It may be imagined that this experiment aroused enormous interest
in Paris, whence the news rapidly spread over all France and to
Britain. A Parisian scientific society invited Stephen
Montgolfier to Paris in order that the citizens of the metropolis
should have their imaginations excited by seeing the hero of
these remarkable experiments. Montgolfier was not a rich man,
and to enable him to continue his experiments the society granted
him a considerable sum of money. He was then enabled to
construct a very fine balloon, elaborately decorated and
painted, which ascended at Versailles in the presence of the
Court.

To add to the value of this experiment three animals were sent up
in a basket attached to the balloon. These were a sheep, a cock,
and a duck. All sorts of guesses were made as to what would be
the fate of the "poor creatures". Some people imagined that
there was little or no air in those higher regions and that the
animals would choke; others said they would be frozen to death.
But when the balloon descended the cock was seen to be strutting
about in his usual dignified way, the sheep was chewing the cud,
and the duck was quacking for water and worms.

At this point we will leave the work of the brothers Montgolfier.
They had succeeded in firing the imagination of nearly every
Frenchman, from King Louis down to his humblest subject.
Strange, was it not, though scores of millions of people had seen
smoke rise, and clouds float, for untold centuries, yet no one,
until the close of the eighteenth century, thought of making a
balloon?