Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-01-22
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A Paper Boad5gJaa Aaa
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tue, Dee. Is 1869.

DR.. James Ball PtitierdW, in =
discourse before the Royal In1ti-
tute Of Great Britain on Che subject
Of aeronauties, sald, ayOne other
things; Gin order 10 construct 8
successful flying machine, Il g noa
necessary TO Initiate the almIy wing
Of the insect the Silken pfnion Of
the bat, eF the complicated and
highly differentiated wing Of me
bird, where every feather may Ne
said to have q peculiar function a..
signed 10 it; neither Is Il necessary
10 reproduce the intricacy OF that
machinery by which the power IN
the bat, insect, aud bird Is moved /;
all that Is required Is to distinguish
the power aud extent Of the sur.
faces, aud the manner Of their ap.
plicatiOn, and this has, IN q great
ri MEASURE, been already done. When
Vivian and TFevithlck constructed
the locomotive, and Swyminglon
and Bell the steamboat. they did not
eek to reproduce a quadruped, or
a ish-they simply aimed at pro:
duclng motiOR adapted to the land
and water, In accordance with nat
ural laws, and in the presence Of
living models. Their success Is to
be measured by an involved laby.
rinth.0f railroad, which extends TO
every part Of the civilized world,
aud by navies, whose vessels are
dispatched, without the slightest
trepidatlon, to navigate the most
%boisterOus seas, at the most inclem-
ent seasons.
"The aeronaut has the same
task before him In q differ
ent direction, and, in attempt
ing TO produce q flying ma
chine, Is not necessarily attempting
an impossible thing. The count
less swarms Of flying things testify
as to the practiCability Of the
scheme, and nature at once supplies
him with models aud materials. II
artificial flight were not attalnable,
the insects and birds would afford
the only examples Of animals
whose movements could, not be re-
produced. The outgoings and ID.
c0mings Of the q~uadrupeds' aud the
fish are, however, alFsady success.
fully initiated, aud the foWlsiof The
air, though clamOTOus and shy, are
not necessarily beyond our reach.
Much has been said and done Ia
clearing the forest and fertilizlBg
the pFairle--can nothing be done 10
reelaimiDg the bOuldless regions Of
the air?
Certainly there can, IL we begin
right AS the first sea-ships were
not made to be propelled by steam
and paddle-wheels, but 10 be dFifted
leisurely on the water before the
winds, l propose 10 inangurate q
system Of @rial navigation on the
like unpretentious principle ; name'
ly, drifting In the currents Of tbs
trade winds to such points aud
places as are within the known pro-
vinces Of the resources Of Bronauts,
We have, 10 this northern hemls.
phere, q system Of trade-Wind cur.
rents, at present so well authenti'
Gated and understood as ~ ha &C.
knOwledged by the leading scion
tifc institutions Of the world as es'
tablished meteorological facts Of dai
ly recurrence /; and / have practi
cally explored them time and agail
for thirty years past. In the tenn
pcrate zone these currents blow
from the southwest and the north
west overlapping each other and
producing, between them, q com
pound or eddy current, blowing
eastward.
In the spring and In the autumn
these two great currents form con,
functions, and produce, for some
days, those violent gales termed
eqninoctial storms, continuing IN,
Ill the balance Is restored between
fthe going and the coming Of the
trade winds, circulating between
the equatorial and polar regions,
The lower portion Of the lower
stratum of these Currents-that IL,
the one from the northwest, is al
the time, more or less, sliding Of
toward the south, and gracefully
curving round until it reaches the
intertrOpical regions where Il is re-
c0gnized by mariners as the north.
east trade wind and here, meet.
ing tho more rapid motion Of the
earth's surface from west TO east q
well as the equatorial heat II ID
whirled westward and up ward,
and pressed outward, as II ascends,
producing the great upper cuFrehI
from the southwest; and thus thu
northwest current has become the
southwest current. oil L
On the other hand, our southwest
current is ell the time passing OF .
portion Of its upper surface TO thC
north, until Il reaches the frlgid
zone, where II siAks down and be.
comes the northwest trade-Wind
current, underlapping the upper
current, and, by its friction asainst
the latter, producing whatI term
the eddy current blowing nearly
direct toward the east.
Thus we have, within the practi-
cal capabillty Of the ordinary air
ship, the means Of reaching any
place east, northeast or southeast
from the place Of departure in our
latitude. 20 %
It is an easy matter to sail from
Philadelphia, New York, Boston
or Baltimore to 81. Petersburg,
London, Madrid, Pasis, Libson OF
Gibralta, or to any point within
that range Of latitude, as u becomes
simply q matter Of constructing an
acrocraft that Is capable Of floating
In these currents Of the atmosphere
for a few DAYS. and VIC know that