du 14 juin 1870; Communications,”
Nouvelles Météorologiques 3, 197 (1870).

* JANSSEN's first mirage report, followed by Silbermann's comment
* Janssen calls it "mirage inverse qu'il a eu occasion d'observer sur
* la mer Rouge, au moment du soleil levant. Ce phénomène est dû à
* l'influence des côtes élevées qui bordent la mer. Il résulte de
* cette situation qu'au moment où se produit le phénomène observé, la
* température maximum se trouve à une assez grande hauteur au-dessus des
* eaux ; c'est seulement à partir de ce niveau qu'elle décroît
* lorsqu'on s'élève. Ce mode de distribution des températures de l'air
* est très-différent de celui qui a lieu dans une plaine unie ; il
* explique nettement et dans tous ses détails la production du mirage
* inverse au lieu du mirage direct."
* Evidently, this is a superior mirage; unfortunately, no detail is given.
* (For more of his Red-Sea sunset observations, see his 1874 paper.)
* Août 1870, No. 8


Silbermann
“Extraits des séances de la Société Météorologique: Séance du 14 juin 1870; Communications,”
Nouvelles Météorologiques 3, 197 (1870).

* Silbermann's comment on Janssen's mirage report
* (This is the dog-like-a-fish report.)
* "M. Silbermann . . . signale certains phénomènes curieux que l'on peut
* observer à Paris même, dans tous les points où les couches d'air
* voisines du sol peuvent être échauffées exceptionnellement sur de
* grandes étendues. Ce cas se présente assez souvent en été sur la
* place de la Concorde pour un observateur qui place ses yeux tout près
* du sol."
* Then follows a direct quote from Silbermann:
*      «Si un chien passe sur le trottoir à une centaine de mètres, ses
* pattes plongeant au-dessous de la couche d'air qui produit le mirage,
* les parties supérieurs de l'animal sont réfléchies en dessous de
* cette couche. Elles offrent alors l'aspect d'une espèce de poisson
* fantastique qui semble nager à la surface du sol.»
* Août 1870, No. 8


C. Flammarion
in The Atmosphere James Glaisher, ed.
(Harper Brothers, New York, 1873), pp. 149–150.

* FLAMMARION quotes DIODORUS SICULUS (but gives no detailed reference)
* "An extraordinary phenomenon occurs in Africa at certain periods,
* especially in calm weather; the air becomes filled with images of all
* sorts of animals, some motionless, others floating in the air; now they
* seem running away, now pursuing; they are all of enormous proportions, and
* this spectacle fills with terror and awe those who are not accustomed to
* it. . . . Strangers not used to this extraordinary phenomenon are seized
* with fear; but the inhabitants, who are in the habit of seeing it, take no
* particular notice of it." (p.149)
* "Certain physical philosophers attempt to explain the true causes of
* this phenomenon, which seems extraordinary and fabulous. They say that
* there is no wind, or scarcely any, in this country. The masses of
* condensed air produce in Libya what the clouds sometimes produce with us
* on rainy days, viz., images of all shapes rising on every side in the
* air."
* On the next page, he drops a tantalizing hint:
* "This same phenomenon (of which Quintus Curtius has also spoken) has
* long been remarked by the Arabs, and it is often discussed in the
* treatises of Oriental writers."
* Flammarion has found Büsch's work, but not Gruber's; so he thinks
* Monge was the first to explain it. [Thus, the source of that error.]


J. D. Everett
“On mirage,”
Nature 11, 49–52, 69–71 (1874).

* Joseph David Everett's review article in Nature
* "Another class of appearances are known (especially among nautical men)
* under the name of looming . Distant objects are said to loom when they
* appear abnormally elevated above their true positions. This abnormal
* elevation not unfrequently brings into view objects which in ordinary
* circumstances are beyond the horizon. It is also frequently accompanied
* by an appearance of abnormal proximity (though this may perhaps be rather
* a subjective inference from the unusual elevation and clear visibility
* of the objects than a separate optical characteristic), and it is further
* accompanied in many, though not in all cases, by a vertical magnification,
* the heights of objects being many times magnified in comparison with
* their horizontal breadths, so as to produce an appearance resembling
* spires, pinnacles, columns, or basaltic cliffs."
*      "In rare instances, two or even three of these images are seen one
* above another, vertically over the real object; but these multiple images
* are usually too small to be seen without the aid of a telescope -- the
* objects whose images they are being so distant as to appear mere specks
* to the naked eye." (p. 49)
*      He then recommends Scoresby's accounts in his "Greenland" and
* "Arctic Regions"; and quotes from Latham's (1798) account of looming
* seen at Hastings.
*      "The circumstance which it is most important to know . . .  in order
* to predict the degree of curvature, is the rate at which the temperature
* changes with height." (p. 50)
*      "An increase of temperature upwards, at the rate of about
* one-sixteenth of a degree Fahr. per foot, would make the curvature of
* rays equal to that of the earth, so that a ray might encircle the globe.
* . . . The visible effect is precisely the same as if the convexity of the
* surface of the earth were diminished." (p. 51)
* He then considers a parabolic temperature profile, so that "A pencil
* of rays diverging . . . from a point . . . will thus converge accurately
* to another point. . . . Such a pair of points may be called principal
* conjugate foci." (p. 51)
*      "As every point on the surface of an object will thus have its
* conjugates, we shall have a succession of images of the object. The first
* image will be upside down, the second erect, and so on alternately.
* They will be what are technically called `real' images . . . ." (p. 52)
* He ends this part by pointing out the astigmatism of the images.
*      On p. 69, he quotes (in translation) from Monge, and adds:
*      "The only objection which I think can be taken to this explanation
* of Monge, is that it seems to imply not a curvature, but an angle,
* in the course of the rays, just as in the case of what is called
* total internal reflection at the bounding surface of a piece of glass
* when the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle.
*      "Now, the formation of an angle (even a very obtuse angle) in a ray
* would require a perfectly sharp transition from one degree of density to
* another, instead of the gradual transitions which are more in accordance
* with our knowledge of the properties of air."
*      "As to the propriety of applying the name reflection  to an action
* such as that . . . , it is perhaps just as proper as the application of
* the name refraction to the bending of rays which takes place in the
* atmosphere . . . ." (pp. 69-70)
*      On p. 71, he repeats Wollaston's experiment; but "a much finer
* effect is obtained in the arrangement . . . in which three liquids are
* employed, the middle one having the highest index of refraction, while
* its specific gravity is intermediate between those of the other two.
* The three liquids are -- (1) A strong solution of alum at the bottom;
* (2) pure water at the top; (3) Scotch whiskey mixed with enough sugar
* to make its specific gravity intermediate between those of the other
* two liquids. It is introduced last by means of a pipette."
*      "The arrangement of three liquids just described, which was suggested
* to me by Prof. Clerk-Maxwell, is extremely effective, but requires much
* delicacy in its preparation to ensure success."
*      "With the two-liquid arrangement I have obtained three spectra,
* the middle one inverted, by employing as object a horizontal slit in the
* shutter of a dark room; and very brilliant colour effects were obtained
* by bringing the eye to the conjugate focus of the slit."
*
* "a Paper read by Prof. J. D. Everett, M.A., D.C.L., before the
* Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society"
* In the Nov. 19 and 26 issues.
* Cited by Humphreys (1919, et seq.)


J. Janssen
“On mirage at sea,”
Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Reports of Sections 26 (1875).

* The English version of Janssen's "mirage at sea" note
* As it is very short, I quote it completely here:
* "Many facts relating to the phenomena of mirages at sea are already
* known; but the author has paid great attention to these appearances in
* all his voyages since 1868, and has made some remarkable observations on
* mirage, especially at sunrise and sunset. He has established: -- 1.
* That the mirage is nearly constant at the surface of the sea. 2. That
* the appearances can be explained by assuming the existence of a plane of
* total reflection, situated at a certain height above the sea. 3. That
* the phenomena are due to the thermic and hygrometric action of the sea
* upon the neighbouring atmospheric strata. 4. That there exist at sea
* direct, inverse, lateral, and other mirages. 5. That these phenomena
* have a very general influence upon the apparent height of the
* sea-horizon, which is sometimes lowered, sometimes raised.
*      "This variation of the apparent horizon is very important to take
* into account, if we consider the use made of the horizon in nautical
* astronomy."
*
* Note the considerable differences between this and the French version.
* Here we have "a certain height" instead of a variable distance of the
* reflecting layer above the sea; here we have both thermal and
* hygrometric effects, there just thermal; here we have lateral mirage as
* well as direct and inverse. And here, the 1868 trip is made explicit.
*
* As this was given at the Bristol meeting in August, 1875, it seems to
* pre-date the French abstract -- which may explain the disappearance of
* "lateral mirage" in the latter (below).
* [Thanks to Madame Françoise Launay for information about the date.]


Janssen
“Du mirage en mer,”
Séances de la Société Française de Physique 118 (1875).

* Jules Janssen's French summary of mirages at sea
* "D'après mes observations, qui embrassent plusieurs années déjà,
* le mirage en mer est très-fréquent, même dans les mers
* septentrionales. Dans le golfe de Siam et dans le mer Rouge
* [-- remember he observed the 1868 eclipse in India --], j'ai observé
* des cas très-remarquables de mirage direct et inverse . Les
* apparences observées, soit sur le Soleil levant et couchant [-- so no
* wonder Fisher was interested in this work! --], soit sur les objets
* situés à l'horizon, conduisent à admettre un plan de réflexion
* totale situé à une distance variable de la mer. La cause de ces
* effets de mirage et de réfractions anomales réside dans l'action
* thermique de la mer sur les couches atmosphériques voisines. Une des
* conséquences les plus importantes de ces études, c'est qu'elles
* conduisent à reconnaître que le niveau apparent de l'horizon de la mer
* est affecté d'une manière très-notable par ces effets optiques et
* qu'il y aura en tenir compte quand on prendra (pour des mesures
* soignées) la hauteur d'un astre par le moyen de l'horizon de la mer.
* Je construis un instrument pour donner la correction."
*
* It is almost inconceivable that Janssen had not also seen numerous
* green flashes on these trips, though he says nothing of them here. And
* it is said that Janssen was consulted by Jules Verne for technical
* information while Verne was writing "From the Earth to the Moon." Could
* Janssen be the source from which Verne learned about green flashes?
*
* I have no volume number for this.


J. Janssen
“Mission du Japon pour l'observation du passage de Vénus,”
Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes pour l'an 1876, 572–588 (1876).

* very brief mention of Janssen's mirage-at-sea observations
* "En outre, . . . études sur le mirage en mer, études qui
* conduisent à l'explication des variations apparentes de la hauteur de
* l'horizon marin, et fourniront des bases plus sûres à l'Astronomie
* nautique." (p. 584)
* [followed by a detailed description of the Revolver photographique ,
* with detailed plates.]
*
* The Annuaire turns out to be a sort of French World Almanac ,
* rather than another Connaissance des Temps . There are tables
* of foreign exchange rates, conversions between decimeters and
* feet/inches/lines, densities and refractive indices of various
* materials, a list of the principal cities of the world, the areas
* and populations of the Arrondissements of France, etc., etc.
*
* Reprinted in Janssen's collected works, Tome I, pp.329-332; see p.332.


Prof. Prestel
“Meteorologische Bilder. VI. Die Luftspiegelung, die Kimmung und das Seegesicht,”
Leipziger Illustrirte Zeitung Nr. 1826, 523–534 (29. Juni, 1878).

* Prof. PRESTEL's mirage review, with many ILLUSTRATIONS
* It includes his own observation of a superior mirage at Borkum.
* Fig. 9 shows superior mirages, and is captioned "Das Seegesicht".
* This is almost surely Michael August Friedrich Prestel (1809-1880),
* who was Prof. of Mathematics and Natural Science at the Gymnasium at
* Emden, and part-time instructor at the Trade- and Navigation School.
* He wrote numerous papers, primarily on meteorology and related
* matters, and many popular articles, according to Pogg.
* A note on the first page indicates that earlier installments were
* in Nr. 1760 and 1761, March, 1877.


P. G. Tait
“On mirage,”
Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh 11, 354–361 (1882).

* abstract of the later Phil. Trans. paper, with comments by Everett
* O'C #136a


E. Sang
“A Critical Examination of two cases of unusual Atmospheric Refraction described by Professor Vince,”
Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh 11, 581–594 (1882).

* vicious, nit-picking attack on Vince


P. G. Tait
“State of the atmosphere which produces the forms of mirage observed by Vince and by Scoresby,”
Nature 28, 84–88 (1883).

* USEFUL REVIEW of HISTORY, including BIOT's book, and WOLLASTON.
* TAIT explains that VINCE's drawings were only schematic;
* "Scoresby . . . has given numerous careful drawings of these most singular
* appearances. The explanatory text is also peculiarly full and clear,
* giving all that a careful observer could have been expected to record. It
* is otherwise with the descriptions and illustrations in Vince's paper . . . .
* In fact the latter are obviously not meant as drawings of what was seen;
* but as diagrams which exhibit merely the general features, . . . -- the
* details being filled in at the option of the engraver. That such was the
* view taken by Brewster, is obvious from the illustrations in his Optics
* . . . ."
* clearer account of his mirage theory than in the Trans.Roy.Soc.Edinburgh
* O'C #137


P. G. Tait
“On mirage,”
Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh 30, 551–578 (1883).

* TAIT's full paper at last
* ". . . I do not think that Wollaston's square bottle with two
* inter-diffusing liquids presents a fair analogy." [p. 552]
* An implied DEFINITION: ". . . only one image: -- not, of course, in the
* true direction of the object: -- but erect, and therefore not properly
* coming under the designation of `mirage.'" [p. 559]
* He also notes that "although aqueous vapour diminishes the refractive
* index of air, the practical effect is so minute at its utmost that we
* neglect it." [p. 564]
* He observes directly a phenomenon closely related to GREEN FLASHes, but
* fails to make the connection: "The middle image . . . coincides with the
* upper image when the eye, gradually moved downwards, reaches the line DB.
* When they meet, both become blue and then disappear by moving the eye
* farther down." [p. 571]
* "It is much to be regretted that Vince's description, like his drawings,
* is of the very roughest character." [p. 576]
* Tait foresees the multiply-LAYERED STRUCTURE that is so common with
* inversions: ". . . when a trough, in which brine has been diffusing for
* some time into water, is suddenly and roughly stirred for a short period,
* it settles in a few minutes into a large number of strata of different
* densities. Something similar must hold in the case of air irregularly
* heated . . . . In the absence of wind such strata, once formed, would last
* for a long time, in consequence of the very small thermal conductivity of
* air." Then he cites Tissandier's observation of a mirage from a balloon,
* mentioned in Glaisher's Travels in the Air , p.297. "This, of course,
* proves the existence, a a great elevation, of a stratum in which there
* was a comparatively rapid diminution of refractive index with increasing
* height." [pp. 576-577]
* Finally, he points out an essential difference between inferior and
* superior mirages [which an astronomer would call SEEING]. After quoting
* Scoresby's observation of his father's ship beyond the horizon, where the
* miraged image "was so extremely well defined, that when examined with a
* telescope by Dollond, I could distinguish every sail . . . ", Tait adds,
* "It seems hard to reconcile the clearness of definition in this case with
* any other than a stable state of equilibrium of a transition stratum. The
* mirage of the desert, where the equilibrium is essentially unstable, is
* always exceedingly unsteady."
* O'Connell #136b


J. Janssen
“Note sur l'observation du passage de la planète Vénus sur le Soleil,”
C. R. Acad. Sci. 96, 258–292 (1883).

* Jules JANSSEN claims to photograph mirages in Algeria
* Possibly EARLIEST PHOTOGRAPH of mirages? (But not published.)
* Mostly about the transit of Venus; but in the last paragraph:
* "Enfin j'ai pu faire quelques études sur le mirage, dont les
* manifestations sont presque permanentes en ces régions. J'ai pu même
* faire photographier plusieurs de ces manifestations, et constater que
* les causes de ces phénomènes, dans les cas les plus nombreux, sont
* tout autres que celles admises généralement."


E. Sang
“On the impossibility of inverted images in the air,”
Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh 12, 129–136 (1884).

* EARLIEST demonstration of "Fraser's THEOREM" by Edward Sang; he thought
* Vince had seen "a sloop floating on a calm sea with its shadow in the
* water" and imagined the rest.
* FLAT EARTH:
* FIRST derivation of flat-Earth model: "No sun, moon, or star could have
* been seen at a lower altitude than 1° 22'. All light reaching the
* eye from a lower elevation must have come from some terrestrial
* object. . . ." [But see Biot's 1809 monograph for the magic angle!]
* "Inverted images, then, can only be seen when the air is in an unusual
* condition; there must be unusually light air above. Now, in these, as in
* all investigations on the subject, the air is assumed to be disposed in
* horizontal layers, each of uniform density. . . . The absolute need for
* smoothness of arrangement may easily be illustrated: -- the sun's light is
* certainly reflected from the surface of the sea; yet we do not see an
* image of the sun in the water; we see only a confused brightness."


E. Budde
“Ueber eine Eigenthümlichkeit des Seehorizontes,”
Zs. der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Meteorologie 20, 354–361 (1885).

* Earliest crude OMEGA drawing after Joule's? (cf. Fig. 7)
* An unclassifiable paper, but put here because it deals with the inferior
* mirage at sea. Like Maltézos, Budde discovers the mirage on his own;
* but, unaccountably, he discounts it as mirage because ``wenn über dem
* Meer eine spiegelnde Luftschicht vorhanden wäre, die bis a b Fig. 2
* reichte, so würde der Beobachter unter 5m Höhe unter ihr stehen, könnte
* also, wie leicht zu sehen, nicht das Bild Fig. 2 etc. erhalten." (p.358)
* (I.e., he assumes here that the angular difference between the apparent
* horizon and the vanishing line corresponds to the linear height of the
* mirage reflection above the sea surface.) Nevertheless, he recognizes
* that the inverted image is a "reflection", so he attributes it to the
* sea surface -- much like Venturi's 1889 wave-crest model. This leads
* him to the (correct) conclusion that the apparent horizon is depressed
* and nearer than the geometric one; but he then fails to see that this
* invalidates his reason for rejecting the mirage as the cause.
* I could as well have filed it in the Colton or Ricco files, or under Dip,
* or even with the Floor papers . . . .
* (reprinted in Naturwiss. Rundschau 1, 13 (1886).)


Anonymous
“Curieux mirage,”
l'Astronomie 7, 432 (1888).

* An implausible "distant city" mirage
* ". . . un curieux mirage qui . . . a rendu visible toute la ville de
* Saint-Pétersbourg, qui est située à 180 kilometres de Merexull."


Anonymous
“Mirages?. . . ,”
l'Astronomie 7, 392–393 (1888).

* Possible Biblical mirages: "AEROMANCIE" and aerial INFANTRY
* In the Hungarian plains, a mirage in which
* ". . . on voyait distinctement de nombreuses divisions d'infanterie . . . ."
* "La tradition nous offre des exemples nombreux de ces visions que les
* anciens appelaient l'aéromancie; le spectacle en devient général
* quand le système nerveux des populations se trouve modifié à la suite
* d'événements de la nature de ceux qui y avaient préparé les Hongrois."
*      "On trouve au Livre VII, Chapitre XII, de la Guerre des juifs , par
* Josephe:
*      « Pendant tout le cours de cette guerre, des armées qui manoeuvraient
* et formaient des sièges apparurent dans l'air. »
*      "Au Livre II des Macchabées , Chapitre VII:
*      « Avant que Jérusalem fût pillée une seconde fois par Antiochus,
* tous les habitants de cette ville purent voir dans l'air, pendant
* quarante jours, des chevaliers richement vêtus et des cohortes armées
* de piques; on voyait leurs mouvements, celui de leurs boucliers et une
* grêle de traits lancés de part et d'autre. »"
* [These citations are nonsense. The first may be Book VI, Ch. V, sect. 3;
* there is no Ch. XII in Book VII. See Whiston's translation of
* Flavius Josephus. The second is certainly Ch. V, not Ch. VII. ]
*      After citing some more recent examples of aerial infantry seen during
* or just before wars, he says:
* "L'énumération de faits similaires pourrait fournir la matière de
* plusiers volumes. . . .
*      "Ajoutons qu'il y faut faire beaucoup la part de l'imagination.  Mais
* peut-être, à notre époque surtout, l'imagination n'est-elle pas seule
* en jeu. Le mirage (?) observé cet été in Hongrie est bien bizarre."
* Cf. the final remarks of William Beauford (1802).
* [ Presumably, this is Flammarion. ]


W. Larden
“Mirage in the South American Pampas,”
Nature 41, 69–71 (1889).

* DARK BANDING, or SKY? DOUBLE SUPERIOR MIRAGE
* "The land seen just above the lines (α) and (β) was paler than
* that seen just below these lines."


J. Macé de Lépinay and A. Perot
“Sur une reproduction artificielle du mirage et les franges d'interférences qui peuvent accompagner ce phénomène,”
C. R. 108, 1043–1046 (1889).

* Fringes shown experimentally in mirages -- cf. Raman's papers


C.-H. Martin
“Mirage de la Tour Eiffel,”
l'Astronomie 9, 41–42 (1890).

* The Eiffel tower reflection (cf. Tissandier's 1890 review)
* Letter from Charles-Henri Martin to Flammarion, referring to his book
* "l'Atmosphere". The engraving is evidently from the description, not
* from observation. Probably not a mirage. In the Feb.,1890, issue.


J. Janssen
“Note sur des travaux récents exécutées en Algérie,”
C. R. Acad. Sci. 110, 1047–1049 (1890).

* Janssen's mirage photography in Algeria (continued); cf. his 1883 note
* "Un autre objet intéressant a été l'obtention, par la Photographie,
* des images des phénomènes si varie's et si curieux du mirage dans les
* régions des grands chotts qui se trouvent entre le Souf et Biskra, le
* chott Melrir, Merouan, etc. La Photographie permettra de discuter, sur
* documents certains et mesurables, les conditions qui président à la
* production de ces singuliers phénomènes dont les apparences et les
* causes sont beaucoup plus multiples qu'on ne le croit."
* This is reprinted in Janssen's collected works, Tome II, pp.187-188;
* but the initial page is given incorrectly there as 1067.
* It is the same expedition on which the "Janssen bands" were
* investigated.
*      Unfortunately, the photographs appear to have been lost; neither
* the Academy of Sciences nor the Institute has them today.


A. E. Brown
“Mirages,”
Nature 41, 225 (1890).

* "The mirage of the reflection of the sun in the sea was, when seen
* through a glass, especially beautiful. It resembled a glorious cataract
* of golden water." (cf. Pekka's photo!)


J. Janssen
“Les observatoires du montagne. Un observatoire au Mont Blanc,”
Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes pour l'année 1892, D.1–D.33 (1892).

* Janssen's mirages in some detail! A good OMEGA described
* The first (p. D.9) is a good description of a sunrise of Fisher's type A
* seen in the Gulf of Siam in 1874, en route to Japan for the Venus
* transit. There is no mention of a green flash: "Le lever a débuté par
* un point brillant, lequel, circonstance remarquable, se montrait non pas
* sur la ligne d'horizon de la mer, mais à quelques minutes d'arc
* au-dessus." Then comes the Omega stage: "Puis l'image solaire
* présente, à la hauteur où tout à l'heure le Soleil commençait à
* poindre, un étranglement qui va en ce rétrécissant de plus en plus,
* et l'image ronde ordinaire se dégage enfin.
*      "Mais cette image est toujours accompagnée au-dessous d'elle d'une
* portion de disque qui s'en sépare et s'enfonce de plus en plus dans la
* mer pour disparaître enfin, laissant le disque supérieur dans les
* conditions ordinaires." (But he thinks it is due more to water vapor
* than to temperature.)
*      This is evidently the observation Fisher (1921) tried to find, but
* without success.
*      The mirage photographed in Algeria is also described (p. D.10):
* "En regardant cette photographie, on dirait qu'on a sous les yeux la
* vue d'une plage de la Manche avec ses dunes, ses eaux basses et son
* horizon de mer. Quand j'étais en face du chott, l'illusion était si
* complète que, malgré ma connaissance de la véritable nature du
* phénomène, des doutes traversaient encore mon esprit. Il était alors
* 5h du soir, le Soleil allait se coucher; toute cette plage avait une
* belle couleur bleue et un petit tremblement, qui faisait comme
* frissonner ces eaux, ajoutait encore à l'illusion.
*      "Tout à coup, quand le Soleil eut disparu derrière l'horizon, la
* scène changea brusquement, et, à cette scène d'une belle plage
* maritime succéda celle d'une solitude glacée. Le tableau riant d'une
* rive méditerranéenne avait été subitement remplacé par celui d'un
* paysage d'hiver en Sibérie.
*      "J'ai analysé les causes de ce curieux phénomène, mais cette
* discussion serait déplacée ici . . . ."
* His contribution is Appendix D of this volume, which also contains a
* report by rear-admiral Mouchez on the progress of the Carte du Ciel.
*
* The passage of interest here appears on pp. 265-266 of Tome II of
* Janssen's collected works. It says there that parts of the paper were
* also reprinted in pp. 92-111 of Janssen's Lectures Académiques (1903)
* but this seems not to include the interesting mirage observations.


A. Perot Macé de Lépinay
“Contribution a l'étude du mirage,”
Ann. Chim. Phys. , series 6, 27, 94–138 (1892).

* Applications of mirage theory to study interdiffusion of liquids,
* and corresponding laboratory simulations of mirages


O. Wiener
“Darstellung gekrümmter Lichtstrahlen und Verwerthung derselben zur Untersuchung von Diffusion und Wärmeleitung,”
Wied. Ann. Physik u. Chemie 49, 105–149 (1893).

* GOOD REVIEW of earlier mirage simulations and theory [FILED SEPARATELY]
* "Die Darstellung dieser Sachlage ist in keiner Weise neu,
* doch wohl wenig bekannt."


J. Macé de Lépinay
“Quelques remarques relatives a la théorie du mirage de Biot,”
J. Physique , series 3, 2, 320–327 (1893).

* Comments on Biot's theory


Ch.-Ed. Guillaume
“Les rayons lumineux curvilignes,”
BSAF 8, 226–227 (1894).

* EARLY mention of modeling the SETTING SUN
* Metrologist Charles-Edouard Guillaume was the inventor of Invar, and
* received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1920 for his work.
* He says Kummer first predicted a ray encircling a planet.
* "L'étude de la marche curviligne des rayons, fort intéressant en
* elle-même, devient très importante lorsqu'on l'applique aux phénomènes
* naturels. La reproduction des formes du soleil couchant offre un exemple
* d'une imitation de cette sorte. Nous pouvons, à volonté, imiter le
* phénomène normal que l'on observe chaque soir en plaine ou au bord de la
* mer, ou bien ces apparences exagérées, qui témoignent d'un équilibre
* particulier des couches d'air, ou même produire des déformations plus
* grandes que celles observées."
* This is the last volume of the old BSAF before it merged with
* l'Astronomie.


F. Koerber
“Atmosphärische Lichterscheinungen,”
Himmel und Erde 7, 127–140 (1894).

* A general introductory discussion of atmospheric optics, including
* rainbows, halos, scintillation, blue sky, refraction, (including mirages).
* The figure from Müller's "Kosmische Physik" was recently reproduced in
* *color* by Vollmer & Tammer (Appl.Opt.37,1557 (1998)).
* Note that volumes and years of H&E don't match up.


W. Upham
The Glacial Lake Agassiz (USGS Monograph 25)
(Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1895), pp. 21–22.

* Warren Upham's mirages on the Minnesota/North Dakota border
*      "In crossing the vast plain of the Red River Valley on clear days the
* higher land at its sides and the groves along its rivers are first seen
* in the distance as if their upper edges were raised a little above the
* horizon, with a very narrow strip of sky below. The first appearance
* of the tree tops thus somewhat resembles that of dense flocks of birds
* flying very low several miles away. By rising a few feet, as from the
* ground to a wagon, or by nearer approach, the outlines become clearly
* defined as a grove, with a mere line of sky beneath it. This mirage is
* more or less observable on the valley plain nearly every sunshiny day of
* the spring, summer, and autumn months, especially during the forenoon,
* when the lowest stratum of the air, touching the surface of the ground,
* becomes heated sooner than the strata above it.
*      "A more complex and astonishing effect of mirage is often seen
* from the somewhat higher land that forms the slopes on either side of
* the plain. There, in looking across the flat valley a half hour to two
* hours after sunrise of a hot day following a cool night, the groves and
* houses, villages and grain elevators, loom up to twice or thrice their
* true height, and places ordinarily hidden from sight by the earth's
* curvature are brought into view. Occasionally, too, these objects,
* as trees and houses, are seen double, being repeated in an inverted
* position close above their real places, from which they are separated
* by a very narrow, fog-like belt. In its most perfect development the
* mirage shows the true upper and topsy-turvy portion of the view quite
* as distinctly as the lower and true portion; and the two are separated,
* when seen from land about a hundred feet above the plain, by an apparent
* vertical distance of 75 or 100 feet for objects at a distance of 6
* or 8 miles, and 300 to 500 feet if the view is 15 to 20 miles away.
* Immediately above the inverted images there runs a level false horizon,
* which rises slightly as the view grows less distinct, until, as it fades
* and vanishes, the inverted groves, lone trees, church spires, elevators,
* and houses at last resemble rags and tatters hung along a taut line."
* So, here we have first a nice account of the HEIGHT and DISTANCE
* dependences of the inferior mirage; then a FOG report connected with
* the superior mirage.
* Quoted (but not cited) in Frazer (1929).


