Section 296. The Necessity of making frequent Experiments, in order to prove how far the Balloon is capable of Direction, by different Combinations of the mechanical Powers, is so apparent; that no Balloon shoud rise a second Time, without the Application of Machinery to that End. Each Candidate for Fame, as Proprietor of a Balloon for _public Exhibition_, ought to vie in his Pretensions to a Superiority of Manouvres. Their respective Performances woud appear in the public Papers; and Decisions be made to the Advantage of the Art. For it is probable, that by such _Comparison_ chiefly;—the +comparison+ of _experimental Blunders_ and _Mistakes_, and not by an Union of Theory and Practice, cemented by liberal Patronage, the Balloon can arrive to any Degree of Perfection, in a Country, which is the Scene of _perpetual Contention_: where the Sum of Life seems devoted but to +party+; and where the _precious_ Time of the +great+ is sunk in Luxury, and their _exalted_ Talents lost in the _Labyrinth_ of Politics. [Sidenote: Precautions to secure a Landing.] 297. _To strive against the Stream_ is proverbially impossible: and it woud be literally so, to attempt by any Kind of Machinery to force the large Surface of a Balloon, with any Degree of Velocity, against _a Stream of_ +air+. (Section 201.) Ships, which have the Aid of an Element 800 Times _denser_ than the +air+, are obliged to wait _in Port_, till the Wind is favourable. But neither is this considered as an Argument against _maritime Navigation_: nor does the _Perfection_ of the Balloon require its Ascent in a Storm: tho’ the Preference due to the Balloon, on such Occasion, woud be decisive in its Favour: as the latter woud presently surmount the Wind, and _lie to_, in the _calm Air above_ it. Sect. 298. Art. 1. By Wings, or some propulsive Machinery, acting forcibly in a Direction required, and with Ease to the _Operator_; +two+ _useful Manouvres_ may be attempted, and will frequently be _found successful_. [Sidenote: _First Manouvre_: to secure the Landing in windy Weather.] 298. Art. 2. First, To +retard+ the Course of the Balloon during its Descent; in such a Manner, as to prevent the Wind from _damaging_ the _Machine_, or _snapping the Cable_: and thus to land with Safety, and at the _smallest Distance_ +beyond+ the Place assigned. [Sidenote: Preparatory Apparatus: and _Signal-Rope_.] 298. 3. A _silken_, or other _light_ Rope is to be provided: and to run throu’ a _snatch Block_ fastened to a +rudder+, or to the +car+, as in Crosbie’s Balloon.[98] Which Rope _alone_ woud lessen immediate and unforeseen Danger, by using the Balloon as a Sail, if it actually alighted on the Water. 298. Art. 4. The same Rope being _a Mile_, or _a Mile and Half_ in Length; the _Whole_, or a Part of it, might be suffered to run off the Wheel, and, falling on the Surface _below_, in _misty_ Weather, woud serve as a Signal to determine whether the Aironaut was over Land, or Water.