New-York tribune., 1875-11-30
UNINVENTED INTENTIONS.

UNINVENTED IhFENIIONS
The Right Reverend and learned John Will
kins. Lord Bishop of Chester, in the Hid Chap
ter of his Mathematical Magick," treats OF
"A Sailing Chariot, that may without Horses
"be driven on the Land by Wind, "a Ships
." are on the Sea-" The good Bishop assures
us that, as Boterus ahirms, such char1ots
have been tried in Spain," though with
what success Boterus does not specify;'
that they have been practically used in China,
and in Holland have conveyed :" six or ten
persons 20 or 80 German miles, That
eminent inquisitive man. Peireskius,' was
charmed with the vehicle; Grotius wrote two
Latin epigrams IN its praise; and the Bishop
wonders why mono of those English gentry
"who live near great plains have attempted
nothing to this purpose" From TINS d.
wilkins goes on to discuss the Art
of Flying, and the practicablllty OF flying
Chariots. So there il no new thing under the
sum- volume might be compiled, full OF In
struction and warning, in which should he SET
forth all the "inventiOnsn which have amounted
to nothing-the sad stories of Perpetual Notion
of TransmutatiOn, of Water Gas, OF Motors
immoyable, of wings which would not fly, OF
improyed vessels which would not swim, and
of other and innumerabe fol'ies. Specially,
Dpdalus has had numerous progeny OF
spirits for whom terra tirma was not gooo
enough aspiring rs he and as uniucky as Ills
son Icarus The artist in Rasselas was Ger
lain that he should leave vultures and eagles
"behnd him. The melancholy sequel has
been read by thousands. "In year."
saws tho narrative, "the wings were
finished; and, on morning appointed,
"the maker appeared furnished for flight
"on little promontory he waved his pinions
ga while to gather air, and then leaped from
his stand, and in an instant dropped INTO
" the lake." from which he was drawn "hali
&" dead with terror and yexatOn.'
\ story comes TO us from England OF an
aeronaut (name not given of better fortune
He has devised thing called q Parakite. 1t
is 80 feet long and 80 feet wide. 1t covers
an area of 700 superficial feet and yet it only
weighs 100 pounds. The tan "being fixed
- over the frame work and the front or wind
"ward point of the Parai,ite raised, SO as to
allow the wind TO touch the machine on Its
"under surface, it instantly showed symptoms
" Of rsing,r and "the aerOnaut was carried
:" into the air. Such is the lucid and scientific
report before u.s. "An altitude of LOCO feet"
we are told, "can be attained" But has 1t
been attained? To what hight did tle gentle
man risci We are more curious about this
than We are upon another point toward which
tho story rushcs, assuring us of " the practical
utility of tie machine for war purposes en-
" cinecIing. and signaling" Great things can
no doubt be done, if only the cOntIlyance VIII
90 mp, and stay mp and come down in safe
and facile way. But, unfortunately, we have
been reading frequently of just such machines
for years. Their peculiarity Is that they arc
magnificenty successful beforehand, passing
the flaming bounds of time and space
triumphantly on paper and shooting through
ether theoretically like swallows But they
all come down and stay down at last; and
there is no reason to believe that air-yOyagiDg
has in the important respects OF certainly and
safety ut all advanced since NM. Charles and
Roberts made their fIst ascent on the 1st Of
December. 1888, in balloon filed with hydro
gen. Sky-sailirg was dangerous then; the art
has been studied and practiced for nearly
century but aerOnautcs seems to he pretty
nearly where it was at the start.
Even the number of its professors has
not greatly increased. Some OF them rise and
fall safely: some OF them ascend and are never
heard Of again; and some, encOuntcrlng great
peril, escape destruction as by miracle. Once
in while we read Of somebody vino is con-
st.ucting an immense balloon with all the
modern improvements in which he is 10 cross
thc Atlantic. There is a plentiful crop OF
paragraphs in the newspapers, and many are
the pufs preliminary. Then the excitement
dies away for time, again 10 be revived and
again to disapp0nt us.
so long az there is the least possibility that
the new motor for railways may succeed, 1t
becomes Us not to prophesy; for il the thing
should come snOrting into Jersey City depot
some fine morning, after "a run oi incOnceiv-
able CELEBRITY, the croakers would have to sing
very small Meanwhile, if the device with the
great tail in England should fly like a bird !;
if the new motor should work like charm
if somebody shoud turn all our old kettles
into gold if balloon should make voyage
from New-YoIk to Liverpool or thereabOut !;
il our very first circles should he squared il
go-foreyer- without-stopping should be in
vented If the clizir OF perpetual youth should
be sold in all the shops, large bottles 81,
small ones 90 cents if