AERONAUTIC VOYOGES. 339 



At the moment of departure, however, it might easily be seen that in several 

 respects the aerostatic apparatus, was imperfect. The balloon, in consequence 

 of the prevalence of high winds, had been torn at many points, and mended 

 with too great haste ; the rain fell in torrents. What was to be done? It had 

 been most prudent, perhaps, not to ascend, but the aeronauts rejected the idea. 

 They placed themselves in the car, and boldly launched into the air, without 

 even taking the precaution, so violent was the wind, of determining with a 

 balance the ascensional force of the aerostat. Their ascent was extremely 

 rapid ; the spectators compared it to that of an arrow ; they very soon disap- 

 peared in the clouds, and it was above the curtain which thus shrouded them 

 from the view of man that the stirring scenes took place which remain to be 

 described. 



The dilated balloon pressed with great force on the meshes of the netting, 

 which was much too small. It expanded from above downwards ; descended 

 on the aeronauts, whose car was suspended by cords which were too short, and 

 covered them in some sort like a hood. At this time the adventurers found 

 themselves in a situation of the greatest difficulty ; one of them, in his efforts to 

 disengage the cord of the valve, caused an opening in the inferior prolongation 

 of the balloon ; the hydrogen gas, which escaped nearly on a level with their 

 heads, almost suffocated them, and caused excessive vomitings and momentary 

 syncope. , 



Consulting the barometer, they found that they were descending rapidly, 

 and, in seeking to ascertain the cause of this unexpected movement, they dis- 

 covered that the balloon was torn in the region of its equator to the extent of 

 nearly 2 meters. They now perceived, but with a composure which merits 

 admiration, that all they could hope was to escape with life. It is no little 

 to say that the velocity of their descent was much greater than that of their 

 ascent. They discharged all their remaining ballast, threw overboard even the 

 coverings which had been provided against the cold, including their furred 

 boots, but parted with none of the instruments of research. 



They fell, at 11 hours 14 minutes, in a vineyard, the ground of which was for- 

 tunately soft, in the commune of Dampmart, near Lagny. The laborers and 

 vine-dressers ran to their help, and found the two aeronauts clinging by the 

 feet and hands to the stems of the vines, in order to counteract as far as possi- 

 ble the horizontal movement of the car. The most earnest assistance was 

 rendered them. 



From a voyage performed under such conditions it is evident that science 

 could derive but a very small amount of information in comparison with what 

 might have been expected ; yet it is our duty to say that our two physicists 

 established, by decisive experiments, that the light of clouds is not polarized ^ 

 that the bed of clouds which they traversed was at least 3,000 meters in thick- 

 ness, and that, notwithstanding the existence of this curtain between the earth 

 and sky, the decrease of temperature was very nearly the same with that 

 verified by Gay Lussac in his celebrated voyage performed in a perfectly 

 cloudless sky. From the barometrical observations compared with those made 

 at the Observatory of Paris, it is deducible that, in the region where the 

 balloon was torn, the height attained was 5,900 meters, and from a similar 

 computation that the upper surface of the cloud passed through was at the 

 height of 4,200 meters. 



The following numbers complete the details which I laid before the Academy: 

 At the moment of departure the barometer of the Observatory, reduced to zero, 

 marked 753 millimeters, and the exterior thermometer 30°.3 ; the direction of 

 the wind was west-southwest, and the sky was completely covered. At 10 hours 

 29 minutes the voyagers penetrated into a cloud having the appearance of a 

 dense mist, which deprived them of the sight of the earth. At 10 hours 47 

 mmutes the barometer of the car, reduced to zero, marked 458.3 millimeters, and 



