INTRODUCTION. 
HE problem of flying is the problem of the 
ages:—towards its folution the hearts and 
hopes of men have fteadily fet through all 
the generations. Who has not dreamed 
of flying ? That he flew ? And the delight! And is it 
but a dream ? Has this yearning of the human heart, 
coming down to us through all the centuries, through 
all hiftory, all tradition: an inftindt like that for im¬ 
mortality ; a born prophecy within us; has it been given 
to us, never to be gratified—never to be fulfilled ? The 
embryo foretells a birth, the petal’s folded leaves a flower. 
The rootlet in the dark below the furface of the ground, 
turns from its courfe, obedient to an inftindt that points 
it to the living water that it thirfts for. How could it 
turn were not the waters there ? And will God mock 
the human foul ? Shall all its prophecies prove falfe ? 
Believe it not! He, who is faithful to even the tiny 
rootlet in the earth, will be alfo faithful to the creatures 
