Ships wilh tliRir inverted images in llie sky are soinelimes seen at sea (superior mirage). The one de- 

 scribed by Captain Sooresby, Jr. in 1822, in Greenland waters, was an image of a ship then thirty-four miles dis- 

 tant and fourteen miles below the horizon. The upper image which theoretically should appear is sometimes not 

 noticed or is absent. After Herman, Klein, and Thome 



and the horizon is seen above the hulls 

 of ships, or when distant shores take the 

 form of high cliffs and very distant 

 objects seem to rise into the air like 

 clouds, the variety of mirage known as 

 "looming" is said to exist. Owing to 

 the absence of the inverted image in 

 looming this variety may not at first 

 appear to be as striking as the other 

 formsof mirage, but when objects far 

 below the sensible horizon are liftefl up 



SiiinTior iriirMgc mi I 

 Flaiiimiiriiin 



in the sky as mentioned in observations 

 (11) to (18) it arouses especial interest, 

 particularly from explorers. It assisted 

 Scott and his companions, who knew 

 well^the appearance of their snow-cov- 

 ered Antarctic country, to detect ob- 

 jects beyond the normal range of vision. 

 If observation (14) from Tenerife be 

 true, it is one of the most striking ob- 

 servations ever made of looming. In 

 this instance the ratio of the distance 

 from the observer to that 

 beyond it, is one to twenty; 

 the trajectories of the light 

 rays must have reached 

 tremendous heights, other- 

 wise the observer would not 

 have seen the Alleghany 

 Mountains of North Amer- 

 ica lifted up in the sky. 

 When looming is produced 

 on a smaller scale the rays 

 of light which give rise to 

 the upper erect image in 

 superior mirage [page 517] 

 may lift mountains, trees. 



