Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-07-09
Science and the Balloon.
IDaily Grnphic.l

tDaiiy Gnphic.l
Tho object Of the Transatlantic
balloon voyagc Of Professor Wise is
tion OF physical courage, but the
scientific exploration of the atmos-
phere. Evcr since the possibility of
gagged the attention of scientific bod
les and individuals interested in the
study OF aerostation. The belief that
the air is navigable has increased,
until responsible parties are now
willing to send out discovcrers, whose
well.digested reports cannot fail TO
be Of benefit to the entire public.
In . very thoughtful letter pub
lished In Tho Daily Graphic of yes
terday, Professor Wise defines the Oh.
jetts Of the proposed voyage to be the
cndeavor to mark out an untrodden
path for men and mails; to aid the
science of msteorology; and to es-
tablish, If possible, o defined system
Of aerial transition. This ia not a
sudden impulse OH his part, but the
result. of years of study aud of near.
ly five hundred neutrality-suspicious.
Ia ballooning. At each step iD theory
and practice, the veteran aerolaut has
discovered new principles which he
now proposes to combine and test
in an experiment OH q larger scale
than has been before attempted. If
successful, it will conquer q triumph
for science, which will make the risks
appear to the public as they do to
tho scholar, o triflc scarcely worth
consideration,
The air-ship will 60 on her voy-
age thoroughly equipped. Not only
will she be commanded by q man
of skill and large scientific knowl-
edge, aided by q practical naviga-
tor of reputation, but every appli-'
ance that science n suggest for
accomplishing the great objects of
the expedition will he furnished.
The temperature of the air, the di-
rection aud velocity of the currents,
the rise, progress, and duration Of
storms. the variations from known
atmospheric laws that. rule at the
earth's surface-all these phenomena
will be carefully observed by night
as well Is by day. In o word, it
will be an expedition which will
command the attention of scientists
at home and abroad, to the exclu-
sion of all sensational conjecture as
to the perils of the passage.
In this country, heretofore, bal
looming has been in the hands of mere
showmen, who sought and attained
Dotoriety by pcrilling their lives for
public amusement, without reference
to science. Having no accessible Sci
entiic societies, private enterprise
r,,e to1-4 xl,> ,ten. -, 1cpl :rL,,
efcial results r to be reached.
True, our army found the balloon of
value in the late war, but it was not
until last autumn that the Govern
ment caught the idea that it might be
used for u reconnaissance of the air
as we'll as the water. Then General
Meyer, Chief of the Signal Corps,
ordered an atmospheric survey Of the
lower lake region, under the auspices
OF Professor King, an aeronallt of
some ability; but the appropriation
at his disposal vas SO small his labors
only served to indicate the value of a
wider series of experiment. They
showed that it was possible, by the
use of the balloon, to determine the
source OF air currents and their prob
able course. When this became
known, it would be an easy matter,
evidently, to warn commercial and
agricultural communities ofthe prob
able approach Of storms when they
were yet distant.
In Europe, the scientific societies
have given aerostation considerable
attention. The French Academy
have a permanent committee on the
subject. In England, there is al
aerostatic society of value, whose
President is the Duke of Argyll.
In 1862, the British Association for
the Advancement 6Science appoint
ed a committee consisting Of Lord
Wrorttlesey, Sir John uerschel, Prof,
Tyndall, Sir David Brewster, Admit
raj Fitzroy, and nine other eminent
scientists, for tho purpose Of dcterm-
lining the temperature and hygrome-
trio condition Of the atmosphere ut
different eievatlOnssabovc the earth's
surface. They secured the services
of Mr.. Glaisher and Mr.. Coxwell,
who made eight different ascemts. A
full account Of their experiments,
written by Mr.. Glaisher, was pub
lished by the Association. OF III
of these ascensions-to an altitude of
nearly seven miles-thc London
Times, Ill q leading article, says that
ait deserves TO take its place among
the unparalleled junctures aud the
critical and striking moments of
war, politics, or discovery" And it
adds at deserves to rank with the
greatest feats of cxperlmentalizers,
discoveries and travellers"
If such high words of praise were
won by experiments whose are of
action was confined 10 a single
try, it will be difficult for science to
coin words for the expression of its
gratitude to the men who dare a
TRANSATLANTIC air voyage in its behalf.
But it is not for praise that Professor
Wise labors, but for the more endur-
ing results Of increasing the worlds
store of knowledge. In his own
modest words, GA lifetime's devo-
ton to the calculation of a single
feature in meteorology will be we'll
speuf aud fhaf iS tho apivuafiuU nrln.