, and _Daedalus; or, Mechanical Motions_. In this
latter book Wilkins treats of mills, clocks, and the contrivance of
motion by rarefied air; of the construction of an ark for submarine
navigation, and of its uses in war; of a sailing chariot, to be driven
on the land as ships are on the sea; of the possibility of perpetual
motion; and, in chapters vii and viii, of the art of flying. There are
four ways, according to Wilkins, whereby flying in the air may be
attempted. The first is by spirits or angels; but this branch of the
subject does not belong to natural philosophy. The next is by the help
of fowls, which the learned Francis Bacon thought deserving of further
experiment. Two ways remain of flying by our own strength; we may use
wings fastened immediately to the body, or we may devise a flying
chariot. If we are to use wings, he says, we must be brought up in the
constant practice of them from youth, first 'running on the ground, as
an ostrich or tame goose will do ... and so by degrees learn to rise
higher.... I have heard it from credible testimony, that one of our own
nation hath proceeded so far in this experiment, that he was able by the
help of wings, in such a running pace, to step constantly ten yards at a
time.' The arms of a man extended are weak, and easily wearied, so he
thinks it would be worth the inquiry whether the wings might not be
worked by the legs being thrust out and drawn in again one after the
other, so as each leg should move both wings. But the best way of flying
would be by a flying chariot, big enough to carry several persons, who
might take turns to work it. Wilkins is quite honest in recognizing the
difficulties of this scheme. He deals fully with the chief of
them--whether so large and heavy a machine can be supported by so thin
and light a body as the air; and whether the strength of the persons in
it can be sufficient for the motion of it. In his attempt to show that
these objections are not insuperable, he makes some true remarks. He had
watched soaring birds, and had seen how they could swim up and down in
the air without any sensible motion of the wings. When the right
proportions of the machine are found out, and men by long practice have
attained to skill and experience, we may perhaps, he thinks, be able to
imitate the birds. If, after all, it be found that some greater motive
power is required, we must not despair of the invention of such a power.
The main difficulty will be no