Viewing page 250 of 323

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

{Transcriber note:Identification of italics not required - see instructions}

[[start left-hand column]]
AEROSTATION 
^[[1836 - handwritten in ink]]

UPON THE APPLICATION OF BALLOONS. 
The subjoined extracts, from Memoires sur les Aerostats, par Meunier, Membre de l'Academie des Sciences,may amuse our readers who take an interest in aerostation. Dr. Franklin, on the appearance of the first balloons, observed that this new offspring of the sciences should be carefully watched in its infancy, in the expectation of deriving advantage from it in a state of maturity. It is looked upon at the present day with indifference, and considered only as an object of curiosity, reserved for the pomp of fêtes. That, however, was not the view taken when the first aerostatic experiments were made. The memoir of Meunier upon this subject was never printed, but Col. Coutelle, an old officer, who had the management of the military balloons during the Republican revolution of France, gave the public, in 1826, an analysis of it. A notice appeared in the Revue Encyclopedique, from which we extract the following remarks: - "Meunier, in his researches respecting balloons, proposed nothing less than to make these machines capable of accomplishing long and distant voyages; he therefore calculated the best means of making them strong enough to stand the shock of various currents which agitate the atmosphere. He projected the power of throwing out anchors, of rising to the elevation which might be necessary, of moving through the air in a tranquil state, and of modifying the direction and velocity of the machine. As the envelopes which formed balloons could not be made impenetrable to hydrogen, it became necessary to find the means of preserving the gas, and of supplying the deficiency occasioned by its escape. After finding satisfactory answers to his scientific inquiries, it remained to ascertain the form and dimensions of a balloon capable of transporting, in addition to its rigging, a crew for the necessary manœuvres, the navigators, and their instruments, and a quantity of provisions proportioned to the duration of a long navigation through regions in which nothing could be found for the support of the travellers. In short, he projected the construction of an air-balloon with the power required. This able mechanic overcame nearly all the difficulties in his way by the invention of a second envelope to his balloon. This addition procured him the means of resisting the violence of winds, the facility of mounting and descending, and of keeping at the desired elevation: in short, he avoided the loss of hydrogen gas, or rendered the effect of so little importance, that it might be neglected without inconvenience. These results, so important, were entirely dependent on the managers of the balloon. 
   "The hydrogen," says the author, "is contained in a balloon of silk, plastered with caoutchouc (gum elastic) This envelope must be as light as possible, and greater than the volume of gas it is to contain. The second envelope is also of silk more expansive than the balloon, and fortified upon the exterior by a net. It should be impenetrable to the compressed atmospheric air, because it is well known that 
[[end clipping]]
[[end column]]

[[start centre column]]
THE MIRROR. 
^[[March 16]] [[strikethrough]]April [/strikethrough]]1839 - handwritten in ink]]

