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172
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
18
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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