On the Halo seen around all Bodies. 25 
tion will cause the beam of light to strike the mass of ridges 
vertically. 
16. Therefore, if the object have a plane surface, the vertical 
lines within the halo will occupy the whole extent of vertical 
surface: I speak now of a square of glass, or any other object 
with a plane surface and standing in an erect position; the 
horizontal lines will occupy the whole of the horizontal surfac 
and thus cross each other at right angles at every corner. “ 
4 0ETs Consequently, if the plane surface of any object lies hori- 
. -zontally and the rays of light fall on it vertically, both the hori- 
~ zontal and vertical lines will be illuminated and the center of the 
plane will be the focus of illumination, the diameter of which 
.* _ will be greater than if the surface were spherical. But though 
2 
the space of luminous contact will be of larger diameter than if 
the rays fell on a curve or sphere, yet the concentration will be 
less dense, and of course less powerful. 
18. On a globular surface the action of the halo is the same, 
only that, from the sphericity of the globe, the lines can never 
cross at right angles. 
19. Taking into consideration all the peculiarities and anoma- 
lies which these halos exhibit, it must lead to the conclusion, that 
rays of light which issue from a polished opake or transparent 
surface, are not immediately reflected from that surface, but from 
the halo itself. It was the opinion of many excellent philoso- 
phers that light was not reflected from the surface of a body, but 
that it “acted at a distance,” there being several phenomena in- 
cident to light which could not be accounted for on any other 
hypothesis. They never detected the agency of this nebula or 
halo, nor will the men of science at the present day be the first 
to investigate the proofs of the existence of so powerful an agent. 
0. I observed that the lines of the halo intersect each other ; 
the interstices between their intersections are foei whence re- 
. flected rays issue. Rays of light diverge from these interstitial 
foci in all directions, so that let us stand in what position we may, 
with regard to the object on which the halo rests, a pencil of rays 
always converges to the axis of our own eye. — 
-21. This halo, therefore, is the medium through which light 
acts, both near and at a distance. 
22. Besides being the true reflecting medium, it has the prop- 
erty of acting on another halo in a specific manner, either when 
near or at a distance. 
Vol. xxxvu1, No. 1—Oct.—Dec. 1839. 4 