BALLOONS IN 1648. 
LETTER written from Warsovia, by a gentleman of that city, concerning a proposition made unto the king of Poland, abut the rare invention of 
FLYING IN THE AIR.*
   NOBLE SIR, - Did I not know full how earnest you are after finding out of rare inventions, and other curious things worthy of a noble and heroic spirit, I should not be so ready to impart to you any thing that cometh to my knowledge worthy of your observation, and also knowing your many and great employments, yet do now make bold to represent unto you, the strangest and never heard of before invention of flying in the air, which I doubt not will, for its curiosity, and fineness of conceit, be a matter of delight and pleasure unto those who are learned, especially who have studied the mathematics; and although this subject may be a matter of laughter, and be despised amongst them, being a rule among the vulgar, as not to believe any thing whatsoever, any further than they can apprehend the same, never considering what likelihood or probability there is for the effecting thereof. The thing is thus:-
There is at present in this court, a certain man come from Arabia, who is come hither to the King of Poland, to whom he proffereth his head for security of that which he propoundeth, which is, that he hath brought from that country the invention of a machine, being airy, and of a construction so light, nevertheless so sound and firm, that the same is able to bear two men, and hold them up in the air, and one of them shall be able to sleep, while the other maketh the machine to move, which thing is much after the same manner as you see represented in the old tapestry hangings, the dragons flying, whereof this same takes its name: I do give you them for pattern, or model of this invention, being a thing much in question, and to be doubted concerning these flying dragons whether any be alive; likewise it is questioned by many of the truth of there being any unicorns, griffins, phoenix, and many other like things, which by many wise understanding men, are deemed to have little or no reality in them, but all imaginary; nevertheless, we believe this upon the credit of antiquity, and the report of many who know more. There are few in this court but have got a pattern of this machiner, and do hope to send you one likewise, in case this project takes some good effect, and proves to be as true, as rare in its invention. The forms of it which he hath made, and afterwards presented, with the many reasons he gives to maintain his proposition, seems to be so strong, and so likely to be true, that great hopes are conceived thereof; and although he undertakes the celerity or swiftness of this airy post shall be far beyond that of our ordinary posts, seeing he promises to go with the same in twenty-four hours, forty leagues of this his country, which will make of English miles, near two hundred and forty, a thing which seemeth so strange to many, that therefore they fall off from him and so give little credit to it, although he hath brought with him good certificates how it hath been approved by many in other places, where he hath made experiment thereof, to his great honour and credit, and the admiration and amazement of the beholders; besides, it may well be thought, that a man of honour as he seems to be, would not set so little by his life, as to lay it at stake about a business of that nature, except he had some good ground first, and had some experimental knowledge of the same, seeing he must hazard his life, two several ways, the one in case he did not make trial of what he had promised, and to be proved to have come hither as an impostor, to have cheated this court, who upon discoveries of like businesses, will not make it a jest, or a thing of small moment; and the other time of danger is, when he begins to take his flight, which he is to do, above the highest towers or steeples that are, and without his dexterity and certain knowledge therein, would run into an utter ruin and destruction. 
Whether it be true or no, there are commissioners appointed, who are to examine the business, and so according as they find it, to make their report, and he is appointed to make an essay, and show a piece of his skill in their presence, before he is to be suffered to act it publicly, that if in case his business doth not prove according to expectation, they who have given credit to it, and him, may not be exposed to open shame and derision, even as it happened once in the city of Paris, where a stranger having gathered near the Louvre many thousands of spectators, in whose sight, as a man void of sense and reason, having taken his flight from the top of the highest tower thereabouts, which is between the Louvre and the Seine, this miserable wretch fell to the ground, broke his neck, and his body torn in pieces. 
Whilst every one is expecting the issue of this, there are many great wagers laid about it, yet take this by the way, there hath been
[[end column]]

[[continued right-hand column]]
 several great consultations made with the mathematicians, who have all declared, the putting it into operation is very difficult, but for the thing itself, do not count it impossible, and to this purpose, there was a true information brought of a prisoner, who having tied very fast about his collar, and under his arms, a long cloak, whereunto was made fast a hoop, to keep the spread out and round, casting himself from the top of a high tower, he thought to have fallen into a small river which ran at the foot thereof, but it happened otherwise, for he was carried on the further side of the water, safe and sound; the cloak which stood instead of a sail, did bear up the weight of his body, and so parted the air by degrees, that he had time to descend easily to the ground, without receiving any hurt by the fall. 
Not to bring here the fabulous history of Dedalus, Archites Tarentin, the most famous artist of his time, made a wooden pigeon, which fled very high into the air; as also, at Nuremberg, at the great and magnificent reception made by that city unto Maximilian the emperor, an artificial eagle, although both of them were much heavier, and yet not so big as a child's bauble, these two things were raised into the air, being held only with a packthread; but another engineer had not so good success; for having raised himself into the air, by means of an engine, much like to this we speak of, the wires broke before he had raised himself so high as he intended, whereby he fell to the ground sooner than he was willing, and by the fall broke his thigh, and was in great danger of his life; yet by this, thus much may be gathered - the thing may possibly be done: moreover, experience daily shows us, nothing is impossible to man, but that through labour and industry, the most difficult things may at length be obtained; only in this point concerning the possibility, or impossibility of things, wise men do seem to be most slow in giving their opinion about it; there are also examples of birds, and those that swim, whereby we may judge by their swiftness, that the air may do the same operation upon other subjects, according as the artist can accommodate itself to it. 

