of aerial experiments. True, about midway through the nineteenth
century two clever engineers, Henson and Stringfellow, built a
model aeroplane after the design outlined by Sir George; but
though their model was not of much practical value, a little more
valuable experience was accumulated which would be of service
when the time should come; in other words, when the motor engine
should arrive. This model can be seen at the Victoria and Albert
Museum, at South Kensington.

A few years later Stringfellow designed a tiny steam-engine,
which he fitted to an equally tiny monoplane, and it is said that
by its aid he was able to obtain a very short flight through the
air. As some recognition of his enterprise the Aeronautical
Society, which was founded in 1866, awarded him a prize of L100
for his engine.

The idea of producing a practical form of flying machine was
never abandoned entirely. Here and there experiments continued
to be carried out, and certain valuable conclusions were arrived
at. Many advanced thinkers and writers of half a century ago set
forth their opinions on the possibilities of human flight. Some
of them, like Emerson, not only believed that flight would come,
but also stated why it had not arrived. Thus Emerson, when
writing on the subject of air navigation about fifty years ago,
remarked: "We think the population is not yet quite fit for
them, and therefore there will be none. Our friend suggests so
many inconveniences from piracy out of the high air to orchards
and lone houses, and also to high fliers, and the total
inadequacy of the present system of defence, that we have not the
heart to break the sleep of the great public by the repetition of