DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6094#0229
2o6 A TOUR THROUGH
many of its issands, have been discovered
from the top of iEtna. Of this, however,
we cannot boast, though we can very well
believe it. Indeed, if we knew the height
of the mountain, it would be easy to cal-
culate the extent of its visible horizon ; and
Cvice verfa) if its visible horizon was ex-
actly ascertained, it would be -an easy mat-
ter to calculate the height of the moun-
tain.—But the most beautiful part of the
scene is certainly the mountain itself; the
issand of Sicily, and the numerous issands
lying round it. All these, by a kind of
magic in vision, that I am at a loss to ac-
count for, seem as if they were brought
close round the skirts of iEtna; the di~
siances appearing reduced to nothing.—Per-
haps this singular effect is produced by the
rays of light pairing from a rarer medium
into a denser; which (from a well known
law in optics) to an observer in the rare
medium, appears to lift up the objects that
are at the bottom of the dense one; as a
8 piece
many of its issands, have been discovered
from the top of iEtna. Of this, however,
we cannot boast, though we can very well
believe it. Indeed, if we knew the height
of the mountain, it would be easy to cal-
culate the extent of its visible horizon ; and
Cvice verfa) if its visible horizon was ex-
actly ascertained, it would be -an easy mat-
ter to calculate the height of the moun-
tain.—But the most beautiful part of the
scene is certainly the mountain itself; the
issand of Sicily, and the numerous issands
lying round it. All these, by a kind of
magic in vision, that I am at a loss to ac-
count for, seem as if they were brought
close round the skirts of iEtna; the di~
siances appearing reduced to nothing.—Per-
haps this singular effect is produced by the
rays of light pairing from a rarer medium
into a denser; which (from a well known
law in optics) to an observer in the rare
medium, appears to lift up the objects that
are at the bottom of the dense one; as a
8 piece