l(i(. PNfiUMATIca. 



all imaginable safety; and this was further con- 

 firmed by the experiment already mentioned. As 

 Mr. Montgolfier, therefore, proposed to make a new 

 aerostatic machine, of a firmer and better con- 

 struction than the former, M. Pilatre de Rozier 

 (whose temerity in a subsequent experiment proved 

 fatal to him,) offered himself to be the first aerial 

 adventurer. On the 15th of October, 1783, he 

 rose from the garden of the Fauxbourg Saint 

 Antoine, at Paris, in a wicker gallery, about three 

 feet broad, attached to an oval balloon, of 74 feet 

 by 40, which had been made by Montgolfier, and 

 which also carried up a grate, for the purpose of 

 continuing at pleasure the inflation of the balloon, 

 by a fire of straw and wool. The weight of this 

 machine was 1,600 pounds. On that day it was 

 permitted to rise no higher than 84 feet; but on the 

 19th, when M. Giraud de Vilette ascended with 

 him, they rose to the height of 332 feet, being 

 prevented from farther ascent only by ropes. 

 Encouraged by the success of these experiments, 

 M. Rozier and the Marquis D' Arlandes first trusted 

 a balloon to the elements; and after rising to the 

 height of 3,000 feet, they descended about five 

 miles from the place of their ascent. They ex- 

 perienced great danger on this occasion, from the 

 balloon taking fire, which, however, they extin- 

 guished with a wet sponge. 



These balloons raised by fire have, however, not 

 been much used, having given place to the other 

 kind, filled with inflammable air, which, by reason 

 of its smaller specific gravity, is safer and more 

 manageable, and is capable of performing voyages 

 of greater length, as it does not require to be sup- 

 plied with fuel, like the others. 

 17 



