er
than the lower. "But," says Galien, "a ship keeps its place in the water
because it is full of air, and air is much lighter than water. Suppose,
then, that there was the same difference of weight between the upper and
the lower layer of air as there is between the lower stratum and water;
and suppose, also, a boat which rested upon the lower layer of air, with
its bulk in the lighter upper layer--like a ship which has its keel in
the water but its bulk in the air--the same thing would happen with the
air-ship as with the water-ship--it would float in the denser layer of
air."

Galien adds that in the region of hail there was in the air a separation
into two layers, the weights of which respectively are as 1 to 2.
"Then," says he, "in placing an air-boat in the region of hail, with its
sides rising eighty-three fathoms into the upper region, which is much
more light, one could sail perfectly."

But how to get this enormous air-boat up to the region of hail? This is
a minor detail, respecting which Galien is not clear.

From the labours of Lana and Galien, with their impossible flying
machines, the inventor of the balloon could derive no benefit whatever;
nor is his fame to be in the least diminished because many had laboured
in the same field before him. Nor can the story of the ovoador,
or flying man, a legend very confused, and of which there are many
versions, have given to Montgolfier any valuable hints. It appears that
a certain Laurent de Guzman, a monk of Rio Janeiro, performed at Lisbon
before the king, John V., raising himself in a balloon to a considerable
height. Other versions of the story give a different date, and assign
the pretended ascent to 1709. The above engraving, extracted from the
"Bibliotheque de la Rue de Richelieu," is an exact copy of Guzman's
supposed balloon.

In 1678 a mechanician of Salle, in Maine, named Besnier invented a
flying-machine. The machine consisted of four great wings, or paddles,
mounted at the extremities of levers, which rested on the shoulders of
the man who guided it, and who could move them alternately by means of
his hands and feet. The following description of the machine is given in
the Journal de Paris by an eye-witness:

"The 'wings' are oblong frames, covered with taffeta, and attached to
the ends of two rods, adjusted on the shoulders The wings work up and
down. Those in front are worked by the hands; those behind by the feet,
which are connected with the