MUSEUM NOTES 



353 



as a steamer came along and entered the 

 Ambrose Channel, she underwent strange 

 changes. The part of the hull that was not 

 in the mirage space was of a natural color. 

 The distorted portion was a silvery gray. 

 It was just as if a filmy screen rose up in 

 front of the ship, enlarging her height (not 

 her length) until she was twice her actual 

 height or more. Again, the curious effect 

 was noticed of the funnel showing through 

 the mirage. The vessel passed out of this 

 area, steamed for a while in a clear 

 area, and then passed through another mi- 

 rage area, undergoing the same distortion. 

 And a number of other steamers going to 

 sea underwent the same changes. As the 

 afternoon wore on, far more beautiful mi- 

 rages were seen, for to the southeast of us 

 were several sailing vessels becalmed. Of 

 these, a few were reflected upside down, 

 more or less perfectly, but one, a schooner, 

 about two miles offshore, was reflected in 

 two perfect images, the lower one reversed, 

 the upper one right side up. Mrs. Davis and 

 I examined the mirage with a powerful glass, 

 and it Avas astounding to see how clear the 

 mirrored vessel was. Where the two upper 

 mirages met, the line was hazy, but the up- 

 per part of the hull, the masts, sails, and 

 spars were as clear and sharp as in nature. 

 This is the only double mirage I have seen 

 on the LoAver Bay in thirteen years, and this 

 schooner was the only vessel that ha^jpeued 

 to be in just the right spot. I have always 

 regretted that I had no camera handy to 

 photograph this mirage. The single-reflec- 

 tion mirages have occurred on other occa- 



sions, but I never saw so wonderful a display 

 again, Ijater still a gentle breeze sjjrang 

 up, and the mirage effect vanished. 



One other curious effect of the condition 

 of the atmosphere should be mentioned. To 

 the west of the first mirage area, and quite 

 a distance off, two or three schooners lay 

 with their sails, including several jibs, set. 

 Now, these sails, especially the jibs, ap- 

 peared crinkled, very much like the surface 

 of a glass negative on which the gelatine has 

 frilled. This effect I have seen several times, 

 just as the enlarging of the lighthouses and 

 vessels is not uncommon. A very perfect 

 reversed-image mirage Mrs. Davis observed 

 the next summer on a similarly still, hot 

 day. I have seen it clearly but once. 



Another curious effect of the mirage- 

 producing condition of the atmosphere I no- 

 ticed on another occasion: vessels coming in 

 from Ambrose Channel Lightship had their 

 masts lengthened out to an extraordinary 

 extent. I remember particularly one of the 

 American liners (the "New York" or "Phila- 

 delphia") whose funnels appeared to be hun- 

 dreds of feet tall, and whose masts were 

 lengthened out like immensely tall, wavy 

 rods. The hull was not distorted at all. This 

 lasted for a period of about a quarter of an 

 hour. The effect was rather uncanny. 



It will be seen that it is not necessary to 

 go to out of the way places to see mirages. 

 They can be witnessed in the Lower New 

 York Bay just below the Narrows, although 

 the reversed mirage is far from a common 

 occurrence. 



Gherardi Davis 



Museum Notes 



Since the last issue of the Jocrxal, the 

 following persons have become members of 

 the Museum : 



Life Meynbers, Mrs. Charles Albert 

 Perkins and Messrs. E. C. Converse, 

 Lewis L. Dunham, Marshall Field, 

 Harry S. Harkness, Arthur F. Luke, 

 John A. Spoor, and William M. Wood. 



Sustainipfj Members, Messrs. Samuel 

 Bird, Jr. and Theodore H. Lamprecht. 



Annual Members, Mrs. Charles W. 

 Cooper, Mrs. George Rose, Mrs. Felix T. 

 Rosen, Misses Elizabeth A. Achelis and 

 Helen A. de Witt, the Reverend Karl 



Reiland, Dr. Samuel M. Evans, Dr. Frank 

 C. Hollister, Dr. S. E. Mezes, and 

 Messrs. Charles W. Ballard, Edwin 

 Beach, Randolph Beadleston, J. Arthur 

 Brooks, James Byrne, F. Kingsbury Cur- 

 tis, Mortimer B. Foster, Ellerton James, 

 J. R. McGiNLEY, Clifford L. Miller, 

 Stuyvesant F. Morris, Edwin H. Mulford, 

 Fancher Nicoll, H. S. Paine, David 

 Paton, James H. Perkins, Sinclair Rich- 

 ardson, John S. Rogers, Richmond Tal- 

 bot, Charles C. Walker, Spencer Waters, 

 and C. Weidenfeld, and the Parish School 

 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. 

 Matthew. 



1 Because of the delay in this issue of the Journal, it has been possible to include certain notes which 

 otherwise would not have appeared until the first fall number. 



