Among the natural phenomena which now attract our attention, but fail to excite our surprise, there are some which possess the characteristics of a supernatural intervention.  The names which they have received still bear witness to the terror which they once inspired; and even to-day, when science has stripped them of their marvellous origin, and explained the causes of their production, these phenomena have retained a part of their primitive importance, and are welcomed by the savant with as much interest as when they were attributed to divine agency.  Out of a large and very diverse number, I will first select the Spectre of the Brocken.

The Brocken is the highest mountain in the picturesque Hartz chain, running through Hanover, being three hundred and thirty feet above the level of the sea.

One of the best descriptions of this phenomenon is given by the traveller Hane, who witnessed it on the 23d of May, 1797.  After having ascended no less than thirty miles to the summit, he had the good fortune at last to contemplate the object of his curiosity.  The sun rose at about four o’clock, the weather being fine, and the wind driving off to the west the transparent vapors which had not yet had time to be condensed into clouds.  About a quarter-past four, Hane saw in this direction a human figure of enormous dimensions.  A gust of wind nearly blowing off his hat at that moment, he raised his hand to secure it, and the colossal figure imitated his action.  Hane, noticing this, at once made a stooping movement, and this was also reproduced by the spectre.  He then called another person to him, and placing themselves in the very spot where the apparition was first seen, the pair kept their eyes fixed on the Achtermannshohe, but saw nothing.  After a short interval, however, two colossal figures appeared, which repeated the gestures made by them, and then disappeared.

Some few years ago, in the summer of 1862, a French artist, M. Stroobant, witnessed and carefully sketched this phenomenon, which is drawn in full-page illustration, opposite p. 272.  He had slept at the inn of the Brocken, and rising at two in the morning, he repaired to the plateau upon the summit in the company of a guide.  They reached the highest point just as the first glimmer of the rising sun enabled them to distinguish clearly objects at a great distance.  To use M. Stroobant’s own words, “My guide, who had for some time appeared to be walking in search of something, suddenly led me to an elevation whence I had the singular privilege of contemplating for a few instants the magnificent effect of mirage, which is termed the Spectre of the Brocken.  The appearance is most striking.  A thick mist, which seemed to emerge from the clouds like an immense curtain, suddenly rose to the west of the mountain, a rainbow was formed, then certain indistinct shapes were delineated.  First, the large tower of the inn was reproduced upon a gigantic scale; after that we saw our two selves in a more vague and less exact shape, and these shadows were in each instance surrounded by the colors of the rainbow, which served as a frame to this fairy picture.  Some tourists who were staying at the inn had seen the sun rise from their windows, but no one had witnessed the magnificent spectacle which had taken place on the other side of the mountain.”