For this ascent Charles may be said to have created
all at once the art of aerostation as now practiced, for he
brought it at one bound to such perfection that since his day
scarcely any advance has been made upon his arrangements. His
simple yet complete invention was that of the valve which gives
escape to the hydrogen gas, and thus renders the descent of the
balloon gentle and gradual; the car that carries the travellers;
the ballast of sand, by which the ascent is regulated and the
fall is moderated; the coating of caoutchouc, by means of which
the material of the balloon is rendered airtight and prevents
loss of gas; and, finally, the use of the barometer, which marks
at every instant, by the elevation or the depression of the
mercury, the position in which the aeronaut finds himself in the
atmosphere. Charles created all the contrivances, or, in other
words, all the ingenious precautions which make up the art of
aerostation.
On the 26th of November, the balloon, fitted with its network,
and having the car attached to it, was sent away from the hall of
the Tuileries, where it had been exhibited. The ascent was fixed
for the 1st of December, 1783, a memorable day for the Parisians.
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