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Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
59
multitudes
of
spectators.
A
letter
from
Watt
to
Dr.
Lind,
of
Windsor,
dated
from
Birmingham,
25th
December,
1784,
narrates
an
experiment
made
the
summer
preceding
with
a
balloon
inflated
with
hydrogen.
The
balloon
was
made
of
fine
paper
covered
with
a
varnish
of
oil
and
filled
two-thirds
with
hydrogen
gas,
and
one-third
common
air.
To
the
neck
of
the
balloon
was
attached
a
sort
of
squib
two
feet
long,
the
fuse
of
which
was
ignited
when
the
balloon
was
inflated.
The
night
was
calm
and
dark,
and
a
great
multitude
was
assembled
to
witness
the
ascent,
which
was
accomplished
with
a
success
that
gave
delight
to
all;
for,
at
the
end
of
six
minutes
the
fuse
communicated
with
the
squib,
and
the
explosion
was
like
the
sound
of
thunder.
The
men
who
saw
it
from
a
distance,
but
were
not
present
at
its
ascent,
took
it
for
a
meteor.
“Our
intention,”
says
Watt,
“was,
if
possible,
to
discover
whether
the
reverberating
sound
of
thunder
was
due
to
echoes
or
to
successive
explosions.
The
sound
occasioned
by
the
detonation
of
the
hydrogen
gas
of
the
balloon
in
this
experiment,
does
not
enable
us
to
form
a
definite
judgment;
all
that
we
can
do
is
to
refer
to
those
who
were
near
the
balloon,
and-who
affirm
that
the
sound
was
like
that
of
thunder.”
Chapter
II.
Experiments
and
Studies--Blanchard
at
Paris--Guyton
de
Morveau
at
Dijon.
The
most
popular
name
in
aerostation
during
the
Revolution
and
the
Consulate
in
France
is,
without
doubt,
that
of
Blanchard.
We
have
already
referred
to
him
in
the
chapter
which
treats
of
experiments
made
prior
to
the
discovery
of
Montgolfier,
and
we
now
have
to
speak
of
his
famous
ascent
from
the
Champ
de
Mars,
on
the
2nd
of
March
1784,
and
of
the
ascents
which
followed.
We
have
seen
that
he
constructed
a
sort
of
flying
boat,
a
machine
furnished
with
oars
and
rigging,
with
which
he
managed
to
sustain
himself
some
moments
in
the
air
at
the
height
of
eighty
feet.
This
curious
machine
was
exhibited
in
1782
in
the
gardens
of
the
great
hotel
of
the
Rue
Taranne.
But
a
little
time
afterwards
Montgolfier’s
discoveries
quite
altered
the
conditions
under
which
the
aerostatic
art
was
to
be
pursued.
It
had
no
sooner
become
known
than
it
became
public
property.
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