1GS PNEUMATICS. 



Mr, Sadler, of Oxford, was the first Englishman 

 who ascended with a balloon. He constructed 

 one himself, with which he rose from Oxford on 

 the 4th of October; and a second time on the 

 12th, and sailed 15 miles in 18 minutes. 



M. Blanchard and Dr. Jeffries, on the 7th of 

 the same month, crossed the Channel between 

 Dover and Calais, by means of a balloon; but had 

 such difficulty to keep it above water, that they 

 were obliged to throw away every thing they had 

 with them. 



Mr. M'Guire, on the 12th of May, having 

 ascended from Dublin, was carried with great ve- 

 locity towards the sea, into which he descended, 

 and was taken up by a boat, when on the point of 

 expiring with fatigue. 



M. Pilatre de Rozier and M. Romain, on the 

 15th of July, ascended from Boulogne, with an in- 

 tention of crossing the Channel, but their balloon, 

 being a Montgolfier, or fire-balloon, took fire at 

 the height of 1200 yards, and they fell to the 

 ground and were dashed to pieces. 



M. Blanchard, in August, made an aerial voy- 

 age from Lisle, to the distance of 300 miles, before 

 he descended. He had also a parachute attached 

 to his car; with this he dropped a dog, which de- 

 scended gently and without injury. 



The rage for aerostatic experiment now almost 

 entirely subsided; and the French were the only 

 people who paid any attention to it during the 

 period of the late war. They employed it for 

 reconnoitring in the army ; and it is said that they 

 gained the battle of Fleurus through information 

 obtained in this way. 



Notwithstanding the numerous ascents that have 

 been made in various countries, scarcely any con- 



