ANTHELIA AND COHONAJ. 
275 
They are generally the most numerous, and the 
colours the most brilliant, when the sun is bright¬ 
est, and the fog most dense, and low or partial. 
In all cases, the shadow of the head of the observer 
is seen in the centre of the circles, together with 
the shadow of the “ crow’s-nest,” at the mast-head, 
or other place from whence the observation is 
made, and also of the masts and sails immediate¬ 
ly adjoining. The interior circle, occurring at the 
centre, is so small, that, being highly luminous, it 
forms a brilliant anthelion , or glory, round the 
spectrum of the observer. 
On'the 23d of July 1821, latitude 74° 10', lon¬ 
gitude 12° 30' W., 200 miles within the verge of 
the polar ice, the corona) were the most brilliant 
and beautiful that I ever observed them; so that 
their description may serve for that of the pheno¬ 
mena in general. These corona) (as seen from 
the mast-head, 105 feet above the level of the sea) 
were four in number, and, as usual, all concentric. 
When the fogwas the most dense, the sun fortu¬ 
nately shone with peculiar brightness, and gave 
to each of the two inner circles, 1 and 2 of the an¬ 
nexed figure, a distinct series of the colours of the 
spectrum; but when the fog in the intervals of the 
show r ers, became more attenuated, these two were 
apparently intermingled, so as to present a single 
luminous zone, or diffuse glory. 
