170 



C. A. CARUS-WILSON, M.A._, ON 



ment of the crystals. Above the inner halo appeared an arc, 

 touching it at its summit, an expanse of white light stretching 

 out on either side. 



Above the outer halo appeared another arc brilliantly 

 coloured with the colours of the rainbow. The position 

 occupied by this arc was remarkable ; it was not in the same 

 vertical plane as the two halos, l)ut in a horizontal plane, and 

 was part of a circle, which, if complete, would encircle the 

 zenith, the centre being therefore immediately over the head 

 of the observer. When seen in a cloudless winter sky, the 

 deep blue of the zenith appeared as a ball of sapphire encircled 

 by a rainbow. 



We may now enquire as to how far the details of this 

 phenomenon are reproduced in the account given by Ezekiel. 

 The four Parhelia are described as " four living creatures," each 

 one having " four wings," which " sparkled like burnished brass." 

 The sun is likened to " burning coals of fire," and its position 

 defined as " in the midst of the living creatures." Ezekiel 

 speaks of the two halos as " a wheel in the midst of a wheel," 

 their colour being that of a " bcry]," their proportions graphically 

 pourtrayed as " high and dreadful," and their position relatively 

 to the Parhelia and to the ground completely and accurately 

 explained by the sentence " there was one wheel upon the earth 

 beside the living creatures for each of the four faces thereof." 

 The arc over the inner halo is correctly described in every 

 particular, first as to its position, " over the head of the living 

 creatures," then as to colour, " like the colour of the terrible 

 crystal," that is, ice, and lastly as to its general appearance^ 

 " a firmament," that is, an expanse spread out by beating, 

 " stretched forth over their heads above." The arc over the 

 outer halo is accurately placed " above the firmament," and its. 

 appearance like " the appearance that is in the cloud in the day 

 of rain " ; this was the " brightness " round about a " throne, as. 

 the appearance of a sapphire stone." The dense blue of the 

 zenith, half-encircled by the bow, appeared as a throne of 

 sapphire. The agreement in every detail is so remarkable that 

 one cannot avoid the conclusion that Ezekiel had the Parhelia, 

 before him at the time. 



Since the appearance of the Parhelia depends upon the 

 presence of ice crystals in the air the question may be asked 

 whether this phenomenon could appear in the Euphrates Valley,, 

 and whether the climatic conditions admit of such a possibility ? 

 At the time of the vision Ezekiel was two hundred miles north 

 of the southern limit of snowfall in that part of Asia. At, 



