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��SCIENCE.

��[Vol. T., No, IO*."^

��which place the aat'cnts will he made. Tliis can readily be done so as to give the aeronaut eigtit hours' notice for tile preparation of his balloon, and the obeervers who accompany him sufflcienttime to reach Philadelphia from Wash- ington. The first aacent was expected to be rather experimental and snggestive in its char- a4.-ter. It was the intention to start at seven A.M., OD the 19th ; and a telegram to that ell'ect was sent to Mr. King, who responded that he would be ready. But, owing to the extreme

��hour of starting, the observations made were not so numerous as could be desired, although seven eomplele sets were obtained before dark- ness rendered further reading impossible. A safe and quiet landing was effected at about half-past seven p.m., near the village of Mana- bawken, on the New-Jersey coast. The great- est height i-eached was somewhat over one mile. This trial-trip has suggested some mo<liflcatlon9 I in the plans, which will render future ascents I The danger incident to a |

���cold, it was found that the balloon couki not be handled for filling without danger of crack- ing; and waiting for the sun to warm it op caused so much delay, that the start was not made until quarter-past four p.u. The balloon was the Eagle Eyrie, holding twenty-flve thou- sand cubic feet when filled, and having a lifl- ing-power of about a thousand [Munds. The occupants of the car were Mr. King and Private Hammond, a skilful observer detailed from the olHce of the chief signal-officer for the purpose. Mr. Hammond carried with him a complete outfit for making barometric, thermometrio, and hygrometric observations. Owing to the late

��balloon ascent is greatly over-estimated by many. In the company of an expcrienoed and skilfid aeronaut the risk to life and limb is hardly greater than on a railway-train ( steamboat. Mr. Green, the famous English aeronaut, made fourteen hundred ascents, and lived to be eighty-six years old. -The excur- sion of the 19th was the two hundred and flfty- eightli made by Mr. King. Volunteers for this service are by uo means wanting among those connected with the sign al-sei-v ice ; and Pro- fessor Abb^ is so desirous of knowing what is going on ' inside of a storm,' that he means to make an ascent himself, in oixler to find out.

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