A E R 



A E R 



Mr. Bobv, ma<Jc Ills third aerial voyage v ith tlie fame in- 

 flammable !iir-b:illoon, al Koiitn ; and afcended lo high 

 as to make the mcrcuiy iii the baronirtcr fall 4, 76 inclits, 

 and the thermnmcttT 40*^. In two hours and a quarter 

 they floated 45 miles, or, at the rale of twenty miles an 

 hour. In this voyage Mr. IJlanchard conceived, that by 

 agitating the wings of his boat he could not only afcend 

 and di-lcend, but move fidcways againll the wind ; but lub- 

 ftquent trials do not feem to have eftabliflicd this faft. 

 'I'hc machine retained its %iir during the night, and feveral 

 ladies amufcd thcmfelvcs the next day, by afcending with it 

 to the height of 80 feet, the length of the ropes to which it 

 wiii attached. 



In the courfe of this fummer two pcrfons, one in Spain, 

 and anollier in America, were in danger oi lofmg their lives 

 by afcending with rarefied air-machines. The former was 

 fcorchcd by the machine's taking iire, and fo hurt by his 

 fall, that his life was long defpaired of; and the latter was 

 »vafted againil the wall of a houfe, and fo entangled, that he 

 fell from the height of about twenty feet, and the machine 

 took fire, and was confumcd. 



In the month of Auguft the Abbe Carnus, profefTor of 

 philofophy, and M. Louchet, profefTor of belles letters, af- 

 cendcd at Rodez, a town of Guienne in France, with an 

 aeroftatic machine of 57 feet in diameter. The air was 

 calm, and the machine did not travel farther than about 

 14900 yards in 46 minutes ; and the height to which it af- 

 ccndcd was 3920 yards above the level of the town. The 

 thennometer was 34 degrees lower than it was at the earth 

 when they afcended. On examining the air in one of two 

 bottles, which they had filled at their highcll elevation, 

 they found that it contained a quarter lefs air than if it had 

 been filled at about the level of the lea ; and the air, tried 

 by the tell ot nitrcnis air, was found more pure than that 

 near the furface of the earth. 



The firll aerial voyage in England was performed in 

 London, on the 15th of September, by Vincent Lunardi, a 

 native of Italy. His balloon was made of oiled filk, painted 

 in alternate flripes of blue and red. Its diameter was 33 

 feet. From a net which went over about two-thirds of 

 the balloon, dcfcended 45 cords to a hoop hanging below 

 t!ie balloon, and to which the gallery was attached. The 

 balloon had no valve ; and its neck, which terminated in 

 the form of a pear, was the aperture through which the in- 

 flammable air was introduced, and through which it might 

 be let out. The air for fiUuig the balloon was produced 

 from zinc by means of diluted vitriohc acid. Mr. Lunardi 

 departed from the Artillery-ground at two o'clock ; and 

 with him were a dog, a cat, and a pigeon. After throwing 

 cut fome fand to clear the houfes, he afcended to a great 

 beight. The direiftion of his motion at firfl was north-well 

 by weft, but as the balloon rofe higher, it fell into anotlier 

 current of air, which carried it nearly north. About half 

 after three he defcended very near the ground, and landed 

 the cat, which was almoft dead with cold : then rifmg, he 

 profecutcd his voyage. He afcribes his defcent to the ac- 

 tion of an oar ; but as lie was under the necefllty of throw- 

 ing out ballaft in order to re-afcend, his defcent was more 

 probably occafioned by the lols of intlanimable air. At 

 ten minutes pafl four he defcended on a meadow near Ware 

 in Hcrtfordfhire. The only philofophical inllrument which 

 he carried with him was a thermometer, which in the courfe 

 of his voyage flood as low as 29°, and he obferved that 

 the drops of water which collefted round the balloon were 

 frozen. 



The longefl and the mofl interefling voyage, which was 

 performed about this time, was that of MefTrs. Roberts and 



2 



^f. Collin Hnllln, nt Paris, on the 19th of September. 

 Their aeroflat was filled with inflammable air. Its diame- 

 ter was iji feet, and its length 46I feet, and it \\a* 

 made to float with its longefl part parallel to the horizon, 

 with a boat of nearly 17 feet long attached to a net that 

 went over it as far as its middle. To the boat were an- 

 nexed wings or oars, in the form of an umbrella. At 

 1 2 o'clock they afcended with 450 pounds of ballull-, 

 and after various manoeuvres defcended at 40 minutes pail 

 fix o'clock near Arras, iu Artois, having fliU 200 pounds 

 of their ballafl remaining in the boat. Having rifcn about 

 1400 feet, they perceived flormy clouds which they 

 endeavomed to avoid ; but the current of air was uniform 

 from the height of 600 to 4200 feet. The barometer on 

 the coafl of the fea was 29,61 inches, and funk to 23,94 

 inches. They found that by working with their oars, they 

 accelerated their courfe. In the proiecution of their voy- 

 age, which was i JO miles, they heard two claps of thunder ; 

 and tlie cold occafioned by the approach of flormy clouds 

 made the thermometer fall from 77"^ to 59*^, and condenfed 

 the inflammable air in the balloon, fo as to make it delcend 

 very low. From fome experiments they concluded, that 

 they were able by the ufe of two oars to deviate from the 

 dircclion of the v/ind about 22°. But this experiment re- 

 quires repetition, in order to afcertain with accuracy the ef- 

 fect here afcribed to oars. 



The fecond aerial voyage in England was performed by 

 Mr. Blanchard and M. Sheldon, profefTor of anatomy to 

 the Royal Academy, the firft Englilhman who afcended 

 with an aeroftatic machine. This experiment was perform- 

 ed at Chelfea on the i6th of Oftober. The wings ufed on 

 this occafion fecmed to have produced no deviation in the 

 machuie's tracks from the direflion of the wind. Mr. 

 Blanchard, having landed his friend about the dillance of 

 14 miles from Chelfea, proceeded alone with different cur- 

 rents ; and afcended fo high as to experience great difficulty 

 of breathing : a pic;eon alfo, which flew away from the 

 be)at, laboured for fome time with its wings, in order to 

 fuftam itfelf in the rarefied air, and after wandering for a 

 good while returned and refled on one fide of the boat. 

 Mr. Blanchard perceiving the fea before him defcended near 

 Rumfey, about 75 miles from London, having travelled at 

 the rate of nearly 20 miles an hour. 



On the 12th of Oftober, Mr. Sadler, of Oxford, made 

 a voyage of 14 miles from that place in 17 minutes, with 

 an inflammable air-balloon of his own contrivance and con- 

 Itruftion. 



Mr. Blanchard's fifth aerial voyage was performed from 

 London on the 30th of November, in company with Dr. 

 J. JefTerics, a native of America. This voyage was about 

 twenty-one miles. It does not appear that they derived any 

 advantage from their oars in direfting the courfe of the bal- 

 loon. 



On the 4th of Januai-y, 1785, Mr. Harper afcended 

 with an inflammable air-balloon from Binningham : he 

 went to the diftance of 50 miles in about an hour and a 

 quarter, and found no inconveniences befide fuch as m.ight 

 be expetled -from the changes of wet and cold, and a tem- 

 porary deafnefs. The thermometer defcended from 40° to 

 28°. 



On the 7th of January, Mr. Blanchard, accompanied by 

 Dr. Jefferies, departed with the balloon, which had carried 

 him five times through the air, from Dover-caflle towards 

 the French coafl. In their paffage they were under a 

 neceffity of throwing away every thing which they had with 

 theni in the boat, and to part even with their clothes, in 

 order to prevent the baljoon from falling into the fea : but 