A. Delebecque
“Sur les réfractions extraordinaires observées au bord des lacs et connus sous le nom de Fata Morgana,”
C. R. 123, 387–389 (1896).

* More FATA MORGANA studies, following FOREL
* His telescopic observations indicate that the F.M. is not a simple
* vertical elongation, but a stack of direct and reversed images: "J'en ai
* compté jusqu'à cinq. Comme ces images sont, en général, très
* rapprochées; que parfois même elles empiètent l'une sur l'autre, il est
* très difficile de les séparer à l'œil nu, et elles donnent l'illusion
* d'un objet agrandi."
* Cited by C.Abbe in the next item.


(editorial -- presumably written by Cleveland Abbe)
“Atmospheric refractions at the surface of water,”
Mon. Weather Rev. 24, 371–373 (1896).

* Good review article with some references
* Leans heavily on the papers of Charles Dufour and F.-A.Forel;
* follows the latter's classification, and discusses the Fata Morgana.
* [Cleveland Abbe edited MWR from 1872 to 1909; later his son, C.A.Jr.
* took over.]


C. Maltézos
“Sur le phénomène de suspension et de subdivision des iles dans le golfe de Phalère,”
Ann. Obs. Nat. Athènes 1, 223–225 (1896).

* A novice discovers mirages
* This seems to be the first of Constantin Maltézos's "tunnels" papers


A. M.
“The mirage [letter 41505],”
English Mechanic 68, 116 (1898).

* A disappearing city; Lord Rayleigh invoked in favor of "total reflection"
* quoted from the "Echo" on 9 Sept.
* "I believe that Lord Rayleigh some time since suggested total reflection
* as affording at least a partial solution of some of these phenomena, in
* preference, or, in addition, to the refraction and simple reflection of
* the older theory."
* No. 1747, Sept.16,1898


R. W. Wood
“Mirage on city pavements,”
Nature 58, 596 (1898).

* ROBERT W. WOOD's excellent EARLY MIRAGE PHOTOGRAPH in San Francisco
* This seems to be the FIRST PUBLISHED MIRAGE PHOTOGRAPH, preceding Alfred
* Wegener's 1907 photograph, published in 1911, by about a decade.
* "The refracting layer is probably only a thin skin of warm air, which
* adheres as it were to the surface of the flagstones, for the mirage is
* unaffected by the strong winds which frequently sweep the top of the
* hill." [cf. McNair, 1920.]
* Oct.20, 1898 issue


A. W. S.
[Query 94348] Photographing a mirage
English Mechanic 68, 244 (1898).

* E.M. 68 series started by Query 94348
* No. 1752, Oct.21, 1898


Glatton
[Reply to Query 94348] Photographing a mirage
English Mechanic 68, 375 (1898).

* Reply to Query 94348 -- EARLIEST MIRAGE PHOTOGRAPH CLAIMED
* ". . . I possess a photograph of a church spire in Tenby, halfway up which
* appears an inverted image of what was afterwards identified as the gunboat
* Gadfly , then being launched at Pembroke Dock, 12 miles distant. Though
* it was taken so long ago as May 5, 1879, it is possible that copies can
* still be procured if the photographer, Robert Symons, St. Julian-street,
* Tenby -- is still in business. The editor of the Photographic News , and
* chief of the photographic department at Woolwich, said: -- `Mr. Symons
* must be congratulated: he is the first to photograph that most romantic
* phenomenon, the mirage.'"
*      According to Eric Hutton, "Glatton" was the pen-name of Mr. Clement
* Stretton [ref. No. 3105 p327]
* No. 1758, Dec. 2, 1898


anonymous
“Useful and Scientific Notes: mirage,”
English Mechanic 68, 584 (1899).

* RESTRICTED HEIGHT of visibility; nice BEACH MIRAGE
* (Report of a talk by Major MacMahon to the Camera Club)
* "One very curious thing about mirage is that it depends very much upon
* the position of the eye: a few inches in the height of the eye may make
* all the difference. On one occasion on the plains of India he observed a
* mirage which was only evident when he was at a particular height; there
* was only a vertical space of two or three inches in which the effect could
* be seen, so that these phenomena may easily escape notice. A singular
* effect may sometimes be observed at a particular spot on the south coast,
* and very likely at other places, when the waves come in on to a very hot
* beach; if you place the eye about a foot from the ground and look parallel
* to the wave fronts you can see an image of the wave two or three feet
* above the real wave."
* No. 1767, Feb. 3, 1899


E. K. [Ernst Krause]
“Luftspiegelung auf den Strassen,”
Prometheus 10, 431–432 (1899).

* STREET and LATERAL (MURAL) MIRAGES
* Report of R. W. Wood's mirage photography on San Francisco streets
* (not cited, but obviously refers to the 1898 paper in Nature).
* Also, a reference to mural mirages with both direct and reversed images,
* which certainly predates Hillers's report!
* Nr. 495, 5.April


R. W. Wood
“Some experiments on artificial mirages and tornadoes,”
Phil. Mag. 47, 349–353 (1899).

* R.W.WOOD's mirage demo
* Note that he admits Wiener's writeup is better
* [I forgot to copy Plate III but it is only moderately interesting.]


(anonymous)
“Mirage over Lake Michigan,”
Mon. Weather Rev. 28, 544 (1900).

* DARK STREAK
* Eastern shore seen from Chicago, Dec. 20, 1900: "The view was elevated
* above the horizon and was enveloped in a pale blue light. It formed
* the lower lining of a maze of darkness that hung over the lake shortly
* after noon and was visible for more than an hour.
* "There was a dark streak between it and the horizon."


C. E. Borchgrevink
First on the Antarctic Continent
(McGill-Queen's Univ.Press, Montreal, 1980), pp. 126–128.

* BORCHGREVINK's Antarctic mirages and Novaya Zemlya observation
*      "On May 15th we had the last greeting from the departing sun.
* The refraction of it appeared as a large red elliptical glowing
* body to the north-west, changing gradually into a cornered square. . . .
* The promising effect of that evening . . . lasted until the returning sun
* again made the peaks and crevasses shine on the 27th July.
*      "Both during the time the sun was low in its descent and when
* it rose again, a strong mirage effect was observed towards the west,
* showing images of icebergs far below our horizon, and Antarctic scenery
* only visible to us through this phenomenon. This strong mirage remained
* after the sun's return late in the summer, and the opening of the ice was
* prophesied to us in the mirage long before the ice-fields near Victoria
* Land broke.
*      "It was very interesting to see the picture of far-away broken
* ice-fields, with their dark channels and towering icebergs, in the
* north-western sky; and on several occasions towards the time when the
* vessel was expected back, members of my staff returned to the camp in
* enthusiasm, thinking to have discovered the masts of the Southern Cross
* in the mirage, so strongly did their hopes confirm the impression made
* by the wonderful creations in the air."
* (Nice to see the WISHFUL THINKING factor made explicit.)
* Mentioned but not cited by Frazer (1929).
* This is the reprint edition; the original was published by George
* Newnes, Ltd., London, 1901.


C. Maltézos
“Phénomènes de mirage dans le golfe du Phalère,”
Bull. Soc. Astron. Fr. (l'Astronomie) 15, 282–284 (1901).

* SUSPENSION of islands; "TUNNELS"
* "FOG": "Parfois, l'île paraît suspendue tout entière, une bande
* laiteuse, brillant, s'interposant entre elle et la surface de l'eau."
* The "tunnels" are the reflected images of dips in the miraged terrain.
* Some data are given on the HEIGHT effect (changes in 40 cm, 2 m).
* He seems a novice at the mirage game, but the observations are good
* and the SKETCHES are accurate.
* Here he quotes Aristotle and Theophrastus.
* cited in Maltézos's 1912 paper


V. E. Boccara
“La Fata Morgana,”
Mem. Soc. Spett. Ital. 31, 199–218 (1902).

* THE DEFINITIVE review of the FATA MORGANA in the Strait of Messina!
* Boccara claims to have read everything published on the subject!
* There is a half-page footnote quoting Minasi's etymology of the term
* "Fata Morgana"; it seems far-fetched.
* Unfortunately, so does his explanation of the phenomenon; the paper is
* most valuable for his own observations, and the references.
* He confines his attention to the Strait of Messina (whose local
* geography, he thinks, is responsible); so Forel, etc. are ignored.
* A copy of Willem Fortuyn's engraving for Minasi is Fig. 1 (p. 203)
* There is an extensive annotated bibliography at the end.


J. Fényi
“Ueber Luftspiegelungen in Ungarn,”
Met. Z. 19, 507–509 (1902).

* QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS of inferior mirages, showing vertical stretching
* N.B.: Pernter was the publisher of Met.Z.!
* J Fenyi, S.J. (note accent over e: "Fényi")


A. Hofmann
“Eine optische Täuschung,”
Prometheus 13, 700–701 (1902).

* Despite the title, this is not an optical illusion, but a fine
* LATERAL MIRAGE at the surface of a hot smokestack.
* The author's attempt to explain differences between naked-eye and
* telescopic views led to his optical-illusion notion.
* [Cf. Nölke (1917) for the image-location problem.]


H. E. Wimperis
“A mirage at Putney,”
Nature 68, 368 (1903).

* Early modern observation of road mirage


V. E. Boccara
“La Fata Morgana,”
Bull. Soc. Belge d'Astronomie 8, 143–152, 347–353 (1903).

* FINE REVIEW article on FATA MORGANA in Strait of Messina
* This is a French translation of Boccara's original in Mem.Soc.Spett.
* There is a half-page footnote quoting Minasi's etymology of the term
* "Fata Morgana"; it seems far-fetched.
* Boccara claims to have read everything published on the subject!
* Plate VI, mentioned in the second part, appears in the first one.


G. Costanzo
“La Fata Morgana: Memoria Prima,”
Memorie della Pontificia Accademia Romana dei Nuovi Lincei 21, 101–128 (1903).

* Another great REVIEW ARTICLE on Fata Morganas: GIOVANNI COSTANZO
* Cites everybody (Agrippa, Facellus, Carnevale, Politi, Reina, Kircher,
* Gaspari Schott, Minasi, Pindemonte, Houel, Ribaud, Saffiotti, Boccara).
* He skipped Giovene, and has de Ferrariis only in an addendum. There
* are extensive quotations from unpublished letters, and from newspapers.
* A table (p. 123) compares the various observations.


C. Maltézos
“Phénomènes de mirage dans la mer et plaques de calme,”
Bull. Soc. Astron. Fr. (l'Astronomie) 17, 450–452 (1903).

* Maltézos discovers the oil slick???
* This starts out with a mirage report, and then refutes Lazzaro's
* criticisms that the mirages reported earlier were only optical illusions.
* Then he goes off on a tangent:
* "Tandis que la surface de la mer présentait une agitation due à une
* multitude d'ondulations différents, coexistant, la surface des plaques ne
* présentait qu'une seule espèce d'ondulations, de plus grande longeur
* d'onde."
* ". . . le phénomène est dû, pour les uns à des souillures de l'eau par
* diverses matières étrangères . . . ."


W. Krebs
“Atmosphärische Sprungflächen und Spiegelungserscheinungen,”
Das Weltall 4, 181–184 (1904).

* "BLACK LINE" (der schwarze Strich) discussed (cf. his distorted-sunrise
* paper in Met.Z. earlier in 1904; this issue is No.10, but dated Feb.15)
* Wilhelm Krebs argues that the horizontal black line seen in the mountain
* sky is due to reflections at an inversion layer, not an aerosol
* boundary. (cf. his distorted-sunrise paper in Met.Z. earlier in 1904;
* this issue is No.10, but dated Feb.15)
* He also argues that multiple features in the rising Sun could be due to
* WAVES on an inversion, thus prefiguring Fraser's 1975 suggestion;
* (cf. Garnier, 1899, for a less definite, but similar, suggestion).
* Citing von Wrangell's observation: "Bei Beginn der Morgendämmerung sah
* er am östlichen Horizont den schwarzen Strich in der scheinbaren Form
* einer grauen Wolkenbank von etwa 1° Höhe." (cf. FOG file)


P. Gast
“Ueber Luftspiegelungen im Simplon-Tunnel,”
Zs. f. Vermessungswesen 33, 241–271 (1904).

* Detailed study of mirages and refraction in tunnel


E. F. Bigelow
“A mirage,”
St. Nicholas 32, 1038 (1905).

* The importance of FIELD-GLASSES in a first-hand report
* In response to a boy's letter reporting "a ship upside down in the sky",
* the writer (editor?) says:
* "Not long after I received this letter I was riding in a fast
* express-train across the sandy plains of New Mexico, where the only
* vegetation was a few low scattered shrubs and some tufts of coarse
* grass. On the nearer parts of the lake there were beautiful islands
* with trees and shrubs . . . and I remarked to a fellow-passenger: `. . .
* Perhaps there may be interesting water-birds that have nests among those
* tall grasses and shrubs. It seems to be a better home for the pelicans
* than on those muddy banks by that small river a few miles back.'
*      "He smiled.  He had been over the road half a dozen times, he told
* me, while this was my first trip.
*      "`Try your field-glass,' he merely remarked.
*      "I did; and, like a beautiful dream that is lost on waking, the lake
* disappeared when viewed only through the glass. Later, as the train
* came nearer, I saw that it was only sand and scattered shrubs and
* grass."
* Edward F. Bigelow's "Nature and Science for Young Folks" column runs
* from p. 1032 to 1039; only the "mirage" section is cited here.


v. S.
“Luftspiegelung und Strahlenbrechung auf See,”
Ann. Hydrog. Maritim. Met. 36, 86–87 (1908).

* Two separate reports from different ships
* The first reports "SURF" all around the horizon, after a
* water-temperature drop of 3 C with constant air temp., near 41 N, 54 W.
* The captain changed course from WNW to SW.
* "Ich glaube, daß dieses Phänomen eine Fata Morgana
* (Seeluftspiegelung) gewesen ist. Wahrscheinlich haben wir die Küste
* von Neufundland etwas nördlich von Kap Race gesehen."
* The second reports "land" ahead and on both sides: "Deutlich vermochte
* man Höhenzüge, sogar einzelne Bäume zu unterscheiden, und so
* überzeugend was die Erscheinung, daß Kapitän Bodmann das Schiff über
* den anderen Bug auf östlichen Kurs legte, um vorläufig, der Sicherheit
* halber, von diesem verwirrenden Phänomen wegzuliegen. Da nun aber nach
* der ziemlich gut festgestellten Position des Schiffes wirkliches Land gar
* nicht in Sicht kommen konnte und die Erscheinung nach und nach auch am
* östlichen Horizont auftrat, überzeugte sich der Kapitän von der Bramrah
* aus, daß es sich nur um eine Luftspiegelung handelte. Daraufhin wurde
* der westliche Kurs wieder aufgenommen." (near 56 S, 66 W)
* "v.S." is probably von Schrötter. (Feb. issue)


W. Parr
“Coloured optical phenomenon,”
Q. J. Roy. Met. Soc. 37, 274 (1911).

* Claimed mirage of a rainbow, but impossible at 45° altitude


D. Manning
“A St. Lawrence River mirage,”
Mon. Wea. Rev. 40, 1757 (1912).

* Typical mirages on St. Lawrence River, seen from Alexandria Bay, N.Y.
* ". . . seen during the spring and autumn months . . . when cloudy skies
* prevail, and soon after northerly winds have set in and the weather
* is growing colder . . .      several small islands, about 2 miles away, . . .
* appear as though they were situated on a snow-covered ice field with the
* trees standing out in strong relief, giving the appearance of a dead
* calm . . . . in reality the wind is strong and the water quite rough,
* for north winds blow against the river current.
*      "The most interesting feature is that if one ascends a nearby bluff
* about 25 feet high, the illusion disappears entirely, and the islands,
* surrounded by the rough, blue waters, and the trees take on their
* natural look."
* Nov. issue


C. Maltézos
“Les phénomènes optiques en mer,”
BSAF 26, 514–515 (1912).

* Maltézos summarizes his mirage studies, and quotes Aristotle again
* The quotations from Aristotle turn out to be:
* "Problems" XXVI. 53: "Why, when the east wind blows, do all the things
* seem larger?" and
* "Meteorologica" III. IV (p.253 of the Loeb Library edition):
* "Distant and dense air does of course normally act as a mirror . . . ,
* which is why when there is an east wind promontories on the sea appear to
* be elevated above it and everything appears abnormally large;. . . "
* and unfortunately Aristotle then drags in the Moon illusion.


V. Stefánsson
My Life with the Eskimo
(Macmillan, New York, 1913), pp. 72–73.

* VILHJÁLMUR STEFÁNSSON's astute remarks on "suggestion" in the Arctic
* After a brief description of the deceptive-appearing mirages, he says:
* "I think it is David Hanbury who tells of mistaking a lemming for a
* musk-ox, and Lieutenant Gotfred Hansen speaks of being astounded by
* the courage with which his dogs attacked a polar bear, and of being
* dumbfounded not only at seeing them killing the bear but more especially
* at one of the dogs bringing the bear back in his mouth. It turned out,
* of course, that the polar bear had been an Acrtic fox. In things of
* this sort there is always a certain amount of suggestion; Hanbury had his
* mind centered on musk-oxen, and Hansen was expecting to see a polar bear."
* He then tells of seeing a grizzly bear that turned out to be a marmot.
*      "The main reason for such cases of self-deception is that one sees
* things under circumstances that give one no idea of the distance, and
* consequently one has no scale for comparison. The marmot at twenty
* yards occupies as large a visual angle as a grizzly bear at several
* hundred, and if you suppose the marmot to be several hundred yards away
* you naturally take him for a bear. There is, under certain conditions
* of hazy Arctic light, nothing to give you a measure of the distance,
* nothing to furnish a scale to determine size by comparison."
* (available on Google Books)


W. Hillers
“Ueber eine leicht beobachtbare Luftspiegelung bei Hamburg und die Erklärung solcher Erscheinungen,”
Unterrichtsblätter Math. Naturwiss. 19, 21–38 (1913).

* WILHELM HILLERS -- MURAL MIRAGE PHOTOGRAPHED


W. Hillers
“Die erste photographische Aufnahme einer ständigen Luftspiegelung bei Blankenese,”
Kosmos (Stuttgart) 10, 37–39 (1913).


E. Wiedemann
“Über die Fata Morgana nach arabischen Quellen,”
Met. Z. 30, 246–248 (1913).

* Additional Arab mirage refs. to supplement Erdmann


W. Hillers
“Bemerkung über die Abhängigkeit der dreifachen Luftspiegelung nach Vince von der Temperaturverteilung,”
Physik. Zeitschr. 14, 719–723 (1913).

* Hillers applies his model to Vince's observations
* He shows that an inflection point in the temperature profile is required


W. Hillers
“Nachtrag zu einer Bemerkung über die Abhängigkeit der dreifachen Luftspiegelung nach Vince von der Temperaturverteilung,”
Physik. Zeitschr. 15, 303–304 (1914).

* Hillers generalizes his model, removing a restriction to small T changes
* Note that he comes up with the "magic number" of 1° 20'


W. Hillers
“Einige experimentelle Beiträge zum Phänomen der dreifachen Luftspiegelung nach Vince,”
Physik. Zeitschr. 15, 304–308 (1914).

* Hillers compares theory with observation in nature as well as in his
* laboratory simulation.
* He discovers the interference fringes later seen by Raman (1959).
* This is a fine piece of work!


W. Hillers
Theoretische und experimentelle Beiträge zur Aufklärung des dreifachen Bildes einer Luftspiegelung = Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Naturwissenschaften 20, No.2, 1-55 (1914)
(L.Friedrichsen & Co., Hamburg, 1914), pp. 1–55.

* This is Hillers's complete, detailed work
*      "Wie es scheint, liegt aber noch nirgends ein Vergleich der Theorie
* mit der Erfahrung vor; noch niemals ist es bisher geglückt, die zur
* dreifachen Bildentwickelung notwendige anormale Dichteänderung der
* Atmosphäre gleichzeitig mit der Beobachtung der Luftspiegelung
* durchzumessen." (p. 3)
*      "Ferner muß nach theoretischen Erwägungen die Winkelgröße des
* Gesamtbildes stets recht klein bleiben, es wird bei normaler Entwicklung
* niemals über 20 Bogenminuten hinausgehen können. Eine gewöhnliche
* photographische Aufnahme wird deshalb von dem Schauspiel auch kaum
* etwas zeigen. Handzeichnungen, denen man öfter begegnet, sind stets
* nach Fernrohrbeobachtungen ausgeführt und lassen leicht die Größe
* und die »Bildmäßigkeit« überschätzen." (pp. 3 - 4)
*      On carrying out the desired comparison, he finds that "der ganze
* Vorgang der Abbildung sich in überraschend dünnen Schichten abspielt."
*      He discusses the ASTIGMATISM of the image, pp. 42-44.


G. Isely
“Optique atmosphérique,”
BSAF 28, 270–271 (1914).

* THREE SUNS, one above the other, about 2 degrees apart (cf. Hevelius!)
* This short paragraph precedes his GF report.
* O'C #223


E. Kleinen
“Luftspiegelung in Straßen,”
Z. physik. chem. Unterricht 27, 339–340 (1914).

* Pedagogical treatment of street mirage
* Mirages appear DARK:
* ". . . dann findet man bald eine Stelle, die ganz dunkel erscheint."
* ". . . erscheint es einem ganz sonderbar, daß man diese Strasse
* jahrelang zu jeder Tageszeit begangen hat, ohne diese Luftspiegelung zu
* bemerken."


G. E. Hubbard
From the Gulf to Ararat
(William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1916), pp. 60–61.

* Hubbard was a participant in the Mesopotamian campaign
* There are two parts here: the eyewitness account on p. 60:
*      "Our caravan . . .  straggled over two or three miles of country,
* and to anyone riding somewhere near the middle the head and tail of
* the procession seemed always to be marching through a smooth, shallow
* lake; occasionally, for some unfathomable cause, the mules and men would
* execute a bewildering feat of `levitation' and continue their progress
* in the sky. Often we saw a lake spread out on the horizon, stretching
* a long arm towards us to within a few hundred yards; at other times
* a clump of palms or a group of mounted men appeared in the distance,
* only to resolve themselves, as we approached nearer, into bushes of low
* desert scrub or a grazing flock of goats."
*      Here there is a footnote on the "curious incident . . .  reported to have
* happened . . . at the beginning of the Mesopotamian campaign:
*      "Our men, after a particularly courageous attack across the open
* desert (which at the time was such a sea of mud that they had to advance
* at the walk), reached the Turkish trenches and put the Turks to flight.
* The enemy were now in the same predicament as the British had been in
* just before, and provided a splendid target for our artillery as they
* floundered through the mire. A gunboat was lying in the river, and the
* men in the tops were watching the proceedings when they were surprised to
* see our guns suddenly stop firing, although the Turks were still easily
* within range. It transpired later that, to the eyes of the gunners on
* the desert level, the target had disappeared into the mirage ."
*      Quoted by Hurd (in the 1937 Pilot Chart article)


A. O. Holcroft
“A strange sunset,”
English Mechanic 104, 389 (1916).

* "houses and trees with writing underneath" at sunset
* "People living in the Karroo are accustomed to see mirages in the veldt,
* but not at sunset nor during wet weather, as far as my own experience
* goes."
* might be a cloud miraged?


Anonymous
“Turks lured into a trap. Successful move in Mesopotamia.,”
Times (London) p.8 (16 April, 1917).

* This seems to be the original account of the battle stopped by mirage
* "Fighting had temporarily to be suspended owing to the mirage, but
* upon this lifting our offensive continued." [on April 11, 1917.]
* Presumably this is the dispatch from Lt.-Gen. Sir Stanley Maude.


R. de C. Ward
“Weather controls over the fighting in Mesopotamia, in Palestine, and near the Suez Canal,”
Scientific Monthly 6, 289–304 (1918).

* quotes but does not cite the previous item, mis-dating it the 10th
* (April issue; See p. 294 for the quote.)


R. de C. Ward
“Weather controls over the fighting during the summer of 1918,”
Scientific Monthly 7, 289–298 (1918).

* Story of Turkish retreat caused by mirage "in the early days of the
* Mesopotamian campaign."
* Seems to be taken from Mrs. Eleanor Franklin Egan's stories in the
* Saturday Evening Post .
* (Oct. issue; see pp. 295-296.)


C. P. Du Shane
“The road mirage,”
Scientific American 119, 335 (Oct. 26, 1918).

* ROAD MIRAGE between Canton and Alliance, Ohio: SMOOTH SURFACE required
* Two letters from a resident of New Castle, Pa., with the Editor's
* explanation between them. The first reports: "On July 24th, while
* traveling in an easterly direction between Canton and Alliance, Ohio, I
* noticed a car about half a mile ahead apparently perfectly reflected in
* the roadbed, as if the latter was flooded with water. . . . the road in
* front was straight almost to the horizon and an exceptionally fine
* cemented brick surface. When I came up to the `given point' I found the
* road perfectly dry and the car ahead again showing a reflection in a
* perfectly mirror-like surface about the level of the bottom of the spare
* tire. I called the attention of the rest of the party to the
* reflection, they seeing it very plainly, then and several times later
* when similar stretches of roadway offered, but each time only above the
* heated brick surface.
*      "I have traveled the roads in this section since the high wheel days
* of 1885 but have never been favored with any such phenomena."
* The second letter says, "Since receiving your reply . . . , I have been
* out mirage hunting with some friends and have been successful in bagging
* some beauties as well as establishing a list of requirements . . . .
*      "The requirements are a very hot, dry, clear day, and a smooth hard
* road (brick gave the best reflections) . . . ." He adds sketches that
* illustrate the need for the observer's eyes to be "just above the level
* of the level piece ahead." This usually requires the observer to be in a
* slight dip. "The best point of observation I have found is the stretch
* between Canton and Alliance, but any similar road should give equally
* clear reflections."
* [NOTE: When I was a small boy, I remember this part of the Lincoln
* Highway was still paved with bricks.]
* This was when Sci.Am. was "bedsheet" size -- hard to copy!


M. S. Harloe
“Note on a mirage at sea,”
Mon. Wea. Rev. 47, 453 (1919).

* Looming and mirage at sea
* "with air at 63° F and sea surface at 53° F, "Strong mirages
* noted all around. Four other ships . . . appeared at times to be steaming
* along at the top of a hugh [sic] wall of ice; at other times the bodies
* of the ships seemed to rise out of the water at least twice their height.
* Horizon had all the appearance of a long, rugged coast line.''
* July issue


A. A. Knowlton
“An unusual mirage,”
Science 50, 328 (1919).

* Inferior mirage seen over a road "just after dusk"
* Oct. 3 issue


W. M. Davis
“A wall-side mirage,”
Science 50, 372 (1919).

* A mural mirage reported in Garden St., Cambridge!
* cites Knowlton (above)


F. W. McNair
“A sidewalk mirage,”
Science 52, 201 (1920).

* ought to mention R.W.Wood, but doesn't


H. H. Platt
“Mirages?,”
Science 52, 290–291 (1920).

* Two responses to McNair:
* Platt mistakenly thinks it is a grazing-incidence reflection . . .


F. F. Burr
“Mirages?,”
Science 52, 291 (1920).

* . . . but Burr suggests these mirages "may serve in part to account for
* ideas of temporary disappearance, or dematerialization, of solid
* objects, and for occasional accounts of apparent hallucination."


S. R. Williams
“Mirages?,”
Science 52, 291 (1920).

* A report of large lateral displacement that needs detailed
* investigation: 6 degrees -- probably a misidentification.


