iac, worked in gold. The
middle part bore the monogram of the king, alternating with figures of
the sun, while the lower part was garnished with masks, garlands, and
spread eagles. A circular gallery made of osiers and festooned with
draperies and other ornaments, was attached by a set of cords to the
bottom of the structure. The gallery was three feet wide, and was
protected by a parapet over three feet in height. It did not in any way
interfere with the opening at the neck of the balloon, under which
was suspended a grating of iron wire upon which the occupants of the
gallery, who were to be provided with dried straw and wool, could in
a few minutes kindle a fire and create fresh smoke, when that in the
balloon began to be exhausted. The machine weighed, in all, 1,600 lbs.
The public had previously been warned, in the Journal de Paris de Paris,
that the approaching experiments were to be of a strictly scientific
character; and as they would be only interesting to savants, they would
not afford amusement for the merely curious. This announcement was
necessary, to abate in some degree the excitement of the people until
some satisfactory results should be obtained; it was also necessary for
those engaged in the work, whose firmness of nerve might have suffered
from the enthusiastic cries of excited spectators. On Wednesday, the
15th of October, Pilatre des Roziers, who had on other occasions given
proofs of his intelligence and courage in performing dangerous feats,
and who had already signalised himself in connection with balloons,
offered to go up in the new machine. His offer was accepted; the balloon
was inflated; stout ropes, more than eighty feet long, were attached
to it, and it rose from the ground to the height to which this tackle
allowed it. At this elevation it remained four minutes twenty-five
seconds; and it is not surprising to hear that Roziers suffered no
inconvenience from the ascent. What was really the interesting thing in
this experiment was, that it showed how a balloon would fall when the
hot air became exhausted, this being the point which caused the greatest
amount of disquietude among men of science. In this instance the balloon
fell gently; its form distended at the same time, and, after touching
the ground, it rose again a foot or two, when its human passenger had
jumped out.

On Friday, the 17th of October, this experiment was repeated, and the
excitement of the public on this occasion was un