BROKEN AND SHADED LIGHT 



37 



times seen under moonlight, but they are not 

 so marked as those produced by the sun, be- 

 cause of their want of definition. The moon- 

 burst attracts little attention on the land ; and 

 on the sea, where there is reflection from a ruf- 

 fled surface, the spot made by falling light is 

 apparent enough, but seldom the shaft itself. 

 The light is oftenest seen far out upon the 

 horizon, and is merely a flicker and a sparkle 

 upon the water. As for the flying shadows of 

 clouds at night, they are dark purple in tone 

 and are sometimes weird in shape, but unless 

 the night is very bright, they are not usually 

 noticed. 



Shaded light is somewhat different from 

 broken or clouded light. It is not produced 

 by shattered parts of direct rays that steal 

 through vapors and cloud- veils, but by widely 

 diffused or reflected rays. The direct beams 

 are usually cut off by an opaque substance, and 

 the light in the shadow is received from the re- 

 flecting sky, the air, or some other illuminating 

 or light-diffusing body at the sides. The earth 

 as a globe is a good illustration of this. It is 

 light on one side, and its opposite side would be 

 absolutely black were it not for such reflecting 

 bodies as the moon, the planets, and possibly 