P.-L. Mercanton
“"Les Phénomènes d'optique atmosphérique" in "Ergebnisse der Schweizerischen Grönlandexpedition, 1912-1913", A. de Quervain & P.-L. Mercanton, eds.,”
Neue Denkschriften der Schweizerischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 53, 192–198 (1920).

* Mercanton's mirage DRAWINGS and HEIGHT EFFECTS in Greenland, in 1912:
* [actually FILED with green flashes]
* The mirage observations are on pp. 196-197.
* 1. On 15 April 1912 in the Davis Strait, "un beau mirage d'«eau chaude»"
* 2. On 27 May, a superior mirage of icebergs; "vent faible"
* 3. On 2 June "nombreux isbergs visibles au loin apparaissaient tous
* étirés verticalement et surmontés de leur image renversée et
* ratatinée. Une fine ligne sombre courait parallèlement à l'horizon
* marin, représentant, sans doute possible, [!] l'image réfléchie de
* la nappe liquide." (So, he's not always reliable.) He took a telephoto
* picture, but it wasn't good enough to reproduce.
* 4. On 10 Sept., "j'ai vue sur quelque trente kilomètres de côte
* se développer une fatamorgana très belle. Elle se présentait sous
* l'aspect d'un ruban horizontal, strié de lignes verticales floues
* correspondant aux linéaments du paysage recouvert par le dit ruban.
* Celui-ci était nettement limité en haut et en bas. Son bord inférieur
* se découpait sur la mer, sa lisière supérieure sur le paysage côtier.
* Devant de Hjortetakken il marquait le 1/6 de la hauteur apparente de
* cette montagne, soit les 200 m inférieurs. . . .      Quelques isbergs . . .
* apparaissaient très nets et dans leur position normale mais étirés
* et coiffés dès le tiers supérieur de leur image renversée, limitée
* par ailleurs strictement au bord supérieur de la zône floue.
*      "La largeur verticale de la dite zône variait d'ailleurs en sens
* inverse de la hauteur de l'œil au-dessus des flots."
*      The title pages are given in both German and French; I give only the
* German here, as de Quervain (despite his name) writes only in German
* and was the expedition's leader; and this was published in Zürich.
* Dated 1. Dezember 1920; abstracted by Brooks in MWR, 1923.


Anonymous
“Royal Meteorological Society,”
Obs. 43, 420–421 (1920).

* Account of a meeting of the Roy. Met. Soc.
* "A paper on the Mirage, by Dr. W.H.Steavenson . . . . The visibility
* of the mirage was found to be dependent solely on the distribution of
* temperature near the ground . . . not necessarily associated with hot
* weather, and had, in fact, been well seen when the shade temperature
* was below 50° Fahrenheit. Investigations had shown that the old
* reflection theory was untenable, and that the phenomenon was purely a
* refraction effect. . . . The paper was illustrated by actual photographs
* of the mirage, taken by Dr. Steavenson with a telephoto lens." (p.421)
* [The published paper is the next item (1921).]
* Dated Dec. 1920. Available from ADS.


W. H. Steavenson
“Note on the mirage, as observed in Egypt,”
Q. J. Roy. Met. Soc. 47, 15–21 (1921).

* HEIGHT EFFECTS + PHOTOS


R. Forbes
The Secret of the Sahara: Kufara
(George H. Doran Co., New York, 1921).

* Use of mirage for DESERT NAVIGATION (cf. Hassanein Bey, 1925)
* Rosita Forbes (1893-1967) nearly died in the North African desert.
* "On clear mornings, about an hour after dawn, when the desert is
* very flat, a mirage of the country about a day's journey distant
* appears on the horizon. For a few minutes one sees a picture of
* what is some 50 kilometres farther on. The Arabs call it `the
* country turning upside down.'" (p.135)


C. P. Du Shane
“The sidewalk mirage,”
Science 53, 236 (11 March, 1921).

* Another note by Du Shane, commenting on McNair (1920)
* He mentions but does not cite his earlier observation.


(anonymous report from H. M. S. "Cleopatra")
“Mirage on the Gulf of Finland, May 1st, 1919,”
Met. Mag. 56, 40 (1921).

* Fine example of LOOMING
* accompanied by detailed temperature and wind data
* "sea 1 . . . air 43 F, sea 39 F"
* "The ice presented a curious mirage effect, being reflected upwards.
* When first sighted with the sun on it, it looked very like a continuous
* line of chalk cliffs in a slight haze; with the sun behind it, small
* detached pieces appeared as dark blurred objects which might be anything,
* and might be mistaken for land. On closing, it was found to be floating
* not more than a foot or so above water."
* LOOMING and STOOPING of other ships reported as well.


D. C. Bates
“Mirage across the Bay of Plenty,”
Met. Mag. 56, 41 (1921).

* Fine example of LOOMING and "FOG"
* originally cited as "Bay of Plenty Times" of Dec.6, 1920
* "All this time there was a dark grey-blue band on the horizon . . . .
* Soon after 4:30 this bank appeared to condense from the surface of the
* sea towards its upper margin, till it resembled a thick dark-coloured
* cable stretched from island to island."
* Note the Editor's WRONG explanation of the "black band", which confuses
* radiance and irradiance !!


A. F. Odell
“Sidewalk mirages,”
Science 54, 357 (14 Oct., 1921).

* More comments on the previous letters to Science


V. Stefansson
The Friendly Arctic
(Macmillan, New York, 1922), p. 490.

* Arctic "CLIFFS" mirage that sets like a heavenly body
* Vilhjalmur Stefansson is following Storkerson's trail:
* "Beyond Cape Grassy we found that Storkerson had struck away from the
* land in a direction 22 degrees west of north which is the proper course
* for Cape Murray . . . . But four miles from Cape Grassy we found a place
* where the sledges had stopped briefly by the way, to judge by the tracks
* of men and dogs. After this the trail led for eleven miles in a
* direction 20 degrees east of north. . . . But after eleven miles of this
* course the party had turned back to their previous one, heading again
* for Cape Murray. I learned later that the reason had been one of the
* remarkable mirages or `appearances of land' that have deceived so many
* arctic explorers. Storkerson told me later that the fog had suddenly
* lifted, showing a land with bold cliffs apparently only fifteen or
* twenty miles away. This surprised him, but after consulting his
* companions, both Eskimo and white, and studying the land carefully
* through the glasses he made up his mind that they could probably reach
* it that day and that he might as well strike it first at this cape and
* follow it westward. But for two or three hours as they advanced the
* land kept receding and getting lower, until finally without becoming
* obscured by any fog or mist it sank beneath the horizon as if it had
* been some heavenly body setting."


(editorial news item)
“An Exceptional Mirage,”
Met. Mag. 57, 337 (1923).

* Met.Mag.'s brief account of the next item


D. Brunt
“A double vertical reflection mirage at Cape Wrath,”
Nature 111, 222–223 (1923).

* TRIPLE SUPERIOR MIRAGE


K. Sinclair
“Mirages and similar phenomena,”
John O'Groat Journal (26 Jan., 1923).

* Several mirages and other phenomena (Kenneth Sinclair, Maughold Head
* Lighthouse, I.O.M.) "ORKNEY WITCH" original report
* ". . . I remember the remark of a Highland fisherman made to his fellow
* boatman after directing his attention by a sweep of his massive hand to
* the northern sky. . . . `there's Margaret, the Orkney witch, going to meet
* the sun.' and there, sure, hung, as if suspended by invisible threads, a
* stretch of the Orkneys mapped in the sky. I remember the sea was smooth
* and the sun glaring."


[K. Sinclair]
“Surging mirage,”
Met. Mag. 58, 12–13 (1923).

* PERIODIC MIRAGE and the ORKNEY WITCH
* ". . . in the Pentland Firth the superior mirage is sometimes referred to
* by the name of `Margaret, the Orkney Witch'. . . ."
* ". . . as sure as the timely rise and fall of a fountain ball, so did this
* strange sight rise and fall as if governed by the movement of some sighing
* bosom."
* "Such direct evidence for Helmholtz waves in the transition layer
* between a warm current and the cold air beneath it is valuable."


A. Réthly
“Fata Morgana on the Nagyhortobágy,”
Mon. Wea. Rev. 51, 312–313 (1923).

* NOT a FATA MORGANA (according to Bonnelance, 1929) but an inferior mirage
* decent photograph reproduced


J. H. Gordon
“Mirage in Lower California,”
Mon. Wea. Rev. 51, 313–314 (1923).

* pretty standard mirage story (stapled with the previous paper)


Val. Thomas
“Mirage sur la Manche,”
BSAF 37, 314–315 (1923).

* "absolutely characteristic" FATA MORGANA (according to Bonnelance, 1929)


Anon.
“Travaux astronomiques récents,”
BSAF 37, 487–489 (1923).

* NOT a FATA MORGANA (according to Bonnelance, 1929) but an inferior mirage
* This is a repeat of one published in Mon.Wea.Rev. for June 1923 (above)


N. Korzenewsky
“Ein seltener Fall abnormer Strahlenbrechung,”
Met. Z. 40, 374–375 (1923).

* EXTREME LOOMING
* Hard to believe they saw mountains 750 km away,
* ". . . jedoch ließen sich die mächtigen Schneegipfel und ihre von
* Klüften zerfurchten Abhänge überaus deutlich wahrnehmen."
* The feet of the mountains couldn't be made out, so maybe the long
* path is explicable by the great height (4560 m) of the peaks.
* Cf. Garner (1933).


A. M. Hassanein Bey
The Lost Oases
(Century Co., New York, 1925), pp. 124–125.

* Use of mirage for DESERT NAVIGATION (cf. Rosita Forbes, 1921)
* On p. 124, after mentioning the ordinary (inferior) mirage, he says:
* "Another kind of mirage comes sometimes in the early morning. Then the
* country far ahead of one appears in the sky at the horizon, as the
* Bedouins say, `upside down.' This is not, as the other variety of
* mirage is, entirely an illusion. It is really the reversed reflection
* of the country thirty or forty kilometers ahead of where the observer
* stands." He also says, "Sometimes . . . a small pebble the size of a
* cricket-ball seen from a mile away might assume the appearance of a big
* rock, standing like a landmark. The skeleton or part of the skeleton of
* a camel or a human being may take on the most fantastic shapes on the
* horizon, but the Bedouins know it well."
* and: "The seasoned desert traveler knows a mirage when he sees one. It
* is entirely possible indeed that the `upside down' variety may be a
* positive assistance, since it can suggest what kind of country lies ahead."


C. Maltézos
“Observation de la Fata Morgana en Grèce,”
BSAF 39, 202 (1925).

* FATA MORGANA with LATERAL MIRAGE (according to Bonnelance, 1929)


C. F. Brooks
“Looming and multiple horizons,”
Mon. Wea. Rev. 53, 313 (1925).

* textbook example of MULTIPLE HORIZON due to INVERSION
* Seen at Hampton Beach, Mass., June 17, 1925.
* Sounds like Forel's "FATA MORGANA" displays. 8' HEIGHT.
* "The Isle of Shoals looked like a city of skyscrapers of uniform
* height. . . . The loomed horizon joined with the other farther and farther
* northward in the course of the hour from 10 to 11 a.m. The extending
* upper line of the loomed horizon became visible first in rather regularly
* spaced spots (marking air waves?) which developed columnar connections
* with the lower sea level as the top line became continuous. A rough
* angular measurement indicated the looming to be about eight minutes
* of arc.
*      "Over the ocean there was the normal cool cushion of air, represented
* by the moderate sea breeze at 59° F. blowing in from the ocean (shore
* water 54.5° F.), over which was beginning to run a warm southwesterly
* wind, which became strong by mid-afternoon at points a few miles inland."


E. Oddone
“Sulla fotografia di un miraggio,”
Boll. Bimens. Soc. Met. Ital. 44, 51–54 (1925).

* A mirage photograph discussed, not very informatively


A. Wegener
“Die prognostische Bedeutung der Luftspiegelung nach oben,”
Ann. Hydrog. u. Maritimem Met., Köppen-Heft 93–95 (1926).

* WEGENER's statistical support for superior mirage predicting warmer
* weather


P. A. Bonnelance
“Note sur les réfractions anormales,”
Bull. Obs. Lyon 8, 17–20 (1926).

* MIRAGE CLASSIFICATION (preliminary version; see his 1929 paper in BSAF)
* This is on the first leaf of No.2; the title says "Tome IX" but that
* must be an error, as the title page of the *volume* says Tome VIII (1926)


A. R. Hassard
[account of meeting]
JRASC 20, 102–104 (1926).

* Mirages across Lake Ontario; random reports in discussion
* Available from ADS.


N. Ivanov
“A propos de la `Note sur les réfractions anormales' de M. P. A. Bonnelance,”
Bull. Obs. Lyon 8, 218–219 (1926).

* Ivanov reports miraged sunsets from Anapa (Northern Caucasian coast of
* the Black Sea) and cites Wright's experiments with colored filters.
* He shows crude MIRAGE DRAWINGS of setting Sun (all Omega type)


C. Maltézos
“Les réfractions anormales,”
Bull. Obs. Lyon 8, 218–220 (1926).

* Maltézos reports his work as well, in response to Bonnelance's note
* The page numbers overlap with the previous item, as Ivanov's drawing
* is placed on p.219, in the middle of Maltézos's letter.


A. Wegener
“Photographien von Luftspiegelungen an der Alpenkette,”
Met. Zs. 43, 207–209 (1926).

* PHOTOGRAPHS of SUPERIOR MIRAGES in the Alps, by A. Vaupel
* Commentary by Alfred Wegener (June issue)


B. M. Varney
“A striking case of looming over the sea,”
Bull. Amer. Met. Soc. 7, 109–110 (1926).

* Nice observation of HEIGHT effect, and "SURF"
* "From a rowboat, the low, rocky coast of one of the outlying islands was
* seen to alternate rapidly between its normal shape and that of splendid
* `cliffs.' The alternations synchronized with the rising and falling,
* respectively, of the boat over the slight swells of a glassy sea. So thin
* was the refracting layer of air, that when the boat was on top of a swell,
* the distant coast appeared in its true character to a person sitting in
* the boat. When the boat was in the trough, up popped the `cliffs' to form
* a fine palisade along the whole visible length of the island. From the
* deeper troughs the looming very nearly went over into full mirage, the
* normal form of the island shore then shooting out horizontally bottom up,
* over the true shore. . . .      The most spectacular feature of the display was
* the magnificent `surf' made by the very moderate swell when its breaking
* coincided with the dips of the boat into troughs. The spray would at such
* times shoot upward in a brilliant white column as high as the `cliffs'
* produced by the momentary looming."
* Aug.-Sept. issue


E. A. Mills
Romance of Geology
(Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden City, NY, 1926), pp. 1–31.

* Lengthy but fanciful descriptions of mirages in the manner of James Gordon
* Mentions "FOG" on p.7. Also:
* "A mirage is the reflection of something; sometimes the mixed
* reflection of several things. It appears that an object or a landscape
* is lifted, perhaps by reflection, projected afar, and then set down in
* another place as a mirage. . . . It may be photographically clear, or
* vague and cloudy, or a confused mixture. This confusion may be due to
* several reflections mingling in the same picture . . . ." (pp. 7, 8)
*      "The mirage shows many ambiguous images.  Desire often insists we are
* seeing the thing we want." (p. 9)
*      "The turning of my field glass upon a mirage often changed it into
* nothing -- or formless light and shadow." (p. 12)
*      There is a nice description of how a mirage made a couple of stalks
* of grass appear to be distant spruce trees in snow (pp. 16-17): "Before
* me, two slender grass stalks stood above the snow. I circled back to
* where I had first seen the spruces. They were in view again, but this
* time they were upon a snowy rim of a cañon -- the magnified
* overlapping snowshoe tracks that I had made by the grass stalks."
*      There is a good description of a "breathing" or waving mirage on
* p. 18: "Up and down they rose and sank, teetering as though upon an
* invisible support laid across the peninsula. Sometimes they balanced or
* swung back and forth slightly as they seesawed."
*      Peary's "Crocker Land" is on pp. 21-22.
* "During the Franco-Prussian War a number of scattered and independent
* observers in northern Sweden and Norway saw mirage armies marching
* through the air, equipped like the real ones that were fighting a few
* hundred miles to the south." (p. 23) [but no references!]
* "A vague or confused mirage . . . often reveals something in the mind of
* the onlooker." (p. 25)
* "Generally, the image shown is not moved to one side, but just
* uplifted above the horizon's rim. That these mirages often are directly
* above the real, I have proved with islands in the Pacific by taking a
* compass course and sailing directly to the real island." (p. 27)


P.-A. Bonnelance
“Etude sur les réfractions anormales,”
Bull. Obs. Lyon 9, 143A–155A (1927).

* Bonnelance's detailed statistical study of the frequency of different
* forms of refraction during the year and their relations to temperature
* gradients. He finds a rough relation to temperature difference between
* air and water, but not to humidity or barometric pressure. Comments on
* the importance of a trained eye.


W. G. Emmett
“A sideways mirage,”
Met. Mag. 63, 15–16 (1928).

* Dubious lateral mirage of mountains
* The explanation proposed by R.Corless does not seem plausible.


H. E. Wimperis
“Road mirages,”
Met. Mag. 63, 16 (1928).

* Wimperis calls attention to his 1903 note in Nature:


H. L. Pace
“Mirage at sea,”
Met. Mag. 63, 16–17 (1928).

* "The shapes of these ships are distorted when the temperature of the sea
* is higher than the temperature of the air . . . wind force makes no
* difference . . . ."


H. A. Rogers
“Sea and road mirage,”
Met. Mag. 63, 138 (1928).

* Comments from an unobservant reader:
* "I have not observed any road mirage in my time and am an octogenarian . . . ."


W. H. Bigg
“Road mirages,”
Met. Mag. 63, 138–139 (1928).

* Report of persistant inferior mirage at airport


A. Mallock
“Mirage: natural and artificial,”
Nature 122, 94–95 (1928).

* Describes LABORATORY DEMONSTRATION of mirages


P. M. Millman
“Two optical phenomena observed. I. A mirage seen near Victoria, B.C.,”
J. R. A. S. C. 22, 94 (1928).

* STANDARD TRIPLE IMAGE with drawing of SUPERIOR MIRAGE
* "The day was hot and clear with a temperature of about 65°."
* Available from ADS.


L. G. Vedy
“Sand mirages,”
Met. Mag. 63, 249–253 (1928).

* Mirages studied on sandy beaches


T. H. Applegate
“Sun pillar,”
Met. Mag. 64, 67 (1929).

* DOUBLE SUN, compared by F.J.W.Whipple in the following comment (p.68)
* to Hevelius's observation in 1682. He points out that it does not
* appear to be 2 images of the Sun separated by a blank strip; I am not so
* sure. This is the observation invoked by Botley (1935).
* "In the path of the pillar there was an image alike in all respects to
* the sun, the distance between the two balls being equal to the diameter of
* either. It was quite impossible at that time to say which was the object
* and which the image but this was decided when, two minutes later, the
* upper `sun' quite suddenly faded."
* cf. Emsmann, 1856, as well as S&T, 1980.


C. Frazer
“Ups and downs of the horizon,”
Popular Mechanics 52, 242–246 (Aug., 1929).

* Calvin Frazer's mirage article
* Despite the title, this is about mirages, not variable dip. Contains
* several interesting references (but not citations) to Bonnefont (1837);
* Warren Upham (1895); Lt. Wilkes; Borchgrevink; Bottineau. Alas, the
* "accompanying illustration" by Arctowski was not published.


P.-A. Bonnelance
“Les réfractions anormales,”
BSAF 43, 489–501 (1929).

* SUPERB treatment of mirages observationally; much improved classification
* scheme compared to his 1926 paper. Schiele's review missed this.
* Many comments on FOREL's work; good FATA MORGANA discussion.
* Useful comments about "FOG", which he seems to equate to the Fata-Brumosa.
* Useful comments on earlier reports in BSAF, too.
* EXCELLENT ADVICE to observers (cf. Nijland's list for GFs)
* He also notes the unexplained nature of "lateral mirage" reports.


H. T. Smith
“Abnormal refraction and mirage at sea,”
Marine Obs. 7, 133–135 (1930).

* Interesting review of mirages at sea, with many examples


H. Jameson
“Inferior mirage at Sunrise?,”
Met. Mag. 65, 138 (1930).

* badly drawn OMEGA sketch


A. A. Justice
“The passing of the mirage locally,”
Mon. Wea. Rev. 58, 414–416 (1930).

* Claims that mirages in Kansas are less frequent than before farming of
* the plains, due to the effects of more plant cover. Several anecdotal
* accounts of mirages there.
* (cf. Fingado, 1932)


J. Reger
“Spiegelung an einer Diskontinuitätsfläche,”
Beitr. Physik d. freien Atmos. 18, 190–195 (1932).

* impossible balloon sounding explained by abnormal refraction at inversion


C. L. Garner
“Seeing things at a distance,”
The Scientific Monthly 36, 71–74 (1933).

* LOOMING and cases of LONG VISUAL RANGE due to refraction
* Cites examples of long triangulation baselines: 192 miles [309 km]
* from Mt. Shasta to Mt. St. Helena, and 183 miles [295 km] in Utah.
* Then, on p. 73, there are examples of seeing great distances: the
* Explorer , in 1911, is said to have seen the Fairweather Mountains
* at 330 miles [531 km]. Other examples of looming on land are given.
* Cf. Korzenewsky (1923).


C. F. Talman
“The magic called mirage,”
Yachting (NY) 50, pp.47–49, 100, 102, 106 (April, 1932).

* CHARLES FITZHUGH TALMAN's article in Yachting
* An EXCELLENT popular review! Mentions Justice's note in MWR, 1930; the
* mirages of Mt. Canigou seen from Marseille; mirages near Chicago on Lake
* Michigan; Thomas Jefferson's "canoe" mirage; and many classical examples.
* Very clear on terminology -- a specialty of his, according to the obit.
* Explicitly says: "When abnormal refraction increases the apparent
* elevation of distant objects -- often lifting above the horizon things
* normally below it -- the process is described as `looming.' Because we
* associate a certain apparent altitude with a certain distance, this
* phenomenon generally makes the objects seem nearer than they really are."
*      Excellent advice: "The yachtsman who wishes to become better
* acquainted with mirage . . . if he knows enough German, . . . will read the
* appropriate sections of Pernter and Exner's Meteorologische Optik , and
* his best guide in English will be W. J. Humphreys' Physics of the Air .
* . . . A good pair of binoculars or other optical aid will be found necessary
* for making out details, especially in the observation of superior mirage,
* as great distances are usually involved . . . ."
* Much of the wording is borrowed from his earlier works.
*      This mag has had a varied history.  Founded in 1907 by Yachting
* Publishing Inc., it made its way to Z-D, then to CBS Magazines, who sold
* to Diamandis Communications, bought by Hachette Magazines c. 1989; then
* (c.1996) was sold to Times Mirror Magazines, Inc.. It is still
* apparently publishing 2 volumes/year in an unbroken series.
* I have a *very* poor photocopy -- can anyone provide a good one?


H. L. Page
“Mirage,”
Met. Mag. 68, 167 (1933).

* Mirage of Isle of Man from Holyhead, with looming


J. Pinkhof
“Fata Morgana te Zandvoort,”
Hemel en Dampkring 31, 252–254 (1933).

* SKETCHES of mirages, reproduced in Minnaert's book
* The drawings are about as reduced as is tolerable, here; but they were
* reduced still further, to illegibility, in Minnaert's book.
* [For larger versions, see ten Kate (1951).]
* Fig. 6 is a nice superior mirage of a ship beyond the horizon, like
* the drawing with the Sun in M.O. 37, 18 (1967).
* I don't think Pinkhof's argument against the supposed mirage of the
* cliffs of Dover holds water; he forgets that towering can magnify the
* image -- cf. Met. Mag. 56, 40 (1921), where again "chalk cliffs" were
* imagined. But he may well be right that this interpretation was wrong.


W. H. Hobbs
“Visibility and the discovery of polar lands,”
Geografiska Annaler 15, 217–224 (1933).

* Nice REVIEW of mirages and looming in mistaken claims of polar discoveries
* See some other of his papers in the "Lehn/Novaya Zemlya" file, esp. the
* 1937 paper for an update of this topic.


J. Boyer
“Curieuses apparences du mirage,”
La Nature 62:1, 385–387 (1934).

* GOOD PHOTOGRAPHS of mirages


W. Findeisen
“Über Beobachtungen von Luftspiegelung auf dem Neuwerker Watt,”
Ann. Hydrog. u. Maritimem Met. 62, 423–426 (1934).

* Good PHOTOGRAPHS of mirages (Tafel 46)
* Okt. 1934


H. C. Freiesleben
“Luftspiegelung nach oben,”
Ann. Hydrog. u. Maritimem Met. 62, 426 (1934).

* DOUBLE HORIZON; DEVELOPMENT of the superior mirage above 3 boats in 5
* minutes, from masts downward.


E. W. Barlow
“Deceptions of vision due to atmospheric conditions at sea,”
Marine Observer 12, 14–19 (1935).

* GOOD REVIEW of mirage phenomena, with discussion of terminology, and a
* mention of Diodorus Siculus at the end (probably via Flammarion).


W.-E. Schiele
“Zur Theorie der Luftspiegelungen, insbesondere des elliptischen Falles,”
Veröff. Geophys. Inst. d. Univ. Leipzig , series 2, 7, 101–188 (1935).

* Thesis -- good references


R. Meyer
“Die Entstehung optischer Bilder durch Brechung und Spiegelung in der Atmosphäre,”
Meteorologische Zeitschrift 52, 405–408 (1935).

* Rudolf Meyer FIRST DISCOVERED the Mock Mirage ("intermediate mirage")
* too many good quotes to give here!
* Rudolf Hans Wilhelm Meyer (1880-195x?) was educated in Warsaw and
* Berlin, after being a student at Dorpat Meteorol. Obs. He was born in a
* suburb of Riga, and often contributed to the Korrespondenz-Blatt there.
* O'C #88


W. G. Burt and H. D. Pim
“Mirage. Portuguese waters.,”
Marine Obs. 13, 92 (1936).

* Good DRAWINGS showing a DOUBLED image with one part TILTED
* July issue


L. W. Wilson
“Mirage. Gulf of Mexico.,”
Marine Obs. 14, 11 (1937).

* Good DRAWINGS and FOG description
* "The appearance of a fog bank lay on the horizon, the angular height of
* which was 2° 10'." This complex display needs work.
* Jan. issue


G. van den Bergh
“Fata Morgana in de Wieringermeer,”
Hemel en Dampkring 38, 259–260 (1940).

* Not a Fata Morgana, but a spectacular case of LOOMING,
* in which a farm appears (and a town is reported to have appeared)
* at "less than 10% of the real distance." Not even a drawing.
* Observed on 20 May.


W. J. Humphreys
“How Moses crossed the Red Sea,”
Scientific Monthly 63, 82 (1946).

* Humphreys was probably the inspiration for Fraser's "Theological Optics"
* This note also mentions the incident of April 11, 1917 reported by
* General Maude. [see London Times for April 16.]


K. Class
“Beobachtung einer seltenen Luftspiegelung,”
Zeitschrift für Meteorologie 1, 152 (1947).

* GOOD CASE for a MOCK MIRAGE in MOUNTAINS
* From Donnersberg (835m) mirages described in abstract as "Fata Morgana"
* were seen of Fichtelberg (1214m) and Keilberg (1244m), 71 km away.
* "Fichtelberg und Keilberg sowie sämtliche Bergkuppen bis herüber zum
* Wieselstein (Entfernung = 26 km NW, h = 856 m NN) standen auf sich selbst
* Kopf, nach oben begrenzt durch eine messerscharfe, waagrechte Linie."
* "Sämtliche Berge verloren ihre ursprüngliche Form. Vor allem der
* Oedschloß-Berg im Duppauer Gebirge (Entfernung = 70 km SWzW, h = 925 m
* NN) machte alle Stadien von Klumpen, feinst zugespitztem Kegel bis zu
* einem sonderbar geformten Zylinderhut durch. Auch das Riesengebirge
* (Entfernung 130 km E, h = 1400 bis 1600 m NN) zeigte, wenn auch nicht in
* so deutlich wahrnehmbarer Form, die im Westen so ungewöhnlich stark
* auftretenden Luftspiegelungen."
* Mountains were about 15 C warmer than valleys; "Der Temperatur- und vor
* allem der Feuchtigkeitssprung (Donnersberg nur 3% rel. Feuchte!) lag bei
* rund 750 m NN."


R. L. Ives
“Meteorological conditions accompanying mirages in the Salt Lake desert,”
J. Franklin Inst. 245, 457–473 (1948).

