ise's zeal and indomitable spirit of enterprise led to speedy
developments of the art which he had espoused; the road to success being
frequently pointed out by failure or mishap. He quickly discarded the
linen balloon for one of silk on which he tried a new varnish composed
of linseed oil and india-rubber, and, dressing several gores with this,
he rolled them up and left them through a night in a drying loft, with
the result that the next day they were disintegrated and on the point
of bursting into flame by spontaneous combustion. Fresh silk and
other varnish were then tried, but with indifferent success. Next he
endeavoured to dispense with sewing, and united the gores of yet another
balloon by the mere adhesiveness of the varnish and application of a hot
iron. This led to a gaping seam developing at the moment of an ascent,
and then there followed a hasty and hazardous descent on a house-top and
an exciting rescue by a gentleman who appeared opportunely at a third
storey window. Further, another balloon had been destroyed, and Wise
badly burned, at a descent, owing to a naked light having been brought
near the escaping gas. It is then without wonder that we find him
after this temporarily bankrupt, and resorting to his skill in
instrument-making to recover his fortunes. Only, however, for a few
months, after which he is before the public once more as a professional
aeronaut. He now adopts coal gas for inflation, and incidents of an
impressive nature crowd into his career, forcing important facts upon
him. The special characteristics of his own country present peculiar
difficulties; broad rivers and vast forests become serious obstacles.
He is caught in the embrace of a whirlwind; he narrowly escapes falling
into a forest fire; he is precipitated, but harmlessly, into a pine
wood. Among other experiments, he makes a small copy of Mr. Cocking's
parachute, and drops it to earth with a cat as passenger, proving
thereby that that unfortunate gentleman's principle was really less in
fault than the actual slenderness of the material used in his machine.

We now approach one of Wise's boldest, and at the same time most
valuable, experiments. It was the summer of 1839, and once again the old
trouble of spontaneous combustion had destroyed a silk balloon which
was to have ascended at Easton, Pa. Undeterred, however, Wise resolutely
advertised a fresh attempt, and, with only a clear month before the
engagement, determined on ha