Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/218

200 connaissance was made in a balloon inflated with hydrogen gas, while at Solferino a fire-balloon was employed. Each system has its advantages arid disadvantages; the gas- balloon requires several hours for inflation, but then it can remain in the air any length of time; the fire-balloon can be inflated rapidly, but it will not stay in the air more than five or ten minutes unless a furnace is taken up, the use of which is impracticable in even a moderate wind; besides, the fire-balloon must be of very large dimensions, and only one person could, as a rule, ascend at a time, and he would have to be occupied with the fire : the use of fire-balloons also is always attended with some danger. M. Eugene Godard, who was engaged in the management of the balloons in the Italian campaign, wrote to the Times, in August 1864, ex pressing his opinion of the superiority of fire-balloons for war purposes, as they are so easily inflated and are not destroyed or compelled to descend even if pierced by several balls; and this was also, we believe, the opinion of the Austrians who made experiments with war balloons. Jloons In the late American war balloons were a good deal used sd in the by the Federals. There was a regular balloon staff attached ^ Q M Clellan s army, with a captain, an assistant-captain, and about 50 non-commissioned officers and privates. The appa ratus consisted of two generators, drawn by four horses each; two balloons, drawn by four horses each, and an acid-cart, drawn by two horses. The two balloons used contained about 13,000 and 26,000 feet of gas, and the inflation usually occupied about three hours. (See Captain Beaumont s Account, vol. xii. of the Royal Engineers Papers.} We are not aware of the value set by the officers in command on the information obtained by this means; but as we believe balloons were employed till the conclusion of the war, it is clear that some importance was attached to their use. In 1862 or 1863 one or two experiments to test the use of balloons in making reconnaissances were made at Alder- shot, but nothing came of them.

When the Montgolfiers first discovered the balloon, its great use in military operations was at once prophe sied; but these anticipations have not been realised. On the other hand, however, there can be no doubt that the balloon has never had a fair trial, being viewed coldly by officers enamoured of routine, and when used, being often left unsupplied with suitable appointments. It is probable that a future still remains for the balloon in this direction. ie of Lai- The paramount value of the balloon during the recent )ns in the siege of Paris must be fresh in the minds of all. It was by it alone that communication was kept up 70-71 between the besieged city and the external world, as the balloons carried away from Paris the pigeons which afterwards brought back to it the news of the provinces. The total number of balloons that ascended from Paris during the siege, conveying persons and de spatches, was sixty-four the first having started on September 23, 1870, and the last on January 28, 1871. Gambetta effected his escape from Paris, on October 7, in the balloon Ar?nand-arbes, an event which doubtless led to the prolongation of the war. Of the sixty-four balloons only two were never heard of; they were blown out to sea. One of the most remarkable voyages was that of the Ville & Orleans, which, leaving Paris at eleven o clock on November 21, descended fifteen hours afterwards near Christiania, having crossed the North Sea. Several of the balloons on their descent were taken by the Prussians, and a good many were fired at while in the air; but we do not hear of any beiv&amp;gt;g injured from this cause. The average size of the balloons was from 2000 to 2050 metres, or from 70,000 to 72,000 cubic feet. The above facts we have extracted from Les Ballons du Siege de Paris, a sheet pub lished by Bulla &amp;lt;fc Sons, Paris; compiled by the brothers Tissandier, well-known French aeronauts, and giving the name, size, and times of ascent and descent of every balloon that left Paris, with the names of the aeronaut and gene rally also those of the passengers, the weight of despatches, the number of pigeons, &c. Only those balloons, however, are noticed in which some person ascended. A similar list of sixty-two balloons is given by Mr Glaisher in the introduc tion to the second edition of Travels in the Air (1871). It was, however, published too soon after the conclusion of the siege to be quite so complete as the sheet of the MM. Tissandier.

It is perhaps worth stating that the balloons were manu factured and despatched (generally from the platforms of the Orleans or the Northern Railway) under the direction of the Post-Office. The aeronauts employed were mostly sailors, who did their work very well. No use whatever was made in the war of balloons for purposes of reconnaissance. The exceedingly important part played by the balloon in the siege of Paris would alone, if it had been of no other utility, render it one of the most valuable inventions of the last century.

The principle of the parachute is so simple that the idea must have occurred to persons in all ages. Father Loubcre, in his History of Siam, published two centuries ago, tells of a person who frequently diverted the court by the pro digious leaps he used to take, having two parachutes or umbrellas fastened to his girdle. In 1783 a certain M. le Normand practically demonstrated the efficiency of a parachute by descending from a high house at Lyons ; but he merely regarded it as a useful means whereby to escape from fire. To Blanchard is due the idea of using it as an adjunct to the balloon. As early as 1785 he had con structed a parachute, to which was attached a basket. . In this he placed a dog, which descended safely to the ground when the parachute was released from a balloon at a con siderable elevation. It is stated that he descended himself from a balloon in a parachute in 1793; but, owing to some defect in its construction, he fell too rapidly, and broke his leg.

Anclr6 Jaques Garnerin was the first person who success fully descended from a balloon in a parachute, and he repeated this experiment so often that he may be said to have first demonstrated the practicability of using the machine; and, in fact, that he invented it in a practical and suitable form. In 1793 Garnerin had been taken prisoner at Marchienncs, and he was confined for between two and three years iff the fortress of Bucle, in Hungary. While in captivity he elaborated in his mind the means of descending from a balloon by means of a parachute; and on October 22, 1797, he made his first public experi ment. He ascended from the park of Monceau at Paris, and when at the height of about 1|- mile he released the parachute, which was attached to the balloon in place of a car; the balloon, relieved suddenly of so great a weight, rose very rapidly till it burst, while the parachute de scended very fast, making violent oscillations all the w r ay. Garnerin, however, reached the earth in safety upon the plain of Monceau. In 1 802 Garnerin came to England and made a good many ascents in all parts of the country, many of which excited much enthusiasm, as can be seen from the contemporary accounts; and on September 21, 1802, he repeated his parachute experiment in England. The parachute was dome-shaped, and bore a resemblance to a large umbrella. The case or dome was made of white canvas, and was 23 feet in diameter. At the top was a truck or round piece of wood 10 inches in diameter, with a hole in its centre, fastened to the canvas by 32 short pieces of tape. The parachute was suspended from a hoop at tached to the netting of the balloon, and below the para chute was placed a cylindrical basket, 4 feet high and 2^ feet in diameter, which contained the aeronaut, The ascent took place at about six o clock from North Audley Street, London; Para chutes Blaiicha Garneri: descend; a para chute in England See Plat