Aeronautics. 



259 



to have a peculiar function assigned to it ; neither is it neces- 

 sary to reproduce the intricacy of that machinery by which 

 the pinion in the bat, insect, and bird is moved : all that is 

 required is to distinguish the properties, form, extent, and 

 manner of application of the several flying surfaces, a task 

 attempted, however imperfectly executed, in the foregoing 

 pages. When Vivian and Trevithick devised the locomo- 

 tive, and Symington and Bell the steamboat, they did 

 not seek to reproduce a quadruped or a fish ; they simply 

 aimed at producing motion adapted to the land and 

 water, in accordance with natural laws, and in the pre- 

 sence of living models. Their success is to be measured by 

 an involved labyrinth of railway which extends to every 

 part of the civilized world ; and by navies whose vessels are 

 despatched without trepidation to navigate the most boisterous 

 seas at the most inclement seasons. The aeronaut has a 

 similar but more difiicult task to perform. In attempting to 

 produce a flying-machine he is not necessarily attempting 

 an impossible thing. The countless swarms of flying crea- 

 tures testify as to the practicability of such an undertaking, 

 and nature supplies him at once with models and materials. 

 If artificial flight were not attainable, the insects, bats, and 

 birds would furnish the only examples of animals whose 

 movements could not be reproduced. History, analogy, 

 observation, and experiment are all opposed to this view. 

 The success of the locomotive and steamboat is an earnest 

 of the success of the flying machine. If the difliculties to 

 be surmounted in its construction are manifold, the triumph 

 and the reward will be correspondingly great. It is impos- 

 sible to over-estimate the boon which would accrue to mankind 

 from such a creation. Of the many mechanical problems before 

 the world at present, perhaps there is none greater than that 

 of aerial navigation. Past failures are not to be regarded 

 as the harbingers of future defeats, for it is only within 

 the last few years that the subject of artificial flight has 

 been taken up in a true scientific spirit. Within a com- 

 paratively brief period an enormous mass of valuable data 

 has been collected. As societies for the advancement of aero- 

 nautics have been established in Britain, America, France, 



