In 1742, the Marquis de Bacqueville, at the age of sixty-two years, announced that on a certain day he would fly from his house on the Seine, traverse the river, and land in the Garden of the Tuileries. A great multitude assembled, crowding both shores and the two bridges. At the appointed moment the Marquis appeared with his pinions, and launched himself from the terrace. He sailed forth in majestic and serene poise, on graceful wings not unlike those of the traditional angels. He was gliding directly toward the Tuileries, and he enjoyed a happy cruise quite to the middle of the river. Then something happened; his movements became fitful and uncertain; he plunged downward and broke his leg on a laundry boat. The reason for his stopping there can only be surmised, for he had nothing to report. He did not quite fulfil his program, but he flew nine hundred feet delightfully, and he landed without getting wet. Commentators have marveled as to the nature of the mechanism used by Dante and by De Bacqueville. Historians have strongly attested the fact of the flights, but have overlooked the means. The inventors must have employed aërial gliders of some kind, for adequate motive power was not available before the end of the nineteenth century. Even as an experiment in gliding, or soaring, the achievement of Dante was most daring and wonderful, eclipsing the best performances up to the twentieth century. It is strange that in that period of science the survivor of such an experience, and a college professor, should not have left to the world a careful account of such an extraordinary performance. The alleged flights, however, were unquestionably feasible, even in that remote period, for the construction of an aërial glider is a simple task not beyond the capacity of craftsmen in the fifteenth century A.D., or even the fifteenth century B.C., directed by a skilful designer. Besides the wing-armed scheme of flight credited to Daedalus, and contemplated by Da Vinci, various other plans were evolved in succeeding years. Aërial chariots and flying machines were devised for the more advantageous use of muscular energy. In all these, of course, the passenger could be both power plant and captain of the ship. One of the earliest authenticated devices of this kind was the invention of Blanchard, described by him in the _Journal de Paris_, August 28, 1781, nearly two years before the invention of the hot-air balloon, of which he became later an enthusiastic votary. As his device is but one of a large number that appeared before the close of the nineteenth century, and the advent of light motors, the reader who wishes fuller acquaintance with man-driven airships may be referred to Mr. Chanute’s book, entitled _Progress in Flying-Machines_, which describes a large variety of such inventions, and discusses the merit and weakness of each.