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Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
119
When
they
had
reached
their
greatest
height,
there
seemed
to
open
up
in
the
midst
of
the
vaporous
mass
a
brilliant
space,
from
which
they
could
see
the
blue
of
heaven.
The
polariscope,
directed
towards
this
region,
showed
an
internal
polarisation,
but,
when
pointed
to
the
side
where
the
mist
still
prevailed,
there
was
no
polarisation.
An
optical
phenomenon
of
a
remarkable
kind
was
witnessed
when
the
voyagers
had
attained
their
highest
point.
They
saw
the
sun
through
the
upper
mists,
looking
quite
white,
as
if
shorn
of
its
strength;
and,
at
the
same
time,
below
the
horizontal
plane,
below
their
horizon,
and
at
an
angular
distance
from
the
plane
equal
to
that
of
the
sun
above
it,
they
saw
a
second
sun,
which
resembled
the
reflection
of
the
actual
sun
in
a
sheet
of
water.
It
is
natural
to
suppose
that
the
second
sun
was
formed
by
the
reflection
of
the
sun’s
rays
upon
the
horizontal
faces
of
the
ice
crystals
floating
in
this
high
cloud.
Chapter
III.
Ascents
of
the
Mssrs.
Welsh,
Glaisher
and
Coxwell.
The
most
recent
balloon
ascents
in
England
deserving
attention
have
been
undertaken
for
scientific
objects,
and
in
this
country,
more
than
in
any
other,
it
may
be
said
that
the
conquest
of
the
air
has
been
made
to
serve
a
practical
end.
In
July,
1852,
the
Committee
of
the
Kew
Observatory
resolved
to
undertake
a
number
of
balloon
voyages.
This
resolution
was
approved
of
by
the
British
Association
for
the
Advancement
of
Science,
and
the
necessary
instruments
for
making
a
number
of
meteorological
observations
were
prepared.
The
balloon
employed
was
that
of
Mr.
Green,
who
was
accompanied
in
his
ascents
by
Mr.
Welsh.
The
greatest
height
to
which
Mr.
Welsh
rose
was
on
the
fourth
ascent
which
took
place
on
the
10th
of
November,
1852.
The
balloon
rose
22,930
feet,
and
the
lowest
temperature
observed
was
26
degrees
below
zero.
It
is
to
Mr.
Glaisher
and
Mr.
Coxwell,
however,
that
the
highest
honours
of
scientific
aerostation
belong.
The
ascents
made
by
these
gentlemen--Mr.
Glaisher
being
the
scientific
observer,
and
Mr.
Coxwell
the
practical
aeronaut--have
become
matters
of
history.
Not
only
did
they,
in
the
course
of
a
large
number
of
ascents
undertaken
under
the
auspices
of
the
British
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