IN PHYSICS. 221 



It is not the refraction of the rays of light, as is com- 

 monly supposed, which makes an object seem larger 

 when seen through a mist. It really appears to us in its 

 proper size. The mist, however, dims the color and the 

 outline, giving it the indistinctness belonging to a mile 

 in distance, while it has the magnitude of half a mile. 

 Dr. Wayland relates that, as he was sailing through 

 Newport harbor early one morning, in a dense fog, he 

 observed on the apparently distant wharf some very tall 

 men. While he was remarking upon their extraordinary 

 size, he was astonished to see them jumping about like 

 children, and otherwise behaving in a most unaccountable 

 manner. Presently, as the sun dispersed the fog, he 

 found that he was close to the wharf, and that the 

 gigantic men were really a party of small boys amusing 

 themselves with play. 



The opposite mistake is made when the atmosphere is 

 more transparent than that to which we are accustomed. 

 Foreign travellers in Switzerland, who have started on 

 foot to visit a glacier or a mountain-peak which seemed 

 within easy distance, have often been surprised to find, 

 after two or three hours of brisk walking, that the object 

 of their desire seemed as far away as at first. So in 

 looking across a sheet of water, where there are no 

 intervening objects, distance is always underrated. 



When we throw a stone at an object in the water we 

 find that our eye has deceived us, and the stone falls far 

 short of the mark. For the same reason, objects seen 

 on the shore from the water seem much less than their 

 natural size. The fact is, they appear of the magnitude 

 which belongs to the distance, but we suppose the distance 

 less than it is ; and, associating this magnitude with dimin- 

 ished distance, they appear to us less then they really are. 



