THE EiMPIRE OV THE AIR. 457 



The answer is simple. If tiiere be a ereatuie witli snpei-abiiii(laiit 

 life, it is the bird. With liiiii, uioveiiieiit is not the r(\snlt ol' letlection; 

 it proceeds IVoiii the i^reat excess of i)o\ver he possesses, and as lie 

 knows no will bat his own, he can not resist the desire and follows 

 it to the detiinieut ol' his force. 



The simple comparison of the ditferent modes of tli^ht is already a 

 stt'i) towards success; we have been able to select one mode as most 

 available to man, a.nd as best within the reach of his means of imita- 

 tion. Let US take anotliei' step forward and consider which evolu- 

 tions, anions' the numerous mano'uvers ])erfor)ned by our chosen type, 

 the i;reat tawny vulture, it is most easy to re-produce, and what is 

 most lu'otitalih' for our y)ur[)oses. Then, even while canvassing this 

 selection, if we meet any hap])y thought, let us analyze it coolly but 

 withont shyness; lor. by carryinj*' it to an extreme we may ]»erhaps 

 tiud something' new. 



Assuredly, when man shall ha\e succeeded in utilizing the wind in 

 tlight, he will bring to bear his ingenuity upon that art aiul it will 

 enable him not only to imitate nature but to surpass her perform- 

 ances. Thus it will not be impra(!ticable for him to prodnce a sailing- 

 apparatus more steady and slow than the condor or the oiicou vnlture; 

 or perhaps a motor machine possessing greater speed than the teal; 

 this he will do by exaggerating the features of these different modes of 

 flight. But he will excel especially in the profoujul study of the science 

 of flight. He will not, like the bird, be constantly distracted by his 

 necessities or by fear: every movement will be foreseen and provided 

 for: every danger and contingency will be van(|uishedin advance, and 

 he will need but to mind his evolutions — a duty which he will fulfill 

 resolutely, with his characteristic science. 



As methods of getting about — not to mention tlie railway, the steam- 

 boat, or the balloDU — man has invented, ont and out, two new modes 

 of locomotion, complete in all theii' parts and with no analogue in 

 nature: I mean the skate and the veIocii)ede: why then should lie not 

 bring to [)iMfectioii a mode alr<'ad\' kiKtwn. which nothing warrants 

 considering as having reached its utmost limit.' 



When the lirst dread has been coiu[uered, when the horror of empty 

 sitace has been mastered through liabilude, intelligent man, after hav- 

 ing re-produced all the ga.its of liie birds, will want to improv<' upon 

 them. He will impure wiietlier there are not possibilities beyond them. 

 Then with varied sustaining surfares lie will attempt to rise, advancing 

 into the wind, or he will rise with a stern wind, both evolutions being 

 performed without sweeping in circles; and beyond all this, he will 

 attempt gliding-backward. 



With the wind dead against him, man will needs study whether it 

 is most advantageous to rise direct, even advancing to windward, as 

 in the case of the eagles already herein described, or to swee]) around 

 in circles, thus driiting back and afterwards regaiuiug the lost ground 



