=H 6 * as Se, mm ee SN ee 
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782 
flects the image of a perfon ftanding in 
front. Such vapours collect frequently in 
cloath-preffes which ftand in damp places. 
Now if they be opened by fome perfon, he 
may eafily happen to fee his own image by 
the refle€tion of thefevapours. The fhadowy 
- image difappears however inftantly again, 
becaufe the draught of air which is pro- 
duced by the opening of thefe prefles, 
changes the fituation of the vapours, and 
thereby deftroys their power of reflection. 
The fame may happen in thick forefts 
which are interfetted by moraffes, f{wamps, 
&c. &c. particularly on clear days, when 
the air is calm. 
A creditable perfon told the writer of 
_thefe obfervations that he once faw his own 
picture on opening a cloath-prefs, by which 
he was terrified fo much as to drop faint- 
ing on the ground. ‘This apparition was 
probably the effeét of the above-mentioned 
natural caufe. 
Every one knows what aftonifhing phe- 
nomena can be produced by an optical 
and catoptrical apparatus. However, na- 
ture, who in her operations furpafles the 
greateft artifts, is.no lefs capable of effect- 
ing moft wonderful phenomena by a fimi- 
Jar procefs. 
ScHoTT, a learned German writer, 
fpeaking, in his Magica Optica, of the fa- 
‘mous Morgana at Rhegio, in the Mamer- 
tinian Sound, in Italy, fays: ** This won- - 
derful phenomenon fhows itfelf (according 
to the accounts of the Jefuit ATHANASIUS 
KIRCHER, lib. x. p.2. cap. 1. paraft. 1. 
of his Ars. magna Lucis et Umbra) 
principally when the heat of the fun is 
‘moft violent, and, as it fhould feem, makes 
the Mamertinian lake boil up ; when a 
copious mafs of vapours rifes from its fur- 
face, which produces the moft fingular 
phenomena. The beholder imagines he 
fees fortrefles, palaces, and houfes, in regu- 
lar order, fufpendedin the air. Thefe dif- 
appear graduaily, and make room for an 
immen{e number of columns, which alfo 
vanifh again in a fhort time, to be fucceed- 
ed by an equally fplendid and aftonifhing 
fpectacle,—large forefts, and whole alleys 
of cypreffes and ether trees prefent them- 
felves, as well as large fields, covered with 
a great number of people, with finall and 
large flocks of cattle, and fimilar objects 
in their natural colours. ‘This phenome- 
non is called by the inhabitants of Rhegio 
the fay Morgana. 
KIRCHER, who in the year 1636 was at 
Rhegio with Frederic, Landgrave of Heffe, 
inquired carefully into the particulars of 
that fingular phenomenon, anid converfed 
about it with the oldeft and moft expe- 
On Apparitions and Second Sight. 
[ November, 
rienced people of the place; however he 
could not fee it himfelf, becawfe it happens 
very rarely. Father ANGELUCH, who 
faw it feveral times, gives a moft interefting 
account of it, which is to be found in 
Kircher’s Ars magna Lucis et Umbre. 
Kircher accounts for the phyfical caufes 
of the Morgana in the following manner: 
He obferves, that the mountain, which is 
fituated oppofite Rhegio, extends from 
Calabria towards Pelofo. The fhores of 
the lake, as well as the bed of it, are co- 
vered with a great quantity of very {mall 
pellucid mineral particles, which are drawn 
up by the intenfe heat of the fun along 
with the vapours of the lake, and form in 
the air a perfect fpeculum of an immenfe 
number of angles. 
back ground of which is formed by. the 
mountain, are reprefented images of diftant _ 
objects, which differ according to the point 
of view in which the beholder’s eyes are di- 
rected towards that airy mirror. For the ap- 
pearanceof the above-mentioned row of co- 
lumns Kircher accounts by obferving, that 
a column ftood at the fhore of the lake, 
which multiplied itfelf in the facets of that 
fpeculum, in the fame manner in which an 
image, which is placed between two cor- 
refponding mirrors, can be multiplied. 
Thus a fingle warrior, if his image be 
reflected by the clouds, may reprefent a 
whole numerous army. As for the pofli- 
bility of fmall mineral particles being 
drawn up into the air with watery vapours, 
it is generally acknowledged in our times: 
for all obfervers of nature agree, that.the 
fun attracts, along with the vapours, a 
great number of various {mall bodies, a 
proof of which are the hairs, chaff, fand 
and other particles, which fometimes are 
found inclofed in large hail-ftones. . 
DaMaASCiUs mentions iimilar phenome- 
na, in the lifeof IsipORE, the philofopher : 
We recolle&t, fays he, to have heard of 
creditable people, that in hot fummer days. 
armed horlemen have been feen fufpended - 
in the air, in Sicily, in a. field, which is 
caled Tetraphyrgion (the four towers), and 
in other places. ; 
Scipio MaRrcELLus fays in his De- 
fcription of Naples, that fmilar phenomena 
are frequently feen at Nerite in Apulia. 
And CorNELIus~” AGRIPPA mentions 
inftances of the fame kind, in his Philofo- 
phia occulta. . 
Herrera, a Spanifh Hiftorian, men-_ 
tions another phenomenon, arifing from 
fimilar caufes, which was feen formerly: in 
the kingdom of Guatimala, in South Ame- 
rica. ‘The heathenifh inhabitants of that 
country firgquently faw thei idgl dufpended 
AQ 
In this fpeculum, the 
a 
