Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
1
172
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
37
This
balloon
was
12
feet
in
diameter,
38
feet
in
circumference,
and
had
a
capacity
of
943
cubic
feet.
The
weight
of
the
materials
of
which
it
was
constructed
was
25
lbs.,
and
the
force
of
ascension
was
that
of
35
lbs.
The
fall
of
the
balloon
was
caused
by
the
expansion
and
consequent
explosion
of
the
hydrogen
gas.
This
event
took
place
some
distance
out
in
the
country,
close
to
a
number
of
peasants,
whose
terror
at
the
sight
and
the
sound
of
this
strange
monster
from
the
skies
was
beyond
description.
The
people
assembled,
and
two
monks
having
told
them
that
the
burst
balloon
was
the
hide
of
a
monstrous
animal,
they
immediately
began
to
assail
it
vigorously
with
stones,
flails,
and
pitchforks.
The
cure
of
the
parish
was
obliged
to
walk
up
to
the
balloon
to
reassure
his
terrified
flock.
They
finally
attached
the
burst
envelope
to
a
horse’s
tail,
and
dragged
it
far
across
the
fields.
Many
drawings
and
engravings
of
the
period
represent
the
peasants
armed
with
pitchforks,
flails,
and
scythes,
assailing
it,
a
dog
snapping
at
it,
a
garde-champetre
firing
at
it,
a
fat
priest
preaching
at
it,
and
a
troop
of
young
people
throwing
stones
at
the
unfortunate
machine.
The
news
of
this
fiasco
came
to
Paris,
but
too
late.
When
search
was
made
for
the
covering,
scarcely
a
fragment
could
be
found.
A
somewhat
humorous
result
of
all
this
was
the
issue
of
a
communication
from
government
to
the
people,
entitled,
“Warning
to
the
People
on
kidnapping
Air-balloons.”
This
document,
duly
signed
and
approved
of,
describes
the
ascents
at
Annonay
and
at
Paris,
explains
the
nature
and
the
causes
of
the
phenomena,
and
warns
the
people
not
to
be
alarmed
when
they
see
something
like
a
“black
moon”
in
the
sky,
nor
to
give
way
to
fear,
as
the
seeming
monster
is
nothing
more
than
a
bag
of
silk
filled
with
gas.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
