CONTENTS 



Bessemer's experiment, p. 214 — What may be expected of the 

 gyrocar, p. 215. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE GYROSCOPE AND OCEAN TRAVEL 



Bessemer's costly experiment, p. 217 — Dr. Schlick's successful 

 experiment, p. 219 — The action of Dr. Schlick's invention ex- 

 plained, p. 220 — Did gyroscopic action wreck the Viper? p. 222 — 

 Theoretical dangers of the gyroscope, p. 223 — Probable use of the 

 gyroscope on battleships, p. 225. 



CHAPTER IX 



NAVIGATING THE AIR 



Some mediaeval traditions about airships, p. 266 — ^The flying 

 machines devised by Leonardo da Vinci, p. 277 — The flying machine 

 of Besnier, p. 228 — The discovery of hydrogen gas and its effect 

 upon aeronautics, p. 230 — The balloon invented, p. 231 — The 

 first successful balloon ascension, p. 232 — Rozier, the first man 

 to make an ascent in a balloon, p. 235 — Blanchard's attempt 

 to produce a dirigible balloon, p. 238 — Hot-air balloons and hydro- 

 gen-gas balloons, p. 240 — Rozier, the first victim of ballooning, 

 p. 241 — Progress in mechanical flight, p. 244 — Cocking's parachute, 

 p. 245 — Henson's studies of the lifting power of plane surfaces, 

 p. 246 — The flying machine of Captain Le Bris, p. 248 — Giffard 

 "the Fulton of aerial navigation," p. 251 — The flights of the 

 Giant, p. 252 — The record flight of John Wise in 1859, p. 256 — 

 Early war balloons and dirigible balloons, p. 257 — The use of 

 balloons during the Franco- Prussian war, p. 258 — The dirigible 

 balloon achieved, p. 262 — The dirigible balloon of Dupuy de 

 Lome, p. 263 — The aluminum balloon of Herr Schwartz, p. 264 — 

 The dirigible balloons of Count Zeppelin, p. 266 — Early experi- 

 ments of Santos-Dumont, p. 267. 



CHAPTER X 



THE TRIUMPH OP THE AEROPLANE 



Balloon versus aeroplane, p. 272 — The kite as a flying machine, 

 p. 273 — How the air sustains a heavier-than-air mechanism, 

 p. 274 — Langley's early experiments, p. 275 — Experiments in 

 soaring, p. 277 — Lilienthal's imitation of the soaring bird, p. 279 — 



[vi] 



