3H4 ON THE VARIOUS MODES OF FLIGHT, ETC. 



pressed hy the aid of an eng-ine on krra firmn, and stowed away in the cylinders 

 comprising' the floor or other portions of the machine before starting. 



When and where such a machine will l)e snccessfnlly launched no one can of 

 course predict. The suliject of artificial flight, however, has been so frequently 

 discussed of late 5'ears, and has excited so much interest in America, France, and 

 other portions of the Old and New World, that it must obviously receive a set- 

 th'ment in one direction or other at no distant date. Even Britain, involved as 

 she is in business and politics, and caring' little about science which is not 

 directly remunerative, has made a move in this direction, and we have now the 

 Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, presided over by his grace tlie Duke of 

 Argyll, himself a Goliath in aeronautical matters. It were much to be desired 

 that those who can afford the time or the means requisite for conducting experi- 

 ments on a scale commensurate with the importance of the subject would lend 

 their aid to this great public movement. 



Homo Volans. — Whether the genus homo will ever be able, l)y his unaided 

 exertions, to leave the scene of his joys and sorrows for the fields etherean, time 

 only can determine. Borelli, a great anatomical authority,* made elaborate 

 calculations to prove the absurdity of such an attempt. His calculations, how- 

 ever, will not deter the more sanguine and speculative portions of mankind from 

 renewing their exertions in this direction as opportunity permits; and I may state, 

 for their guidance in the matter, that if man ever flies it will not be by employ- 

 ing his arms simpl}', but by concentrating the energies of his entire muscular 

 system — by transferring in fact the movements of his arms and legs to a central 

 axis or shaft, surmounted by one or more horizontal and vertical screws of appro- 

 priate size and shape ; these being made to revolve with a velocity to be deteim- 

 ined by experiment. The value of this hypothesis could be readily tested, and 

 at a trifling expense, by a machine constructed after the manner of a velocipede, 

 Avhich need not be of a very complicated character. 



In order to construct a successful flying machine, it is not necessary to imitate 

 the filmy wing of the insect, the silken pinion of the bat, or the complicated 

 and highl}' differentialed wing of the bird, where every feather may be said to 

 have a peculiar function assigned to it ; neither is it necessar}^ to reproduce the 

 intricacy of that machinery by which the pinion in the bat, insect, and bird is 

 moved; all that is required is to distinguish the form and extent of the surfaces 

 and the manner of their application, and this has, in a great measure, been 

 already done. When Vivian and Trevithick constructed the locomotive, and 

 Symington and Bell the steamboat, they did not seek to reproduce a quadruped 

 or a fish ; tlie}^ simply aimed at producing motion adapted to the land and water 

 in accordance with natural laws, and in the presence of living models. Their 

 success is to be measured by an involved labyrinth of railroad which extends to 

 every part of the civilized world, and b}^ navies whose vessels are despatched 

 Avithout the slightest trepidation to navigate the most boisterous seas at the most 

 inclement seasons. The aeronaut has the same task before him in a different 

 direction, and in attempting to produce a flying machine he is not necessarily 

 attempting an impossible thing. The countless swarms of flying things testify 

 as to the practicability of the scheme, and nature at once supplies him with 

 models and materials. If artificial flight were not attainable, the insects and 

 birds would aflord the only examples of animals whose movements could not be 

 reproduced. I'lie outgoings and incomings of the quadruped and fish are, how- 

 ever, already successfully imitated, and the fowls of the air, though clamorous 

 and shy, are not necessarily beyond our reach. Much has been said and done 

 in clearing the forest and fertilizing the prairie: can nothing be done in reclaim- 

 ing the boundless regions of the air? 



* De Motu Animal. 



