eing more rapid
than the other, when the latter appears to be moving in a contrary
direction." In continuation of these experiences, he speaks of an
occasion when, speeding through the air at the rate of an ordinary
express train, he was drawn towards a tempest by a species of
attraction.

The French aeronaut's estimate of what constitutes a terrific rate of
fall differs somewhat from that of others whose testimony we have been
recording. In one descent, falling (without reaching earth, however) a
distance of 2,130 feet in two minutes, he describes the earth rising up
with frightful rapidity, though, as will be observed, this is not nearly
half the speed at which either Mr. Glaisher or Albert Smith and his
companions were precipitated on to bare ground. Very many cases which
we have cited go to show that the knowledge of the great elasticity of
a well-made wicker car may rob a fall otherwise alarming of its terrors,
while the practical certainty that a balloon descending headlong will
form itself into a natural parachute, if properly managed, reduces
enormously the risk attending any mere impact with earth. It will be
allowed by all experienced aeronauts that far worse chances lie in some
awkward alighting ground, or in the dragging against dangerous obstacles
after the balloon has fallen.

Many of M. Flammarion's experiments are remarkable for their simplicity.
Indeed, in some cases he would seem to have applied himself to making
trials the result of which could not have been seriously questioned.
The following, quoting from Dr. Phipson's translation, will serve as an
example:--

"Another mechanical experiment was made in the evening, and renewed
next day. I wished to verify Galileo's principle of the independence
of simultaneous motions. According to this principle, a body which is
allowed to fall from another body in motion participates in the motion
of the latter; thus, if we drop a marble from the masthead of a ship, it
preserves during its fall the rate of motion of the vessel, and falls
at the foot of the mast as if the ship were still. Now, if a body falls
from a balloon, does it also follow the motion of the latter, or does it
fall directly to the earth in a line which is perpendicular to the point
at which we let it fall? In the first case its fall would be described
by an oblique line. The latter was found to be the fact, as we proved by
letting a bottle fall. During its descent it partakes of the balloon'