* GOOD REVIEW OF DESERT MIRAGES (ALL KINDS)


G. E. Mitchell
“Mirage, Gulf of Cadiz,”
Marine Obs. 21, 81 (1951).

* GOOD DRAWINGS showing the change in mirage with DISTANCE of ship


H. ten Kate
“Luchtspiegelingen,”
Hemel en Dampkring 49, 91–94 (1951).

* Big reproductions of Pinkhof's (1933) drawings
* GOOD DEFINITION: "What is a mirage? One should be able to define this
* as the phenomenon whereby we see objects at a sufficient distance in the
* open air not singly, but double or sometimes multiple, from which it is
* obvious that the light rays that leave an object come to our eyes along
* different paths. Then the light rays are not all propagated
* rectilinearly but sometimes also along curved paths . . . . The question
* is now more how it is possible that the rays become bent."
* He is one of very few writers who contrasts the astronomical and
* terrestrial refractions; but he supposes that straight rays are possible,
* or even common; and that superior mirages are rarely seen because the
* thermal gradients there tend to be weaker, not because of the restricted
* height from which they are perceptible. However, he does emphasize the
* importance of eye height.


H. ten Kate
“Fata Morgana,”
Hemel en Dampkring 50, 32–34 (1952).

* FATA MORGANA discussed
* Cites his mirage article in the previous volume: "The Fata Morgana are
* also mirages, but of a much more complex form than we have described in
* the cited article."
* He correctly connects the phenomenon with air-water temperature
* differences, and especially those near land; but thinks the F.M. is due to
* CURVATURE of the isopycnic surfaces.


J. C. Goverde
“Over het waarnemen van luchtspiegelingen,”
Hemel en Dampkring 50, 34 (1952).

* a nice SKETCH of MURAL MIRAGE
* on the last page of the previous item.


W. Weigel
“Beobachtung von Luftspiegelungen auf dem Fichtelberg im Erzgebirge,”
Zs. f. Met. 6, 94 (1952).

* MOUNTAIN MIRAGES and nocturnal inversion data
* Comments on inadequate resolution of soundings (200 - 300 m)
* Werner Weigel, Met. Station auf dem Fichtelberg i. Erzgebirge


G. Kohl
“Erklärung einer Luftspiegelung nach oben aus Radiosondierungen,”
Zs. f. Met. 6, 344–348 (1952).

* Gerhard Kohl tries to explain Weigel's observation
* Notable as the FIRST paper to consider the MOCK-MIRAGE geometry
* explicitly: "Einmal handelt es sich um eine Luftspiegelung eines weit
* entfernten Objektes (rund 165 km), zum anderen lag der Beobachtungspunkt
* einwandfrei oberhalb, aber nicht unterhalb der Grenzfläche zwischen
* Bodenkaltluft und der darüberliegenden, bedeutend wärmeren Luftmasse."
* -- though he tries to force Wegener's model onto it, and
* mistakenly asserts that "die Lichtstrahlen [werden] von der totalen
* Reflexion betroffen." But at least the radiosonde profile shows an
* 8-degree inversion close to the peak-to-peak line of sight.
* Many other circumstantial details are given, as well as a tell-tale
* drawing of the mirage (Abb. 4) supplied by Weigel.


P. W. Kidd and A. D. Terras
“Mirage and temperature fluctuations, Mediterranean Sea,”
Marine Obs. 23, 77 (1953).

* a series of M.O. mirage reports -- NOT ALL indexed here!
* HOT, DRY GUSTS -- cf. M.O.24,13(1954).
* "In one of these gusts (at 0820) the dry bulb rose to 89 F and the wet
* bulb fell to 71 . . . ." "Sea temperature remained 76 throughout . . . ."


P. P. Ainsworth
“Abnormal refraction, Cabot Strait, Gulf of St. Lawrence,”
Marine Obs. 23, 77–78 (1953).

* Fine DRAWINGS of 3-image mirages


J. D. MacMillan
“Abnormal refraction, off Cape Town,”
Marine Obs. 23, 78–79 (1953).

* NOVAYA ZEMLYA (leaky-duct) display of great duration
* Surface-based DUCT phenomena (cf. ATY's April 23, 1995 ducted sunset)
* "The upper limb of the sun appeared elongated and remained above the
* horizon for approximately two minutes." [This is the flattened image
* above the duct.] "Three minutes later a bright red light appeared,
* intermittently, in the sea about two-thirds of the distance to the
* horizon. The light was rectangular in shape, 40' of arc in length and 3'
* wide, and lasted for eight minutes." [This is the Sun seen through the
* duct. Note the long visibility -- a fine Novaya Zemlya display!]
* Evidently the observer mistook the top of the duct for the horizon
* (cf. Le Gentil's "whale" remark). The Editors were completely baffled
* by this report: "It is not possible to give any simple explanation of it. . . "


P. W. Hodges
“Abnormal refraction, North Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Obs. 23, 202–203 (1953).

* MULTIPLE IMAGES OF VENUS and "VERTICAL WHITE STREAK" --> GF
* "Before finally setting the planet appeared elongated to a vertical
* white streak which immediately turned a bright green. All these changes
* were visible to the naked eye."
* [cf. Biot's "petite colonne de feu", and M.O.24,13(1954)]


J. Y. Kerr and D. K. Bhattacharya
“Abnormal refraction, Off Port Okha (West coast of India),”
Marine Obs. 23, 203 (1953).

* DRAWINGS of distorted sunrise
* (belongs in "DISTORTED" file but on same page as above)


S. Keenan and G. Griffiths
“Abnormal refraction with gusts of dry air, Western Australian waters,”
Marine Obs. 24, 13 (1954).

* Seems to be a CREPUSCULAR RAY from VENUS
* ". . . gusts of hot, dry breezes were encountered, readings of the dry and
* wet bulbs then noted were 88 and 64 F . . . " [cf. M.O.23,77(1953).]
* "During the phenomena Venus was observed setting. Just before setting
* a column as of fire shot up from it to a height of a few degrees and
* remained visible for 30 sec while the planet set."
* [cf. Biot's "petite colonne de feü!]


W. Weigel
“Luftspiegelungen auf dem Brocken,”
Zs. f. Met. 9, 58 (1955).

* MOUNTAIN MIRAGES - identified as superior mirages
* Strong inversions (15 C in 540m)
* Werner Weigel, Brocken


C. S. Durst and G. A. Bull
“An unusual refraction phenomenon seen from a high-flying aircraft,”
Met. Mag. 85, 237–242 (1956).

* SUPERIOR MIRAGE of cumulus cloudtop from airplane
* "Such phenomena as described in this paper do not appear to have been
* previously reported from aircraft in flight, unless some of the reports
* of 'flying saucers' may have been due to this effect."


H. Gäbler
“Beobachtung einer Luftspiegelung nach oben,”
Zs. F. Met. 12, 219–221 (1958).

* MOUNTAIN MIRAGE - identified as superior mirage; but the stretched zone
* looks like Wegener's Nachspiegelung (viewed from above).
* The mirror image is drawn equal in size to the erect one.
* Milleschauer (835m) seen from Fichtelberg (1214m) above "Nebelmeer" at 750m.


(anonymous)
“Luchtspiegelingen,”
[newspaper clipping, dated in ink] (1 July, 1958).

* A 1958 Dutch newspaper clipping found by R. H. van Gent in a copy of
* Flammarion's "l'Atmosphère":
* Besides giving the wrong date ("1708" !) for Monge's observations, and
* exaggerating the French army's reactions to the desert mirages ("the
* men thought the end of the world had come"), there are a couple of
* tantalizing hints of mirages seen from AIRPLANES:
* "The pilot Martin flew into a mountain peak 30 years ago [this is dated
* 1958] when he tried to evade a mirage. Lindbergh himself said that he
* had seen strange shores in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."


J. H. Gordon
“Mirages,” in in Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, (1959)
(U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1960), pp. 327–346.

* James H. Gordon's mirage summary
* Useful remarks on the difference between ASPHALT and DIRT surfaces,
* despite his ignorance of the literature and optics. Cf. his 1923 paper.
* Good line: "Mirages are definitely not photogenic."
* Penny Porter tells me James Gordon was Janet Gordon's father.


E. Trautmann
“Über Luftspiegelungen der Alpen, gesehen vom Bayerischen Wald,”
Mitt. Deutsch. Wetterdienstes 3, Nr. 21(1960), ().

* Trautmann's attempt to interpret mirages of the Alps
* This is a useful but problematic report. The mirages are merely
* described (no drawings). But the observations are accompanied by
* balloon soundings from Munich, roughly on a line between the observers
* on Gr. Falkenstein and the miraged mountains. Unfortunately, only
* Wegener's simplified theory is used, so the comparison of theory with
* experiment is not exact (although he does demonstrate that ducting
* conditions existed in 2 of 3 superior mirages). Worse, he supposes that
* "reflections" can occur at the inversion layers seen below eye level;
* so the attempts to interpret these supposedly "inferior" mirages are
* nonsense. The resulting disagreements are "explained" by some
* hand-waving arguments of little merit.
* Obviously, this needs to be re-done properly.
* [Cited by Löw in his "Luftspiegelungen" book.]


N. P. Austin and M. Edward
“Abnormal refraction, North Pacific Ocean,”
Marine Observer 32, 22 (1962).

* DISTORTED MOONRISE with INFERIOR MIRAGE (textbook example)
* good drawings


M. J. Downie
“Abnormal refraction, North Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Observer 32, 182–183 (1962).

* DISTORTED MOONRISE with multiple MOCK MIRAGES (Filed in GF file!)
* good drawings


C. M. Botley
“Mirages — What's in a name?,”
Weather 20, 22–24 (1965).

* BOTLEY mixes up mirages and other phenomena


J. H. Gordon
“It's only a mirage,”
Ford Times 16–17 (July, 1966).

* James H. Gordon's short note
* "These road mirages are a comparatively modern development, almost
* unknown on the old dirt roads, and rarely seen today over dirt surfaces."
* Ford Times was a travel mag put out by Ford Motor Co.
* Thanks to Penny Porter for providing a copy!


R. L. Ives
“The mirages of La Encantada,”
Weather 23, 55–60 (1968).

* REGULAR MIRAGES IN BAJA


H. Ramforth
“Abnormal visibility at sea,”
Mariners Weather Log 17, 300–301 (1973).

* Visual and radar looming compared; "FOG" observed
* During the "fog" episode, the air was 2.5 deg. warmer than the water;
* apparently the inversion then lifted and became inaccessible.
* "A star fix taken by two officers from seven stars came out with useless
* results, although stars and horizon appeared good visually. While
* searching for the error that might have caused the useless results, it
* was found that if 10 min were added to the height of each observation,
* the results would have been correct." [Cf. Koss's footnote, 1901]
* A lighthouse with normal range 15 miles was seen at 75 miles.
* This appears to be a clear case of NEGATIVE DIP (cf. Hasse's
* "Kimmfläche") caused by a strong inversion overhead. The editor's
* comments are mostly wrong and should be disregarded.
* N.B.: There is no apostrophe in the title of this publication.


J. Collins and A. J. Bairstow
“Abnormal refraction, Mediterranean Sea,”
Marine Observer 49, 23 (1979).

* TRIPLE-IMAGE mirage within "yellow band . . . thought to be dust or haze.
* The yellow colour was very distinct and it may have been significant
* that the sun was setting over mountains around the coast at the time."
* A miraged ship was seen at 12 n. mile radar range; "the effects
* persisted until each observed target came within seven nautical miles . . .
* On two occasions the inverted image was observed before the true
* object." Air temp. 17.1 C, water 15.2, wind force 2.


A. B. Fraser
“Simple solution for obtaining a temperature profile from the inferior mirage,”
Appl. Opt. 18, 1724–1731 (1979).

* Fraser's parabolic profile
* He mentions the more correct logarithmic profile, but does not use it.


R. Brownbill, R. Owen, and M. Harris
“Abnormal refraction, Mediterranean Sea,”
Marine Observer 50, 23–24 (1980).

* Interesting DRAWINGS of superior mirages, with ships towering
* Radar distances of targets given.


K. W. D. Shears
“Abnormal refraction, North Sea,”
Marine Observer 50, 74–75 (1980).

* Inferior (?) mirage effects on HORIZON, 4 April 1979
* A vessel "was observed fine on the port bow. At a range of 8 n. mile it
* was seen to be in a normal position on the visible horizon, but when at a
* range of 12 n. mile it appeared in very clear detail to be in a position
* above the visible horizon.
*      "At the same time a small fishing vessel, at a range of 9 n. mile and
* approximately 4 points on the port bow, was producing a wake on the
* horizon which appeared to the observer as a mountainous sea, see . . .
* sketch. This phenomenon persisted until the range had decreased to 7 n.
* mile." Air 5.5° C, sea 6.3; wind calm.


W. A. Murison, M. J. Power, and D. J. Izzard
“Abnormal refraction, Tasman Sea,”
Marine Observer 50, 115 (1980).

* LOOMING of trees on shore, despite inf.-mir. temps.
* ". . . there appeared to be a layer of shimmering haze above the land
* . . . the trees were estimated to be 7 n. mile distant from the vessel."
* The DRAWING shows 2 separate layers at least.
* "HAZE" is drawn dark, despite Sun's altitude of 30-40°.
* Air 11.7° C, sea 14.1. A complex and puzzling observation!


I. O. Williams
“Abnormal refraction, Little Minch,”
Marine Observer 51, 117–118 (1981).

* Interesting DRAWINGS of superior mirages, with SMOKE MIRAGED
* The measured altitude of the boundary at 51' is unusually large.


R. Fullagar and J. L. Meade
“Abnormal refraction, North Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Observer 51, 183 (1981).

* WAVY HORIZON DRAWING
* An otherwise undistinguished inferior-mirage observation, which calls
* attention to the irregular waves on the apparent horizon. At 11.5 n.
* mile range, a vessel appeared miraged (usual drawing). "As the vessel
* drew closer the fo'c'sle, masts and accommodation appeared to hover above
* the horizon, seemingly separated from the rest of the vessel, which could
* not be observed at the time. Although the sea was calm with only small
* ripples, the waves at the horizon appeared magnified." Air 10.8 C, sea
* 13.2; wind, light airs. Position 39 20 N, 73 18 W (i.e., probably in
* Gulf Stream).


P. Day, P. C. Dyer, and R. P. Swinney
“Abnormal refraction, Tasman Sea,”
Marine Obs. 52, 26–27 (1982).

* DRAWING of multiple beach images
* "Initially an apparent line of haze or mist was observed, extending from
* the horizon to an altitude of 0° 10' - 0° 13' and presenting a false
* horizon. The ship's funnel smoke was then observed trapped on a level
* with this, indicating an inversion . . . . As the vessel closed with the
* coast the land was noticed to be apparently sitting on top of the
* inversion level, with the line of beach repeated two or three times in the
* shimmering air below (Figure 2). Sometimes water could be seen between
* the layers of the beach . . . . The top layer did not remain solid-looking.
* At intervals sections would dissolve into narrow vertical blocks that
* resembled single trees before disappearing altogether (see Figure 3); this
* resembled a wave-like motion, with the top layer gradually dissolving from
* right to left, then re-forming from left to right with waves of varying
* thickness forming in the top layer, and ripples moving along the top."
* Air temp 21.0° C; sea 19.5; wind force 2.


D. N. Roberts and J. G. Pearce
“Abnormal refraction and mirage, South Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Obs. 52, 27–28 (1982).

* DRAWINGS of superior mirages and miraged ship
* "Shortly after departure from Cape Town a superior mirage was observed
* to extend around two-thirds of the visible horizon. Throughout the
* following 2 1/2 hours very vivid inverted images could be seen. It
* was noted at 1300 GMT and again at 1630 that there were quite marked
* discontinuities of the reflected horizon. The two most distant images
* were observed at 1300 and 1400 GMT, the first being Dassen Island, which
* at the time of observation lay 13 n. mile to the north (the visible
* horizon being 7.85 n. mile distant); the height of Dassen Island is 19
* metres." Air temp. 22.9° C, sea 18.1, wind force 3 increasing to 4.


P. D. Cullen and I. Buckley
“Abnormal refraction, Straits of Labrador,”
Marine Obs. 52, 78–80 (1982).

* Many interesting DRAWINGS of superior mirages, with radar ranges
* "As the Strait of Belle Isle was approached a thick, low band of
* refraction was observed to stretch across the entrance to the Strait."
* Air, 5.9; sea, 4.1 C.


A. H. White and R. E. Lough
“Abnormal refraction, South Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Obs. 52, 78–80 (1982).

* Drawings of looming of a ship.
* Enlargement of image claimed with no distortion.


K. Lenggenhager
“Luftspiegelungen über unsern Seen (Fata Morgana),”
Z. Meteorol. 32, 187–190 (1982).

* Nice photos. This guy had a whole series of interesting papers for
* several years in Z.Met., all nicely illustrated, on halos, subsuns, the
* shapes of icicles, etc.
* This paper has beautiful illustrations of inferior mirages over lakes.
* The author doesn't understand Fraser & Mach's paper in Scientific
* American, though; he insists on "reflection" without refraction.


E. E. Gossard
“Formation of elevated refractive layers in the oceanic boundary layer by modification of land air flowing offshore,”
Radio Sci. 17, 385–398 (1982).

* NICE SUPERIOR MIRAGE PHOTO (triple image)
* This really belongs in BLM file, but is in mirage file because of photo
* ". . . conditions such as these are common in southern California, as
* evidenced by the well-known distortions of the solar limb as the sun sets."


N. R. Pryke, C. M. Billington, I. Foster, M. O'Gorman, and T. Rowland
“Abnormal refraction, Strait of Belle Isle,”
Marine Observer 53, 128–129 (1983).

* Interesting DRAWINGS of towering and superior mirages of icebergs
* at 38 - 43 nautical mile range
* ". . . all the bergs observed at a distance of 18 n. mile and over were
* seen to be abnormally refracted."


R. Spencer and M. G. Welsh
“Abnormal refraction, Bass Strait,”
Marine Observer 53, 203–204 (1983).

* Strong SUPERIOR MIRAGE produces "A SOLID WALL OF WATER" (see DRAWING)
* ". . . what appeared to be land features were observed on the horizon; at
* the same time the horizon ahead of the vessel became distorted and gave
* the impression that the vessel was approaching a solid wall of water. . . .
* The nearest land at this time was 85 n. mile away."
* Air varied from 25.6 to 21.6 C, sea temp. 18.8 C; wind force 2, sea
* slight. "Exceptional radar detection" to 45 n. miles.


J. G. Reeve, C. P. R. Clarke, and C. Purser
“Abnormal refraction, South African coastal waters,”
Marine Observer 54, 79–81 (1984).

* Many SUPERIOR and TRIPLE-IMAGE MIRAGE DRAWINGS in "mist"
* radar ranges from 8.0 to 17.5 n.miles; dry bulb 22.0 C, sea 15.8,
* wind force 1


J. P. Ayling
“Abnormal refraction, South-west Australian waters,”
Marine Observer 54, 126–127 (1984).

* Mirage of coasts described, but the sketch "cannot be reproduced"!
* Many interesting details; a puzzling report.


M. Sams and B. W. Watson
“Abnormal refraction, North-west Australian waters,”
Marine Observer 54, 127–128 (1984).

* GOOD DRAWINGS of superior mirages with vertically stretched zone
* Air temp. 30 C, water 26; wind force 3.


J. C. S. Yeo and J. A. C. Pearce
“Abnormal refraction, Gulf of Mexico,”
Marine Observer 56, 193–194 (1986).

* Strong inferior-mirage near Grand Bahama Island, with DRAWING
* Ship at 16 n. miles ahead seen miraged. "Slowly, this effect diminished
* until . . . at a range of 12 n. mile, the ship's hull touched the horizon."
* Air 21.2 C, sea 27.0; wind force 3. "The sea state was slight, with no
* swell." The background land was also miraged.


A. D. Matthias and N. Ferguson
“Superior-mirage photographs: evidence of complex air temperature profiles in Sonoran Desert valleys,”
Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc. 67, 1266–1271 (1986).

* SUPERIOR MIRAGE PHOTOS


A. von Chamisso
A voyage around the world with the Romanzov exploring expedition in the years 1815-1818
(U. of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1986), pp. 83–84.

* Adelbert von Chamisso's 1816 mirages in translation
* A very clear explanation of both the appearances and their causes:
* "I saw a surface of water before me in which a low hill was reflected
* that extended along the opposite shore. I went toward this water. It
* disappeared before me, and I reached the hill with dry feet. When I had
* covered about half the distance, I seemed to Eschscholtz, who had remained
* behind, to have been submerged up to my neck in the reflecting layer of
* air, and, shortened the way I was, he said I looked more like a dog than a
* human being. As I strode onward, toward the hill, I emerged more and more
* from the layer of air, and I appeared to him, lengthened by my reflection,
* to get taller and taller, gigantic, slender."
* "When land rises above the horizon, as seamen are wont to express it,
* the line that is taken to be the horizon is the edge of a reflecting
* surface formed by the lower layer of air and closer to the eye; a line
* that really lies below the visible horizon. I believe that this illusion
* in some cases can have an influence on astronomical observations and can
* cause an error in these of five and perhaps more minutes."
* He also mentions Flinders, Ross, and Scoresby.
*
* NOTE: Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz was the physician and naturalist who
* accompanied Kotzebue's expedition, along with writer/botanist Chamisso
* and the artist L. A. Choris. Chamisso produced the first scientific
* description of California's golden poppy (now the state flower) on this
* expedition, and named it in honor of his friend Eschscholtz.
* The best biography of Chamisso I have seen is in the DSB.


K. H. Milne and R. Duff
“Abnormal refraction, Mediterranean Sea,”
Marine Observer 57, 112 (1987).

* Good DRAWINGS of towering of ship; another "yellow band" within 1 hr.
* of sunset; cf. Marine Observer 49, 23 (1979).
* ". . . a low, yellow-coloured sand layer was observed, originally thought
* to be haze or fog." Air temp. 25.5 C; sea decreased from 20 to 15,
* then increased to 18 C.


R. G. Greenler
“Laboratory simulation of inferior and superior mirages,”
JOSA A 4, 589–590 (1987).


K. R. Lown
“Mirage over Thames estuary,”
Weather 42, 393 (1987).

* drawing of triple-image mirage
* with standard commentary by Ken Bignell


A. Mayor
“Marine mirages,”
Sea Frontiers 34, 8–15 (1988).

* Adrienne Mayor's fair popular review: Tape, Greenler & Fraser are cited
* Besides the standard examples, several less-common ones are mentioned:
* accounts from Giraldus Cambrensis's Topography of Ireland (1187),
* literary passages supposedly inspired by mirages (Wordsworth;
* Coleridge); Wilkes and J.C.Ross; Borchgrevink.
* Jan.-Feb. issue


C. Sturcke and G. R. Jackson
“Abnormal refraction, Western North Atlantic,”
Marine Observer 58, 68–69 (1988).

* SUPERIOR MIRAGE DRAWINGS and descriptions, including land seen
* inverted beyond horizon (25 n. mile range). The mirage of land at 18
* miles was slightly magnified. Wind: force 4.


W. G. Rees
“Reconstruction of an atmospheric temperature profile from a 166-year old polar mirage,”
Polar Record 24, 325–327 (1988).

* INVERSION of SCORESBY's drawings


C. Bohren
“Simple experiments in atmospheric physics: Highway mirages,”
Weatherwise 42, 224–227 (1989).

* REALLY GOOD piece on inferior mirages by CRAIG BOHREN!
* (with 3 fine color photographs of hot-road mirages.)
* First sub-head is: A Mirage Is Not an Illusion (Thanks, Craig!)
* "I shudder when I see or hear mirages referred to as optical illusions.
* . . . these optical phenomena are no more illusions than are images
* in a mirror." (He offers the Moon Illusion as a real example: "An
* enlarged moon is a creation of the mind; a mirage is a creation of the
* atmosphere.")
*      "When images formed by the refracting atmosphere depart markedly from
* what they would be in its absence, they are called mirages."
*      "Before considering the consequences of atmospheric refractive
* gradients, I must dispose of the notion that water vapor plays an
* essential role in the formation of mirages. This misconception dates to
* antiquity and persists today, evidence that no misconception ever dies."
*      But, alas, he equates inferior mirages with images below the geometric
* position. Despite this single flaw, a fine article.


P. R. Barker, P. R. M. Crofts, and M. Gal
“Apparatus Notes: A superior "superior" mirage,”
Am. J. Phys. 57, 953–954 (1989).

* Nice Wollaston-style demo using HEAT LAMPS and water
* "When the lamps are switched on, the beam immediately begins to deflect
* . . . . After 30 s a deflection of 6 cm is observed on the screen. . . .
* The deflection rapidly returns to zero when the lamps are switched off."
* Unfortunately they define inferior and superior mirages in terms of
* image displacement, blaming this on Greenler's 1986 OSA abstract. But
* at least they say mirages "are caused by gradients in the temperature"
* and not temperature differences -- still, no second derivatives.


W. G. Rees
“Mirages with linear image diagrams,”
JOSA A 7, 1351–1354 (1990).

* Rees never read Biot's book, though it is his first reference!
* ". . . inverted mirages . . . are not included in Biot's analysis . . . ."


J. F. Davis and T. B. Greenslade , Jr.
“Computer modeling of mirage formation,”
Physics Teacher 29, 47–48 (1991).

* A worse-than-average account by ignorant physicists
* "Monge . . . was the first to give an explanation . . . . The coordinates at
* which zero slope is reached can be approximated . . . ." A crude empirical
* approximation for the temperature profile over a hot surface is used (with
* no physical basis); the index of refraction "must approach a constant" (!)
* at heights "greater than about 2 m"; and of course the Earth is flat.
* They touch on the horizontal-ray paradox. Pretty dismal.
* 5 papers, all in Am. J. Phys., are cited from 1974 to 1982.


S. Mak
“Showing the light path of a mirage,”
Physics Teacher 31, 476–477 (1993).

* A glorified version of Wollaston's demo
* The use of a pinch of Coffee-Mate to make the beam visible is a nice
* contemporary touch. And as "alcohol is not benign to most transparent
* plastic containers," he recommends a strong (0.5g/ml) sugar solution.


A. T. Young, G. W. Kattawar, and P. Parviainen
“Sunset Science. I. The Mock Mirage,”
Appl. Opt. 36, 2689–2700 (1997).

* our MOCK MIRAGE paper (Paper I)


G. Horváth, J. Gál, and R. Wehner
“Why are water-seeking insects not attracted by mirages? The polarization pattern of mirages,”
Naturwissenschaften 84, 300–303 (1997).

* Mirages, polarization, and insect vision
* Shows a photograph of a Tunisian mirage
* Thanks to Gábor Horváth for supplying a PDF copy!


G. Horváth, J. Gál, and R. Wehner
“Erratum: Why are water-seeking insects not attracted by mirages? The polarization pattern of mirages,”
Naturwissenschaften 85, 90 (1998).

* Mirages, polarization, and insect vision (erratum)
* This shows a corrected version of Fig.1
* Thanks to Gábor Horváth for supplying a PDF copy!


C. H. Tape
“Aquarium, computer, and Alaska Range mirages,”
Physics Teacher 38, 308–311 (2000).

* All qualitative, but good photographs


T. Kosa and P. Palffy-Muhoray
“Mirage mirror on the wall,”
Am. J. Phys. 68, 1120–1122 (2000).

* MURAL MIRAGE well photographed
* But much of the discussion is confused: the erect image is described as
* "real"; Hillers is wrongly credited as being the "first" to study "the
* wall mirage"; the ray trajectory is assumed to be parabolic, or circular;
* the refractive-index and temperature profiles are arbitrarily assumed,
* with no reference to the relevant boundary-layer literature; etc.
* Dec. issue


P. Porter
“Mirages: Heaven in the sky and other sightings,”
Arizona Highways 77, No. 7, 22–25 (July, 2001).

* Penny Porter's Fata Morgana Arizona observation, plus quotes from Gordon
* The observation was made at 7 am in April 1981
* "A city afloat on a vast blue ocean . . . . doorways on dwellings framed
* in timber and ladders stretching from the ground up to occasional arched
* windows of the upper levels -- suggesting the architecture of the
* pueblo-builders of Arizona or Mexico. Garden plots on upper terraces
* blazed with fiery flowers. Chickens scuttled around courtyards. Two
* heavily laden burros tied to hitching posts were clearly visible, and
* people strolled down quiet, peaceful streets. . . .
* "Finally it broke into sections. Huge fragments collapsed, and in
* slow motion they sank one by one into the sea."


