ON AERIAL NAVIGATION. | ()5 



Since the days of Bishop Wilkins the scheme of {lying Artificial wings 



by artilical wines has been much ridiculed; and indeed the attachcd to the 



, ? , *>, ' " arms cannot 



idea of attaching wings to the arms of a man is ridiculous answer. 



enough, as the pectoral muscles of a bird occupy more 

 than two thirds of its whole muscular strength, whereas in 

 man the muscles, that could operate upon wings thus at- 

 tached, would probably not exceed one tenth of his whole 

 mass. There is no proof that, weight for weight, a man is 

 comparatively weaker than a bird ; it is therefore probable, But the whole 

 if he can be made to exert his whole strength advantage- ^"fLj? /, 



V* ™ III til) appirJCl 10 



ously upon a light surface similarly proportioned to his a machine 

 weight as that of the wing to the bird, that he would fly md) ' 

 like the bird, and the ascent of Mr. Degen is a sufficient 

 proof of the truth of this statement. 



The flight of a strong man by great muscular exertion, Confident ex- 

 though a curious and interesting circumstance, in as much P ectaUo " Q f its 



. . „ . . accomplish- 



as it will probably be the first means of ascertaining this mem. 



power, and supplying the basis whereon to improve it, 

 would be of little use. T feel perfectly confident, however, 

 that this noble art will soon be brought home to man's ge- 

 neral convenience, and that we shall be able to transport 

 ourselves and ''families, and their grods and chattels, more 

 securely by air than by water, and with a velocity of from 

 20 to 100 miles per hour. 



To produce this effect, it is only necessary to have a first First mover 

 mover, which will generate more power in a given time, in > e qui*ue. 

 proportion to its weight, than the animal system of mus- 

 cles. 



The consumption of coal in a Eoulton and Watt's steam Steam artgrae. 

 engine is only about of lbs. per hour for the power of one 

 horse. The heat produced by the combustion of this por- 

 tion of inflammable matter is the sole cause o*' the power 

 generated ; but it is applied through the intervention oi" a 

 weight of water expanded into vteam, and a still greater 

 weight of cold water to condense it again. The engine it- 

 self likewise must be massy enough to resist the whole ex- 

 ternal pressure of the atmosphere, and therefore is not ap- 

 plicable to the purpose proposed. Steam engines have lately 

 been made to operate by expansion only, and those might 

 -be constructed so as to be light enough for this purpose, 



provided 



