A curious phenomenon, to which the name of “anthelia” has been given, and which may probably have suggested to the early painters the idea of the glory surrounding the heads of beatified saints, is to be seen in singular beauty, at early morning, in Ceylon.  When the light is intense, and the shadows proportionally dark—­when the sun is near the horizon, and the shadow of a person walking is thrown on the dewy grass—­each particle of dew furnishes a double reflection from its concave and convex surfaces; and to the spectator his own figure, but more particularly the head, appears surrounded by a halo as vivid as if radiated from diamonds.[1] The Buddhists may possibly have taken from this beautiful object their idea of the agni or emblem of the sun, with which the head of Buddha is surmounted.  But unable to express a halo in sculpture, they concentrated it into a flame.

[Footnote 1:  SCORESBY describes the occurrence of a similar phenomenon in the Arctic Seas in July, 1813, the luminous circle being produced on the particles of fog which rested on the calm water.  “The lower part of the circle descended beneath my feet to the side of the ship, and although it could not be a hundred feet from the eye, it was perfect, and the colours distinct.  The centre of the coloured circle was distinguished by my own shadow, the head of which, enveloped by a halo, was most conspicuously pourtrayed.  The halo or glory evidently impressed on the fog, but the figure appeared to be a shadow on the water; the different parts became obscure in proportion to their remoteness from the head, so that the lower extremities were not perceptible.”—­Account of the Arctic Regions, vol. i. ch. v. sec. vi. p. 394.  A similar phenomenon occurs in the Khasia Hills, in the north-east of Bengal.—­Asiat.  Soc.  Journ.  Beng. vol. xiii. p. 616.]

[Illustration:  THE ANTHELIA AS IT APPEARS TO THE PERSON HIMSELF]

Another luminous phenomenon which sometimes appears in the hill country, consists of beams of light, which intersect the sky, whilst the sun is yet in the ascendant; sometimes horizontally, accompanied by intermitting movements, and sometimes vertically, a broad belt of the blue sky interposing between them.[1]

[Footnote 1:  VIGNE mentions an appearance of this kind in the valley of Kashmir:  “Whilst the rest of the horizon was glowing golden over the mountain tops, a broad well-defined ray-shaped streak of indigo was shooting upwards in the zenith:  it remained nearly stationary about an hour, and was then blended into the sky around it, and disappeared with the day.  It was, no doubt, owing to the presence of some particular mountains which intercepted the red rays, and threw a blue shadow, by causing so much of the sky above Kashmir to remain unaffected by them.”—­Travels in Kashmir, vol. ii. ch. x. p. 115.]

In Ceylon this is doubtless owing to the air holding in suspension a large quantity of vapour, which receives shadows and reflects rays of light.  The natives, who designate them “Buddha’s rays,” attach a superstitious dread to their appearance, and believe them to be portentous of misfortune—­in every month, with the exception of May, which, for some unexplained reason, is exempted.