Young Folks' Library, Volume XI (of 20) / Wonders of Earth, Sea and Sky

by Unknown

Before coming to the anthelia, properly so called, or to the colored rings which appear around a shadow, it is as well first to note the effects produced on the clouds and mists that are facing the sun when it rises or sets.

Upon high mountains, the shadow of the mountain is often seen thrown either upon the surface of the lower mists or upon the neighboring mountains, and projected opposite to the sun almost horizontally. I once saw the shadow of the Righi very distinctly traced upon Mount Pilate, which is situated to the west of the Righi, on the other side of the Lake of Lucerne. This phenomenon occurs a few minutes after sunrise, and the triangular form of Righi is delineated in a shape very easy to recognize.

The shadow of Mont Blanc is discerned more easily at sunset. MM. Bravais and Martins, in one of their scientific ascents, noticed it under specially favorable circumstances, the shadow being thrown upon the snow-covered mountains, and gradually rising in the atmosphere until it reached a height of 1°, still remaining quite visible. The air above the cone of the shadow was tinted with that rosy purple which is seen, in a fine sunset, coloring the lofty peaks. "Imagine," says Bravais, "the other mountains also projecting, at the same moment, their shadows into the atmosphere, the lower parts dark and slightly greenish, and above each of these shadows the rosy surface, with the deeper rose of the belt which separates it from them; add to this the regular contour of the cones of the shadow, principally at the upper edge, and lastly, the laws of perspective causing all these lines to converge the one to the other toward the very summit of the shadow of Mont Blanc; that is to say, to the point of the sky where the shadows of our own selves were; and even then one will have but a faint idea of the richness of the meteorological phenomenon displayed before our eyes for a few instants. It seemed as though an invisible being was seated upon a throne surrounded by fire, and that angels with glittering wings were kneeling before him in adoration."

Among the natural phenomena which now attract our attention, but fail to excite our surprise, there are some which possess the characteristics of a supernatural intervention. The names which they have received still bear witness to the terror which they once inspired; and even to-day, when science has stripped them of their marvellous origin, and explained the causes of their production, these phenomena have retained a part of their primitive importance, and are welcomed by the savant with as much interest as when they were attributed to divine agency. Out of a large and very diverse number, I will first select the Spectre of the Brocken.

The Brocken is the highest mountain in the picturesque Hartz chain, running through Hanover, being three hundred and thirty feet above the level of the sea.

One of the best descriptions of this phenomenon is given by the traveller Hane, who witnessed it on the 23d of May, 1797. After having ascended no less than thirty miles to the summit, he had the good fortune at last to contemplate the object of his curiosity. The sun rose at about four o'clock, the weather being fine, and the wind driving off to the west the transparent vapors which had not yet had time to be condensed into clouds. About a quarter-past four, Hane saw in this direction a human figure of enormous dimensions. A gust of wind nearly blowing off his hat at that moment, he raised his hand to secure it, and the colossal figure imitated his action. Hane, noticing this, at once made a stooping movement, and this was also reproduced by the spectre. He then called another person to him, and placing themselves in the very spot where the apparition was first seen, the pair kept their eyes fixed on the Achtermannshohe, but saw nothing. After a short interval, however, two colossal figures appeared, which repeated the gestures made by them, and then disappeared.

Some few years ago, in the summer of 1862, a French artist, M. Stroobant, witnessed and carefully sketched this phenomenon, which is drawn in full-page illustration, opposite p. 272. He had slept at the inn of the Brocken, and rising at two in the morning, he repaired to the plateau upon the summit in the company of a guide. They reached the highest point just as the first glimmer of the rising sun enabled them to distinguish clearly objects at a great distance. To use M. Stroobant's own words, "My guide, who had for some time appeared to be walking in search of something, suddenly led me to an elevation whence I had the singular privilege of contemplating for a few instants the magnificent effect of mirage, which is termed the Spectre of the Brocken. The appearance is most striking. A thick mist, which seemed to emerge from the clouds like an immense curtain, suddenly rose to the west of the mountain, a rainbow was formed, then certain indistinct shapes were delineated. First, the large tower of the inn was reproduced upon a gigantic scale; after that we saw our two selves in a more vague and less exact shape, and these shadows were in each instance surrounded by the colors of the rainbow, which served as a frame to this fairy picture. Some tourists who were staying at the inn had seen the sun rise from their windows, but no one had witnessed the magnificent spectacle which had taken place on the other side of the mountain."

Sometimes these spectres are surrounded by colored concentric arcs. Since the beginning of the present century, treatises on meteorology designate, under the name of the Ulloa circle, the pale external arch which surrounds the phenomenon, and this same circle has sometimes been called the "white rainbow." But it is not formed at the same angular distance as the rainbow, and, although pale, it often envelops a series of interior colored arcs.

Ulloa, being in company with six fellow-travellers upon the Pambamarca at daybreak one morning, observed that the summit of the mountain was entirely covered with thick clouds, and that the sun, when it rose, dissipated them, leaving only in their stead light vapors, which it was almost impossible to distinguish. Suddenly, in the opposite direction to where the sun was rising, "each of the travellers beheld, at about seventy feet from where he was standing, his own image reflected in the air as in a mirror. The image was in the centre of three rainbows of different colors, and surrounded at a certain distance by a fourth bow with only one color. The inside color of each bow was carnation or red, the next shade was violet, the third yellow, the fourth straw color, the last green. All these bows were perpendicular to the horizon; they moved in the direction of, and followed, the image of the person they enveloped as with a glory." The most remarkable point was that, although the seven spectators were standing in a group, each person only saw the phenomenon in regard to his own person, and was disposed to disbelieve that it was repeated in respect to his companions. The extent of the bows increased continually and in proportion to the height of the sun; at the same time their colors faded away, the spectre became paler and more indistinct, and finally the phenomenon disappeared altogether. At the first appearance the shape of the bows was oval, but toward the end they became quite circular. The same apparition was observed in the polar regions by Scoresby, and described by him. He states that the phenomenon appears whenever there is mist and at the same time shining sun. In the polar seas, whenever a rather thick mist rises over the ocean, an observer, placed on the mast, sees one or several circles upon the mist.