XXI. Description of some remarkable Atmospheric Reflections 

 and Refractions, observed in the Greenland Sea. By 

 William Scoresby, Esq.^'zm., F. R. S. Edin. 



(Read December 18. 1820J 



JJURING the summer of the present year (1820), while na- 

 vigating with the ship Baffin, the icy sea in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of West Greenland (the east side), several ex- 

 tremely curious appearances of distant objects, produced by 

 the reflective and refractive properties of the atmosphere, were 

 observed. 



The first of these, consisting chiefly of images of ships in the 

 air, occurred on the 28th of June, in latitude 73° 30', and lon- 

 gitude 1 1° 50' W. For two or three days previous, the wea- 

 ther had been intensely foggy, with the wind from the S. E., 

 E. and N. E., blowing fresh. The day alluded to was beauti- 

 fully clear ; not a cloud, excepting the most delicate cirri, ha- 

 ving appeared in the sky for twenty-four hours. The thermo- 

 meter varied between 37° and 42°, and even at this moderate 

 temperature, the sun was so powerful, that its intense light 

 produced a very painful sensation in the eyes, while its heat 

 softened the tar in the rigging of the ship, and melted the snow 



on 



