THE CONQUEST OF TIME AND SPACE 



Gamerin's first practical test of his invention was 

 made in October, 1797, when he ascended to the height 

 of six thousand feet in a balloon to which was attached 

 a parachute of the ordinary umbrella type still used. 

 At that altitude he cut loose the balloon which rushed 

 upward until it exploded, while the parachute, dropping 

 rapidly at first, finally settled slowly and gently to the 

 earth, without injury to the inventor. 



PROGRESS IN MECHANICAL FLIGHT 



The attempts at navigating a balloon having proved 

 thus far so unsuccessful, many inventors now returned 

 to the idea of producing a flying-machine which was in- 

 dependent of the inflated balloon. It was evident that 

 the resistance presented by the great surface necessary 

 in a balloon of sufl&cient size to have the required lifting 

 power was such that no known efforts of propulsion 

 could overcome this resistance even in the face of a 

 slight breeze, to say nothing of a strong wind. The 

 balloon was by no means abandoned, however, and two 

 definite schools of aeronauts gradually came into exist- 

 ence, each having ardent advocates. 



As early as 1784, the aeronaut Gerard had proposed 

 a flying-machine which was to be made with body, wings, 

 and steering apparatus, in which propulsion was to be 

 accomplished by the use of escaping gas and gun-cotton. 

 The inventor himself was so sanguine of the results, and 

 so many contemporary inventors were of the same opin- 

 ion, that when this machine proved to be an utter failure, 

 the blow to the advocates of the flying-machine was so 



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