J. D. Pettigrew
“The Min Min light and the Fata Morgana,”
Clinical and Experimental Optometry 86, No. 2, 109–120 (2003).

* distant lights seen at night via inversions -- fine MIRAGE PHOTOS in color
* Notable for a good section ("Animation and human factors") that
* discusses the perceptual issues. The colors reported remind me of
* the Biot-Arago observations. Cites my mirage page.
*      Available on the Web at
* http://www.optometrists.asn.au/ceo/backissues/vol86/no2/2043


E. Darack
“Unlocking the atmospheric secrets of the Marfa Mystery Lights,”
Weatherwise 61, No. 3, 36–43 (May/June, 2008).

* Ed Darack's article on MARFA LIGHTS featured on cover
* Nice COLOR PHOTOS of inferior and superior mirages of lights, including
* Fata Morganas. Cites my mirage page.


M. Zinkova
“Fata Morgana in coastal California,”
Weather 64, 287 (2009).

* Mila Zinkova's good Fata Morgana picture (see cover!)
* Contains comments by ATY. Nice mock-mirage GF shown, too.
* No. 11 (Nov. issue)



*** ALEXANDER von HUMBOLDT FILE ***

A. de Humboldt
Relation historique du Voyage aux Régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent
(Dufour, Paris, 1814).

*
* This also has the title:
* Voyage de Humboldt et Bonpland. Première partie. Relation Historique.
* The various editions and many translations divide the "books" into
* volumes in various different ways.
* MIRAGES and TERRESTRIAL REFRACTION are mentioned occasionally; one needs
* an edition with an index to find them.
* Note the flowery dedication: "A L'Illustre Auteur de la Mécanique
* céleste, P. S. De La Place, comme un faible hommage d'admiration et de
* reconnoissance."


A. de Humboldt
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent
(Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London, 1818).

* Helen Maria Williams's translation, often reprinted. Lacks an index.
* This is a rather crude, literal translation, but at least it is
* unabridged. I have found mirages mentioned in Vol. 1, p.187;
* Vol. 2, p.189 (the footnote citing Hooke); Vol. 3, pp. 542-554
* (the famous Note D); Vol. 4, p. 292; Vol. 4, pp. 299, 325, 327-329.
* The last of these is the passage referring to the Sanskrit phrase, and
* to "the Indian, Persian, and Arabic poets".
* The translator has the quirk of invariably writing "it's" for "its".


Al. de Humboldt and A. Bonpland
Voyage aux Régions Équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, fait en 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804, par Al. de Humboldt et A. Bonpland; rédigé par Alexandre de Humboldt. Tome Premier
(Chez F.Schoell, Paris, 1814).

* Humboldt's detailed mirage report (see Note D, p. 625)
* This is the original, now available from Gallica.bnf.fr


A. von Humboldt
Relation historique du Voyage aux Régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent
(Brockhaus, Stuttgart, 1970).

* This is the republication sponsored by the Humboldt Foundation:
* "Neudruck des 1814-1825 in Paris erschienenen vollständigen Originals,
* besorgt, eingeleitet un um ein Register vermehrt von Hanno Beck"
*
* By far the most interesting passage is Note D on pp.625-631 of Band I.
* It contains quantitative measurements of zenith distance (though
* mostly on the scale of his quadrant, which contained 96 degrees, each of
* which corresponds to 56' 15") of several fixed points on islands, and of
* the sea horizon. He thus was able to observe the VARIABLE DIP and its
* relation to air and water temperatures, and to the color of the sea (p.
* 628). He cites Aristotle, Theophrastus, Büsch, Gruber, Monge, Brandes,
* Wollaston, Tralles, Woltmann, Biot. He mentions the Sanskrit phrase
* "mriga-trichná". He cites his own demonstration that, in the tropics,
* the water is nearly always 1 to 1.5 degrees warmer than the air, as the
* cause of the miraging. Most impressive!
* The Hooke citation is on p. 296 here.



*** GASTON TISSANDIER FILE ***

J. Glaisher, C. Flammarion, W. de Fonvielle, and G. Tissandier
Voyages Aérienes
(L.Hachette et Cie., Paris, 1870).

*
* Tissandier's part of this 19th-Century ``coffee-table'' book contains
* his brother's woodcut of the mirage over the English Channel, facing
* p.408, in "Troisième Partie: Voyages de MM. de Fonvielle et Tissandier":
* "Nous cherchons les falaises de Douvres et nous nous étonnone bientôt
* de ne pas voir les côtes de l'Angleterre qui ne sont pas bien distantes
* de notre aérostat; elles sont cachées par un immense rideau de vapeurs
* plombées, qui s'étend vers ce côté de l'horizon. Je lève la tête
* pour chercher la limite de cette muraille de nuages, et quelle n'est pas
* ma stupéfaction quand j'aperçois dans le ciel une nappe verdâtre qui
* ressemble à l'image de l'océan; bientôt un petit point semble se
* mouvoir dans cette plage céleste, c'est un bateau, gros comme une
* coquille de noix, et en y fixant avec soin mes regards, je ne tarde pas à
* constater qu'il navigue à l'envers sur cet océan retourné; ses mâts
* sont en bas et sa quille en haut. Un moment après je vois l'image du
* bateau à vapeur qui vient de partir de Calais pour l'Angleterre, et, avec
* ma lunette, je distingue la fumée qui s'échappe de son tuyau. Voici
* bientôt deux ou trois autres barques qui apparaissent au milieu de cette
* mer magique, tableau vraiment saisissant, d'une éblouissante
* fantasmagorie du mirage."


G. Tissandier
Histoire de mes ascensions
(Maurice Dreyfous, Paris, 1878).

* The popular summary of Tissandier's 24 balloon flights
* The first chapter (pp.119-127) contains a textbook example of the
* SEA-BREEZE circulation (see diagram, p.125) with a capping inversion at
* 600 m. It alludes to the mirage over the English Channel, but says the
* first 7 flights were described more fully in Hachette's "Voyages
* aériens" (1870).
* Drawings of distorted Sun- and Moon-rises are on pp. 260 & 261.
* There is a 2-page bibliography of aeronautics at the end.


G. Tissandier
“Le mirage de la Tour Eiffel,”
La Nature 18:1, 195–198 (1890).

* Tissandier's review of "mirages" -- some may be snowflake reflections?
* (The Eiffel-tower reflection is from l'Astronomie 9, 41-42 (1890), q.v.)
* Here is where he quotes extensively from his earlier work, but
* mis-attributes it to "Histoire de mes ascensions". The illustration by
* his brother Albert, showing the inverted images of ships on the North Sea,
* accompanies this article. As this illustration was based on his
* "crude sketch" made after the flight, it can hardly be regarded as an
* accurate observation.
* Eric Frappa tells me this is "Semestre 1".



*** ADMIRAL W. H. SMYTH FILE ***

W. H. Smyth
Sketch of the Present State of the Island of Sardinia
(John Murray, London, 1828), p. 80.

*
* (mostly minor references to mirage phenomena)
* N.B.: Admiral Smyth was the father of Charles Piazzi Smyth, q.v.
*
* "The deceitful phenomenon so well known in Barbary by the name of
* `sarab ,' is very frequent in the lower grounds of Sardinia; and while
* at Villa-Cidro, I one morning saw the whole Campidano appearing like a
* vast lake, with the hills of Cagliari in the distance resembling islands."


W. H. Smyth
The Mediterranean, a Memoir Physical Historical and Nautical
(J.W.Parker and Son, London, 1854).

* Discussion of mirages, pp. 288-291
* The Fata Morgana "is said to occur in sultry, calm weather, when the
* tides, or streamed-up waters, are at their highest, and when the sun
* shines from that point whence its incident rays form an angle of about
* 45° on the water. At such times, they tell us, multiplied images of
* all the objects existing on the two lines of coast -- as castles, arches,
* towers, houses, trees, animals, and mountains -- are presented in the air
* with wonderful precision and magnificence. Padre Minasi assures us that,
* in addition to obvious appearances, numberless series of pilasters,
* superb palaces with balconies, armies of men on foot and horseback, and
* many other strange figures, are seen in their natural colours and proper
* action, as in a catoptric theatre; and there exist paintings and
* engravings of the wonderful phenomenon. Still, on the whole, I cannot but
* repeat the conviction to which inquiry led me, and which I published as
* far back as 1824 ( Sicily and its Islands, page 109): -- `I much doubt,
* however, the accuracy of the descriptions I have heard and read, as I
* cannot help thinking that the imagination strongly assists these dioptric
* appearances, having never met with a Sicilian who had actually seen
* anything more than the loom or mirage, consequent on a peculiar state of
* the atmosphere; but which, I must say, I have here observed many times to
* be unusually strong.'"


W. H. Smyth
The Sailor's Word-Book
(Blackie and Son, London, 1867).

* Here is his famous "What's in a word?" discussion



*** SOLAR AFTERIMAGE FILE ***

Joh. Georg Sulzer
Johann Jacob Scheuchzers . . . Natur-Geschichte des Schweitzerlandes, Zweyter Theil
(David Geßner, Gbdr., Zürich, 1746), pp. 338–343.

*
* See also Kritzinger (1914), Vogel (1940) in Green Flash file.
*
* Johann Jacob Scheuchzer is sometimes regarded as the "father of
* paleobotany" because of his early work on plant fossils.
* Sulzer edited Scheuchzer's works and translated them from the Latin
* edition published at Leyden by Peter van der Aa in 1723, adding later
* material from Scheuchzer's contributions to Breßlauer Sammlung as well
* as some of his own speculations on the origins of the Alps (he thought
* they were produced by the Earth's center of gravity having shifted!) and
* the fossils in their sedimentary rocks (which he explained by Noah's
* Flood). He attempts to combine the physical evidence with a literal
* interpretation of Scripture.
*
* There are many amusing bits in this work, from the editor's railing
* against people who only buy books for the pictures ["Viele Leute lieben
* die Kupferstiche weit mehr, als eine Beschreibung der Sachen; ja einige
* kauffen die Bücher nur deßwegen. Diesen verständigen Liebhabern zu
* gefallen, hat der dienstfertige Verleger der Holländischen Ausgabe eine
* Menge Kupfer beygelegt, welche aus Merians Topographie genommen sind.
* Stücke, davon oft in dem Texte kein einiges Wort stehet. Diese hat man
* hier weggelassen, und vielleicht in eben der Absicht, in welcher sie Hr.
* van der Aa dazu gethan hat. Wer diesen Abgang nicht vertragen kan, der
* hat die Freyheit, die Holländische Ausgabe oder Merians Werck zu
* kauffen."] to the description on p. 238 (the wrong page number happily
* supplied by "M" in Gilberts Annalen) on how to tell real dragons from mere
* snakes: "Bochart . . . unterscheidet . . . die Drachen von den Schlangen durch
* nachfolgende Kennzeichnen: 1) Die Grösse. 2) Den Bart unter dem Kinn.
* 3) Eine dreyfache Ordnung der Zähnen. 4) Eine schwarze, feuer-rothe oder
* aschenfarbe. 5) Eine sehr grosse Oeffnung des Mundes. 6) Daß sie durch
* das Anziehen der Luft nicht diese allein, sondern auch vorbey fliegende
* Vögel an sich ziehen. 7) Ein erschreckliches und auf gewisse Weise
* trauriges Zischen, daher sie im Hebraischen Tannin genennt werden."
* (Some 20 pages are devoted to these supposedly real creatures.)
*
* Of more interest here is his observation (p. 42) of a "Phænomenon an
* der Sonne": ". . . da sie einen gantz neuen Habit angezogen, (zum wenigsten
* habe ich sie in solchem noch niemal gesehen). Abends um 5. Uhr ist bey
* neblichtem Himmel dieses sonst so hellglänzende Gestirn, zum wenigsten
* einige Augenblicke, in Mitten dem Nebel, in einer angenehmen purpur-blauen
* Farbe erschienen." As this is seen through "fog", I take it to be a
* "BLUE SUN" and not a bluish sunset flash, despite the "few moments"; as
* the date was July 29, 1703, this would be several hours before sunset.
*
* The solar after-images are nicely described under the heading "Von
* ungewöhnlichen in der Schweiz A. 1719. im Heumonat aus der Luft
* gefallenen Bläßgen oder Bullis " with a footnote: "Sihe gedachte
* Breßl. Sam~lung im Julio 1719, Class.IV. Art.IV." The classical
* particulars are there: a hazy sky, in which people could look at the Sun
* without discomfort; a series of images drifting across the sky; a variety
* of colors seen; the "bubbles" vanish into insubstantiality on falling to
* the ground; etc. "Es ist dieses völlig die gleiche Luft-Geschicht von
* Bläßgens oder Bullis , die A. 1553 den 21. Brachm. zu Sculs im
* Engadin ist angemerckt, und in unsrer Meteorol. Helv. p.96 beschrieben
* worden . . . ." Pfarrer Judas Uttiger in Lichtensteig sends him a detailed
* account, of which he writes that "er seye um dieser sehr seltsamen
* Luft-Geschichte willen zum drittenmal spazieren gegangen, und habe sich
* nicht genug verwundern können, daß die bey ihme stehende ihme gleichsam
* mit dem Finger die fliegenden und fallenden Luft-Kugeln gezeiget, deren
* er doch keine mit seinen eignen Augen sehen können." But those who lived
* on higher hills above the fog had seen nothing; "daraus sich schliessen
* läßt, die unterste Gegend der Athmosphaer seye sonderheitlich mit
* dicken Dünsten angefüllet gewesen, da hingegen die obere hell geblieben.
* Diese ganze Luft-Geschicht endlich scheinet es, könne als ein optisches
* Gesichtspiel, oder als ein Betrug unserer Augen, angesehen, und mit
* demjenigen verglichen werden, da einer, der die Sonne mit starren Augen
* anschauet, hernach, ob er die Augen gleich zuschliesset, das Bild der
* annoch scheinenden Sonne siehet oder zu sehen vermeynt, und sie zwaren
* siehet durch verschiedne Farben als roth, blau und so ferner, untergehen,
* bis sie völlig verschwindet."
* This is followed by two more very similar reports, in the last of which
* Scheuchzer himself finally gets to see the "Bläßgen" and confirms his
* opinion: ". . . so wie nemlich das dem Aug eingedruckte Bild der Sonne,
* welches eine Zeitlang, wann man auch gleich die Augen von der Sonne
* abwendete, bliebe, eine mehr oder minder stärckere Bewegung in den
* Augen-Nerven verursachte."
*
* The whole book is printed in old-style Fraktur, with little e's over
* the letters for umlauts. The Courier-like Roman type used is a poor
* match to the Fraktur. A much wider, different face is used for display
* type (still a Fraktur face). It's amazing that anyone would actually
* send this treasure out to another library; perhaps the dowdy 19th-Century
* re-binding deceived them into thinking it worthless.


Weise
“Notizen aus dem 17ten Jahrhundert von einigen merkwürdigen Meteoren,”
Gilb. Ann. Physik 30, 105–112 (1808).

* A collection of 17th-Century oddities, collected by "Landmesser Weise"
* taken from the Theatro Europaeo .
* Pp. 106-107 relate a double-Moon crescent of 15 July 1633.
* The SOLAR AFTERIMAGES are on pp. 107-108 and 109-110.


E. Acharius
“Besynnerligt Meteor-phenomén,”
Stockholm Acad. Handl. 29, 215–218 (1808).

* Erik Acharius's second-hand solar afterimage reports
* As Gilbert's German translation appears to be complete and satisfactory,
* see the next item for it.


E. Acharius
“Beschreibung eines besondern Meteors,”
Gilb. Ann. Phys. 52, 235–239 (1816).

* An early SOLAR AFTERIMAGE report (see next item for explanation)
* Also a good example of "mass hysteria" or mutual brainwashing by
* the inhabitants of a village: everybody came to believe "eine Menge
* Kugeln oder sphärische Körper nach einander mit Geschwindigkeit
* aufsteigen, die dem blossen Auge von der Grösse eines Hutkopfes
* erschienen, und eine dunkelbraune Farbe hatten." The mysterious
* "balls" vanished soon after falling to earth. One person saw them
* first, "und als es so lange dauerte, wurden nach und nach alle
* Dorfbewohner darauf aufmerksam, so dass es keine Täuschung seyn konnte,
* die bloss bei einem und dem andern Individuum hätte möglich seyn
* können." The Sun had been dimmed by a haze so "dass man ohne
* Unbequemlichkeit mit blossen Augen in sie hinein sehen konnte."


"M."
“Eine Bemerkung über das besondere, von Herrn Acharius beschriebene Meteor, welches vor einigen Jahren in Schweden gesehen worden ist,”
Gilb. Ann. Phys. 52, 342–343 (1816).

* The above phenomenon explained: ". . . der Grund der Erscheinung in einer
* Blendung der Augen durch die Sonne liege." The anonymous correspondent
* in Göttingen points out some earlier examples: "Dasselbe Phänomen
* erwähnen frühere Schriftsteller beinahe mit denselben Worten."
* Certainly true; but he gives the wrong page number (238 for 338) in
* Scheuchzer's Natur-Geschichte.



*** CROCKER LAND FILE ***

Anonymous
“The Peary expedition to the North Pole,”
Times (Lond.) p.6 (20 July, 1908).

*
* Early mention of "Crocker Land" in the London Times
* "Crocker Land" appears 5 times, in passing.
* Dateline is "from our correspondent", New York, July 7 (1908)


Anonymous
“The Crocker Land Expedition under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History and the American Geographical Society,”
Science 35, 404–408 (1912).

* Plans for the "Crocker Land Expedition"
* "It is estimated that not less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)
* must be provided for the absolute needs of the expedition, in order to
* enable it to accomplish the valuable results that have been outlined
* above . . . . Subscriptions to the fund are invited."
* At this point, the expedition was to have been led by George Borup,
* then only 5 years out of Yale, with Donald B. MacMillan.


Anonymous
“The Crocker Land Expedition,”
Science 38, 120–121 (1913).

* The start: it is now "George Borup Memorial" with MacMillan leader
* "The original program of work for the expedition contemplated two
* years or three summer seasons in the Arctic, but supplies have been
* taken north which will enable the party to remain three years or even
* longer . . . ."


Anonymous
“Crocker Land eludes explorers,”
New York Tribune pp.1, 4 (Nov. 25, 1914).

* The New York Tribune announcement that "Crocker Land" was a mirage
* "The news that the land was not seen . . . where Peary sighted it eight
* years ago, was received yesterday by the American Museum of Natural
* History. The news was relayed . . . through the courtesy of Knud
* Rasmussen" who is quoted from an interview. The word was received
* second-hand from Ekblaw, who met Rasmussen's men while hunting.
* MacMillan's full report "will wait until spring at Upernavik for the
* first Danish boat to convey it to Copenhagen. The report will then be
* cabled to the Tribune . . .      probably in April or May. . . ."


Anonymous
“The Crocker Land Expedition,”
Scientific American 111, 489 (Dec. 12, 1914).

* Scientific American reports that the N.Y.Tribune is the "mouthpiece"
* of the Expedition, and reports that the news that "Crocker Land does
* not exist" was in the Nov. 25 issue of the Tribune .


D. B. MacMillan
“In search of a new land,”
Harper's Mag. 131, 651–665, 921–930 (1915).

* Donald B. MacMillan's report on the expedition, in HARPER'S
* Contains the first-hand MIRAGE reports.
*
* There's not much of interest in the first installment, except for a
* discussion on p. 654 in which he mentions that he made a point of
* getting rid of "the older and more influential Eskimos, who seemed to
* be very much afraid of walking home in case their dogs should die. In
* a discussion of this kind as to what they should do, the younger men of
* the party listen respectfully to the opinion of their elders and do as
* they advise. Young Eskimos on a long and dangerous trip are much to be
* preferred, for they are fond of adventure and willing to take a chance,
* while the older men wish to make certain of getting home." He then
* says, "From the sixteen Eskimos I picked out seven who appeared to me
* to be of the right stuff and who, I thought, would go the limit."
*
* The second installment tells of reaching "Crocker Land" and contains
* the various well-known (but usually uncited) quotations. Page 924:
* "April 21st was a beautiful day; all mist was gone, the clear blue of
* the sky extending down to the very horizon. Green was no sooner out of
* the igloo than he came running back, calling in the door, `We have it!'
* Following Green, we ran to the top of the highest mound. There could be
* no doubt about it. Great heavens, what a land! Hills, valleys,
* snow-capped peaks extending through at least 120 degrees of the horizon.
* Anxiously I turned to Pee-ah-wah-to, asking him toward which point we
* had better lay our course. After critically examining it for a few
* minutes, he astounded me by replying that he thought it was `poo-jok'
* (mist). Ee-took-ah-shoo offered no encouragement, saying, `Perhaps it
* is.' Green was still convinced that it must be land. At any rate, it
* was worth watching. As we proceeded it gradually changed its appearance
* and varied in extent with the swinging around of the sun, finally at
* night disappearing altogether. As we drank our hot tea and gnawed the
* pemmican we did a good deal of thinking. Could Peary with all his
* experience have been mistaken? Was this mirage which had deceived us
* the very thing which deceived him eight years ago? If he did see
* Crocker Land, then it was considerably more than one hundred and twenty
* miles away . . . ." On the next page he mentions "our almost constant
* traveling companion, the mirage. We were convinced that we were in
* pursuit of a will-o'-the-wisp, ever receding, ever changing, ever
* beckoning." He then quotes from Peary's "Nearest the Pole" book (but
* gives no page reference.)
*
* On the return trip (p. 927): "Throughout the day the mirage of the sea
* ice, resembling in every particular an immense land, seemed to be
* mocking us. It seemed so near and so easily attainable if we would
* only turn back." On p. 928, he is standing on "the very spot" where
* Peary "saw what resembled land. The day was exceptionally clear, not a
* trace of a cloud or mist; if land could ever be seen, it could be now.
* Yes, there it was! It could even be seen without a glass extending
* from southwest true to north-northeast. Our powerful glasses, however,
* brought out more clearly the dark background in contrast with the
* white, the whole resembling hills, valleys, and snow-capped peaks to
* such a degree that, had we not been out there for one hundred and fifty
* miles, we would have staked our lives upon it. Our judgment then as
* now is that this was a mirage or loom of the sea ice."
* Oct. & Nov. issues


C. A. Reeds
“A perplexing phenomenon — Mirage,”
American Museum Journal 16, 512–524 (1916).

* a MIRAGE review article
* A popular and not very critical review, prompted by the article in
* Harper's Magazine debunking Peary's "Crocker Land".


Anonymous
“The Crocker Land Expedition,”
Science 45, 609–610 (1917).

* The rescue (3rd attempt!)
* Dr. Hunt has made it back, but MacMillan et al. are still isolated in
* northern Greenland. "Direct news" from MacMillan said "that he and
* his companions had only enough supplies to last them until August of
* this year" and that "both relief vessels sent to his aid, the
* George B. Cluett and the Danmark , have failed to reach him and urges
* that a third be sent . . . . This third effort to reach the party will
* cost at least $40,000, provided that the Neptune is able to reach the
* base at Etah . . . . The Committee hopes that in view of the extraordinary
* expenses it will receive substantial financial aid from the public."
* June 15 issue


Anonymous
“The Crocker Land Expedition,”
Science 45, 655–656 (1917).

* Further reports from Dr. Hunt
* The Danmark is stuck in 6 feet of ice and low on coal.
* June 29 issue


D. B. MacMillan
Four years in the white North
(Harper & Brothers, New York, 1918).

* Donald B. MacMillan's book
* This is the full text of the manuscript excerpted by Harper's in 1915.
* Some editor has now tidied up the prose a bit, restraining the somewhat
* breathless pace of the magazine version.


H. J. Hunt and R. H. Thompson
North to the Horizon: Searching for Peary's Crocker Land
(Down East Books, Camden, Maine, 1980).

* Dr. Harrison Hunt's story, assembled by his daughter, Ruth Hunt Thompson
* Apparently, the Expedition came near mutiny because MacMillan traded
* necessary supplies to the Eskimos for furs; see p. 71.
* According to Dr. Hunt, MacMillan was irresponsible and had
* "hoodwinked" the Museum. His view was shared by Captain Comer [of the
* Neptune ], who told Hunt's wife that "The whole expedition was founded
* on selfishness. Peary reached a little too far, wished to see land,
* thought he did, and claimed it, resulting in the Crocker Land fiasco . . .
* MacMillan used the expedition as his plaything . . . Dr. Hovey was
* penny-wise and pound-foolish . . . The Cluett was a sailing vessel, not
* fit for a relief ship, and not properly prepared . . . The last two years
* were the hardest, and they were unnecessary." (p.107)



*** STRANGE PHENOMENA FILE (MULTIPLE IMAGES, illusions, etc.) ***

Laugier
“Observation faite a l'île d'Ouessant sur le coucher du soleil du 22 juillet 1854,”
C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris) 39, 409–410 (1854).

*
* See also p. 207 of T.Forster (1824) for a double lunar crescent
*
* Probably an early BLEACHING observation
* "La journée avait été superbe, le ciel était sans nuages et
* la mer tranquille comme un lac. Le soleil, fort près de l'horizon,
* était rougeâtre comme dans les couchers ordinaires, et son disque
* paraissait à l'oeil nu parfaitement bien terminé. Le bord inférieur
* toucha d'abord l'horizon de la mer, puis le disque s'y enfonc,a peu à
* peu sans se déformer et en conservant sa netteté. Au moment où le
* centre de l'astre atteignait la ligne parfaitement définie qui limitait
* l'horizon de la mer, la partie supérieure du disque, la seule qui fût
* encore visible, se teinta subitement en bleu. Cette teinte nous sembla
* uniforme; elle rappelait exactement le bleu des liquides renferme's dans
* les bocaux que l'on voit ordinairement sur les devantures des pharmacies.
* Ce phénomène persista tout le temps qu'on vit la partie supérieure
* du soleil. Aussitòt après le coucher, l'horizon présenta son aspect
* ordinaire. On distinguait encore, à quatre ou cinq degrés au-dessus
* du point où le soleil avait disparu, trois petits nuages sous-tendant
* chacun un angle d'un ou deux degrés : encore éclairés par le soleil,
* leur lumière était, comme avant le coucher, d'un rouge cuivre très-vif.
* Je n'était pas seul à observer ce curieux spectacle . . . . A quelques
* détails près, nous avons tous été d'accord quand nous avons rassemblé
* nos souvenirs."
* Thanks to Luc Dettwiller for finding this!


Prof. Dr. Reimann
“Spiegelungen der Mondsichel,”
Met. Zs. 4, 144–145 (1887).

* This is the MULTIPLE LUNAR CRESCENT mirage reproduced by Minnaert!
* cf. Clark et al., M.O.1964, and Fultz, 1951.


J. Mintern
“A kaleidoscopic Sun,”
Met. Mag. 58, 10–11 (1923).

* Iridescent corona? Or what?


A. Hofmann
“Interessante Beobachtung einer Sonnenspiegelung,”
Met. Z. 49, 439–440 (1932).

* A curious observation -- not exactly a mirage, though.


D. Fultz
“An unusual double-refraction at high levels in the tropics,”
Bull. AMS 32, 102 (1951).

* MULTIPLE IMAGE SPLITTING


P. J. E. Marshall
“Abnormal refraction, North Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Obs. 22, 125 (1952).

* Probably not "abnormal refraction" at all, but an AFTERIMAGE report
* "The sun was setting, and about one minute after the sun's upper limb
* had completely disappeared below the horizon five completely circular
* images of the sun were seen to shoot up into the sky at about five
* second intervals."
* The Editor's comment that "it is obviously due to some peculiar form of
* abnormal refraction" is obviously wrong.


R. Richard
“Phénomène optique remarquable,”
La Météorologie , series 4, 32, 301–302 (1953).

* MULTIPLE IMAGES OF THE SUN


E. Vassy
“Quelques remarques sur un phénomène de mirage du disque solaire,”
La Météorologie , series 4, 32, 302–303 (1953).

* ?? Off-base comment on the preceding report


E. G. O'Driscoll and F. G. Gurney
“Abnormal refraction, Van Diemen Strait, Japanese waters,”
Marine Obs. 24, 210 (1954).

* Would be an ordinary inf.-mir. sunrise, but 1st drawing makes no sense.
* N.B.: later drawings use circles; so drawings may not be accurate.


A. E. Williams
“Abnormal refraction, North Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Obs. 24, 210 (1954).

* ANOMALOUS COLOR CHANGES of MOON
* "The moon also appeared to be changing colour from the normal yellow to
* green and deep red, and then back again, with a frequency of about 5 sec
* for the complete cycle."
* Otherwise, this would simply be a distorted moonrise.


