in every particular, conforming to the form
pointed out by nature as the apparently correct
type of a flying structure.

SHAPE OR FORM NOT ESSENTIAL.--It may be
stated with perfect confidence, that shape or form
has nothing to do with the mere act of flying. It
is simply a question of power. This is a broad
assertion, and its meaning may be better understood
by examining the question of flight in a
broad sense.

A STONE AS A FLYING MACHINE.--When a stone
is propelled through space, shape is of no importance.
If it has rough and jagged sides its speed
or its distance may be limited, as compared with
a perfectly rounded form. It may be made in
such a shape as will offer less resistance to the air
in flight, but its actual propulsion through space
does not depend on how it is made, but on the
power which propelled it, and such a missile is a
true heavier-than-air machine.

A flying object of this kind may be so constructed
that it will go a greater distance, or require
less power, or maintain itself in space at
less speed; but it is a flying machine, nevertheless,
in the sense that it moves horizontally through the
air.