Chapter III. Ascents of the Mssrs. Welsh, Glaisher and Coxwell.
The most recent balloon ascents in England deserving attention
have been undertaken for scientific objects, and in this country,
more than in any other, it may be said that the conquest of the
air has been made to serve a practical end.
In July, 1852, the Committee of the Kew Observatory resolved to
undertake a number of balloon voyages. This resolution was
approved of by the British Association for the Advancement of
Science, and the necessary instruments for making a number of
meteorological observations were prepared. The balloon employed
was that of Mr. Green, who was accompanied in his ascents by Mr.
Welsh. The greatest height to which Mr. Welsh rose was on the
fourth ascent which took place on the 10th of November, 1852.
The balloon rose 22,930 feet, and the lowest temperature observed
was 26 degrees below zero.
It is to Mr. Glaisher and Mr. Coxwell, however, that the highest
honours of scientific aerostation belong. The ascents made by
these gentlemen--Mr. Glaisher being the scientific observer, and
Mr. Coxwell the practical aeronaut--have become matters of
history. Not only did they, in the course of a large number of
ascents undertaken under the auspices of the British Association,
succeed in gathering much valuable meteorological information,
but they reached a greater height than that ever gained on any
previous or subsequent occasion, and penetrated into that distant
region of the skies in which it has been satisfactorily proved
that no life can be long maintained.
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