O. Springett and G. Lowery
“Double Moon, South Pacific Ocean,”
Marine Obs. 25, 34 (1955).

* DOUBLE IMAGE of MOON
* The colors seen here suggest a grating image. There had been heavy
* rain; could this be a wet grating on a window?


L. Poncelet
“Un curieux phenomene de refraction atmospherique,”
Ciet et Terre 71, 350–351 (1955).

* DOUBLE (??) IMAGE OF SUN
* Surely this can't be right! Because it was taken with a short (45mm)
* lens, and the photo shows cloud strips, I suspect this is simply an
* overexposed image divided by a strip of cloud. It seems impossible to be
* a refraction effect as claimed, at 7 deg. 20 min. above the horizon!


J. K. Currie and J. Isbester
“Double Moon, Indian Ocean,”
Marine Obs. 26, 9 (1956).

* another fishy-sounding report:
* ". . . disappeared when viewed through a telescope . . . "


C. Rowntree
“Abnormal refraction, North Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Observer 27, 84–85 (1957).

* DOUBLE SUN
* "The image was to the right of the true sun, there being no distortion
* of either. This phenomenon persisted for 2 min, after which the image
* gradually elongated in the direction of the true sun, eventually merging
* with it within 1/2 min."
* I think the editor's remarks are off the mark ("lateral mirage").


S. Gordon
“A green sun after sunset,”
Met. Mag. 87, 277–278 (1958).

* Certainly NOT a GF report; the colors sound like mother-of-pearl clouds,
* but the sharp outline is a puzzle.
* The editor's comments, which continue on p.278, are certainly off the mark.


G. W. B. Lloyd
“Abnormal refraction, South Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Obs. 29, 177–178 (1959).

* MULTIPLE LUNAR CRESCENTS


L. G. Williamson
“Abnormal refraction, South Pacific Ocean,”
Marine Obs. 29, 178 (1959).

* MULTIPLE LUNAR CRESCENTS


D. H. Clark, P. J. Morgan, and P. Dawson
“Abnormal refraction, Eastern Mediterranean,”
Marine Obs. 35, 122 (1965).

* MULTIPLE LUNAR CRESCENTS
* The drawing is impossible -- something fishy here.
* (A crescent Moon cannot be seen when line of cusps is vertical.)


M. Minnaert
“Unusual or neglected optical phenomena in the landscape,”
JOSA 58, 297–303 (1968).

* Minnaert's review in JOSA
* Minnaert accepts the multiple images as real, largely because of
* Richard's photograph.


J. Richmond, W. Downing, R. Jones, R. C. Corbett, and R. Bush
“Abnormal refraction, South Pacific Ocean,”
Marine Observer 46, 172–173 (1976).

* PHONY MULTIPLE LUNAR CRESCENTS
* These multiple images appear to be caused by reflections between glasses
* and eyeball? They are CERTAINLY SPURIOUS, as "This phenomenon could not
* be observed through binoculars or a telescope, it was, however, seen
* through `Polaroid' sunglasses. The phenomenon was also observed, though
* to a lesser degree, on the next five nights."
* The appearance also changed with position of the head, etc.


Anonymous
“Moonfleet,”
New Scientist 173, no. 2334, p.ibc (16 March, 2002).

* MULTIPLE MOONS
* Several disparate phenomena are reported, but treated as if they
* were identical. The original report sounds like a reflection, but too
* few details are provided to identify it. The "answer" provided by John
* Richfield "explains" the report as a mirage, which it cannot be (because
* of the duration of over an hour). Richfield also seems to confuse
* inferior and superior mirages, and understands neither. The second
* "answer", supplied by Hector McDonnell, is clearly a sundog report;
* but he attributes it to "reflection of the Moon and Sun at particular
* angles off the water droplets", which is bizarre nonsense.
* Thanks to Storm Dunlop for the reference!


H. Gudiksen
“Moonfleet,”
New Scientist 173, no. 2336, p.ibc (30 March, 2002).

* MULTIPLE MOONS
* A photograph that most likely shows a ghost image in the camera;
* certainly *not* an atmospheric phenomenon.
* Thanks to Storm Dunlop for a scan of the image!



*** "FOG" / DARK BAND --> this is the FOG FILE ***

C. N. Brown
“Mirage after sunset,”
Mon. Weather Rev. 33, 323 (1905).

* cf. photo in Gossard & Strauch book
* and Upham (1895)
* also: Schnippel; Bonnelance 1929; P&E pp.184-186 give a bad discussion.
*
* Many lights seen (looming?) from Staten Island at 8 pm, Aug.16
* "All this was seen right side up, and you can imagine how keenly we
* enjoyed it all and longed to reproduce it with a camera. After ten
* minutes during which time we went down to the beach (fourteen feet to
* sea-level), the vision passed suddenly away. At that moment the mirage
* cloud, which was before invisible, was seen. Then we saw in the usual
* place the real lights of Coney Island. This cloud was entirely
* horizontal, very narrow, black, and stationary."


F. J. W. W(hipple)
“The false horizon,”
Met. Mag. 55, 256 (1920).

* "The objects of this note are two: the first is to inquire whether there
* is any popular name for the phenomenon, which is, I am told, well known to
* sailors; the second is to ask for references to any measurements of sea
* and air temperatures in conjunction with observations of this character."


R. H. Jenkins
“Mirage at Skegness,”
Met. Mag. 56, 290 (1921).

* "At about mid-day peculiar cloud effects were noticed on the horizon,
* giving the appearance of a well-wooded tropical coast line. This became
* somewhat indistinct until 16 h. 30 m., when a faint darkness appeared on
* the horizon, increasing in density and in its liquid appearance until
* objects were noticed in an inverted position at an altitude of about two
* degrees [!] above the horizon."


W. Ullrich
“Starke Luftspiegelung im Golf von Tschili,”
Ann. Hydrog. Maritim. Met. 55, 352–353 (1927).

* "FOG" and STRIPES and mirages; TEMPERATURE of air about 4 deg. above water
* ". . . über dem ganzen Horizont ein mehr oder weniger starker
* Dunstschleier,. . . " followed by mirages of ships and looming of lights.
* "Gegen Abend bildeten sich in geringer Höhe über der Kimm die bei
* Luftspiegelungen gewöhnlich auftretenden Streifen, besonders am
* westlichen Horizont, also gegen die Sonne . . . ."
* N.B.: The Gulf of Chihli is the NW arm of the Yellow Sea, usually
* denoted as Bo Hai today, where the Yellow River has its mouth.
* November issue


J. R. Sherwood
“Mirage off Newfoundland,”
Met. Mag. 67, 259 (1932).

* Might be REAL FOG in the Straits of Belle Isle?
*      "At 8h. on August 17th, . . .  although it was perfectly clear and
* sunny where I stood on the shore, there was an extensive layer of fog
* at the scene of operations, about three miles out, and only the smoke
* of the Empress was visible above the layer. . . . I was startled to
* see the Empress above the fog completely upside down with her hull
* pointing skywards and her masts apparently resting on the layer of fog.
* The illusion lasted for about one minute and was perfectly clear in
* every detail when it finally disappeared and the ship came out of the
* fog in its normal position.
*      "On a previous occasion I saw three mountains on the Newfoundland
* coast, fifteen miles distant; their summits appeared to be resting on
* the water while the bases were pointing skywards."
* Dec. issue; cited in Hurd's review


W. E. Hurd
Refraction and mirage (on reverse of Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean)
(Hydrographic Office, Washington, DC, 1937).

* Willis Edwin Hurd's mirage review speaks of "MOCK FOG"
* [Filed separately, because of bulk]
* A review of observations, mostly from the later 1920s and a few from
* the early 1930s; most taken from Marine Observer, but a few "from the
* Hydrographic Bulletin, published by the U.S. Hydrographic Office."
* There is a clear explanation of the terminology, but the observations
* are sometimes misinterpreted, and he seems to count looming in with
* mirages. He unfortunately also says the visibility of objects above
* the horizon when they are geometrically below "is of course an optical
* illusion." [middle of 4th paragraph]
*      In the middle of col. 3, he first says ". . .  along the line of
* sharpest density change . . . " and then later ". . . a further line of
* density discontinuity." Could this be where O'Connell got the notion
* of "surfaces of discontinuity"?
*      The lower part of Col.4 discusses the effects of height of eye, and
* distance to the miraged objects.
*      The end of col. 5 discusses "mock fog and haze bands".  The "fog"
* aspect is emphasized throughout the paper. He also uses the phrases
* "simulation of fog" and "optical haze".
*      The bottom of col. 6 mentions "waterfalls" that are apparently
* either discontinuities in the "horizon", or Lehn's "sea fences".
*
* Cites Barlow (1935, in "Mirage File"), as well as several other
* sources. Because of the large size, this is printed in 8 columns.
* This is known to have appeared on the backs of many Pilot Charts;
* I have seen references to ". . . of the Central American Waters" as
* late as 1944.
*
* THANKS to many people for finding this elusive item! Brenda Corbin
* was instrumental in getting in touch with the NIMA people, who
* eventually came up with it. I had references in the 1930s and '40s;
* but the last paragraph is a post-script saying that Barlow's article
* had appeared "Since preparation of the present . . . article". So the
* writing was evidently done by early 1935. According to Howard J. Cohen
* at NIMA, this was actually published in 1937. Finally, the chart was
* found in a *bound* volume by Albert E. "Skip" Theberge, Jr., at NOAA!
* But, as the format was about 3 ft by 4 ft (that's 75 x 100 cm for the
* metric part of the world), it was too big to photocopy. . . .
* He finally managed to get it photographed and scanned (as a 214 MB
* TIFF file!) Thanks to all these people for their Herculean efforts!


W. S. Skelton
“Nebraska mirages,”
Nature Mag. 34, 479 (1941).

* "When a gray, rather smoky and unnatural-appearing cloud lies along the
* horizon in the early morning, it is generally mirage material. Such a
* cloud will usually form into a clear cut mirage before the morning passes."
* "One fresh morning last autumn . . . a smoky, unnatural cloud graced the
* horizon to the southwest."
* "In the atmosphere at each end of the display the scenery feathered out
* into a misty cloud, which in turn extended ever dimmer into the clear
* sky."


R. Leeds
“Mirage, Spanish coast,”
Marine Obs. 17, 12–13 (1947).

* "The apparent bank of fog was probably an effect of mirage of the horizon."
* Air was 4 F warmer than sea.
* Note: this is shortly after M.O. resumed publication after WW II.


H. L. Holland and C. R. Kelso
“Abnormal refraction, Bay of Fundy,”
Marine Observer 22, 125 (1952).

* "From afar, it appeared as if the whole coastline was engulfed in a belt
* of fog with the higher land showing clear."
* "Air temperature 60 F, wet bulb 57, sea 55. The wind was light and
* variable."


S. L. Hoare, J. L. Blanch, and J. L. Chapman
“Abnormal refraction, South African Waters,”
Marine Observer 22, 125–126 (1952).

* "Approaching Cape St. Francis, a white mist appeared to creep under the
* land and apparently divided it from the sea." See Plate 2, facing p.128


J. McP. Pratt
“Abnormal refraction, Gulf of Aden,”
Marine Observer 24, 142 (1954).

* Here the band is described as a "DUST STORM"
* DOUBLE IMAGES appear in the "dust" band (with its "sharp top outline"!)


K. D. Billinghurst
“Abnormal refraction, South African waters,”
Marine Observer 25, 100–101 (1955).

* EXCELLENT detailed account of "FOG"
* flanked by rather ordinary mirage reports.
* ". . . what at first appeared to be a fog bank proved to be a mirage.
* With the coastline on the starboard side, distant 15 miles, a dark-blue
* mass, having every appearance of land with undulations as of hills, was
* seen on the port bow from about 4 points to 1 point off the bow where it
* faded into a white band above the horizon."
* ". . . the smoke from these whalers and from our own ship did not rise
* above mast height, but flattened out and hung in the atmosphere in a great
* band about 100 ft above sea level."
* Many nice details of observation, including the effect of eye height.


A. S. M. Jamieson and D. G. Whiteley
“Abnormal refraction, Tasmanian waters,”
Marine Observer 27, 83 (1957).

* ". . . a greenish fog or smoke bank . . . "


D. G. Whiteley
“Abnormal refraction, Strait of Gubal,”
Marine Observer 27, 83 (1957).

* ". . . a heavy whitish mist . . . "


B. P. Telfer
“Abnormal refraction, South Pacific Ocean,”
Marine Observer 27, 83–84 (1957).

* RED LINE MOONRISE (filed in wrong file here; on same page as previous)
* Seems to be also an example with a dark strip of sky at horizon (false hor.)
* ". . . was obviously in, not on, the water. . . . The moon then rose and the
* red, flame-like light disappeared, to be replaced by two half-moon shaped
* glows in the water."
* Probably belongs in "distorted" file?


B. G. Turner
“Abnormal refraction, Marguerite Bay, Antarctica,”
Marine Observer 30, 16–17 (1960).

* NICE SKETCH
* ". . . the lower ridges were obscured by a grey haze in which appeared
* many inverted icebergs. . . ."


R. J. Craddock
“Abnormal refraction, off Cape Finisterre,”
Marine Observer 30, 65 (1960).

* "All round on the seaward side, there was what looked like a high thick
* bank of fog, which at times resembled a mountainous coastline. This was
* found to have no real existence as it continued to recede as the ship
* advanced."


J. B. James
“Abnormal refraction, South Atlantic Ocean,”
Marine Observer 30, 66 (1960).

* NICE DRAWINGS
* ". . . towards sunset, when the sun's upper limb was still well above the
* horizon, an inverted image of this limb, but smaller in area, appeared
* beneath a narrow band of Sc lying very low on the western horizon."
* (Dwg. says "layer of stratocumulus not formed by the spreading of cumulus"
* and it is drawn absolutely flat -- blank strip?)


C. H. P. Brown and A. H. Hodgson
“Abnormal refraction, Australian waters,”
Marine Observer 30, 66 (1960).

* NICE DRAWINGS
* "The presence of a heavy grey-brown mist for much of the day gave rise
* to the impression that there was a double horizon. . . .      Cliffy Island
* and other small islands appeared very clearly on the `upper' horizon while,
* projecting downwards from them, was a mass of wavy-looking grey-green mist
* and haze." (triple images, a pair between the horizons)
* "Air temp. 81 F, sea 69."


J. M. Connoly and A. D. Fraser
“Abnormal refraction, South African waters,”
Marine Observer 30, 133–134 (1960).

* NICE DRAWINGS of DISTORTED MOONRISE
* (belongs elsewhere, but is filed here because of the next item)


D. A. Hunt, A. O. Proudfoot, and B. G. Gouldthorpe
“Abnormal refraction, Australian waters,”
Marine Observer 30, 134 (1960).

* NEGATIVE DIP
* "During the afternoon the horizon was elevated by between 7 and 10
* minutes of arc above what appeared to be the normal sea horizon.
* All round the horizon there was a band of what looked like fog or mist
* but, on approaching the land, this mistiness disappeared."


J. Ratcliffe, T. V. Kinley, and R. J. Carty
“Abnormal refraction, Great Bank, Newfoundland,”
Marine Observer 32, 62 (1962).

* DOUBLE DARK BAND sketched -- just sup. mirages of the ocean?
* "Around the horizon there appeared to be a large bank of fog, topped by
* two thin layers of low stratus. Beneath each layer of cloud there was an
* inverted image of the tanker. . . ."


J. Pilling and D. L. Smith
“Abnormal refraction, South Australian waters,”
Marine Observer 34, 18–19 (1964).

* ENLARGED DRAWING OF STRUCTURE
* ". . . the horizon appeared to become raised above the sea and separated
* from it by an indistinct misty band. . . . (opposite to the sun) the
* appearance was that of a bank of fog."


J. J. Gomez
“Abnormal refraction, Western North Atlantic,”
Marine Observer 35, 122 (1964).

* ". . . a layer of haze, dark grey in colour and with a clearly defined
* upper surface, was seen all round the horizon. One ship appeared to be
* completely inverted and an iceberg which was not visible to the naked eye,
* seemed to be hanging upside down from the top of the layer."


D. H. Clark, P. J. Morgan, and P. Dawson
“Abnormal refraction, Eastern Mediterranean,”
Marine Observer 35, 122 (1964).

* DOUBLED CRESCENT MOON like the one shown in Minnaert (Reimann, 1887)
* (same page as above; belongs in STRANGE PHENOMENA file)



*** LAPLACE, EXTINCTION, and AIRMASS FILE (see also LINK, below) ***

de Mairan
“Memoir sur la Cause generale du Froid en Hiver, & de la Chaleur en Eté,”
Mem. Acad. Roy. Sci. 1719, 104–135 (1721).

*
* JEAN JACQUES D'ORTOUS DE MAIRAN's first paper on extinction
* He supposes the temperature difference between summer and winter is
* partly due to absorption of the Sun's heat in the atmosphere.
* Curiously, he invokes what is essentially Lambert's [1760] cosine law,
* by introducing the sines of the angles of "incidence" [by which he
* clearly means the altitudes, not the usual angle]; but then decides
* the factor of 3 between the noontime illuminances ought to be squared
* to allow for shadowing by irregularities (pp. 106-107).
*      Then he worries about the reflection loss at the upper surface of the
* atmosphere, which he argues might increase with obliquity, as does the
* reflection from water into air as the angle of total internal reflection
* is approached (p. 110). [There is an interesting quote from an earlier
* author about this surface.] But he decides that this is not what happens;
* on p. 111 he argues that the disappearance of the refracted light is
* abrupt. So he thinks the winter attenuation is due to the longer path.
* "Chaque rayon prêt à entrer dans l'Atmosphere, peut être consideré
* comme une balle de Mousquet tirée contre la surface de l'eau d'un
* Bassin, laquelle aura d'autant plus de chemin à faire dans l'eau,
* avant que d'en toucher le fond, qu'elle y fera tirée plus obliquement."
* So he argues that the path is inversely proportional to the sine of
* the angle of incidence, and that the intensity should therefore (!) be
* reduced by this factor yet again. (p. 112)
*      But then he has doubts, and wonders about an atmosphere "chargée
* de vapeurs & d'exhalations, telle qu'elle est ordinairement dans toute
* sa partie inferieure, lorsque le Soleil est proche de l'Horison, &
* sur-tout en Hiver." (p. 113).
*      He then makes the interesting observation that, at solar eclipses,
* one hardly notices the diminution of the light until the Sun is almost
* completely covered: ". . . j'aurois cru qu'au moins le tiers ou le quart
* de son disque venoit de se découvrir, & ce n'en étoit pas peut-etre
* la milliéme partie." (p. 115)
*      On p. 118 he considers the length of the day as a factor.  On pp.
* 127-128, he notes that refraction lengthens the day a little; but this
* "est de peu de consequence." [But he thinks it might be important
* near the Poles; and adduces (p. 129) the observations of Bilberg, and
* the Dutch "dans la Nouvelle Zemble."]
*      The rest of the paper is an attempt to square his numbers with
* actual temperature measurements. Really, a rather muddle-headed
* attempt all around.


de Mairan
“Eclaircissement sur le Memoire de la cause generale du froid en hiver, & de la chaleur en eté. Mem. 1719. page 104.,”
Mem. Acad. Roy. Sci. (Paris) 1721, 8–17 (1723).

* DE MAIRAN's "Clarification"
* Here he realizes that the extra-atmospheric light of the Sun
* can be extrapolated from two measurements inside the atmosphere.
* Unfortunately, he assumes the light lost is proportional to the
* path length in the atmosphere -- wrong, but not bad near the zenith.
* [But at the horizon, the setting Sun disappears in his model!]
* He assumes a plane-parallel atmosphere (p. 10). He neglects refraction.
* The path lengths are, of course, inversely proportional to the sines of
* the altitudes.
*      In section II (p. 12) he considers the curvature of the atmosphere.
* However, he takes the height of the atmosphere to be 15 leagues of
* 2000 toises each, which is much too large; and consequently finds the
* horizontal path to be only 15 times the vertical one. (p. 13)
* "J'ai supposé AT de 20000 toises ou de 15 lieuës, qui est la
* hauteur qu'on donne aujourd'hui le plus communément à l'Atmosphere.
* . . . en faisant AT de 20000 toises ou de 10 lieuës, on trouve AH plus
* de 18 fois aussi grande que AT , . . . & en ne donnant que 1000 toises,
* ou environ demi-lieuë à AT , AH devient environ 74 fois aussi grande
* que AT . D'où il resulte . . . Que lorsque le Soleil est à l'horison,
* les vapeurs doivent nous intercepter une beaucoup plus grande partie de
* la lumiere que ne fait l'Atmosphere, non seulement parce qu'elles sont
* composées de parties plus denses, & peut-être moins transparentes que
* l'air, mais encore que se trouvant d'ordinaire fort près de la surface
* de la Terre, la ligne horisontale qui les travers a un beaucoup plus
* grand rapport avec leur hauteur. . . . Donc des vapeurs qui ne sont point
* du tout sensibles à la vûë, dans le cas des rayons perpendiculaires
* ou peu obliques, doivent affoiblir sensiblement la lumiere du Soleil
* cans le ca de la grande obliquité, & lorsqu'il approche de l'horison:
* ce qui s'accorde parfaitement avec l'experience . . . ." (p. 16)
*      On p. 17, he suggests that this obliquity to the vapors might explain
* the variations in the refraction near the horizon as well: "D'où il
* suite que des vapeurs de même nature & de même densité doivent
* donner une refraction horisontale d'autant plus grande, qu'elles sont
* moins élevées, ou que la couche qu'elles forment sur la surface de la
* Terre est moins épaisse."


Anonymous
“Diverses observations de physique générale. II.,”
Hist. Acad. Roy. Sci. 11–13 (1726).

* PIERRE BOUGUER's first photometric measurements, inspired by de Mairan
* Evidently written by the secretary, rather than Bouguer himself:
* "M. Bouguer, . . . dont nous avons déja parlé en 1721, ayant lû les
* Mémoires donne's par M. de Mairan en 1719 & 1721 . . . , chercha les moyens
* de découvrir par expérience le rapport des diférens degrés de lumiere
* du soleil à différentes élevations . . . ."
* Bouguer's measurements of extinction, and of the ratio of Sun and Moon,
* are reported here. The first date reported is 23 Nov. 1725.
* The copy on Gallica shows 1753 as the publication date on the title
* page; that must be a reprint, as Bouguer corrects a typo on p. 12
* of it in his "Essai" (below). There are other typos here, too:
* e.g., "lamiere" on p. 11.


[P. ] Bouguer
Essai d'Optique sur la Gradation de la Lumiere
(Claude Jombert, Paris, 1729).

* PIERRE BOUGUER's "Essai" (1729)
* Bouguer corrects de Mairan's faulty assumptions, and publishes his own
* airmass table. Only 164 pages are numbered.
*      In the Preface, one reads that "C'est Snellius qui a le premier
* découvert la loi de ces réfractions; mais M. Descartes la considérant
* de plus près, en a poussé l'application extrêmement loin." He cites
* de Mairan's 1721 memoir, which inspired his own investigation.
* He also corrects a typo from his 1726 entry in the Histoire .
*      de Mairan is cited again on p. 21.  He then describes his observations
* of the Moon, and its attenuation at the horizon, "sujet à de très-grande
* varietez;" -- ascribed to "vapeurs", of course. He then endorses de
* Mairan's notion that this is connected with the variations of refraction
* at low altitudes. (p. 25)
*      In paragraph VII, p. 28, he compares the Sun with the full Moon, finding
* a ratio of about 300 000.
*      His detailed discussion of atmospheric transmission begins on p. 146.
* Here is the origin of the term "air mass". The "Table des masses d'air"
* appears on p. 160. See Bemporad's criticism of Bouguer's derivation.
*      The curious remarks about refraction (see next entry) are on p. 151
* here. Most of this atmospheric discussion is reprinted unchanged in the
* 1760 Traité (below).


P. Bouguer
Traité d'Optique sur la Gradation de la Lumiere
(H.L.Guerin & L.F.Delatour, Paris, 1760).

* PIERRE BOUGUER's posthumous "Traité" (1760)
* There is an interesting Preface ("Avertissement") by the Abbé de la
* Caille, who edited Bouguer's work and saw it through the press.
* Bouguer has some curious remarks about refraction (pp. 326-327):
* "Il faut remarquer, que nous négligeons ici la courbure que
* la réfraction fait souffrir aux rayons de lumiere, quoique cette
* courbure les rende un peu plus longs. Il est certain que la réfraction
* astronomique est trop petite , pour que le rapport des sinus d'incidence
* & de réfraction soit conforme à celui des densités de l'air.
* La réfraction suit certainement un autre rapport ; & peut-être
* aussi qu'elle est causée par une matiere particuliere répandue dans
* l'Atmosphere, comme l'ont déja soupçonné quelques Auteurs."
* He then shows how the problem is more complicated if refraction is
* included, so "qu'il est très-difficile de découvrir la relation que
* suivent entr'elles les condensations u de la matiere réfractive; &
* d'ailleurs comme la plus grande réfraction astronomique n'est pas même
* de deux tiers d'un dégré, nous ne rendrions pas notre calcul beaucoup
* plus exact. C'est pourquoi nous négligerons la réfraction . . . ."
* The airmass table is on p. 332. This is available at Gallica!
* Note the English translation by W. E. Knowles Middleton (Toronto, 1961).


P. S. Laplace
Traité de Mécanique Céleste, tome 4, liv. X, Ch. III
(J.B.M.Duprat, Paris, 1805).

* LAPLACE
* Ch. I begins the treatment of refraction; Ch. III is the extinction theorem
* See fuller treatment under "General refraction references".


J. D. Forbes
“On the transparency of the atmosphere and the law of extinction of the solar rays in passing through it,”
Phil. Trans. 132, 225–273 (1842).

* FORBES EFFECT -- Forbes's Bakerian Lecture
* See the interesting discussion of Laplace's theorem, and airmass
* generally, in section III, pp. 233-241.
* Forbes says (p.234) that Lambert derived the sec z formula as an
* approximation to the path length in the uniform model, citing p. 393
* of Lambert's Photometria . He has some criticism of L. on p.235.
*      Note his treatment of the refraction law on p.237:
* after stating the ratio of sines, he says, "This optical principle
* is derived from experience." [So much for Descartes!]


M. J. Maurer
Die Extinction des Fixsternlichtes in der Atmosphäre in ihrer Beziehung zur astronomischen Refraction
(David Bürkli, Zürich, 1882).

* Maximil. Julius Maurer's feeble effort
* The historical part is weak, depending mostly on Bruhns for the
* refraction. He shows how little had been done in extinction; this makes
* Bemporad's later remarks about neglect more comprehensible.
*      See pp. 21-22 for some snide remarks about Lambert, who thought sec z
* was adequate to 80°. Maurer denotes the airmass function as \Sigma.
*      On p.22, he introduces Laplace's theorem, though without understanding
* well the importance of the isothermal assumption.
*      On p. 34, there is a curious digression into the arguments of Cheseaux
* and Olbers, and then W. Struve (p. 35) for the absorption of light by
* dust ("fein zertheilter ponderabler Materie im Weltraume") in space. (p.1)
*      The more interesting attempt to calculate airmass begins on p. 41;
* but, alas! he adopts an effective height of the atmosphere of 65 km
* (p. 51) and so greatly overestimates the curvature effects. So his
* airmass table (p. 53) gives only 14.961 at the horizon!
*      Interestingly, he already (p. 55) points out that the use of
* time and spherical astronomy to calculate ZD gives "die w a h r e n
* Zenithdistanzen der beobachteten Sterne" in Seidel's work.
* This is Maurer's 58-page Inaugural-Dissertation, done under Rudolf Wolf.


F. Hausdorff
“Ueber die Absorption des Lichtes in der Atmosphäre,”
Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Königlich Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Mathematisch-Physische Classe 47, 401–482 (1895).

