This machine, called by its inventor the Aëromobile, is designed, to accomplish gliding flight by the aid of propellers, to carry one man, and to manœuvre on or near the ground, before free flight is attempted, in order that its practicability may be thoroughly tested.

Theoretically, the fundamental principle upon which the practicability of the invention is based, is the determination by experiment of the exact relation existing between speed, supporting area, and weight, in order that, any two of the three being constant, the other may be varied in such a way that the result in a machine of this description shall always be equilibrium.

France will never cease to be proud of the aëronauts of the siege of Paris. The memory of their deeds has been lately vividly revived in the unveiling of the monument in their honour at Neuilly, on the 28th of January last, by M. Etienne, the French Minister of War.

The monument has been raised by public subscription, and is the last work of the late M. Auguste Bartholdi, who died on October 5th, 1904. On the pedestal of the monument is a group of figures, above which is a balloon, carrying a flag in its car. The principal figure in the group is a woman, the symbol of the beleagured city. She is represented with a child in her arms, and looks with eyes of hope on a pigeon which she has released. A man, sword in hand, shields the woman.

On the 10th February, 1900, a kite flown by M. Delcourt, at Calais, France, broke away, and, dragging its line through the sea, landed at Burmarsh, England, a distance of 35 miles.

This suggested to me to test the possibility of delivering a message in France from England by kite.

On the 14th April, 1906, in an E N E wind, blowing about 30 miles an hour, I flew a diamond shaped box-kite (provided with keel for extra stability), and, attaching the line of 400 feet to a drag 30 feet long, and weighing 12 pounds, launched the apparatus from the beach at Brighton. A message, enclosed in a wooden bottle, was suspended from the body of the kite, asking for information from the finder, but no tidings have yet come to hand.

There are two mechanical arrangements, heavier than air, which have been proposed for obtaining flight, namely, wings and aeroplanes. The latter is the one chiefly in favour with the public as there have been more or less successful experiments brought to its notice. There are, however, many advantages for a machine made with wings in imitation of a bird or flying fox as in Nature.

Wings with their large spread and slow motion give more effective action on the air than the small blades of a screw propeller. It is known from experiment that a large surface working slowly is more efficient than a small one working rapidly in a rarefied medium such as air, for the same power expended.