AEROSTATION JESCULAPIUS. 



i used the death of the projectors. Probably the 

 coals, which were only in a glowing state near the 

 surface of the ground, were suddenly kindled to a 

 light flame as the balloon rose, and set it on fire. 

 The whole machine was soon in flames, and the two 

 aeronauts were precipitated from on high. The con- 

 dition of their mangled bodies confirms the conjecture 

 that they were killed by the explosion of the gas. 

 This unliappy accident did not deter others ; on the 

 contrary, the experiments were by degrees repeated 

 in other countries. However important this inven- 

 tion may be, it has as yet led to no considerable re- 

 sults. Its use has hitherto been confined to obser- 

 vations in the upper regions of the atmosphere. In 

 this MM. Gay Lussac, and Biot, distinguished 

 themselves. On one occasion, M. Gay Lussac 

 reached a height of 23,100 feet above the surface of 

 the earth. But should we ever learn to guide the 

 balloon at will, it might, perhaps, be employed for 

 purposes of which we now have hardly an idea ; pos- 

 sibly the plan of professor Robison might be ac- 

 complished by the construction of a gigantic balloon, 

 which would enable us to perform an aerial circum- 

 navigation of the earth. During the French revolu- 

 tion, an aerostatic institution was founded at Meudon, 

 not far from Paris, for the education of a corps of 

 aeronauts, with the view of introducing balloons into 

 armies as a means of reconnoitering the enemy. But 

 this use of balloons was soon laid aside, for, like 

 every other, it must be attended with great uncer- 

 tainty, as long as the machine has to obey the wind. 

 Among the French, Blanchard and Garnerin have 

 undertaken the greatest number of aerial voyages ; 

 among the Germans, professor Jungius, in Berlin, 

 in 1805 and 1806, made the first. Since that time, 



Erofessor Reichard and his wife have become known 

 y their aerial excursions. Even in Constantinople, 

 such a voyage was performed, at the wish and ex- 

 pense of the sultan, by two Englishmen, Early and 

 Devigne. In Britain, the latest aeronauts have been 

 Mr Sadler and the Messrs Green. The former, 

 after many adventurous voyages, lost his life by his 

 balloon coming in contact with a chimney gable ; 

 the latter still continue to make successful ascents 

 from various quarters of the empire. Blanchard has 

 rendered an essential service to aeronauts by the 

 invention of the parachute, which they can use, in 

 case of necessity, to let themselves down without 

 danger. Many attempts have been made to regulate 

 the course of balloons, by means of oars, wings, &c., 

 but hitherto with little success. 



AEROSTATION, or AEROSTATICS, is the science of 

 weighing air, either by itself or with other sub- 

 stances. Since the invention of the balloon, this 

 term has been sometimes applied to the art of man- 

 aging balloons, which is more properly called aero- 

 nautics, (q. v.) 



JEacHiNEs ; a famous orator of Athens ; born 393, 

 died 423, B. C. Being the son of poor parents, he 

 passed his youth among the lower classes, with whom 

 he wandered about, partaking in their amusements, 

 particularly in the festivals in honour of Bacchus. 

 Encouraged by their applause, he became an actor, 

 acquired the right of citizenship, engaged hi politics, 

 attended the lectures of Plato and Isocrates, and 

 soon became the rival of Demosthenes, whom, how- 

 ever, he did not equal in power and energy, although 

 he was distinguished by a happy choice of words, and 

 by richness and perspicuity of ideas. He gradually 

 lost the favour of the people, and fled to Rhodes and 

 Samos, where he ga\e instruction in rhetoric till his 

 death. Three orations and twelve letters of his 

 are extant. They are to be found in the collections 

 of Aldus, Stephanus, and Reiske, (3d and 4th vols.) 

 S, the philosopher, a native of Athens, 



who, by way of distinction from the preceding, is 

 called a Socratic, was a poor disciple of Socrates. 

 We possess under his name three dialogues, " On 

 Virtue," " On Riches," and " On Death," which, 

 however, are not allowed by strict critics to be 

 genuine. The best edition is that of I. F. Fischer, 

 Leipsic, 1786. 



^ESCHYLUS ; the father of ancient Greek tragedy ; 

 born in the 3d or 4th year of the 63d Olympiad 

 (525 B. C.), at Eleusis, hi Attica, of a noble iamily. 

 Of the circumstances of his life we have but defi- 

 cient and uncertain accounts. He fought in the 

 battles of Marathon and Salamis, witnessed the de- 

 struction of the power of Darius and Xerxes, and 

 wrote his tragedies under the proud feeling of a 

 successful struggle for liberty. In these he first 

 raised the tragical art from the rude beginnings of 

 Thespis to a dignified character, so that he may be 

 considered as its real creator. Tragedy sprang 

 from his head hi full armour (says A. W. Schlegel), 

 like Pallas from the head of Jupiter. He clothed 

 it with becoming dignity, and gave it an appropriate 

 place of exhibition ; he invented scenic pomp, and 

 not only instructed the chorus in singing and danc- 

 ing, but appeared himself in the character of a 

 player. He first perfected the dialogue, and re- 

 duced the lyrical part of the tragedy, winch still, 

 however, occupies too much space in his plays. His 

 characters are sketched with a few bold and strong 

 features ; his plots are extremely simple, but grand. 

 His art knew nothing of intrigues and develope- 

 ments. All his poetry reveals a lofty and ardent 

 mind. Not the softer emotions, but terror is his rul- 

 ing cliaracteristic. He holds up the head of Medusa 

 to the overawed spectators. His manner of treating 

 fate is terrible in the extreme ; in all its gloomy ma- 

 jesty it hovers over mortals. The cothurnus of 

 .iEschylus is of an iron weight; none but giant 

 figures stride hi it. It appears to have required an 

 effort in him to represent mere men. He deals com- 

 monly with gods, especially the Titans, those elder 

 deities, the symbols of the dark primitive powers of 

 nature, long since cast down to Tartarus. In ac- 

 cordance with the grandeur of his figures, he endea- 

 vours to make their language gigantic. Thence 

 arise harsh expressions, overloaded with epithets, 

 and frequently, in his chorus, intricate constructions 

 and great obscurity. In the daring grandeur of his 

 images and expressions, he resembles Dante and 

 Shakspeare. We have only seven of his tragedies re- 

 maining : their whole number is stated to have been 

 seventy ; according to some, ninety ; but among 

 these, according to the testimony of the ancients, we 

 have some of his principal works. They are " The 

 Prometheus Vinctus," " The Seven before Thebes," 

 " The Persians," "Agamemnon," " The Choepho- 

 rae," "The Eumenides," and "The Suppliants." 

 Disgusted at seeing inferior pieces preferred to his 

 own, and particularly at the victory of the young So- 

 phocles, or, according to the more probable account, 

 compelled by an accusation of atheism, JEschylus 

 left his native country, and went to Sicily, where he 

 was received with great honours by king Hiero, and 

 died 456 B. C., a* the age of 70 years. The best 

 editions of his works are, London, 1663 and 1664, 

 folio, by Stanley ; Hague, in 1745, 2 vols. quarto, by 

 Paw; London, 1805, by Person; and Halle, 1809 

 to 1821, 5 vols. 3d edition, by Schutz. Single plays 

 have been published by Brunck, Herrmann, Blom- 

 field, and others ; and an English translation of him 

 by archdeacon Potter. 



./EscuLApnrs ; the god of medicine. Some 

 writers call him a son of Apollo and Arsinoo, 

 daughter of Leucippus ; others, of Apollo and Coro- 

 nis, daughter of Phlegyas. There are also different 



