SOARING MACHINES. 



215 



I think that Le Bris in 1867, Mouillard (date unknown), and 

 Lancaster in 1882 all made soaring machines that worked by- 

 means of the soaring vortex, although there is no record of their 



having known or shown that the air in contact with the rear side 



t 

 of the leading edge was at a higher pressure than that on the 



windward side. 



Phillips in 1884 and Montgomery (date unknown) showed that 

 the air at the rear of the front edge of a similar curve to a soar- 

 ing bird's wing was moving downwards, but both of them just 

 stopped short of finding out the high pressure of the vortex. 



Lilienthal found that arched surfaces produced a lift slightly to 

 windward of the zenith, my work published in 1893 being identical 

 with this. 



If there are others who have made soaring machines and showed 

 why they soared, I have omitted to mention them through ignor- 

 ance, but in a matter concerning claim to priority of discovery 

 the credit must go to the man who first publishes his knowledge, 

 and none at all to the one who knew and withheld his information 

 with a view to exploiting humanity. 



