Aerial Navigation; containing a description of a proposed flying machine, on a new principle. By Daedalus Britannicus. London, 1847, 8vo.
In 1842-43 a Mr. Henson[24] had proposed what he called an aeronaut steam-engine, and a Bill was brought in to incorporate an "Aerial Transit Company." The present plan is altogether different, the moving power being the explosion of mixed hydrogen and air. Nothing came of it--not even a Bill. What the final destiny of the balloon may be no one knows: it may reasonably be suspected that difficulties will at last be overcome. Darwin,[25] in his "Botanic Garden" (1781), has the following prophecy:
"Soon shall thy arm, unconquered Steam! afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; Or, on wide-waving wings expanded, bear The flying chariot through the fields of air."
Darwin's contemporaries, no doubt, smiled pity on the poor man. It is worth note that the two true prophecies have been fulfilled in a sense different from that of the predictions. Darwin was thinking of the suggestion of Jonathan Hulls,[26] when he spoke of dragging the slow barge: it is only very recently that the steam-tug has been employed on the canals. The car was to be driven, not drawn, and on the common roads. Perhaps, the flying chariot will {9} be something of a character which we cannot imagine, even with the two prophecies and their fulfilments to help us.[27]
