TRANSLATORS' NOTE 



In his preface Paul Bert comments on his use of direct quota- 

 tions in the historical part of this book in the following words, "In 

 my bibliographic research I have repeatedly seen the affirmations 

 of an author changed to negations by a series of translations and 

 analyses." Again in a footnote on Chapter II he calls attention to 

 the fact that a passage which he quotes from the French translation 

 of the account of the balloon flights of Glaisher and Coxwell did not 

 occur in the English text and adds, "Can it have been added by a 

 fanciful translator? Traduttore, traditore" (translator, traitor). 

 This evident distrust of our author for translators has been con- 

 stantly in our minds and our translation is, therefore, somewhat 

 more literal than it might otherwise have been. This policy has 

 resulted in the use of certain words and expressions that are old 

 fashioned; for example, we have used the word hematosis to mean 

 arterialization of blood and we have retained the expression car- 

 bonic acid, even where our author is obviously referring to carbon 

 dioxide. 



In only two respects have we departed from the plan followed 

 in the French edition. First, the footnotes, instead of being placed 

 at the bottom of the page on which the reference occurs, have been 

 grouped together and put at the end of the several chapters. This 

 method is made mandatory by the mechanics of modern type set- 

 ting, and also greatly improves the appearance of the page. Second, 

 we have added an index. In the French edition there was no index 

 and the detailed table of contents together with the list of illustra- 

 tions was placed at the end of the book. In the English edition these 

 have been moved to the front of the book and the index put at the 

 end. 



We wish to acknowledge our indebtedness and express our grati- 

 tude to the John Crerar Library of Chicago for the uninterrupted 

 use of a copy of the original French edition of La Pression Baro- 

 metrique over a period of more than two years. Copies of the book 



XI 



