398 THE EMPIRE OF THE AIR. 



aviators still tJouudering- in the quagmire, with little thought that 

 they may have to come down to this same quagmire in order to get 

 somewhere. 



O ! blind humanity ! open thine eyes and thou shalt see millions of 

 birds and myriads of insects cleaving the atmosphere. All these 

 creatures are whirling through the air without tlie slightest float; 

 many of them are gliding therein, without losing height, hour after 

 hour, on pulseless wings without fatigue; and after beholding this 

 demonstration given by the source of all knowledge, thou wilt acknowl- 

 edge that Aviation is the path to be followed. 



It is therefore apparatus "heavier than the air'' which I propose to 

 study ; and 1 mean to grasp the m<mster by the horns. I expect to 

 have as a guide and as a support that potent creator of all prodigies, 

 Nature herself. 



She has wholly ignored the principle of "lighter than the air" in 

 designing her creatures, and all her flying animals are heavier, much 

 heavier, than the air which they displace. We can not err if we faith- 

 fully follow her teachings. 



There are two methods of investigating such an arduous problem; 

 one may be termed the "closet" and the other the "open air" method. 

 The tirst calls in the aid of mathematics, it applies them to some few 

 observations, more or less defective or irielevant, and relying upon 

 this li-agile foundation, it expresses by a goodly show of equations all 

 that the observations teach — and generally a good deal more. 



Mathematics an^ doubtless useful, but they are less indsipensible 

 than is generally believed towards the solution of this ditflcu It problem. 

 Tliis arises from the foct that tlie basis of operation, the formula, is 

 always erroneous. 



Nothing seems more simple than to say: " (liven, that we know that 

 r, It, and /*, are equal to some other compound factors, then it nuist 

 follow," — and then quadractic equations and calculus come in, and tlie 

 student reaches a final result, which completely disagrees Avitli the 

 facts. 



When we start from false premises, we arrive at some conclusion 

 just the same, but it is not the object Simglit. But even if the foi-niuhe 

 be correct, it is certain that for ninety-nine in one liundred intellects, 

 including even the computer himself, a mathematical result will never 

 be as convincing as a clear explanation of the phenomena, or what is 

 much better a conclusive exi)eriment. 



Thus, I conceive mathematics to be an interesting instrument of re- 

 search, but not a convincing argument. I will not resort to them as a 

 means of persuading others of the probability of success, because I feel 

 well convinced that 1 never will meet with anybody Avilling to hazard 

 his life upon the bare dictum of a formula. 



HisforicaL — There is nothing new under the sun ; and lor the problem 

 of flight, as ibr many others, this old [noverb is true, 



