l8o THE REIGN OF LAW. 



essential to their flight. Yet there is a real impedi- 

 ment in the way of Man navigating the air — and 

 that is the excessive weight of the only great me- 

 chanical moving powers hitherto placed at his dis- 

 posal. When Science shall have discovered some 

 moving power greatly lighter than any we yet 

 know, in all probability the problem will be solved. 

 But of one thing we may be sure — that if Man 

 is ever destined to navigate the air, it will be in 

 machines formed in strict obedience to the me- 

 chanical laws which have been employed by the 

 Creator for the same purpose in flying animals.* 



* The men of science in France are ahead of the men of science 

 in England upon this subject. There is a Society established in 

 Paris which announces in its very title the true fundamental 

 principle of flight, " Societe d'Encouragement pour la Locomotion 

 Aerienne au moyen d'Appareils plus Lourds que l'Air." The 

 false principle of Buoyancy is thus eliminated and banished from 

 the question. 



