AEROSTATION. 
/ilver in the barometer at 30'18 inches; and, by means 
of the power of afcent with which they left the ground, 
the ballooh rofe till the mercury fell to twenty-feven inch¬ 
es, from which they calculated their height to be about 
600 yards. By throwing out ballaft occalipnally as they 
found the machine defcending by the efcape of fome of 
the inflammable air, they found it practicable to Ipeep at 
pretty near the fame diftance from the earth during the 
reft of their voyage; the quicklilver fluctuating between 
27-0 and 27-65 inches, and the thermometer between 53 0 
and 57 0 , the whole time. They continued in the air for 
the (pace of an hour and three quarters, when they alight¬ 
ed at the diftance of twenty-feven miles from Paris; hav¬ 
ing fuffered no inconvenience during their voyage, nor ex¬ 
perienced any contrary currents of air, as had been felt 
by Meftrs. Pilatre and Arlandes. As the balloon ftill re- . 
tained a great quantity of inflammable gas, M. Charles 
determined to take another voyage by himfelf. M. Ro¬ 
bert accordingly got out of the boat, which was thus 
lightened by 130 pounds, and of confequence the aerofta- 
tic machine now had nearly as much power of afcent. 
Thus he was carried up with fuch velocity, that in twen¬ 
ty minutes he was almoft 9000 feet high, and entirely out 
of fight of terreftrial objects. At the moment of his part¬ 
ing w ith the ground, the globe had been rather flaccid ; 
but it foon began to fwell, and the inflammable air efca- 
ped from it in great quantity through the filken tube. He 
alfo frequently drew the valve, that it might be the more 
freely emitted, and the balloon effectually prevented from 
burfting. The inflammable gas, being confiderably warm¬ 
er than the external air, diffufed itfelf all round, and was 
felt like a warm atmofphere; but in ten minutes the ther¬ 
mometer indicated a variation of temperature as great as 
that between the warmth of fpring and the ordinary cold 
of winter. His fingers were benumbed by the cold, and 
he felt a violent pain in his right ear and jaw, which he 
afcribed to the dilatation of the air in thefe organs as well 
as to the external cold. The beauty of the profpeCt 
which he now enjoyed, however, made amends for thefe 
inconveniences. At his departure the fun was fet on the 
valleys; but the height to which M. Charles was got in 
the atmofphere rendered him again vilible, though only 
for a ftiort time. He faw, for a few' feconds, vapours ri- 
fing from the valleys and rivers. The clouds feemed to 
afeend from the earth, and colleCt one upon the other, 
ftill preferving their ufual form ; only their colour was 
grey and monotonous for want of fufficient light in the at¬ 
mofphere. By the light of the moon he perceived that 
the machine was turning round with him in the air; and 
he obferved that there were contrary currents which 
brought him back again. He obferved alfo, with fur- 
prife, the effeCts of the wind, and that the ftreamers of 
his banners pointed upwards; which, he fays, could not 
be the effeCt either of his afcent or defeent, as he was 
moving horizontally at the time. Atlaft, recollecting his 
promife of returning to his friends in half an hour, he 
pulled the valve, and accelerated his defeent. When 
within 200 feet of the earth, he threw out two or three 
pounds of ballaft, which rendered the balloon again fta- 
tionary; but, in a little time afterwards, he gently alight¬ 
ed in a field about three miles diftant from the place whence 
he fet out; though, by making allowances for all the 
turnings and windings of the voyage, he fuppofes that he 
had gone through nine miles at leali. By the calculations 
of M. de Maumer, he rofe at this time not lefs than 10,500 
feet high; a height fomewhat greater than that of Mount 
./Etna. A fmall balloon, which had been fentoff before 
the two brothers fet out on their voyage, took a direction 
oppofite to that of the large one, having met with an op- 
ppute current of air, probably at a much greater height. 