* The Moderate, a weekly newspaper: December 12-19, 1648; Pamphlets, Vol. 401, in Museo. 
[[end clipping]]

[[start lower clipping]]
[[1784 see over.. -handwritten in ink]]
For the London Chronicle. 
A HINT for the Improvement of the AIR BALLOON. 
THIS aerostatic globe, by the laws of motion, being quite passive to every external action arising from the atmosphere, it must consequently be wasted, at all times, in the same direction, and nearly with the same velocity, as that of the element in which it floats. Hence is is manifest that, relatively to the wind, the balloon will always be in a state of reft, or in a dead calm; and hence, though we desire ever so much to steer a course different from the wind, any sort of rigging, after the manner of sails, must be unavailing. For in vain would be spread out silk or canvass to the breeze, whilst moving onward with equal speed, and when on that account no breath can overtake us. 
In fine weather, when we ascend as a spectacle to the admiring world below, and when a bright sun and the gentle summer's breeze entice us to the eagle's flight, the action of oars or wings may indeed make the floating globe in some measure obedient to our will; but without some means of steering our course far more effectually, by which human art can dare the more formidable gale, and can acquire dominion over it to the ends of the earth, this new faculty of soaring in the atmosphere will fail to serve mankind in the point, of all others, the most important. 
This is not said with any view of lessening the merit of an invention, which, though it should never be so perfected, may yet justly be deemed one of the most curious that modern times can boast of. No discovery has ever had a more rapid advancement, or a higher claim to the fostering care of philosophers. It is their province to explore every known principle, which promises a farther improvement of it, and which may eventually enlarge our powers in so eminent a degree. 
Of all the expedients which the Writer of these observations has been able to imagine, the following is the only one which seems at all fitted to give us some government of the motion of a balloon. 
It is well known, that at different elevations from the surface of the earth, the wind moves frequently, if not always, with different rates of velocity, and sometimes in different directions; instead, therefore, or one balloon, suppose that two, connected with a long tackle, and so loaded as to keep asunder, were raised in the air, it is evident, that when they came to be entangled with strata of air in unequal motion, the relative rest of both, in regard to the respective currents, would no longer take place, and that of course the wind would blow or act upon them. If the upper current, for example, were the quickest, the balloon then would be retarded by the one below, whilst this, in its turn, would be accelerated by the other above; thus the wind would overtake the higher balloon and meet the lower one. The breeze being brought in this manner into our service, it remains with philosophers so to meet it with oblique surfaces, as to enable the aerial navigators to shape their course side-ways, and gradually to wear towards the place of their destination. Two balloons, so depending upon one another, when involved in currents of air where both the velocity and direction are different, would afford still a greater scope for conspiring manoeuvres in the way of failing. Perhaps, even in the ordinary way of parading in the air, a parcel of smaller balloons, connected together, might be more safe and eligible than one of enormous size, upon which solely we have to depend. 
As to the materials of which balloons may be constructed, perhaps it will be found that CAHOUTCHU, in substance, is the fittest that nature or art can afford. The vast elasticity of this wonderful resin, and its property of being pieced together with such perfect adhesion by pressure alone, deserve to be well considered. Upon the banks of the Amazon, where it distills so plenteously from the tree, could not ways be fallen upon to form it into large sheets or gores, of sufficient thinness for the fabric of the balloon? X. 
Glasgow, Sept. 27. 
[[1784 - handwritten in ink]]
[[end column]]

[[431 handwritten in pencil at bottom of page]]