AEROSTATION. 



the end of a small glass tube, connected 

 with :i bladder containing air, into a thick 

 solution ofso:i|>, and gently compi-- 

 the bladder, ascended rapidly in the at- 

 mosplie]-. ; ami ti. 



of inflammable air-balloons that were 

 ever made. For balloons formed on a 

 larger scale, and on the principle of rare - 

 fied air, w i tion to 



France, where the two brothers, Stephen 

 and.lo.seph Montgolfier, paper-manufa< tu- 

 Vnnonay, about 06 miles from Ly- 

 ons, distinguished themselves, by exhibit- 

 ing the first of those aerostatic machines, 

 which have since eviu-d so much atten- 

 tion and astonishment. The first idea of 

 such a machine was suggested to them 

 by the natural ascent of the smoke and 

 clouds in the atmosphere; and the first 

 lent was made- at Avignon, by Ste- 

 phen, the eldest of the two brothers, to- 

 wards th.- middle of November 1782. 

 Having prepared a bag of fine silk, in the 

 shape of a parallelopipedon, and in capa- 

 city about 40 cubic feet, he applied to its 

 aperture burning paper, which rarefied 

 the air, and thus formed a kind of cloud 

 in the bag, and when it became sufficiently 

 expanded, it ascended rapidly to the ceii- 



^oonafterwardsthe experiment was 

 repeated by the two brothers at Annonay 

 in the open air, when the machine ascend- 

 ed to the height of about seventy feet. 

 Encouraged by their success, they con- 

 structed a machine, the capacity of which 

 was about 650 cubic feet, which, in the 

 experiment, broke the ropes that confined 

 it, and, after ascending rapidly to the 

 height of about 600 feet, fell on the adjoin- 

 ing ground. With another machine, 35 

 feet in diameter, they repeated the expe- 

 riment in April 1783, when, breaking loose 

 from its confinement, it rose to the height 

 of above 1000 feet, and being carried by 

 the wind, it fell at tin distance of about 



juartcrs of a mile from the place 

 where it ascended. The capacity of this 

 machine was equal to about 2.5,430 cubic 

 feet: and when inrtated.it measured 117 

 English feet in circumference. The co- 

 vering of it was formed of linen lined 

 with paper, its shape was ncarh spherical, 

 and its aperture \\asfixcd to a wooden 

 .tSout 16 feet in surface. When 

 fill"d with vapour, which wasconjectured 



,'ioiit half as heavy as common air, 



capable of lifting up about 4 l ./0 



pounds, Ix sides its own weight, which, 



1 of the v. o'ideii : 



was equal to 500 pounds. With tl. 

 chine the next experiment \\ as per:- 

 at Annonay, on the 5th of June 17 



fore a great multitude of spectators. The 



Mace" - nd- d on ;i pole 35 



and chopped wnul were 



burnt under the opening at the bottom; 

 tin vapour, or rather smoke, soon inflated 

 the bag, so as to distend it in allitMta 

 and this immense mass ascended in the 

 air with such a velocity, that in less than 

 ten minutes it reachedthe height of about 

 6000 feet. A breeze carried it in an hori- 

 zontal direction to the distance of 7668 

 fc<-t ; and it then fell gen? ly on the ground. 

 M. Montgolfier attributed the ascent of 

 the machine, not to the rarefaction of the 

 heatedair, which is .lie true cause, but to 

 a certain gas or acr", form fluid, specifically 

 lighter than common air, which was sup- 

 posed to be disengaged from burning 

 substances, and which has been commonly 

 called Montgolfier's gas, as balloons of 

 tins kind have been denominated Mont- 

 golfiers. As soon as the news of this ex- 

 periment reached Paris, the philosophers 

 of die city, conceiving that a new sort of 

 gas, half as heavy as common air, had 

 been discovered by Messrs. Montgolfier; 

 and know ing that the weight of inflam- 

 mable air was not more than the eighth 

 or tenth part of the weight of common 

 air, justly concluded, thatynnammable air 

 would answer the purpose of this experi- 

 ment better than the gas of Montgolfier, 

 and resolved to make trial of it. A sub- 

 scription was opened by M. Faujas de St. 

 Fond towards defraying the expense of 

 the experiment. A sufficient sum of mo- 

 ney having been soon raised, Messrs. Ro- 

 berts were appointed toconstructthc ma- 

 chine; and M. diaries, professor of expe- 

 rimental philosophy, to superintend the 

 work. After surmounting many difficul- 

 ties in obtaining a sufficient quantity of 

 inflammable air, and finding a substance 

 light enough for the covering, they at 

 length constructed a globe of lutestring, 

 w Inch was rendered impt rvioi.s to the in- 

 closed air by a varnish of elastic gum, or 

 caoutchouc,jdissolved in some kind of * 

 spirit or essential oil. The diameter of 

 this globe, which, from its shape, was de- 

 nominated a balloon, was about thirteen 

 feet, and it hadonK one aperture, like a 

 bladder, to which a stop-cock was adapt- 

 ed : its weight, * hen empty, together with 

 that of the stop-cock, uas 25 pounds. 

 On the J.><1 of August 1?* j;an 



to till tile globe with inflammable air; but 

 this being their first attempt, was attend- 

 ed with man;, hindrances and disappoint- 

 ments. At l;u;t, however, it MILS prepared 

 for exhibition; and on the J7th it was 

 carried to the Champ de Mar.-, where. 



