UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 233 



winter season ; and when dry, it is employed for 

 stuffing chairs, saddles, and beds ; but to prepare 

 it properly for these purposes, it is thrown into 

 .shallow ponds of water, where the outside furry 

 substance soon decays : it is then taken out of 

 the water and spread in the sun; and, after a 

 little beating, nothing remains but a hard, black, 

 elastic filament, resembling horse- hair. 



There is a curious anecdote about the name of 

 this plant, in " Harry and Lucy concluded ; " 

 but I need not mention it here, because my 

 uncle has sent that delightful little book to you, 

 and I am sure Marianne will have run through it 

 with as much eagerness as I did. 



28th. I have just found some more instances 

 of those strange optical deceptions, which seem 

 to be of the same nature as the Fata Morgana. 

 My aunt thinks that the term mirage only ap- 

 plies to the deceitful waters of the desert. 



Mr. Dalby writes in the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions that, ascending a hill in the Isle of Wight, 

 he observed that the top of another hill, of about 

 the same level, seemed to dance up and down as 

 he advanced ; and on bringing his eye down to 

 within two feet of the ground, the top of the hill 

 appeared totally detached, or lifted up from the 

 lower part, the sky being seen under it. This 

 he repeatedly observed; and he adds, that as 

 the sun was rather warm for the season, with a 



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