PNEUMATICS. 1(>7 



About this time, Count Zambecari sent up from 

 the Artillery-Ground, London, a small gilt balloon, 

 filled with inflammable air, which, in two hours 

 and half, reached a spot near Petworth, in Sussex, 

 and would not then have fallen had it not burst. 



The first aerial voyage with an inflammable air 

 balloon, was made by Messrs. Charles and Roberts, 

 from Paris, December 1, 1783. 



The machine used on this occasion was formed 

 of silk, covered over with a varnish made of elastic 

 gum, of a spherical figure, and measuring 27 i feet 

 in diameter. 



Having ascended to the height of about one-third 

 part of a mile, they were carried by the wind in a 

 horizontal direction, and descended in a field 27 

 miles from Paris, having travelled that distance in 

 two hours. M. Charles then ascended alone, and 

 rose to the height of about two miles, without ex- 

 periencing any other disagreeable sensation than a 

 severe cold and a pain in his ears, owing probably 

 to the expansion of the dense internal air. 



A great many aerial voyages were made in 

 France before it was attempted in England. 



Vincent Lunardi, an Italian (the first who made 

 an aerial voyage in England), on the 15th of 

 September, 1784, rose from the Artillery-Ground 

 in London, by a balloon 33 feet in diameter, made 

 of silk, oiled, and painted in stripes of blue and 

 red. He took up with him a dog and a cat; the 

 latter was destroyed, and the dog was almost spent. 

 In his ascent, the thermometer fell to 29, and some 

 drops of water round his balloon were frozen. He 

 ascended about five minutes after two o'clock, and 

 arrived at Collier's Hill, five miles beyond Ware, 

 in Hertfordshire, at 25 minutes after four. 



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