The fubfequent aerial voyages differ fo little from that 
juft now related, that any particular defeription of them 
Seems to be fuperfluous. It had occurred to M. Charles, 
however, in his laft flight, that there might be a poftibi- 
lity of' directing the machine in the atmofphere; and this 
167 
was foon attempted by M. Jean Pierre Blanchard, a gen¬ 
tleman who had, for feveral years before, amufed himfelf 
with endeavours to fly by mechanical means, though he 
had never fucceeded in the undertaking. As foon as. the 
difeovery of the aeroftatic machines was announced, how¬ 
ever, he refolved to add the wings of his former machine 
to a balloon, and made no doubt that it would then be in 
his power to direCt himfelf through the air at pleafure. 
In his firft attempt he was fruftrated by the impetuofity of 
a young gentleman, who infifted, right or wrong, on af- 
cending along with him. In the fcufiie which enfued on 
this occafion, the wings and other apparatus were entirely 
deftroyed; fo that M. Blanchard was obliged to commit 
himfelf to the direction of the wind ; and in another at¬ 
tempt it was found, that all the ftrength he could apply to 
the wings was fcarcely fufficient to counteract the impref- 
fion of the wind in any degree. In his voyage, he found 
his balloon, at a certain period, aCted upon by two con-^ 
trary winds; but, on throwing out four pounds of ballaft,, 
he afeended to a place where he met with the fame cur¬ 
rent he had at fetting out from the earth. His account 
of the fenfations lie felt during this voyage was fomewhat 
different from that of M. Charles; having, in one part of 
it, found the atmofphere very warm, in another cold ; and 
having once found himfelf very hungry, and at another 
time almoft: overcome by a propenfity to ileep. The height 
to which he arofe, as meafured by feveral obfervations 
with mathematical inftrumenfs, was thought to be very- 
little lefs than 10,000 feet; and he remained in the atmof¬ 
phere an hour and a quarter. 
The attempts of M. Blanchard to direCt his machine 
through the atmofphere were repeated in the month of 
April, 1784, by Meftrs. Morveau and Bertrand, at Dijon, 
who railed themfelves in an inflammable air-balloon to 
the height, as it was thought, of 13,000 feet; paffing 
through a fpace of eighteen miles in an hour and twenty- 
five minutes. M. Morveau had prepared a kind of oars 
for directing the machine through the air; but they were 
damaged by a guff of wind, fo that only two of them re¬ 
mained ferviceable; by working thefe, however, they 
were able to produce a fenlible eff’eCt on the motion of the 
machine. 
In a third aerial voyage performed by M. Blanchard, 
he feemed to produce fome efteCt by the agitation of his 
wings, both in afeending, defcending, moving fidevvays, 
and even in fome meafure againft the wind ; however, this 
is fuppofed, with fome probability, to have been a mif- 
take, as, in all his fucceeding voyages, the efteCts of his 
machinery could not be perceived. 
The fuccefs of Melfrs. Charles and Robert in their 
former experiments encouraged them foon to repeat them, 
with the addition of fome machinery to direCt their courfe. 
Having enlarged their former balloon to an oblong fphe- 
roid, forty-fix feet and three-quarters long and twenty- 
feven and a half in diameter, they made it to float with its 
longeft part parallel to the horizon. The wings' were 
made in the ftiape of an umbrella without the handle, to 
tfie top of which a (tick was faftened parallel to the aper¬ 
ture of the umbrella. Five of thefe were difpofed round 
the boat, which was near feventeen feet in length. The 
balloon was filled in three hours, and, with the addition 
of 450 pounds of ballaft, remained in cequilibno with the 
atmofphere. About noon, on the 19th of September, 
1784, they began to afeend very gently in confequence of 
throwing out twenty-four pounds of ballaft, but were 
foon obliged to throw out eight pounds more in order to 
avoid running againft fome trees. Thus they rofe to the 
height of 1400 feet, when they perceived fome thunder¬ 
clouds near the horizon. . On this they afeended and de- 
fcended, to avoid the danger, as the wind biew direCtly 
towards the threatening clouds; but, from the height of 
600 feet to that of 4200 above the furface of the earth, 
the current was quite uniform and in one direction. Du¬ 
ring their voyage they loft one of their oars; but found, 
that by means of thofe which remained they confiderably 
accelerated 
