‘ 
1798.] 
and the degree of perfe&tion to which the 
aéronautic art has been carried, are con- 
fpicuous proots of the aflertion. 
This iaft invention, which was at firft 
confidered in foreign countries as nothing 
more than a dance in the air, which was 
laughed at as a {cientific trifle—this in- 
vention of the aéronautic art, which was 
indeed looked on as avery curious though 
utterly ufelefs experiment in natural phi- 
lofophy, has neverthelefs, during the 
prefent war, been productive of raterial , 
advantages to France. The affembled 
armies of her enemies have witnefled thofe 
advantages, and the gaining of the battle 
of Fleurus was the coniequence. 
The impoffibility of iteering the aerial 
veflel, an objection a thoufand times re- 
peated, certainly cannot be denied: and 
thofe natural philofophers who are the 
moft fuccefsfully- employed in carrying 
the aéronautic art to perfection, have 
themfelves Jong fince acknowledged the 
difficulty. But, to attain the object 
which they have in view, they do not re- 
quire that high degree of perfection ; nor 
are they mad enough to waite their time 
in purinit of it. 
The aéroftatic inftitute, founded by 
the committee of public fafety, and en- 
veloped in the moft profound fecrecy at 
Meudon, to which alfo was added a camp 
for the exercife of the artillery, is even 
yet looked upon as a fecret arrangement 
of the republic, refpecting which the 
greateft precautions are taken ; the doors 
being fhut againft the public and all fo- 
reigners. 
It was impoffible to have felected a 
more convenient {pot for the eftablifhment 
of the aéronautic inftitute than the royal 
lodge of Meudon. From its elevated fite 
on a mountain, it commands a beautiful 
and extenfive prof{peét over a plain covered 
with villages and cultivated fields, inter- 
feed by the Seine, and terminated by 
the city of Paris. ~ 
‘The perfection and the rational appli- 
cation of aeronautics are the objeéts of the 
labours of this eftablifhment, to which 
the celebrated natural philolopher Guiton- 
Morveau has in particular rendered the 
moft important fervices. But the infti- 
tution ftood in need of fuch a director as 
Conté, for whom Guiton-Morveau has 
procured the appointment. With a love 
of the f{cience. Conté unites a penetrating 
genius for yefearch and invention, accom- 
panied by indefatigable affiduity. 
The corps of aéronauts, intended to 
ferve in the armies of the republic, and 
conhiting of fifty courageous youths, is 
French Aéroftatic Inftitute. 
337 
trained at the {chool of Meudon: it is 
there the balloons are prepared which are 
fent off to the armies; and every day ip 
{ummer the pupils are employed, at one 
time in performing their exercifes, at 
another in making refearches in natural 
philoiophy, with a balloon which is kept 
conftantly filled for the purpofe. 
The improvement in the preparation of 
the balloon, the difcovery of a new mode 
of filling it with inflammable air from the 
fubftance of water (hydrogen gas), difco- 
vered by Layoifier, the invention of a 
new telegraph, connefted with the bal- 
loon, are the principal advances which 
have been made in aéroftatics at Meudoa 
under the direétion of Conté. 
The old lodge of Meudon ferves as a 
manufactory for the preparation of the 
balloons, and of all the apparatus ne- 
cellary to accompany them to the armies, 
The new lodge is appropriated to the in- 
ftitute, and to the accommodation of the 
pupils, and of the dire€tor and his family, 
There were prepared the Extreprenaut for 
the army of the north, by means of which 
the hoftile army was reconnoitred at the 
battle of Fleurus; the Cé/effe for the arm 
of the Sambre and Maele; the Hercule 
and the Intrépide for the army of the 
Rhine and Molelle. 
The filk for‘ the, balloons is manufac-~ 
tured at Lyons, and is very thick and 
{trong :; and Conté has rendered them 
much more durable by the precaution of 
only varnifhing the outer. furface.. The 
varnith is of an excellen quality ; it faf- 
ficiently hardens the outfide, and does not 
make the filk ftick together when the 
balloon is folded. Moreover experience 
has. proved that the inner coat of varnifla 
cannot refift the operation of filling the 
balloon, that it is corroded by the gas, and 
that this frigtion renders the filk flabby. | 
The filling of the balloon with hydro- 
gen gas is the refult of the difcoveries 
made by the great Lavoilier, and has for 
its bafis his important experiment of the 
decompofition of water. The gas is pre- 
pared by the following fimple and unex- 
pentive procefs. 
Six or more hollow iron cylinders are 
fet in brick work, befide and over each 
other in a furnace which may be conftruc- 
ted in twelve hours; and both ends of 
each cylinder are made to project from 
the furnace. The openings of thefe cy- 
linders are ftopped with {trong iron covers, 
through which metal tubes are let in. 
The tube at one end ferves for pouring 
water, previoufly heated, into the cy- 
linders when red-hot ; that on the oppo- 
hte 
 ——————EEEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEorwr 
SS eee eee 
——S Ee eee ee 
