There should have been another section of my car. The way it is represented in the water would be the last resource, when the balloon could no longer hold up her head all the time she could do so it would be well to allow the car to hang as usual.
I like your idea about the parachute, but I hope you do not mean to keep your ideas to yourself, let them rather benefit you and mankind. I should like to have one or two letter this next month, just to show the opinions of scientific men, about the magazine, etc., and what good it is likely to lead to. If you have a few leisure hours and like to amuse yourself, I shall be happy to receive your contributions. I think next season our publication will lead to some useful ascents. We have lost no time in paving the way, and have done much good already.
To the Editor of the Balloon, or Aerostatic Magazine. 25 Canning Street, Leeds, October 14, 1845.
This article was intended for publication in Coxwell’s magazine. In part it would have provided the reader with the information concerning the death of Zambaccari that Coxwell had earlier requested. The article was not published.
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Sir, since the first discovery of balloons by Montgolfier, very little improvement has been made in those machines. The one used by Messrs Charles and Robert, was varnished, had a valve and a net, as is the case with balloons at present in use.2 Still do we hear of perilous aerial voyages, the bursting of balloons, frightful descents and narrow escapes of aeronauts from destruction. A balloon on Montgolfier’s plan is the safest of the two kinds but requires the following alterations to render it perfect. In the first place the cloth of which it is composed must be made fire-proof, and this can be affected by soaking it for about half an hour in a solution of hydro-chloride, more generally known as the muriate of ammonia or sul-ammonia, and the phosphate of ammonia, equal parts. If prepared as above and afterwards held over a fire, the cloth will not burn. The aperture at the bottom of the balloon should be at least 12 feet in diameter, and the grapnel should be suspended from the hoop which is fastened round the neck to keep the latter from closing. By this contrivance the neck of the balloon would, on the grapnel catching firm held, be laid flat on the ground, if the cords by which the car was suspended were of sufficient length to admit of it and the wind, instead of blowing into the balloon, would press on the sides and discharge the air through a valve which should be placed in the top of the machine. A valve on Mr Hampton’s plan would be most suitable for a balloon of this kind. This valve would also be of great service to the aeronaut while in the air, particularly if he wished to descend rapidly on a particular spot. Within the aperture at the bottom of the balloon there should be inserted the grate, or fire-place which should be about three feet in diameter, the fuel to consist of wool soaked in spirits of wine or turpentine, which have always been found to answer the best.
The size of the balloon would of course depend on the weight intended to be carried. One of Montgolfier’s which measured 117 feet in circumference and was merely joined by buttons and holes, had an ascending power of 490 pounds besides its own weight which was 500 pounds. One of 43 feet in diameter, and 74 feet in height and which weighed 1,000 pounds, ←17 | 18→raised eight persons from the ground. Another, 43 feet in diameter and 60 feet high, was found to have a force of ascension of 600 pounds besides its own weight. The machine which ascended from Lyons on the 19th January 1784, raised a weight of 15,600 pounds to a height of 3,132 feet. Its height was 131 feet and its diameter 104 feet.
That a Montgolfier balloon on the above plan is superior to one filled with gas is evident from the following. It cannot burst or take fire, as has often been the case with gas balloons. It was through the taking fire of Count Zambeccari’s and Madame Blanchard’s balloons that they lost their lives, and both balloons were filled with hydrogen gas. M. Blanchard broke his leg on one occasion from his balloon bursting. Madame Blanchard’s burst in Poland and she narrowly escaped. Sig. Andreani, who was one of the first aeronauts, and had previously employed a Montgolfier balloon, made an ascent with Carlo Brioschi in 1806, in a gas balloon. In trying to rise higher than M. Gay Lussoic had done they got into so rarefied an atmosphere that the balloon burst. They however reached the earth safely. Mr Clayton, and Mr Wise, two American aeronauts, narrowly escaped being killed from their balloons bursting.
Nearly all the accidents that have happened with Montgolfier balloons, have been through the machines taking fire, so that if they had been constructed on the plan prepared above, these might all have been prevented.
From Mr Henry Coxwell, 20 Shepparton Cottages, New North Road, Hoxton, October 16, 1845.
I suppose by this time you have received No. 3, which was kept at the office by mistake. I am not sorry to find that like myself you are a young man. I am your senior by about six years, so you see we are both young, enterprising and ambitious characters. Let me advise you to be patient and determined in considering our favourite theme and the information you have collected and your original and zealous turn of mind may be much to benefit yourself and further Aerostation. I shall be glad to receive your plan and look it over.
You would be surprised at the number of inventions which are sent to me, which I am obliged to object to, owing to the impracticability of the schema proposed. Some share of practical knowledge is indispensable, ←18 | 19→and I hope you will avail yourself of this at the first opportunity, if you have not already, etc.
From Mr Henry Coxwell, 20 Shepparton Cottages, New North Road, Hoxton, [Not dated.] August 1845.
I have sent off No. 4 of the Balloon, but am sorry that it does not contain your interesting letter, the fact is that I was obliged to disappoint several this month, as you will see by the notices. The magazine will be published again next May as you will perceive. During the interim I shall be happy to hear from you at any time and to see you too should you come to town.
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1 Zambeccani and Bonaga ascended from Bologna on September 21st, 1812. On descending the balloon struck a tree, a lamp was upset which set fire to the balloon. Both aeronauts jumped from the car. Zambeccani was killed and Bonaga suffered broken limbs.
2 December 1st, 1783. Charles and Robert ascended from Paris with a balloon inflated with hydrogen, this was the first voyage with gas. They descended near Nesle, 27 miles from Paris. M. Charles then ascended alone.
From Joseph MacSweeny Esq. M. D., Cork, August 26, 1847.
Another extended break in Brown’s recorded correspondence though clearly he had continued as an avid enquirer into aeronautical matters. The Irishman, MacSweeny, was himself an enthusiast, though he had no practical experience as an aeronaut. His essay on ‘Aerial Navigation’ had earned plaudits in scientific circles.
I received you letter enclosing a list of aeronauts, and have to return thanks for your kindness in sending it. Since my essay appeared, I have also gleaned from the papers the names of many aeronauts.
The price of Dr Forster’s annals I do not know. The full title of the work is Annals of some remarkable aerial and alpine voyages to which are added observations on the partial deafness to which aerial and mountain travellers are liable, and an essay on the flight and migration of birds, the whole being intended as supplementary to researches about atmospheric phenomenon. 8° London, 1802. A likely place to get the work would be the house of Henry G. Bohn, York Street,