public, by showing them the spectacle of a man who, from a great
elevation in the air, precipitates himself into space, not to
escape dangers which threaten him in his balloon, but simply to
exhibit his courage and skill. Nevertheless, parachutes are
often of great actual use, and aeronauts frequently attach them
to their balloons as a precautionary measure before setting out
on an aerial excursion.

The shape of a parachute, shown on the previous page, very much
resembles that of the well-known all serviceable umbrella. The
strips of silk of which it is formed are sewn together, and are
bound at the top around a circular piece of wood. A number of
cords, stretching away from this piece of wood, support the car
in which the aeronaut is carried. At the summit is contrived an
opening, which permits the air compressed by the rapidity of the
descent to escape without causing damage to the parachute from
the stress to which it is subjected.

The rapidity of the descent is arrested by the large surface
which the parachute presents to the air. When the aeronaut
wishes to descend by the parachute, all that is required is,
after he has slipped down from the car of the balloon to that of
the parachute, to loosen the rope which binds the latter to the
former, which is done by means of a pulley. In an instant the
aeronaut is launched into space with a rapidity in comparison
with which the wild flights of the balloon are but gentle
oscillations. But in a few moments, the air rushing into the
folds of the parachute, forces them open like an umbrella, and
immediately, owing to the wide surface which this contrivance
presents to the atmosphere, the violence of the descent is