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128
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
112
wind
from
the
north-west,
the
balloon
mounted
so
perpendicularly
that
in
all
the
streets
each
of
the
spectators
believed
we
were
mounting
straight
up
above
his
head.
In
order
to
quicken
our
ascent
I
discharged
a
parachute
made
of
silk,
and
weighted
in
a
way
to
prevent
oscillations.
The
parachute
descended
at
the
rate
of
two
feet
per
second,
and
its
descent
was
uniform.
From
the
moment
when
the
barometer
began
to
sink
we
became
very
careful
of
our
ballast,
as
we
wished
to
test
from
experience
the
different
temperatures
through
which
we
were
about
to
pass.
“At
10.15,
the
barometer
was
at
nineteen
inches,
and
the
thermometer
at
three
above
zero.
We
now
felt
all
the
inconvenience
of
an
extremely
rarefied
atmosphere
coming
upon
us,
and
we
commenced
to
arrange
some
experiments
in
atmospheric
electricity.
Our
first
attempts
did
not
succeed.
We
threw
over
part
of
our
ballast,
and
mounted
up
till
the
cold
and
the
rarefaction
of
the
air
became
very
troublesome.
During
our
experiments
we
experienced
an
illness
throughout
our
whole
system.
Buzzing
in
the
cars
commenced,
and
went
on
increasing.
The
pain
we
felt
was
like
that
which
one
feels
when
he
plunges
his
head
in
water.
Our
chests
seemed
to
be
dilated,
and
failed
in
elasticity.
My
pulse
was
quickened,
M.
Lhoest’s
became
slower;
he
had,
like
me,
swelled
lips
and
bleeding
eyes;
the
veins
seemed
to
come
out
more
strongly
on
the
hands.
The
blood
ran
to
the
head,
and
occasioned
a
feeling
as
if
our
hats
were
too
tight.
The
thermometer
continued
to
descend,
and,
as
we
ascended,
our
illness
increased,
and
we
could
with
difficulty
keep
awake.
Fearing
that
my
travelling
companion
might
go
to
sleep,
I
attached
a
cord
to
my
thigh
and
to
his,
and
we
held
the
extremities
of
the
cord
in
our
hands.
Thus
trammelled,
we
had
to
commence
the
experiments
which
I
had
proposed
to
make.
“At
this
elevation,
the
glass,
the
brimstone,
and
the
Spanish
wax
were
not
electrified
in
a
manner
to
show
any
signs
under
friction--at
least,
I
obtained
no
electricity
from
the
conductors
or
the
electrometer.
“I
had
in
my
car
a
voltaic
pile,
consisting
of
sixty
couples--silver
and
zinc.
It
worked
very
well
on
the
occasion
of
our
departure
from
the
earth,
and
gave,
without
the
condenser,
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