504 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Mr. Haskell. — There has been a patent taken lately for a life-hoat with 

 all appliances within itself. It is 32 feet long, carries 32 passengers, has a 

 propeller in the centre, worked by crank handles, and is intended to be 

 kept ready on shipboard for any emergency, 



Mr. Stewart noticed a new invention of the past summer, a mattress 

 made of common cane ; it is light, buoyant, and cheap. 



The subject of Aeronautics being then called up, Mr. Stewart apologized 

 for not being ready with his paper. The death of Washington Irving 

 called him out of town. He had the unfinished paper in his pocket, and 

 "would read it another night ; now he preferred to make viva voce remarks. 



The experiments tried with balloons, the money and ingenuity expended 

 on their construction, have demonstrated they can never be used, except for 

 special observation ; never for the transportation of freight or passengers. 

 All efforts heretofore made to guide balloons have proved failures. In con- 

 senting to read a paper on the subject, it was my intention to have the 

 character of the Club and of the Institute used, to frown down all such 

 foolish attempts, so often made, where life and health are trifled with by 

 unscientific enthusiasts. At the request of the inventor's wife, I, and seve- 

 ral scientific men, went to Hobokeu, some time ago, to take down the cigar 

 boat ; and I have since several times used my efforts to dissuade men from 

 such chimeras. Mr. Lowe was certainly sincere in his undertaking, and 

 would risk his life and property. We should dissuade such enthusiasts 

 from ruining their families. With these views I consented to read a paper, 



Mr. Tillman wished to bring the subject down to the two following pro- 

 positions ; 



1. It is impossible to navigate the air by the aid of balloons. If any 

 one crosses the Atlantic it will be by chance. 



2. It is possible to make a car which can be propelled through the air, 

 but is not itself buoyant. 



Mr. Seeley. — If gas could be cheaply procured and preserved in balloons, 

 they might be of some ube ; but hydrogen cannot be confined ; it will pass 

 through paper as if nothing were to obstruct it ; it will even pass through 

 gold foil. Air is thirteen tinies heavier than hydrogen, which, as soon as 

 discovered, about 177G, was at once suggested for balloons; but nothing 

 could be found to confine it except soap bubbles. It is so subtile that ifc 

 permeates everything. They succeeded in making balloons with paper and 

 cotton cloth, but these soon came down. Now India-rubber varnish can be 

 employed, but the gas so soon escapes that no man dare venture on a jour- 

 ney of three or four days. The little French balloons are made of sheet 

 India-rubber, so cut that the edges cement themselves again. I could not 

 get rubber of uniform thickness until a friend gave me some, such as is used 

 for making Mackintosh cloth. When the balloons are formed they can then 

 be vulcanized ; but still the gas escapes in a little time. Varnish or any- 

 thing else that increases the thickness of the balloon, lessens the liability 

 of leakage, but they also increase the weight, which is a serious evil. 

 Colodion balloons are made in a Florence flask by pouring in a little colo- 



