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Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
14
But
how
to
get
this
enormous
air-boat
up
to
the
region
of
hail?
This
is
a
minor
detail,
respecting
which
Galien
is
not
clear.
From
the
labours
of
Lana
and
Galien,
with
their
impossible
flying
machines,
the
inventor
of
the
balloon
could
derive
no
benefit
whatever;
nor
is
his
fame
to
be
in
the
least
diminished
because
many
had
laboured
in
the
same
field
before
him.
Nor
can
the
story
of
the
ovoador,
or
flying
man,
a
legend
very
confused,
and
of
which
there
are
many
versions,
have
given
to
Montgolfier
any
valuable
hints.
It
appears
that
a
certain
Laurent
de
Guzman,
a
monk
of
Rio
Janeiro,
performed
at
Lisbon
before
the
king,
John
V.,
raising
himself
in
a
balloon
to
a
considerable
height.
Other
versions
of
the
story
give
a
different
date,
and
assign
the
pretended
ascent
to
1709.
The
above
engraving,
extracted
from
the
“Bibliotheque
de
la
Rue
de
Richelieu,”
is
an
exact
copy
of
Guzman’s
supposed
balloon.
In
1678
a
mechanician
of
Salle,
in
Maine,
named
Besnier
invented
a
flying-machine.
The
machine
consisted
of
four
great
wings,
or
paddles,
mounted
at
the
extremities
of
levers,
which
rested
on
the
shoulders
of
the
man
who
guided
it,
and
who
could
move
them
alternately
by
means
of
his
hands
and
feet.
The
following
description
of
the
machine
is
given
in
the
Journal
de
Paris
by
an
eye-witness:
“The
‘wings’
are
oblong
frames,
covered
with
taffeta,
and
attached
to
the
ends
of
two
rods,
adjusted
on
the
shoulders
The
wings
work
up
and
down.
Those
in
front
are
worked
by
the
hands;
those
behind
by
the
feet,
which
are
connected
with
the
ends
of
the
rods
by
strings.
The
movements
were
such
that
when
the
right
hand
made
the
right
wing
descend
in
front,
the
left
foot
made
the
left
wing
descend
behind;
and
in
like
manner
the
left
hand
in
front
and
the
right
foot
behind
acted
together
simultaneously.
This
diagonal
action
appeared
very
well
contrived;
it
was
the
action
of
most
quadrupeds
as
well
as
of
man
when
walking;
but
the
contrivance,
like
others
of
the
same
kind,
failed
in
not
being
fitted
with
gearing
to
enable
the
air
traveller
to
proceed
in
any
other
direction
than
that
in
which
the
wind
blew
him.
The
inventor
first
flew
down
from
a
stool,
then
from
a
table,
afterwards
from
a
window,
and
finally
from
a
garret,
from
which
he
passed
above
the
houses
in
the
neighbourhood,
and
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