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128
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
13
atmospheric
pressure.
As
for
the
idea
of
making
use
of
a
sail
to
direct
the
balloon,
as
one
directs
a
vessel,
that
also
was
a
delusion;
for
the
whole
machine,
globes
and
sails,
being
freely
thrown
into
the
air,
would
infallibly
follow
the
direction
of
the
wind,
whatever
that
might
be.
When
a
ship
lies
in
the
sea,
and
its
sails
are
inflated
with
the
wind,
we
must
remember
that
there
are
two
forces
in
operation--the
active
force
of
the
wind
and
the
passive
force
of
the
resistance
of
the
water;
and
in
working
these
forces
the
one
against
the
other,
the
sailor
can
turn
within
a
point
of
any
direction
he
pleases.
But
when
we
are
subjected
wholly
to
a
single
force,
and
have
no
point
of
support
by
the
use
of
which
to
turn
that
force
to
our
own
purposes,
as
is
the
case
with
the
aeronaut,
we
are
entirely
at
the
mercy
of
that
force,
and
must
obey
it.
After
the
flying-machine
of
Lana
there
was
constructed
by
Galien
(who,
like
the
former,
was
an
ecclesiastic)
an
air-boat,
less
chimerical
in
its
form,
looked
at
in
view
of
the
conditions
of
aerial
navigation,
but
much
more
singular.
Galien
describes
his
air-boat,
in
1755,
in
his
little
work
entitled,
“The
Art
of
Sailing
in
the
Air.”
His
project
was
a
most
extraordinary
one,
and
its
boldness
is
only
equalled
by
the
seriousness
of
the
narrative.
According
to
him,
the
atmosphere
is
divided
into
two
horizontal
layers,
the
upper
of
which
is
much
lighter
than
the
lower.
“But,”
says
Galien,
“a
ship
keeps
its
place
in
the
water
because
it
is
full
of
air,
and
air
is
much
lighter
than
water.
Suppose,
then,
that
there
was
the
same
difference
of
weight
between
the
upper
and
the
lower
layer
of
air
as
there
is
between
the
lower
stratum
and
water;
and
suppose,
also,
a
boat
which
rested
upon
the
lower
layer
of
air,
with
its
bulk
in
the
lighter
upper
layer--like
a
ship
which
has
its
keel
in
the
water
but
its
bulk
in
the
air--the
same
thing
would
happen
with
the
air-ship
as
with
the
water-ship--it
would
float
in
the
denser
layer
of
air.”
Galien
adds
that
in
the
region
of
hail
there
was
in
the
air
a
separation
into
two
layers,
the
weights
of
which
respectively
are
as
1
to
2.
“Then,”
says
he,
“in
placing
an
air-boat
in
the
region
of
hail,
with
its
sides
rising
eighty-three
fathoms
into
the
upper
region,
which
is
much
more
light,
one
could
sail
perfectly.”
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