Year: 1878

| average. lie ought TO live nunQreu years,
according to this physiological law, for five
times twenty are one hundred but instead of
that he scarcely reaches, on an average, four
times his growing period; the cat six times !;
and the rabbit even eight times the standard
of measurement. The reason is obvious
man is not only most irregular and the most
Incorporate, but the most laborious and hard
worked of all animals. He is also the most
irritable of all animals and there is no rea-
son to believe, though we cannot tell what m
animal secretly feels, that more than any 9th.
er animal man cherishes wrath to keep it warm,
and consumes himself with the fire of his
own secret reflections.


A FLYING MACHINE.


SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS WITH NEwLY.IN.
VENTED AIR-sHIP.


The first open-air exhibition of q new flying
machine, invented by Prof. G. F. Ritchell,
was given at Hartford, recently, and proved
success. The following description of the
air.ship, an account of the second ascension.
we find in the New York Sun The flying
machine is all clumsiness above, and all light.
ness and grace below. The lifting power is
afforded by horizontally placed cylinder of
"gossamer.cloth," fine linen coated with India
rubber, twenty-five feet in length and thirteen
in diameter, weighing only sixty.six pounds
and charged with hydrogen gas, which is made
by the usual process, from iron turnings and
sulphuric acid. Broad worsted bands extend
over that and down to a rod of mandrel-
drawn brass tubing, nickel-plated, one and
one-half inches in diameter, and twenty.three
feet long. From that rod the machine is sus-
pended by slender cords. The after portion
of the machine is, at the base, parallelogram
of rods two feet wide and five and one.half
feet long, from which rise, lengthwise, curved
rods eighteen inches high in the centre, and
drawn near together at the top. All these
rods are in reality hollow tubes Of mandre-
drawn brass, light and very strong. Above
the apex of this form rises cog.edged steel
wheel, eleven inches in diameter, with double.
handles, 80 geared to a four bladed fan NOV
ing horizontally, directly beneath, that the
operator can give the fan 1000 revolutions
per minute. The four blades Of the fan are
of white holly, each having superficial area
of about fifty square inches, and the extreme
diameter of this revolving fan is twenty-four
inches. The blades are set at a slight angle,
like those Of the screw of propeller Just
behind the wheel is very small seat, upon
which the operator perches. His feet rest
upon two ght treadles, above and in front Of
the fan. From the front Of this form spring
uther rods5 s5carrying ar their extremity ver=
tically- working revolving fan, like that be-
meath the operators seat, except that it is but
twenty two inches in diameter. 1t is so geared
to the main or horizontal fan that it may be
operated or not, at the pleasure of the driver
Of the machine, and can be made to turn
from one side to the other, so as to defect the
course of the machine in the air. This fan
will make $500 revolutions per minute while
the other is making 1000. All its movements
are controlled by the operators feet. When
he presses the left treadle he throws it into
gear, when he presses with the toe of the ight
foot it turns to the left and slight pressure
of the heel whirls it over to the right. He
can also reverse the action of his main fan,
so that when it whirls one way be goes down,
and when it's course is reversed he mounts in
the air.


That this is not merely a claim has
been clearly demonstrated. Then the weight
of the operator ard machine, and the lifting
power of the gas cylinder have been SO nice
ly adjusted that they we're exactly balanced.
Six pounds have been added to the weight of
the machine and the working of the horizon.
tai fan has caused the apparatus to rise and
continue to ascend as long as the lifting pow
or of the machinery was exerted. The weight,
normally of the machine, and rod from which
it is suspended, is forty eight pounds. This,
then, gives ia pounds as the weight Of the
entire apparatus. The operator, Mark Quin-
Ian, who went up on Wednesday and again
on yesterday, weighs ninety six pounds, and
to balance him and the dead wei ght against
the lifting power of the gas, he had to carry
along with him about nine pounds of shot
and stones.


The second exhibition was given in the af.
ternoon. The weather was far from favora-
bic. The wind came in quite sharp gusts and
there were threatenings of a coming storm.
Nevertheless, the ascent was made. Little
Quinlan, even if he does only weigh ninety
six pounds, has confidence and nerve enough
to go up in a gale. Some time was spent in
getting the weight and lifting power 30 neatly
balanced as to show that the machine could
exert lifting power of its own. When this
had been effected to Prof. Ritchel's satisfac-
tion, the apparatus rested quietly on the grass,
but could be lifted or set back with the light
pressure of one finger. Then the word was
given go" Quinlan began turning the
wheel, the horizontal fan revolved with
noise like buzz.saw, and the machine darted
up almost vertically to height of about two
hundred feet. There strong, steady current
of wind setting toward the southwest was en-
countered, and the machine was swept away
by it, broadside on to the spectators. Then
the operator was seen throwing his vertical
fan into gear, and by its aid the arial ship
turned around, pointing its head in whatever
direction he chose to give it. All this was
the work of but few seconds. Although
Quinan could move the apparatus about, he
could not make any headway against the
strong wind. Reversing the motion of his
horizontal fan, he descended apparently about
one hundred feet to get out Of the current,
but, finding that practicable, reascended to
much greater height than he had at first
reached Still he was swept off toward New
Haven, and after little time went out of
sight. He had vanished behind distant bill,
and for while it was supposed he had alight-
ed. Then he was again sighted, far away
and not less than one thousand feet above the
earth. The cylinder of the machine looked
no larger than an orange. At length he dis
appeared altogether.


At 81 o'clock, having been up battling
with the wind very nearly an hour, he de-
scended safely at Newington, and at ten
o'clock was back in Hartford. He said that
one time be was eight or ten miles away from
hia startinp. nnint hnt hy tarknp and work