AEROSTATION. 
being lighted, and the machine inflated, M. 
P. de Rozier placed himself in the gallery, 
and ascended, to the astonishment of a mul- 
titude of spectators, to the height of 84 feet 
from the ground and there kept the machine 
afloat diuing 4' 25", by repeatedly throwing 
straw and wool upon the fire : the machine 
then descended gradually and gently, 
through a medium of increasing density, to 
the ground; and the intrepid adventurer 
assured the spectators that he had not ex- 
perienced the least inconvenience in this 
aerial excursion. This experiment was re- 
peated on the 17th and on the 19th, when 
M. P. de Rozier, in his descent, and in order 
to avoid danger by reascending, evinced to 
a multitude of observers, that the machine 
may be made to ascend and descend at the 
pleasure of the aeronaut, by merely increas- 
ing or diminishing the fire in the grate. The 
balloon having been hauled down, M. G:- 
raude de Villiette placed himself in the gal- 
lery opposite to M. Rozier ; and being suf- 
fered to ascend, it hovered for about nine 
minutes over Paris in the sight of all its in- 
habitants at the height of about 330 feet. 
In another experiment the Marquis of Ar- 
landes ascended with M. Rozier much in 
the same manner. In consequence of the 
report of the preceding experiment, signed 
by the commissaries of the Academy of 
Sciences, it was ordered that the annual 
prize of 600 livres should be given to Messrs. 
Montgolfier for the year 1783. In the ex- 
periments above recited the machine was 
secured by ropes ; but they were soon suc- 
ceeded by unconfined aerial navigation. 
Accordingly the balloon of 74 feet in height, 
above mentioned, was removed to a royal 
palace in the Bois de Boulogne : and all 
things being ready, on the 21st of November 
M. P. de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlan- 
des took their respective posts in the gallery, 
and at 54 minutes after one the machine 
was absolutely abandoned to the element, 
and ascended calmly and majestically in 
the atmosphere. The aeronauts having 
reached the height of about 280 feet, waved 
their hats to the astonished multitude : but 
they soon rose too high to be distinguished, 
and are thought to have soar ed to an eleva- 
tion of above 3000 feet. They were at first 
driven by a north-west wind horizontally 
over the river Seine and over Paris, taking 
care to clear the steeples and high buildings 
by increasing the fire; and in rising met 
with a current of air, which carried them 
southward. Having passed the Boulevard, 
and desisting from supplying the fire with 
VOL. I. 
fuel, they descended very gently in a field 
beyond the New Boulevard, about 9000 
yards distant from the palace, having been 
in the air about 25 minutes. The weight of 
the whole apparatus, including that of the 
two travellers, was between 1600 and 1700 
pounds. Notwithstanding the rapid pro- 
gress of aerostation in France, we have no 
authentic account of the aerostatic experi- 
ments performed in other countries till 
about the close of the year 1783. The first 
experiment of this kind, publicly exhibited 
in our own country, was performed in Lon- 
don on the 25th of November, by Count 
Zambeccari, an ingenious Italian, with a 
baloon of oil silk, 10 feet in diameter, and 
weighing 1 1 pounds. It was gilt, in order 
to render it more beautiful and more imper- 
meable to the gas. This balloon, three- 
fourths of which wpre filled with inflammable 
air, was launched from the Artillery-Ground 
in the presence of a vast concourse of spec- 
tators, at one o’clock in the afternoon, and 
at half past three was taken up near Pet- 
worth, in Sussex, 48 miles distant from Lon- 
don; so that it travelled at the rate of nearly 
20 miles an hour. Its descent was occasioned 
by a rent, which must have been the effect 
of the rarefaction of the inflammable air, 
when the balloon ascended to the lighter 
parts of the atmosphere. 
Aerostatic experiments and aerial voyages 
became so frequent in the course of the year 
1784, that the limits of this article will not 
allow our particularly recording them. We 
shall, therefore, merely mention those which 
were attended with any peculiar circum- 
stances. Messrs, de Morveau and Bertrand 
ascended from Dijon in April, to the height 
of about 13,000 feet, with an inflammable 
air balloon : the thermometer was observed 
to stand at 25 degrees. They were in the 
air during an hour and 25 minutes, and went 
to the distance of about eighteen miles. 
The clouds floated beneath them, and se- 
cluded them from the earth: and they 
jointly repeated the motto inscribed on their 
aerostat : — “ Surgit nunc gallus ad aethera.” 
In May, four ladies and two gentlemen as- 
cended with a Montgolfier at Paris above 
the highest buildings : the machine was con- 
fined by ropes. It was 74 feet high, and 72 
in diameter. In a second voyage, performed 
by Mr. Blanchard from Rouen in May, it 
was observed, that his wings and oars could 
not carry him in any other direction than 
that of the wind. The mercury in the ba- 
rometer descended as low as 20.57 inches; 
D 
