AEROSTATION. 



return . d on our sMe of the 



bolt. Mr Itlaiii-li:nil, pcrcciung the s< 



(1 near Kuni<' \ , 



about 75 miles from London, Ir.iving 1 tra- 

 icllcd :it tin- rate of nearly 'JO miles an 

 hour. 



On tin- 1 ?th of October, Mr. Sadler, of 

 Oxford, inn. of 11 mil 



that place in 17 minutes, with -an inflam- 

 mable :iir balloon of his own contrivance 

 and construction. The- lute- of M. P. de 

 Ho/icr, tlie first aerial navigator, and of 

 his companion, M. Hoinain, hasbeen much 

 lamented. Thc\ ascended xt Boulogne 

 on the 1.5th of June, \vitli an intention of 

 crossing the channel to England. Their 

 machine consisted of a spherical balloon, 

 >7 feet in diameter, tilled with inflam- 

 mable air, andimderthis halloon was sus- 

 pended a small Montgolfier, or fire bal- 

 loon, ten feet in diameter. This Mont- 

 golfier was designed for rarefying 1 the 

 atmospheric air, and thus diminishing the 

 specific gravity of the whole apparatus. 

 For the first twenty minutes tin. \ seemed 

 to pursue their proper course ; but the 

 balloon seemed much inflated, and the 

 aeronauts appeared anxious to de>end. 

 Soon, however, when they were at the 

 height of about three quarters of a mile, 

 the. \\hole apparatus was in flames, and 

 the unfortunate adventurers fell to the 

 ground, and were killed on the spot 



On the 19th of July, Mr. Crosbie as- 

 cended at Dublin, with a view of crossing 

 the channel to England. To a wicker 

 basket of a circular form, which he had 

 substituted for the boat, he had affixed 

 a number of bladders for the purpose of 

 rendering his gallery buoyant, incase of 

 a disaster at sea. The height to which 

 he ascended at one time was such, that 

 !i\ tlie intense cold his ink was frozen, 

 and the mercury sunk into the ball of the 

 thermometer. He himself was sick, and 

 he felt a strong impression on the tympa- 

 num of his ears. At his utmost eleva- 

 tion he thought himself stationary ; but 

 on discharging some gas, he descended to 

 a ver\ rough current of air blowing to the 

 north. He then entered a dense cloud, 

 and experienced strong blasjs of winds, 

 with thunder and lightning, which 

 brought him with rapidity towards the 

 surface of the water. The water soon 

 entered his car; the force of the wind 

 phmgej him into the ocean, and it was 

 with difficulty that lie put on h>~ 

 jacket. The bladders which lie had pre- 

 pared were now found of great use. The 



. added to his own weight. 

 AS ballast ; and the balloon, maintaining its 



red the purpose of a sail, 1>% 

 of which, and a snatch-block to 

 his car, he moved before the wind xs re- 

 gularly as a sailing-boat. He 

 length pvertaken by some vessels that 

 were crowding sail after him, and con- 

 '.o Dunleary with the balloon On 

 .1 of July, Major Money, who :.>- 

 ccndcd at Norwich, was driven out to 

 1 at'tcrbeingblown about for about 

 two hours, he dropped into the water. Af- 

 ter much exertion for preserving i 

 and when he was almost despairing of re- 

 lief, he was taken up by a revenue 

 in a state of extreme weakness; having 

 been struggling to keep himself above 

 water for about seven h> 



The longest voyage, that had been hi- 

 therto made, was performed ! 

 Hlunchard, towards the end of A 

 He ascended at Lisle, accompanied by 

 the Chevalierde L'Epinard, andtn. 

 a distance of 300 miles before he d< 

 ed. On this, as well as on other occa- 

 sions, Mr. Blanchard made trial of a pa- 

 rachute, in the form of a large umbrella, 

 which he contrived for breaking his fall, 

 in case of any accident. With this ma- 

 chine he let down a dog, which came to 

 the ground gently, and unhurt. On the 

 8th of September, Mr. Baldwin ascended 

 from the city of Chester, and performed 

 an aerial voyage of 25 miles in two hours 

 and a quarter. His greatest elevation was 

 about a mile and a naif, and he supposes 

 that the velocity of his motion was some- 

 times at the rate of 20 miles an hour. He 

 has published a circumstantial account of 

 his voyage, described the appearances of 

 the clouds as he passed through them, 

 and annexed a variety of observations re- 

 lating to aerostation. 



It would be tedious to recount the 

 aerial expecb'tions that w ere peformcd in 

 various parts of our own country, 

 as on the continent, in the whole course 

 of the vear 1785: more especially as tin y 

 have afforded us no experiment or disco- 

 very of any peculiar importance. The 

 most persevering aerial navigator has 

 been Mr. Hlanchard. In August, 1788, 

 he ascended ut Brunswick for the thirU - 

 second time. Vl'ithin two yeai-s from the 

 first discovery of this art of navigating the 

 atmosphere, more than forty different 

 I pi rformed the experiment with- 

 out any material injury; audit ma\ be- 

 justly questioned, sa\ s Mr. Cavallo, whe- 

 ther the first forty persons who trusted 

 theBttelves to the sea in boats CM . 

 safely. The catastrophe that befel I. 

 and the unpleasant circum-Jtances that 



