148 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
failed, and neither the strength of liuman 
muscles, the power of steam or the force of 
more subtle agents, like electricity, have 
been found equal to the demand. But 
as soon as the balloon was invented it 
was seen at once that here was a means 
of supporting any required weight with 
^^^^^^^^ 
FLYING WHEEL. 
safety and certainty, and the most ex- 
travagant hopes were entertained in re- 
gard to its ultimate success. It was seen 
^t once, however, that this success was 
delusive, and that no balloon could ever 
be made a useful means of transport 
l)etween any two given points, simply 
because its great bulk and the entire ab- 
sence of any means of guiding it, left it at 
the mercy of the winds. The conditions 
Tinder which a ship can be sailed within 
one or two points of the wind's e^^e are 
very different from those which obtain 
ill the case of the balloon. In the case of 
the ship, while the sails are acted on by 
the wind, the hull, and especially the 
rudder, are immersed in a heavy liquid 
whose great resistance makes it easy to 
guide the ship. In the case of the balloon 
we have nothing of the kind ; it is im- 
possible to use a rudder with a balloon — 
^ittempts have therefore been made to 
steer the balloon by means of mechanical 
propellers, but without success. There 
has always been too much balloon and 
too little propeller. 
Any one who will carefully study the 
subject in the light of sound mechanical 
principles will see that the only thing 
necessary to insure success for tlie flying 
machine is the invention of a motor of 
vastly greater power in proportion to its 
weight than anything we now have. 
As soon as this is invented flying will be- 
come a comparatively easy matter. But 
until that has been done, flying machines 
are an impossibility— just as locomotives 
and steamboats were an imi:)Ossibility so 
long as the only steam engines were the 
ponderous affairs of Papin and Newcomen. 
We have dwelt upon this subject because 
we know that it has a peculiar fascination 
for young minds, and many of our readers 
may devote themselves to the invention 
of a flying machine. We hope that before 
spending time and money on the subject 
they will carefully study the points we 
have discussed. In any case, from such 
study nothing but good can come. 
Solomon and the Blacksmith. 
THERE is a legend told of the wise 
king Solomon, which was recently 
republished in the BlacksmWi and Wheel- 
tcriglit, that is interesting and instructive, 
and from which a moral may be drawn, 
as it shows how dependent the arts are on 
one another. We do not exactly agree 
with the idea intended to be conveyed by 
the story that the blacksmith is the "all- 
important," for it requires other arts than 
his to prepare the materials and ap- 
pliances to work with ; nevertheless, the 
story has a moral which our readers will 
easily discover : — 
Among all mechanics the blacksmith 
undoubtedly has reason to be proud of 
his position, and in the recognition which 
history says he received at the hands of 
the wise king, there is applied the recog- 
nition which in one way or another, al- 
though seldom expressed, he received at 
the hands of modern mechanics. There 
is no trade or handicraft that is inde- 
pendent of the blacksmith, which fact 
lends additional interest to the following 
legend : 
