AEROSTATION. 



have happened to some of the aeronauts 

 in our own country, have been owing-, not 

 so much to the principle of the art, as to 

 want of judgment, or imprudent manage- 

 ment in the conduct of it. 



Omitting 1 the various uninteresting 1 , 

 though not very numerous, aerial voyages 

 undertaken in various parts of the world, 

 during the 17 years subsequent to the 

 above-mentioned dreadful accident of Pi- 

 latre de llozier and Mr. Romain, we shall 

 only add the account of two aerostatic ex- 

 periments lately performed in England by 

 Mr. Garnerin, a French aeronaut. The 

 first of these is remarkable for the very 

 great velocity of its motion ; the second 

 for the exhibition of u mode of leaving 1 

 the balloon, and of descending with safe- 

 ty to the ground. On the 30th of June, 

 1802, the wind being strong, though not 

 impetuous, Mr. Garnerin and another 

 gentleman ascended with an inflammable 

 air, or hydrogen gas, balloon, from Rane- 

 lagh gardens, on the south-west of Lon 

 don, between four and five o'clock in tke 

 afternoon ; and in exactly three quarters 

 of an hour they descended near the sea, 

 at the distance of four miles from Col- 

 chester. The distance of that place from 

 Ra.jelagh is 60 miles ; therefore they tra- 

 veUed at the astonishing rate of 80 miles 

 per hour. It seems that the balloon had 

 power enough to keep them up four or 

 fi\e hours longer, in which time they 

 might have gone safely to the continent; 

 but prudence induced them to descend 

 when they discovered the sea not far off. 

 The singular experiment of ascending 

 into the atmosphere with a balloon, and 

 of descending with a machine called a 

 parachute, was performed by Mr. Garne- 

 rin on rhe 21st of September, 1802. He 

 ascended from St. George's parade, 

 North Audley street, and descended safe 

 into a field near the small-pox hospital, at 

 Panci as. The balloon was of the usual 

 sort, viz. of oiled silk, with a net, from 

 which ropes proceeded, which terminated 

 in or were joined to a single rope at a few 

 feet below the balloon. To this rope the 

 parachute was fastened in the following 

 manner. The reader may easily form to 

 himself an idea of this parachute, by ima- 

 gining a large umbrella of canvass, about 

 30 feet in d'iameter, but destitute of the 

 ribs and handle. Several ropes of about 30 

 feet in length, which proceeded from the 

 edge of the parachute, terminated in a 

 common joining, from which shorter 

 ropes proceeded, to the extremities of 

 which a circular basket was fastened, and 

 in this basket Mr. Garnerin placed him- 



self. The single rope passed through a 

 hole in the centre of the parachute, also 

 through certain tin tubes, which were 

 placed one after the other, in the place of 

 the handle or stick of an umbrella, and 

 was lastly fastened to the basket ; so that, 

 when the balloon was in the air, by cut- 

 ting the end of the rope next to the bas- 

 ket, the parachute with the basket would 

 be separated from the balloon, and in 

 falling downwards would be naturally 

 opened by the resistance of the air. The 

 use of the tin tubes was, to let the rope 

 slip off with greater certainty, and to pre- 

 vent its being entangled with any of the 

 other ropes, as also to keep the parachute 

 at a distance from the basket. The bal- 

 loon began to be filled about two o'clock. 

 There were 36 casks filled with iron filings, 

 and diluted sulphuric acid, for the pro- 

 duction of the hydrogen gas. These 

 communicated with three other casks, or 

 general receivers, to each of which was 

 fixed a tube, that emptied itself into the. 

 main tube attached to the balloon. At 

 six, the balloon being quite full of gas, 

 and the parachute, &c. being attached to 

 it, Mr. Garnerin placed himself in the 

 basket, and ascended majestically, amidst 

 the acclamations of innumerable specta- 

 tors. The weather was the clearest and 

 pleasantest imaginable ; the wind was 

 gentle, and about west by south ; in con- 

 sequence of which Mr. Garnerin went in 

 the direction of nearly east by north. In 

 about eight minutes the balloon and para- 

 chute had ascended to an immense height, 

 and Mr. Garnerin, in the basket, could 

 scarcely be perceived. While every 

 spectator was contemplating the grand 

 sight before them, Mr. Garaerin cut the 

 rope, and in an instant he was separated 

 from the balloon, trusting his safety to 

 the parachute. At first, viz. before the 

 parachute opened, he fell with great ve- 

 locity ; but as soon as the parachute was 

 expanded, which took place a few mo- 

 ments after, the descent became very 

 gentle and gradual. A remarkable cir- 

 cumstance was observed ; namely, that 

 the parachute, with the appendage of 

 cords and basket, soon began to vibrate 

 like the pendulum of a clock, and the vi- 

 brations were so great, that more than 

 once the parachute, and the basket with 

 Mr. Garnerin, seemed to be on the same 

 level, or quite horizontal : however, the 

 extent of the vibrations diminished as he 

 descended. On coming to the earth, Mr. 

 Garnerin experienced some pretty strong 

 shocks ; but he soon recovered his spirits, 

 and remained without anv material, hurt. 