* FELIX HAUSDORFF's Habilitationsschrift
* Yes, this is the famous topologist; he started out as a student of
* Heinrich Bruns, writing a thesis on refraction in 1891.
*      The style (and notation) is similar to Bruns's: clear, explicit, and
* original. Following Bruns (1891), he immediately notices the important
* product r⋅μ, which he denotes by ν (p.402). He notes (p. 403)
* (cf. Bruns's p.169 footnote) that the refractivity can be proportional
* to [(almost any power of the refractive index) - 1], so that we can
* choose the power to make the integrals easy --- noting that T. Young had
* already made the choice (as he does here) of the first power, in his
* Nautical Almanac tables.
*      P.407: he notes there is a formal relationship between the power
* series for refraction and extinction (in terms of powers of tan Z); but
* "Es wäre zwecklos, diese sehr complicirten Ausdrücke aufzustellen,
* da eine Ermittlung . . . aus den Beobachtungen direct . . . wegen der
* Unsicherheit der Messungen im Horizont ganz illusorisch wäre."
*      P.408: He describes the airmass "als reducirte Weglänge  des
* Strahles" and shows how the extinction can be expressed in magnitudes.
*      P.412: He notes that Laplace's approximations have neglected an
* appreciable term, so that the ratio of extinction to refraction contains
* a factor of 1/10 in the zenith, but 1/7 at the horizon. ". . . die
* Laplace'sche Formel . . . die hier dem Gliede erster Ordnung entspricht,
* ist also entschieden unvollständig. Dass sie trotzdem . . . nahezu
* dieselben Resultate ergiebt wie die strengere Formel . . . , liegt daran,
* dass die . . . Coefficienten . . . bis zu hohen Zenithdistanzen einander
* nahezu proportional laufen . . . ."
*      P. 417: he recommends a ZD near 87° as a fitting point, in fitting
* 3 parameters (the other two being at Zenith and Horizon).
*      P. 420:  He notes that twice the path, where the ray is horizontal,
* gives values needed for the theory of lunar eclipses.
*      P. 421: note remark on semiconvergent series for Kramp's function.
*
* In Section II (p. 422), he takes a more general approach to resolving
* the discrepancy between theory and observation, by abandoning Laplace's
* proportionality between density (i.e., refractivity) and extinction.
* He notes (p. 423) that this assumption leads neither to closed-form
* expressions nor to a good agreement of theory and observation; while
* taking the absorption as an arbitrary function of height allows a test
* of assumptions about the atmosphere, while operating with closed-form
* expressions instead of series expansions. Here he takes the (nR)
* product as the independent variable!
*      This leads (p. 427) to a more general relationship between refraction
* and extinction than Laplace's formula, and one which has "den viel
* weiteren Sinn einer Functionalbeziehung, eines »heuristischen Princips«
* . . . ." (There is still the form of Laplace's relation, though.)
*      Semiconvergent series again appear on pp. 431 and 433, as ways to
* evaluate Kramp's (and related) function(s).
*      On p. 439, he derives a generalized form of Lambert's extinction
* formula, attributing the simple sec Z form to Pouillet.
*      With his decomposition of the extinction into component terms, he
* can represent the observations tolerably exactly -- indeed, I must say
* this is greatly over-analyzing the (rather shaky) data (pp. 440-441).
* On p. 442, he admits as much, pointing out that the result is not
* physically possible: ". . . also die Darstellung der Müller'schen Zahlen
* auf diesem Wege illusorisch ist." (The absorptions become negative.)
*      Consequently, in section III (pp. 445 ff.) he investigates what is
* physically possible (i.e., sets limits on the possible extinction
* corrections to the zenith, assuming a positive absorption coefficient
* throughout the atmosphere.) This is done very elegantly by investigating
* the mathematical properties of the extinction integral. The result
* (p.451) is that Müller's values up to 70° ZD cannot represent a
* physically possible run of the absorption coefficient in the atmosphere:
* ". . . die Potsdamer Zahlen wären also in den mittleren Zenithdistanzen
* erheblich zu gross." [So here we see that rara avis , a theoretician
* who actually can detect bad observations!] He tries a more complicated
* (2-term) fit, with similar results: "Diese Zahlen lehren, dass der
* Müller'sche Werth für θ = 75° um mindestens 8 Einheiten der
* letzten Stelle zu gross ist; wollte man ihn beibehalten, so käme man auf
* enorme Widersprüche in den nächsthöheren Zenithdistanzen, z. B. für
* θ = 85° auf eine Mindestabweichung von 0.160."
*      Adding more terms to fit more points makes matters worse (p. 452); so
* "Wir schliessen . . . dass eine absolute Darstellung der Müller'sche
* Zahlen durch einen zulässigen Werthverlauf . . . unmöglich ist. . . .
* Auf eine Fehleranhäufung zwischen 60° und 80° liess auch der Gang
* der Widersprüche zwischen M und Laplace schliessen." [ M = Müller ]
*      On p. 454, he shows that a fair fit to Müller's data can be obtained
* with a simple rational formula; however, it allows no significant
* improvement. On the next few pages (455-457), he shows that a
* considerably better fit can be obtained by adding a thin absorbing layer
* to the normal atmosphere. This layer turns out to have a height between
* 50 and 170 km; he suggests it could be meteoric dust. [Perhaps it's
* an alias of the ozone layer?] In the subsequent discussion (p. 458),
* he remarks that two acceptable formulae can give quite different zenith
* transmissions; "dies errinnert uns daran, dass Beobachtungen einer
* Station in verschiedenen Zenithdistanzen noch nicht genügen, einen
* Schluss auf die Constitution der Atmosphäre zu begründen, sondern durch
* Beobachtungen auf Stationen verschiedender Meereshöhe zu ergänzen sind."
* He even considers formulae that allow absorption in space, wherein the
* excess of the horizontal over the vertical extinction would be due to the
* one-Earth-Radius longer path length at the horizon! "Derartige Curiosa
* sind bei Formeln mit unendlicher Atmosphäre, die sich der Beobachtung
* einigermassen anschliessen, zwar nicht zu befürchten, wohl aber, dass
* sie den Transmissionscoefficienten zu klein ergeben." (Variants on this
* theme, in which the infinitely thin absorbing layer is replaced by some
* formula with a maximum high in the atmosphere, are also explored.)
*      In comparing a number of these variants with observation, he finds
* (p. 463) that there is a tradeoff between the deviations between 60 and
* 80°, and those between 85 and 87.5°: one increases while the other
* decreases. So all these models are so similar that one can only
* conclude "dass die absorbirende Kraft der Atmosphäre zwar zuerst
* mit wachsender Höhe abnimmt, in grösseren Höhen aber (50 bis 200 km)
* wieder merkliche Werthe besitzt."
*      In the next section (pp. 464 ff.) he considers additional data, which
* help limit the possibilities. One is the run of the data near the
* horizon: "Für die Horizontalabsorption finden sich aus unseren Formeln
* alle möglichen Werthe bis zu ∞ . . . ." But more important is the
* comparison of data from different heights above sea level. For this,
* he uses Müller's observations from Säntis. These allow some of the
* worst models to be rejected.
*      Note: on p. 469, he points out that both Müller's tables and Seidel's
* use true rather than refracted zenith distances as arguments.
*      P. 472: at last he comes to Langley's objections (i.e., the Forbes
* effect). He develops this theory in general terms, introducing a
* function s that is the base-10 equivalent of sinh(x)/x. He then
* finds (p. 478) that introducing this effect greatly improves the
* agreement with observation, but without greatly changing the zenithal
* transmission value for integrated light.
*      P. 480: "Diese Rechnungen mögen genügen, um zu zeigen, dass man
* mit der Langley'schen Bemerkung in der That einen weit besseren Anschluss
* an die Beobachtungen erzielen kann als durch die Laplace'sche Formel."
* But (p. 481) the zenith transmission for integrated light is always
* close to 0.8, not Langley's 0.6.
*      The conclusions of the paper are summarized on p. 481.


A. Bemporad
“Zur Theorie der Extinktion des Lichtes in der Erdatmosphäre,”
Mitt. Grossherzogl. Sternwarte Heidelberg Nr.4, 1–78 (1904).

* AZEGLIO BEMPORAD's AIRMASS TABLE
* ``Ein mit der astronomischen Strahlenbrechung sehr verwandtes Problem
* ist das der Extinktion des Lichtes in der Erdatmosphäre. Während wir
* aber von Kepler bis Radau eine grosse Zahl von Theorien der Refraktion
* verzeichnen können, fehlt es bis jetzt überhaupt an einer Theorie der
* Extinktion des Fixsternlichtes, welche mit ähnlicher Strenge und
* Vollständigkeit wie die ersteren entwickelt ist. Dies kann Überraschen,
* wenn man die Wichtigkeit und das immer mehr sich steigernde Interesse
* bedenkt, welches die photometrischen Beobachtungen seit Jahrzehnten
* geniessen, und noch mehr, wenn wir die bis jetzt entwickelten Theorien der
* Extinktion mit den umfangreichen Beobachtungsarbeiten auf demselben
* Gebiete vergleichen.'' [1st para. of Intro.!]
*      Bemporad, like Forbes, criticizes Lambert (p.8) for his empiricism.
* The historical review is mostly devoted to the isothermal model and
* Laplace's theorem. However, B. shows that the homogeneous model has
* a series expansion in which the second term already has half the size
* of that for the isothermal model (p. 11); thus there is no equivalent
* of Oriani's theorem for extinction.
*
* B. adopts gradient of 6.22 deg/km to at least 9 km (maybe all the way?)
* (n-1)2 = 1.0005864 for 0 C and 760 mmHg
* R = 6377.36 km; g=9.8052m/sec2; p=1013.168 = 760 mm
* finds M(87)=15.364; 88: 19.787; 89: 26.959; 89.5: 32.332; 90: 39.651
* adopts gradient of 6.21 deg/km in summary table (?).
* finds M(87)=15.365; 88: 19.787; 89: 26.959 in F(z) table.


K. Rohlfs
Tools of Radio Astronomy
(Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1986), pp. 165–168.

* ROHLFS mentions Bemp. and Schoenberg, calling airmass X(z)
* He gives the airmass integral, and then: "Bemporad [no citation] and
* Schönberg (see Schönberg (1929)) have done extensive investigations
* of X(z), and a Chebyshev-fit to these data up to X = 5.2 with an error
* of less than 6.4 ⋅ 10-4 is given by" a cubic polynomial in sec z.
* "Such a formula should indeed be used in radio astronomy because
* measurements are often made at zenith distances up to 80° (or even
* more!)" [p. 166]
* On p. 168, he gives an expression for the radio refractivity,
* and suggests that an error of 15% would be acceptable, so that "mean
* refraction can be used and this closely resembles the optical refraction.
* Therefore for z < 80°
*
*            Δ z = β tan z ,            β = 1.'50 .
*
* The ratio of radio to optical refraction is . . . 1.56; thus for larger
* zenith distances, optical refraction tables can be used, provided the
* result is correspondingly multiplied." Tsk, tsk.


L. K. Kristensen
“Astronomical refraction and airmass,”
AN 319, no. 3, 193–198 (1998).

* L. Kahl Kristensen rediscovers Laplace's theorem and the rational approx.
* with comments on Wittmann's refraction paper. He shows the constancy of
* the ratio r(z)/(M(z)*sin z) for the std. and isothermal models.
* Thanks to ADS for making this available!


K. C. Chambers
“Astrometry with Pan-STARRS and PS1: Pushing the limits of atmospheric refraction, dispersion, and extinction corrections for wide field imaging,” in Astrometry in the Age of the Next Generation of Large Telescopes P. K. Seidelmann and A. K. B. Monet, eds., (ASP Conference Series, Vol. 338)
(ASP, Provo UT, 2005), pp. 134–144.

* Chambers knows about Laplace's theorem, but . . .
* . . . proposes to use it to calculate airmass for photometric reductions,
* via the Saastamoinen method for calculating the refraction! (pp.142-143)
* There are also some other scary bits, like giving a CO2 refractivity to
* 3 sig. figs. without a dispersion term, and the use of a scale height
* that assumes a fixed water-vapor mixing ratio, and "the local radius of
* the reference ellipsoid" for the radius in calculating h/R . . . .
* [This group's use of square-sided passbands also does not increase
* confidence that they know what they are getting into.]


S. N. Kivalov
“Improved ray tracing air mass numbers model,”
Applied Optics 46, 7091–7098 (2007).

* Sergey Kivalov's new method of calculating airmass



*** LINK FILE ***

F. Link
“Théorie photométrique des éclipses de Lune,”
Bull. Astron. 8, 77–108 (1933).

*
*
* Logically belongs with the AIRMASS file because of Link's work on both.
*
* Link's thesis on lunar-eclipse photometry: he invents a Biot-like scheme
* He shows very clearly the relation between REFRACTION and AIRMASS:
* refraction is proportional to the integral of a function with respect
* to ρ , but airmass is the same function integrated with ρ dh.
* He shows a graph of his refraction integrand at the horizon.
*      The part about refraction is on pp. 89-92.  He does the integrals
* graphically!


F. Link
“Nouvelles Tables de masses d'air,”
J. Obs. 17, No. 3, 41–48 (1934).

* Link's "new airmass table" denotes airmass as M
* He uses his graphical method to do the numerical quadratures. The
* atmospheric data are from Humphreys's book.
* Remarkably, there is no mention of Bemporad!
* Available from ADS.


F. Link
“Masses d'air et réfractions sous diférentes latitudes et en diférentes saisons de l'année,”
J. Obs. 20, 165–171 (1937).

* Link repeats his exposition here, and clearly explains the refr./airmass
* relationship. Fig. 1 shows his airmass integrand for 90 and 84° ZD.
* "La forme générale des courbes . . . montre que la valeur
* des intégrales correspondantes dépend surtout des conditions
* météorologiques dans la basse atmosphère. L'importance des couches
* élevées décroit assez vite pour qu'on puisse les négliger ou mieux
* les remplacer par leurs valeurs moyennes." (p. 166)
*      He also suggests that, as a complete atmospheric sounding is needed
* to determine the refraction and airmass near the horizon, "Le procédé
* inverse ne paraît pas impossible à première vue . . . ."
*      Cites Tikhov (1936) for large (2°) refractions in winter.
* Again, no mention of Bemporad!
* Available from ADS.



*** GENERAL BOOK FILE (TEXTBOOKS and reference works) ***

I. Newton
Opticks
(Dover, New York, 1952), pp. 271–273.

*
* NEWTON
* Book Two, Part III, Prop. X contains the result that in plane-parallel
* media, "the Sum of all the Refractions will be equal to the single
* Refraction which it would have suffer'd in passing immediately out of the
* first Medium into the last." He uses this to derive the "Refraction
* of the Air" from "that of the Atmosphere observed by Astronomers."


E. von Oppolzer
“Strahlenbrechung,” in in 'Handwörterbuch der Astronomié W. Valentiner, ed.
(Verlag von Eduard Trewendt, Breslau, 1901), Vol. IIIb, pp. 548–601.

* VALENTINER/OPPOLZER
* Oppolzer appreciates the height distribution; see p. 562, where he cites
* Fabritius. There is a good section on TILT of layers, pp. 577-580.
* He also discusses nocturnal inversions (pp. 588-589) and dispersion, and
* has a section on pavilion refraction. Very good!
*      The series is "Encyklopædie der Naturwissenschaften"; this is
* "III. Abtheilung. II. Theil: Handwörterbuch der Astronomie".


S. Newcomb
A Compendium of Spherical Astronomy
(Macmillan, New York, 1906), Ch.\ 8.

* NEWCOMB
* Surprisingly full of errors.


A. Bemporad
“Besondere Behandlung des Einflusses der Atmosphäre (Refraktion und Extinktion),” in Enzyklopädie der Mathematischen Wissenschaften mit Einschluss ihrer Anwendungen, Band VI, Teil 2, Astronomie, Erste Hälfte K. Schwarzschild and S. Oppenheim, eds.
(B.G.Teubner, Leipzig, 1907), pp. 287–334.

* BEMPORAD's Enzyclopädie der Mathematischen Wissenschaften article
*      This review begins with a table of contents, followed by the bibliography.
* Bemp. explicitly refers to Bruhns, saying that his list extends and
* continues that of Bruhns. The references are blessedly complete!
*      The publication date is uncertain; I have not seen the title page
* of this volume. Bemporad's contribution is dated December 1907, so
* the actual publication date must have been 1908.
* [See the review article about the Enzyklopädie by W. van Dyck
* in Jahresbericht der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung 17, 213-227
* (1908) for an overview -- available from Digizeitschriften, at
*      http://digizeitschriften.de/home/zeitschriften/  ]


A. Bemporad and P. Puiseux
“VII. 2. Réfraction et Extinction,” in Encyclopédie des Sciences Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées
(Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1913), pp. 14–67.

* BEMPORAD's German Encyclopedia article translated into French
* The sub-title says "Exposé, d'après l'article allemand de A. Bemporad
* (Catane) par P. Puiseux (Paris)"; I give both, but it's mostly Bemporad.
*      The very first footnote gives 5 references on atmospheric dispersion.
* And (pp. 15-16): "A nos yeux il est beaucoup moins important d'insister
* sur les artifices de développement que de bien caractériser les
* différentes hypothèses. Il y a en effet une méthode (la quadrature
* mécanique), qui, dans toutes les hypothèses, conduit également vite
* au but, c'est-à-dire à la connaissance de la réfraction théorique."
*      There is a succinct discussion (pp. 16-17) of the different formulae
* linking the density to the refractivity, pointing out who has used which
* ones, and concluding that the simple Gladstone-Dale formula is as good
* as any. "On devra donc, dans les théories de la réfraction et de
* l'extinction, choisir la formule la plus avantageuse au point de vue
* analytique . . . ."
*      Pp. 23-37 have a nice historical summary of the models of Cassini,
* Tobias Mayer, etc. On p. 28 is pointed out that Laplace's formula gives
* a slightly super-adiabatic lapse rate at the surface. This is a much
* clearer review of the various theories than Bruhns's, with the further
* advantage that the works of Bessel and Radau are included. Bauernfeind,
* Schmidt, Gyldén, Oppolzer, and Bruns are given rather short shrift.
* At the end of this review section (p. 37) is the punch line:
*      "Quand on réfléchit à la peine qu'ont demandée les developpements
* analytiques des théories de la réfraction, et notamment les plus
* complets de ces développements élaborées par H.Gyldén et R. Radau ,
* on a le droit de penser que la réfraction astronomique s'obtiendra plus
* aisément par un simple calcul numérique (quadrature mécanique), qui
* tiendra compte directement des donées de la physique de l'atmosphère."
*      On pp. 37-50 the refraction integral is developed according to the
* more important theories. The extinction is treated on pp. 58-67.
*      The title page says "Publiée sous les auspices des académies
* des sciences de Göttigue, de Leipzig, de Munich et de Vienne avec
* la collaboration de nombreux savants. Édition française rédigée
* et publiée d'après l'édition allemande sous la direction de Jules
* Molk, Professeur à l'Université de Nancy. Et pour ce qui concerne
* l'astronomie sous la direction scientifique de H. Andoyer Professeur à
* l'Université de Paris. Tome VII (premier volume), Astronomie Sphérique.
* Rédigé dans l'Édition allemande sous la direction de K. Schwarzschild
* à Potsdam." The original German edition appears to be:
* Besondere Behandlung des Einflusses der Atmosphäre (Refraktion und
* Extinktion), Enz. der math. Wiss. 6, part 2, (Teubner, Leipzig, 1907)
* My photocopy lacks pp. 21, 51-57.


R. Ball
A Treatise on Spherical Astronomy
(Cambridge Univ.Press, Cambridge, 1915).

* Sir ROBERT BALL
* Very readable treatment; derives the usual approx. from Cassini's model
* on pp. 125-128. Unfortunately, an excessive number of approximations
* is used, so the result is not very accurate. However, there is a neat
* proof of Oriani's theorem on pp. 123-124 (though Oriani is not mentioned).


W. Möbius
“Optik der Atmosphäre,” in Encyklopädie der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, Band VI, Teil 1: Geodäsie und Geophysik Ph. Furtwängler and E. Wiechert, eds.
(Teubner, Leipzig, 1925), pp. 497–540.

* Theoretical treatment of atmospheric optics; no GF coverage
* There are some useful remarks on mirages:
* "Da plötzliche Übergänge von n , wie zu festen order flüssigen
* Mitteln, hier nicht anzunehmen sind, dürfte man wohl, streng genommen,
* nicht, wie es oft geschieht, von Totalreflexion und Luftspiegelungen
* sprechen, wenn auch eine Analogie zweifellos besteht." (p. 500)
* (Here he cites Claudius, 1850, for similar remarks.)
* This is the only work to cite Brandes's article in Gehlers
* Physikalisches Wörterbuch , so far as I know.
* THANKS to Shaun Hardy for supplying a copy of this!


H. Neuberger
“General Meteorological Optics,” in Compendium of Meteorology T. F. Malone, ed.
(American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1951), pp. 61–78.

* GENERAL REFERENCES before 1951


A. Danjon
Astronomie Générale: Astronomie Sphérique et Éléments de Mécanique Céleste
(J. & R. Sennac, Paris, 1952-53).

* DANJON
* Chapitre IX is devoted to refraction, including DIP and MIRAGES.
* Dispersion and chromatic scintillation are mentioned, but not green flashes.
* Thanks to Fred Talbert for reminding me of this!


É. Vassy
Physique de l'Atmosphère. Tome II: Phénomènes de Réfraction
(Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1959), pp. 14–16.

* VASSY
* Étienne Vassy was primarily interested in the upper atmosphere, which
* explains the chapters here on the ionosphere and sound propagation.
* He is mostly remembered today for his work on ozone in the 1930s.
*      Section 4 of Ch. I is "Influence de la dispersion; le rayon vert."
* Even at this late date, he says Julius's anomalous-dispersion theory is
* one of two possible explanations; though he points out that Danjon &
* Rougier's work refutes it.
*      Having seen the phenomenon repeatedly at a single location during one
* week(!), he thinks it is a result of thermal inversions. He also has
* the Byrd story wrong ("le premier jour de l'apparition du Soleil après
* la nuit polaire. . . "). (p. 15)
*      On p. 16, he worries about the variable (and overly long) duration.
* But he thinks this can be explained by the effects of "fluctuations
* notables d'indice le long des rayons . . . si l'obstacle derrière lequel
* disparaît le Soleil est surmonté d'une couche d'air dont l'indice
* commence par croître avec l'altitude."
*      He also worries about the sudden change of color, which he attributes
* to the rain-band of water vapor.
*      On p. 40, he attributes the distortions of the low Sun to variations
* of index along the trajectory. Much of his mirage discussion is based
* on Flammarion.
*      Hardly half a dozen references are cited in the whole book!
* [Tome I was on emission phenomena.]


W. M. Smart
Text-Book on Spherical Astronomy
(Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1962), Ch.~3.

* SMART


E. W. Woolard and G. M. Clemence
Spherical Astronomy
(Academic Press, New York, 1966).

* DIP, SUNSET in Chapter 10,
* "Determinations of position in the local reference system"


I. G. Kolchinskii
Refraktsiya Sveta v Zemnoi Atmosfere
(Naukova Dumka, Kiev, 1967).

* KOLCHINSKII emphasizes issues omitted from the regular texts
* After pointing out the need for refraction of objects within and near
* the limits of the atmosphere, he briefly reviews the literature.
* There are several interesting items in his bibliography, especially
* dealing with refraction near the horizon, in the polar regions, etc.
*      Pp. 11-12 have a clear summary of Emden's polytropic model, and give
* his series-expansion terms.
*      Pp. 13-14: after describing the tables of Link & Neuzil in BAC (1958),
* he notices that their extreme values at the horizon strongly violate
* the usual refractivity scaling (from T and p values). Then (p. 14):
* "Thus, the dispersion between the refraction at the horizon, calculated
* by [refractivity scaling] and obtained by numerical integration, proves
* to be highly significant. It indicates that in this case the upper layers
* of the Earth's atmosphere influence the value of the refraction integral."
*      Pp. 14-15 describe Fuss's observations at Pulkovo, which he attributed
* to a low-lying inversion; but K. says that Bauschinger, and also
* Banakhevich, showed this was insufficient. The discussion of large
* refraction near the horizon continues on pp. 16-17; he seems to consider
* this normal phenomenon "anomalous" simply because it is not in the
* standard tables.
*      On pp. 18-19, he discusses TILT of the layers, with several references.
*      At the end of the Conclusion, p. 40, he raises the issue of using
* terrestrial refraction to estimate temperature gradients, as suggested
* by Fesenkov -- cf. Faye!


F. Link
Eclipse Phenomena in Astronomy
(Springer-Verlag, New York, 1969).

* for DISTORTED SUN, see Fig. 1.2.23, p.49


F. Link and L. Neuzil
Tables of Light Trajectories in the Terrestrial Atmosphere
(Hermann, Paris, 1969).

* AIRMASS & REFRACTION TABLES for std.atmospheres


R. A. R. Tricker
Introduction to Meteorological Optics
(American Elsevier, New York, 1970).

* ``Temperature inversions . . . occasionally give rise to abnormal effects of
* refraction. . . . The effects are transient and variable, and there is little
* point in attempting to work out an exact theory for them. . . .'' (p.19)


A. P. Norton
Norton's Star Atlas, Sixteenth Edition
(Gall & Inglis, Edinburgh, 1973), p. 2.

* NORTON'S STAR ATLAS
* The 17th edition (1986) is the same as here.
* A longer but less accurate account is on p. 38 of the 15th ed. (1966).


A. V. Alexeev, M. V. Kabanov, I. F. Kushtin, and N. F. Nelyubin
Opticheskaya refraktsiya v zemnoi atmosferye
(Nauka, Novosibirsk, 1983), p. 58.

* Cassini's formula given


C. A. Murray
Vectorial Astronomy
(Adam Hilger, Ltd., Bristol, 1983).

* AIRMASS & REFRACTION in Chapter 7, "Astrometry through the atmosphere"


R. M. Green
Spherical Astronomy
(Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985).

* GREEN -- Ch. 4, esp. pp. 87-93
* Table 4.1 (p. 91) "gives approximately the amount of refraction taking
* place above the level in question, for a source at zenith distance
* 45°."


P. K. Seidelmann
Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac
(University Science Books, Mill Valley, CA, 1992).

* 2nd EXPLANATORY SUPPLEMENT
* Recommends the Auer-Standish method to calculate refraction.


A. T. Young
“Understanding astronomical refraction,”
Obs. 126, 82–115 (2006).

* not a book, but a textbook-style tutorial article; so placed here



*** POPULAR BOOKS FILE ***

E. Hawks
Stars Shown to the Children
(T.C. & E.C.Jack, London, 1911?), p. 60.

*
* ELLISON HAWKS's book
* ". . . you must watch carefully, for, as the minutes go by, the sun
* will get lower and lower until there is only a tiny tip left. Then,
* just before it finally disappears, you will perhaps see a little green
* flame shoot up, and the tip of the sun itself will turn green. I do not
* say that you will always be able to see this Flash, but only on certain
* occasions. I have known people only see it once out of a dozen times,
* but it is very interesting to watch the sun disappear over the horizon,
* and to look for the green Flash." (p. 60)
*      So far, so good.  But then, the sun ". . .  will also seem a great deal
* larger than it does when seen high in the sky. This is because of the
* extra thickness of atmosphere near the horizon, which acts as a sort of
* magnifying glass and enlarges the sun, when it is low down. The moon may
* also be seen enlarged in the same way, as it rises in the east, when it is
* full." Ouch! (Well, you can't win them all.)
*
* Thanks to Charles Campbell, of Cranleigh, Surrey (UK) for the reference!
* He says it was published in 1912, but the copy I borrowed from Case,
* while undated, has "October 1910" at the end of the preface; and the
* last page of the index has a footer naming the printer (Ballantyne,
* Hanson & Co.) and the notation "5/11"; so I believe it was printed in
* 1911. This is the ninth volume in the "Shown to the Children" series.
* According to the L.C. catalog, Hawks wrote other books in that series.
* The British Library catalog credits 120 popular books to him, and dates
* this one 1910.
* Case's copy showed up with the frayed black register bookmark ribbon
* lying between pages 60 and 61 -- right at the GF entry!
* Note the GF observation by Hawks in 1909, shortly before this was written.


A. Turpain
La Lumière, Deuxième Édition
(Librairie Delagrave, Paris, 1923), Ch.XI.

* TURPAIN's book on light, illustrated with photos by Rudaux
* A nice chapter on atmospheric optics, including twilight phenomena,
* zodiacal light, aurorae as well as the usual halos, rainbows, and
* mirages. Mirages and distorted sunsets are illustrated with photos from
* Rudaux; GF is illustrated with his drawings of the 1904 flash.
* Libert's "green Sun" observations are also mentioned.
* Thanks to Luc Dettwiller for a copy of this!


C. F. Talman
Our Weather -- What Makes It and How to Watch It
(Reynolds Publishing Co., New York, 1925).

* CHARLES FITZHUGH TALMAN's books
* Talman is listed on the title page as "Chairman Committee on Public
* Information, American Meteorological Society"
* Crepuscular rays are treated on p. 169, ending with mountain shadows.
* Pp. 170-171 describe textbook green flashes, and red flashes. He
* seems to give a little credence to the "after image" explanation.
* Pp. 171-174 treat mirages, described as "some of the most bizarre of
* optical illusions." General Maude is mentioned on p. 173, as is
* Scoresby, and "Crocker Land".


