The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-07-29
II the Transatlantie Balloon voysgs
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~ the VrenSetlontto BALLOON VOye8e
Feasihles
The project Of q transatlantic voyage in
the air, which Professor Wise is so busily ma
turing, was so bold and startling in its nature
that the scientific authorities seem to have
been completely taken by surprise, and. as re-
CARDS the issue Of the voyage, are almost en-
tirely non -committaL This is much to be re-
GREETED, for the aeronaut himself is not q
physicist and can hardly be familiar with the
varied physical phenomena on the nicer
knowledge of which success may depend. Pro-
fsssor Henry has written letter, in which he
expresses himself SO guardedly that the main
point Of his suggestion, as far as we can
gather, is the prudential plan of first trying to
cross the Continent before attempting the
Transatlantic trip. But notwithstanding the
caution of our scientific authorities in speak
ing their mind, we may, without presumption,
venture to test Professor Wise's reasoning and
the feasibility of his plan by some facts which
have apparently been wholly disnegarded in
the popular discussion Of this subject
The successful transit of the Atlantic, &C
ponds upon his finding an upper or westerly
current moving steadily and rapidly onward
from the meridians of the United States to
those Of Europe There are many observa-
tons of such current made by scientific ex-
plorers, but they are detached and fragment
airy, and they cover only very short periods of
time. In 1858 the present Astronomer Royal
of Scotland found on the Peak Of Teneriffe,
in the Canary Islands, steady southwesterly
wind from the 18th Of July with little excep-
tion) till the 3Oth of August; and this fact is
really the chief tangible evidence of perma-
nent upper current blowing from the south
west. 1t must, however, be borne in mind
that Teneriffe is near the coast Of Africa, and
over North Central Africa the thermometric
average during June, July and August reaches
the fearful height of 100 degrees Fahrenheit,
the mercury seldom falling below 80 degrees
at night and by day commonly mounting up
to 100 degrees. The equatorial regions of the
Atlantic to the southwark and southwestward
of Tenerife are far cooler, having a mean tenn
perature of about 80 degrees, and the conse-
quence, of course, is that towards the super
heated soil of Africa an upper monsoon
current is created to supply the indraught
from the expanded air ascending This is
felt on the peaks Of the Canaries in greatest
force when North Central Africa is receiving
the outpoured torrents of solar heat =
that is, in the very months in which the
observations we're taken and the southwest
wind was noticed on the cone of Teneriffe.
It is, therefore, evident that the inference Of
permanent and steady upper current from
the west, betting the entire North Atlantic,
has very slender support from the Teneriffe
data, upon which 80 much stress is laid.
But the positive side Of the question is as
strong as the negative. 1t is known that altar
the Autumnal equinox, when the sun fixes
itself vertically over equatorial South
America, that Continent becomes intensely
heated. Through the Spring and Summer of
the Southern hemisphere, the sun being
nearer than to us in our Spring and Summer,
the heat is more intense, and, with the arrival
of October and November, the last named
Continent is all aglow. The lands and plains,
which in the rainy season were richly car
peted with verdure, are suddenly parched and
cracked wide open, every vegetable organism
withered as if by a breath of fame the very air
is filed with particles of carbonized dust, and
the burning steppe, to quote the words of Hum
boldt, lies sire tched before us dead and rigid,
''like the stony crust of desolated planet"
The effect Of this heated equatorial Continent,
as Herschel has 80 well shown, is to set in
ascen sional motion the entire column Of air
resting upon it, and this enormous sea of su-
perheated air. after rising into the cloud re-
gions, flows of to the northward to form the
great November atmospheric waves" which
were so marked last Fall and are noticeable
every FALL 1t is highly probable that during
the prevalence Of this aerial movement from
November to March, or during the suns YER
teal stay in equatorial South America, Profess
sor Wise's supposed westerly or southwesterly
wind prevails, flowing laterally off from the
assembled columns from the South American
Continent 1t is, however, hardly probable
that after the vernal equinox, certainly not
after the LIST Of June or before the LIST of No.
vember, any steady upper current suitable for
On aerial voyage Of three thousand miles can
be found to do the bidding of this gallant
aeronaut. Moreover, it is worthy Of attentive
reflection that if such an upper current exists
in August and September, while yet the sun is
not below the line, the current must neces-
sarily be at much greater distance above the
oceanic surface and much harder to reach (this
upper current has never yet been reached on
the loftiest SUBMITS of the Andes) and navigate
than during the Winter season, when it is
known to be comparatively near the surface
and to sweep the North Atlantic as with a
mighty bosom.
1t il well known that in August and Sep
TENDER the Continent Of North America, then
hiphlv heatAd by the Summers snn il q re-