ANTHELIA AND CORONiE. 
279 
fog was high and dense. Two circles only then 
occurred ; an interior one, nearly corresponding in 
diameter with No. 2., and an exterior one, simi¬ 
lar to No. 4. On the fog becoming less dense, 
the sun’s rays had then to pass through a thinner 
stratum, and produced the corome No. 1. and 2., 
with vivid colours, in the precise order as those 
formerly observed, and already described. The 
diameter of No. 2. seemed to the eye, to vary con¬ 
siderably, being much more diffuse at one time 
than at another. When the sun declined near 
the horizon, and the fog became more elevated, 
the prismatic circles almost entirely disappeared. 
From the circumstance of a ship near us being 
enveloped in fog a few minutes before it reached 
the Baffin, I was enabled to determine, by the 
known height of her masts, the elevation of the 
stratum of mist. Two observations of the same 
nature, gave the total thickness of the fog 160 
feet. In the fog that occurred in both the in¬ 
stances here recorded, I observed many shining 
spiculae in the air, supposed to be crystals of snow, 
but so small that I was unable to discover them 
in any situation but when floating in the breeze; 
so that I coidd not apply the microscope for exa¬ 
mining their form. It appeared to me doubtful, 
whether these spicuhe might not contribute to¬ 
wards the production of some of the phenomena 