C. F. Talman
The Realm of the Air
(Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1931).

* TALMAN's later book
* In "The Author's Apology", Talman says he "has enjoyed for a number
* of years the exceptional privilege of being the custodian of a nearly
* exhaustive collection of literature on the subject . . . ." [The obit
* on NOAA's Web pages, taken from Weather Bureau Topics and Personnel,
* July 1936, says he had been in charge of the Weather Bureau Library at
* the Central Office since 1908.]
*      Facing p. 21 is a picture of "the most famous cloud in the world":
* the "tablecloth" on Table Mountain, near Cape Town.
* The treatment of mirage (pp. 114-118) is much fuller and better
* here than in the 1925 book. Looming and "lateral mirage" are briefly
* mentioned. He suggests the Flying Dutchman probably arose from
* mirages at sea. On p. 116 appears a garbled account of the New Haven
* ghost ship, here transferred to New York, and mistaken for a mirage of
* a real ship. Wilkes Land and Crocker Land are mentioned; Hubbard's book
* is named, and quoted, but without a page reference (p. 117).
* Pp. 136-137 mention sunset distortions; GF on 137-138. The Lick
* sunset photographs are mentioned (p. 137). There is no now mention of
* after images.
*
* The author says these are edited articles from Nature Magazine, Popular
* Mechanics, NY Times, etc.
* No copyright date is given for the book, only for its sources;
* L.C. says "c1931".


W. E. Harper
“Radio talks over CFCF. LX—Mirages,”
JRASC 27, 59–61 (1933).

* W.E.Harper's Canadian radio talks -- not a book, but belongs here anyway
* This is the lead article in the Feb. 1933 issue, beginning on p.49.
* Available from ADS.


C. M. Botley
The Air and its Mysteries
(G.Bell and Sons, London, 1938).

* BOTLEY -- a popularization of meteorology
* The Manx GF legends mentioned on pp. 152 and 206 are both taken from
* the same letter to The Times (M.Douglas, 1929). Botley exaggerates:
* Manx folklore does not "contain much" about it; it was barely known in
* 1929, and nobody there seems to have heard of it today. The reference
* to Rex Clements's story is also overblown. And the purported "superior
* mirage" in Plate XI (facing p.210) is almost certainly a fake.
* Yet the Italian translation of this book is O'Connell's ref. #10.


C. D. Neal
Exploring Light and Color
(Childrens Press, Chicago, 1964), p. 18.

* Dr. Charles D. Neal's book for juveniles
* "When there is, near the earth, a layer of air that is warmer and
* denser [sic!] than the air above it . . . ."
* [Well, it isn't the *air* that's denser here . . . .]


F. M. Branley
Sun Dogs and Shooting Stars: A Skywatcher's Calendar
(Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1980), pp. 73–75.

* Franklyn M. Branley's treatment for juveniles
* ". . . the green flash, a bright green strip of light that appears just
* above the setting sun. Usually it is seen close to the horizon an
* instant after the sun itself has disappeared . . . . Because of its longer
* wavelength red is bent the least." (The diagram is equally poor.)
* Branley wrote many books on astronomy for children; he died in 2002.


W. R. Corliss
Rare Halos, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows and Related Electromagnetic Phenomena
(Sourcebook Project, Glen Arm, MD, 1984).

* Compendium of reports, as in Mulder's book: this put me on to
* Starr's (1930) paper, so Corliss is accomplishing his aim here.
* Like Mulder, he quotes items and adds short comments:
* "The green flash and the crepuscular rays . . . have long been considered
* as fully explained. The stock explanations, however, seem simplistic
* when the full ranges of these phenomena are considered."
* Of "the appearance . . . of multiple green rays of light ascending from
* the point of the sun's disappearance", he astutely says, "This phenomenon
* may be related to the crepuscular rays."
* Corliss's list of 42 references contains no errors, which speaks well
* for the care he has exercised -- especially considering that the
* ``standard'' references typically have 10% to 20% errors!


H. Miles
“Rare Haloes, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows and related electromagnetic phenomena,”
JBAA 95, No. 4, 188–189 (1985).

* Corliss's book reviewed in JBAA
* GF is mentioned. Available from ADS.


R. A. Gallant
Rainbows, Mirages, and Sundogs
(Macmillan, New York, 1987).

* A juvenile book illustrated in b/w, with the usual mistakes
* Mirages are treated on pp. 14-22. Looming is treated as a mirage:
* "Looming mirages are the only mirages that appear to be nearby. They
* may also greatly magnify the real object."
* "Our first glimpse of the Sun at sunrise is a mirage."
* An interesting variation is the suggestion to observe variations in dip.


Q. L. Pearce
Amazing Science. Lightning and other wonders of the sky
(Julian Messner, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1989), p. 17.

* Another juvenile book, full of strange stuff
* ". . . at sea . . . the air layer closest to the water is usually colder
* than the air layer above it. As a result, sea mirages . . . are right
* side up and above the object . . . ." (even worse about Fata Morgana)
* Acknowledgment thanks "William A. Selby, Professor of Geography/Earth
* Sciences, Santa Monica City College . . . for his critical reading of the
* manuscript."


D. K. Lynch and W. C. Livingston
Color and Light in Nature
(Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1995).

* much misinformation, but some great photographs
* The second edition, published in 2001, is greatly improved, and RECOMMENDED.


F. Suagher and J.-P. Parisot
Jeux de Lumière
(éditions Cêtre, Besançon, 1995).

* This is a beautiful book, similar to the Lynch/Livingston book;
* it contains the best mirage photos I have seen. The GF pictures are
* poor, but the advice on how to obtain them is good. Unfortunately,
* the multiple inferior mirage (due to uneven ground) on p.60 is
* mis-identified as a Fata Morgana; and the price is a bit high (FF 240).
* See pp. 49-56 for the GF, and 56-60 for mirages.


K. Schlegel
Vom Regenbogen zum Polarlicht - Leuchterscheinungen in der Atmosphäre
(Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg, 1995), pp. 24–25.

* Clear presentation of the textbook story, with one of Pekka's GFs.
* Note that the wrong colors were printed on Abb.1.6 on p.24.
* Thanks to Dr. Kristian Schlegel for a copy of his book! It turns out
* to contain many fine pictures of natural phenomena, including one of
* ball lightning. The author tells me a revised edition is in the works.


P. Murphy and P. Doherty
The Color of Nature
(Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1996).

* All sorts of pretty pictures, not just atmospheric optics
* Pekka's multiple-mock-mirage flash sequence is on pp. 131-133, with
* the final stage on a double-page spread. "The conditions for seeing
* the green flash, or green ray, with an unaided human eye occur only a
* few times out of every ten sunsets over a distant unobstructed horizon."


P. Simons
Weird Weather
(Little, Brown & Co., London, 1996).

* a journalist's attempt to cover science?
* Paul Simons's book is full of errors, but has some decent coverage --
* it seems to fall somewhere between Corliss and the National Enquirer .
* The author has believed everything he's read, and has sorted out the
* most sensational accounts. So he asserts, in the introduction, that
* "The Föhn wind in Germany sends people mad," and other nonsense.
* Speculation is presented as fact; there is no index; and the "Select
* Bibliography" at the end is already secondary and tertiary sources, some
* not too reliable themselves. The book is clearly pitched at an English
* readership (British spellings throughout).
* The photographs (some by Pekka Parviainen, some by Alistair Fraser;
* some strangely reproduced with moiré stripes through them) are mixed
* with engravings from Flammarion (!)
* One of Pekka's pile-of-plates clouds is captioned ". . . lenticular
* clouds created on waves of turbulent air." And the adjacent text says
* ". . . called rotor clouds or lenticular clouds." [p. 60]
* The story of Ross mentions his "Croker Mountains" on p. 58.
* "Green Flash" is on pp.85-86: ". . . it sometimes hurls a shaft of vivid
* green light across the sky . . . ." The usual "prism" is invoked.
* While there are hints of interesting reports to pursue, the lack of
* detailed references makes most of them useless. The unwary should
* steer well clear of this confused and unreliable book.


J. Naylor
Out of the Blue: A 24-hour Skywatcher's Guide
(Cambridge Univ.Press, Cambridge, 2002).

* John Naylor's mixed bag: great photographs, some good (and some misleading)
* diagrams, some good (and some wrong) information. Many of the topics
* of interest here are covered: refraction & mirages (Ch.3, pp. 50-63);
* flattened sunsets (pp. 64-67); crepuscular rays (pp. 77-79); distorted
* sunsets (pp. 80-84); Green Flashes (pp. 84-86). All non-mathematical.
*      Pekka's pictures are great.  But there are some howlers: Naylor claims
* Monge made up the word "mirage" (p. 51), though he gives the correct
* etymology. He thinks mirages are due to temperature gradient, not the
* curvature of the temperature profile (p. 55). "If your eye is too high,
* it will not intercept the rays that produce the inverted image, and you
* will not see a mirage." (p. 57) [Pekka's over-sized Omega is on p. 56.]
*      Ch. 4 (pp. 64-87) deals with low-Sun and twilight phenomena; GFs are
* on pp. 84-86; ". . . blue flashes have been seen . . . only from altitudes
* of several kilometres." The pictured mock-mirage flash (Fig. 4.15,
* p. 85) is mis-identified as "Green segment." Many minor errors.
*      There are a number of wrong-word errors that show the manuscript was
* spell-checked but not carefully proof-read.
*      The selection of references is also haphazard, including minor works
* while omitting more important ones. He has the date wrong (as 1968!)
* for O'Connell's book.


M. Vollmer
Lichtspiele in der Luft: Atmosphärische Optik für Einsteiger
(Spektrum/Elsevier, München, 2006).

* MICHAEL VOLLMER's new book on atmospheric optics for beginners
* SUPERB photographs in the color-plates section. This is a more
* technical book than most of the ones in this section -- it's almost a
* textbook rather than a popular work. (He's not afraid to use calculus
* occasionally.) Section 11.2 (pp. 315-322) covers green flashes; there
* are also good sections on refraction in general, and mirages. Each
* chapter has a good list of references.


M. Maunder
Lights in the sky: Identifying and Understanding Astronomical and Meteorological Phenomena
(Springer, London, 2007).

* MICHAEL MAUNDER's book
* GF treatments are on pp. 72-74 for morning, and 115-118 (evening).
* But he starts off with "The scientific basis for the green flash had
* to wait until 1960 [sic] when D.K.J. [sic] O'Connell of the Vatican
* Observatory produced the first [sic] authenticated color photographs
* of the phenomenon, but he [sic] took those at sunset . . . ."
*      Well, it isn't all that bad, but it isn't good.  "The green flash
* occurs when light is refracted through an atmospheric layer and thereby
* seems to come from this higher layer." (All this from the top third
* of the first page! He does manage to connect flashes with mirages,
* but clearly doesn't understand either one.)
*      On p. 74, we get: "Blues should never be possible and it is difficult
* to give an explanation." [Especially if you don't understand GFs.]
*      The mirage discussions on pp. 101 ff. aren't much better; he confuses
* inferior mirages with looming and normal refraction: "The interface
* acts very much as a mirror with light reflected back from the much
* denser air above. . . . this mirage is described as an 'Inferior' mirage,
* from the reflection back from above." (p. 101)
* Like O'Connell, he takes the gaps between multiple mock mirages as
* "blind strips": "These multiple mirages often lead to a whole series of
* green flashes, often seen underneath as well as above, as each layer pass
* through the boundary layers in the atmosphere." (p. 103, strictly sic .)
* Pretty awful. Too bad Patrick Moore's name is on this series.



*** MINNAERT's BOOK FILE ***

M. G. J. Minnaert
De natuurkunde van't vrije veld door M.Minnaert
(Thieme, Zutphen, 1937).

*
* original edition of Minnaert's book


M. Minnaert
Light and Colour in the Open Air
(G. Bell and sons, London, 1940).

* first English translation:


A. D. T.
“Light and Colour in the Open Air,”
Obs. 63, 241–243 (1940).

* REVIEW of the 1940 edition; mentions "the green ray".
* I suppose the reviewer is Thackeray.


C. E. P. B[rooks]
Light and Colour in the Open Air, by M. Minnaert,”
Met. Mag. 76, 67–68 (1947).

* REVIEW of the 1940 edition; mentions "the green ray"; and calls
* Hillers's mural-mirage photo "one of the oddest" in the book.


M. Minnaert
The Nature of Light & Colour in the Open Air
(Dover Publications, New York, 1954).

* This should be the same as the 1940 edition
* "According to an old Scotch legend, . . . "
* He has "Continho" for Coutinho
* O'C #91


M. Minnaert
Light and Color in the Outdoors
(Springer-Verlag, New York, 1993).

* new translation of Minnaert



*** MIRAGE DEFINITIONS FILE -- various handbook accounts of mirages ***

(no author listed)
in Encyclopædia Americana, vol. VIII F. Lieber, ed.
(B.B.Mussey & Co., Boston, 1851), pp. 525–526.

* and refraction terminology
*
* NOTE: This file is mainly the "mirage" articles from a number of
* encyclopedias, dictionaries, and similar reference works.
*
* "MIRAGE; an optical phenomenon, produced by refraction. The unusual
* elevation or apparent approximation of coasts, mountains, ships, and other
* objects, has long been known under the name of looming ; and, if the same
* phenomenon is accompanied by inverted images, it is called a mirage ."
*      N.B.: "A popular dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, history,
* politics and biography, . . . on the basis of the seventh edition of the
* German Conversations-Lexicon." [see below for a later edition of that]


(no author listed)
Chambers's Encyclopædia , vol. VI
(J.B.Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, 1868), p. 485.

* "Under it are classed the appearance of distant objects as double,
* or as if suspended in the air, erect or inverted, etc."
*      But there are some errors:  "In particular states of the atmosphere,
* reflection of a portion only of the rays takes place at the surface of
* the dense medium, and thus double images are formed, one by reflection,
* and the other by refraction -- the first inverted, and the second erect."
* And: "The Spectre of the Brocken , in Hanover, is another celebrated
* instance of mirage."


G. P. Quackenbos
A Natural Philosophy
(D.Appleton & Company, New York, 1870), p. 248.

* "Mirage is the appearance in the air of an erect or inverted image of
* some distant object which is itself invisible." (Garbage.)


(no author given)
Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, Fünfte, gänzlich neubearbeitete Auflage, Elfter Band
(Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig und Wien, 1896), pp. 587–588.

* "Luftspiegelung . . .  bewirkt, daß Gegenstände, die sich      u n t e r
* dem Horizont befinden, deutlich sichtbar, also gewissermaßen gehoben
* werden . . . , oder daß ü b e r dem Horizont befindliche Gegenstände
* doppelt, vergrößert oder umgekehrt in der Luft schwebend erscheinen."
*      There is a fine laundry list of TERMINOLOGY here:  "Die deutschen
* Seeleute nennen diese Erscheinung K i m m u n g , die englischen
* L o o m i n g , die holländischen U p p d r a c h t , die
* französischen  M i r a g e .      In Indien nennt man die L.
* C h i l t r a m , » Bild « , oder S i k o t a , » Schlösser der
* kalten Zeit « ; bei den Arabern heißt sie S e h r a b ,
* » geheimnisvolles Wasser « , auch Bacher el Alfrid, » Sohn des
* Teufels « , oder Bacher el Gazal."


J. G. Albright
Physical Meteorology
(Prentice-Hall, New York, 1939), pp. 355–359.

* Albright's treatment of the green flash is straightforward and accurate.
* But his section 6 on "Mirages" in Chapter XX leaves much to be desired:
* "The mirage is an optical illusion due to the refraction of light as
* it passes through nonhomogeneous layers of the atmosphere. Distant
* objects are seen in an unnatural position, sometimes elevated, sometimes
* depressed, and often inverted." (p. 355)
*      He also seems to think that any images in excess of 2 must be due to
* reflection on water; in discussing the superior mirage, he says (p.357):
* "If the mirage occurs at sea, the image of a distant ship and of its
* reflection in the water also may appear in the sky, the image of the ship
* inverted and the image of the reflection erect, as shown in Fig. 231."
* [N.B.: This spurious suggestion was already made in 1806 by Kries.]
* His description of looming confuses it with ordinary terrestrial
* refraction; his illustration on p. 358 shows a flat Earth!


A. H. Thiessen
Weather Glossary
(U.S.Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1949).

* Thiessen's Glossary cites Albright's text (above), but omits its
* worst errors. Here looming is succinctly described as "An optical
* phenomenon in which objects below and beyond the horizon appear to
* the view of the observer, and even the horizon itself is extended."
* (I think he is saved by also referring to Humphreys.) Unfortunately,
* for "mirage", he simply quotes the first passage from Albright (see
* above). Here again, he cites Humphreys as well. (p. 188)
* Note that this is "W. B. No. 1445 Issued August 1, 1946" and "Reprinted
* May 1949".


H. Neuberger
“General Meteorological Optics,” in Compendium of Meteorology T. F. Malone, ed.
(American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1951), pp. 61–78.

* Hans Neuberger (Penn. State) cites 59 references.
* He gives the standard textbook explanation of the green flash, but adds:
* ". . . most observations seem to be associated with refractions in excess
* of the normal," citing Meyer (1939) and Visser & Verstelle (1934).
* He correctly describes looming, sinking, towering and stooping, and
* attributes the mathematical theory of these to Exner (in P&E II).
*      His description of mirages as "one or more images of the object"
* clearly means extra images; he seems to fall into the error of
* assuming that one image is "the object" itself.


World Meteorological Organization
International Cloud Atlas, Volume I
(W.M.O., Geneva, 1956), p. 74.

* A definition that tries to be all things; or at least to cover all
* mirages -- to its detriment:
* "MIRAGE: An optical phenomenon consisting mainly of steady or wavering,
* single or multiple, upright or inverted, vertically enlarged or reduced,
* images of distant objects."
* About all that is useful here is "distant objects"; though "mainly"
* is a nice touch, in light of the rest of the arm-waving! Furthermore:
* "Objects seen in a mirage sometimes appear appreciably higher or lower
* above the horizon than they really are; the difference may amount to as
* much as 10 degrees." So this is all nonsense.
*      In addition, they use the curious non-standard terms "lower mirage"
* and "upper mirage" (in place of "inferior" and "superior", respectively.)


R. E. Huschke
Glossary of Meteorology
(American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1959), p. 373.

* Another completely wrong-headed attempt:
* "mirage -- A refraction phenomenon wherein an image of some object is
* made to appear displaced from its true position."
*      On the other hand, looming, towering, etc. are described correctly
* on p. 349, though described as a "mirage effect".


World Meteorological Organization
International Meteorological Vocabulary
(W.M.O., Geneva, 1966), pp. 117–118.

* The WMO is still confused:
* "Mirage: Optical phenomenon consisting essentially of steady or
* wavering, single or multiple, upright or inverted, vertically enlarged
* or reduced, images of distant objects." (p. 117) [Note that "mainly"
* has not become "essentially"; otherwise, their folly goes on unchanged.]
*      Worse yet, they now think there is a distinction between an "image"
* and "the actual object":
* "Superior mirage: Special case of mirage , . . . in which the virtual
* image is above the actual object." And:
* "Inferior mirage: Particular case of mirage , . . . in which the virtual
* image is found below the actual object." (both on p. 118)
* (Note that what they call a "virtual image" is in fact a real image, not
* a virtual one.)


R. W. Fairbridge
The Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences and Astrogeology (Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences series, Vol. II)
(Reinhold, New York, 1967), pp. 605–606.

* Fairbridge has the same problem:
* "MIRAGE, FATA MORGANA: The mirage is a general category of atmospheric
* optical phenomena involving refraction of light rays bent by differential
* heating of a land or water surface, which results in the distortion or
* displacement of some object viewed, sometimes leading to a misleading
* optical illusion. . . .
*      "Three major types of mirage are recognized:
*      "The  inferior mirage , where the false image is seen below the true
* position of the object viewed."
*      Note that the diagram on p. 606 is reproduced from Hutchinson's book
* on limnology. Fairbridge cites all the right references, but seems to
* have misunderstood them. This article is signed by Fairbridge himself.


D. H. McIntosh
Meteorological Glossary
(Chemical Publishing, New York, 1972), pp. 181–182.

* . . . and so does McIntosh:
* "Two main classes of mirage occur, (i) `inferior' and (ii) `superior',
* in which the virtual image is below and above the object, respectively."
* (Of course all this nonsense about "virtual images" is quite wrong:
* it is the erect images that are virtual and the inverted ones that
* are real!) Worse yet, after discussing the superior mirage:
* "In such physical conditions multiple reflections may give rise to
* various images, some displaced laterally with respect to the object,
* as in FATA MORGANA."


T. S. Glickman
Glossary of Meteorology, Second Edition
(American Meteorological Society, Boston, 2000).

* Fortunately, the Second Edition is far better -- both more complete
* and more accurate -- than the First. Green flashes are connected with
* mirages; mirages are explicitly stated to be all images, not an "object"
* plus (supposedly spurious) "images". "Lateral mirages" in the
* wrong-headed sense are refuted: "the rare reports of such sightings
* undoubtedly arose from misinterpretations of observations." The lifted
* inversions responsible for superior mirages "are common over, but hardly
* confined to, enclosed bodies of water on warm afternoons when the warmer
* air from the surrounding land flows over the colder water." And the
* initial definition of "mirage" as "An image formed when the atmosphere
* behaves as a lens" is succinct and accurate.
*      On the other hand, there are still a few points I'd quibble with.
* Looming and sinking, stooping and towering are all called "mirages".
* Multiple images are attributed to periodic thermal inhomogeneities.
* Inferior and superior mirages are distinguished according to the
* direction of "displacement" of the image. And the Fata Brumosa is
* mistakenly called "Fata Bromosä. Alas, no references are cited.
*      Still, this must be regarded as about the best modern  summary of
* refraction phenomena available.



*** GF TEXTBOOK FILE -- various didactic accounts of green flashes ***

J. M. Pernter
Meteorologische Optik
(Wilhelm Braumüller, Wien und Leipzig, 1902).

*
* Pernter's original 1902 edition, before Exner got involved
* This edition treats only mirages; there is no mention of green flashes.
* It contains only 212 pages, and does not reach halos and rainbows.


S. Arrhenius
Lehrbuch der kosmischen Physik
(S.Hirzel, Leipzig, 1903), pp. 856–857.

* Dr. Svante August Arrhenius may have the first textbook account
* The "textbook" story appears here: "Da die roten Strahlen die geringste
* Brechung erleiden, verschwindet zuerst das rote Bild der Sonne unter dem
* Horizont, zuletzt das blaue."
* There is also good coverage of mirages, including a reference to Budde
* (but no citation) on pp.832-835.
* Refraction begins on p.827; dispersion appears on p. 829.
* As the organization and title of the chapter on "Meteorologische Optik"
* are exactly the same as in Pernter's book, that was evidently the model
* for this.
* (Cited by Mulder)


J. M. Pernter and F. M. Exner
Meteorologische Optik
(Wilhelm Braumüller, Wien und Leipzig, 1910).

* Here Exner adds a great deal of material, including GF on pp.798-799
* at the very end of the volume. He accepts Julius's 1/10 second and so
* must reject Henry's 1 sec., but can't swallow the anomalous dispersion;
* so "Einfacher scheint es, . . . die selective Absorption des Wasserdampfes
* zu berücksichtigen." Though there is no mention of either Abbe or
* Tyndall, I suspect this notion came from Abbe's 1905 editorial in MWR.
* Thanks to Günter Können for a copy of this!


J. Moore
Meteorology: Practical and Applied. Second revised and enlarged edition
(Rebman Co., New York, 1910), pp. 459–460.

* Sir John William Moore's curious book on meteorology
* The author was a professional physician, and an amateur meteorologist.
* His book is full of speculations about the effects of the weather and
* climate on disease. This 2nd edition contains a two-page Appendix on
* green flashes (listed in the Contents as "The Green Flash at Sunrise
* and Sunset", and on p. 459 both as just "GREEN FLASH" (below the word
* "Appendix") and "The Green Flash on the Horizon at Sunset" (in italics).
* It contains a brief review of the subject, concentrating on the 1906
* discussions in Symons's Met. Mag., and especially on Rambaut's refutation
* of Lippincott. No further mention of refraction phenomena.


W. Trabert
Lehrbuch der Kosmischen Physik
(B.G.Teubner, Leipzig, 1911), p. 420.

* A very brief exposition of the textbook model


R. Börnstein
Leitfaden der Wetterkunde (3rd edition)
(Friedr.Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig, 1913), p. 100.

* Börnstein mentions only Julius's anomalous-dispersion explanation
* -- which I hardly think qualifies as "Gemeinverständlich"!
* (Full title is "Leitfaden der Wetterkunde -- gemeinverständlich
* bearbeitet von Dr. R. Börnstein, Geh.Regierungsrat" etc.)
* Dritte umgearbeitete und vermehrte Auflage
* ". . . der `grüne Strahl' . . . nennt man das ganz kurz dauernde
* Aufleuchten eines smaragdgrünen Flämmchens an derjenigen Stelle des
* Horizontes, wo die untergehende Sonne gerade verschwunden ist. . . ."
* Thanks to Steve Williams for getting this. (cited by Mulder)


A. Berget
Les problèmes de l'Atmosphère
(E.Flammarion, Paris, 1914), pp. 84–87.

* Author at least reports a couple of GFs he saw himself, as well as both
* inferior and superior mirages (p.82). Good clear presentation of the
* standard model at an elementary level, with clear diagrams.


J. M. Pernter and F. M. Exner
Meteorologische Optik
(Wilhelm Braumüller, Wien und Leipzig, 1922).

* A standard textbook account, often cited
* O'C #101


A. Berget
L'air -- Une nouvelle conquête de l'homme
(Librairie Larousse, Paris, 1927), p. 26.

* Alphonse Berget's interesting book, illustrated by Lucien Rudaux
* Chapt. 3 (pp. 20-27) covers refraction phenomena, and contains many of
* Rudaux's monochrome photographs of low-sun phenomena. Fig. 14 on
* p. 24 is noteworthy. P. 25 shows a mirage photograph and drawings.
* There is a nice COLOR PLATE facing p. 24 that shows some of Rudaux's
* drawings of sunsets and green flashes.
* Thanks to Eric Frappa for pointing this out!


R. W. Wood
Physical Optics, 3rd Ed
(Macmillan, New York, 1934), p. 84.

* R.W.WOOD
* "It has frequently been contended that the phenomenon is an illusion due
* to contrast, the green spot being an `after-image.' This however is sheer
* nonsense, as any trained observer can testify."
* BUT: ". . . the case of mirage . . . would be unfavorable for the occurrence
* of the green flash" (assuming super-refraction is the cause).
* N.B.: Reprinted by Dover, 1967.


W. J. Humphreys
Physics of the Air, Third Edition
(McGraw-Hill, New York, 1940).

* HUMPHREYS's book
* pp. 466-467 give the "textbook" description; no numbers or diagrams.
* probably O'C #54 is a garbled version of this book.


J. Q. Stewart and N. L. Pierce
Marine and Air Navigation
(Ginn and Co., Boston, 1944), p. 279.

* Standard textbook story
* [Newton Lacy Pierce has a prize named after him, awarded by the AAS.]


N. Bowditch
American Practical Navigator (H.O. Pub. No. 9)
(Government Printing Office, Washington, 1958), pp. 811–812.

* BOWDITCH
* Apparently Bowditch acquired the GF paragraph 3821 in 1958;
* the 1943 edition of H.O. 9 lacks it, but it's there in the 1958 one.
* The Decennial Indices to U.S.Govt. pubs. list no edition between.
* Gives the standard Rambaut-Rayleigh story, but with a nice simile:
* "The effect is similar to that of imperfect color printing in which the
* various colors are slightly out of register."
* ". . . the greatest difference, which occurs between violet at one end of
* the spectrum and red at the other, is about ten seconds of arc."
* ". . . under suitable conditions is far more common than generally
* supposed. . . . With a sharp sea horizon and clear atmosphere, an
* attentive observer may see the green flash at as many as 50 percent of
* sunsets and sunrises, although a telescope may be needed for some of
* the observations."
* "Usually it lasts for a period of about half a second to two and
* one-half seconds with about one and a quarter seconds being average."
* ??? WHERE DID THESE NUMBERS COME FROM ???
*      This same treatment occurs on p. 500 of the 1995 edition, available
* on-line at
*
*             http://www.irbs.com/bowditch/
*
* Full title is:
* The American Practical Navigator, an Epitome of Navigation
* originally by Nathaniel Bowditch, LL.D. [honorary degree from Harvard]
* published by the U.S.Navy Hydrographic Office . . . .