Wonderful ballon ascents : or, The conquest of the skies A history of balloons and balloon voyages . nthe denser layer of air. Galien adds that in the region of hail there was in theair a separation into two layers, the weights of whichrespectively are as 1 to 2. Then, says he, in placing anair-boat in the region of hail, with its sides rising eighty-three fathoms into the upper region, which is much morelight, one could sail perfectly. But how to get this enormous air-boat up to the regionof hail? This is a minor detail, respecting which Galien isnot clear. From the labours of Lana and Galien
Wonderful ballon ascents : or, The conquest of the skies A history of balloons and balloon voyages . nthe denser layer of air. Galien adds that in the region of hail there was in theair a separation into two layers, the weights of whichrespectively are as 1 to 2. Then, says he, in placing anair-boat in the region of hail, with its sides rising eighty-three fathoms into the upper region, which is much morelight, one could sail perfectly. But how to get this enormous air-boat up to the regionof hail? This is a minor detail, respecting which Galien isnot clear. From the labours of Lana and Galien, with their im-possible flying-machines, the inventor of the balloon couldderive no benefit whatever; nor is his fame to be in theleast diminished because many had laboured in the same i6 WONDERFUL BALLOON ASCENTS. field before him. Nor can the story of the ovoador, or flyingman, a legend very confused, and of which there are manyversions, have given to Montgolfier any valuable hints. Itappears that a certain Laurent de Guzman, a monk of RioJaneiro, performed at Lisbon before the king, John V.,. Laurent de Guzmans Balloon. raising himself in a balloon to a considerable height. Otherversions of the story give a different date, and assign thepretended ascent to 1709. The above engraving, ex-tracted from the Bibliothequc de la Rue de Richelieu, isan exact copy of Guzmans supposed balloon. In 1678 a mechanician of Salle, in Maine, namedI rier, invented a flying-machine. The machine consistedof four great wings, or paddles, mounted at the extremities ATTEMPTS TO FLY IN THE AIR. 17 •of levers, which rested on the shoulders of the man whoguided it, and who could move them alternately by meansof his hands and feet. The following description of themachine is given in the Journalde Paris by an eye-witness:—• The wings are oblong frames, covered with taffeta,and attached to the ends of two rods, adjusted on theshoulders. The Avings work up and down. Those in frontare worked by the
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Keywords: ., bookauthormarionfu, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1870
