Balloons, like a great many other clever inventions, have been despised by military men as new-fangled expedients, toys, which may do very well to please the gaping public, but are and must be useless in the field. Over and over again it has been suggested that a balloon corps for observation should be attached to the British army, but the scheme has [Page 118] been rejected, although the expense of a few yards of silk and the generation of hydrogen gas would be a mere bagatelle as compared with the transport and use of a single 32-pounder cannon. The antiquated notions of octogenarian generals have, however, received a great shock in the fact that the Emperor Napoleon III. was enabled, by the assistance of a captive balloon, to watch the movements and dispositions of the Austrian troops; and with the aid of the information so obtained, he made his preparations, and was rewarded by the victory of Solferino; and as soon as the battle was over Napoleon III. occupied at Cavriana the very room and ate the dinner prepared for his adversary, the Emperor Francis Joseph. Over and over again the most excellent histories have been written of aerostation, but they all tend to one truth, and that is, the great danger and risk of such excursions; and to enable our readers to form their own judgment, a chronological list of some of the most celebrated aeronauts, &c., is appended. 1675. Bernair attempted to fly--_killed_. 1678. Besnier attempted to fly. 1772. L'Abbé Desforges announced an aerial chariot. 1783. Montgolfier constructed the first air balloon. " Roberts _frères_, first gas balloon, destroyed by the peasantry of Geneva, who imagined it to be an evil spirit or the moon. 1784. Madame Thiblé, the first lady who was ever up in the clouds; she ascended 13,500 feet. " Duke de Chartres, afterwards _Egalité_ Orleans, travelled 135 miles in five hours in a balloon. " Testu de Brissy, equestrian ascent. " D'Achille, Desgranges, and Chalfour--Montgolfier balloon. " Bacqueville attempted a flight with wings. " Lunardi--gas balloon. " Rambaud--Montgolfier balloon, which was burnt. " Andreani--Montgolfier balloon. 1785. General Money--gas balloon, fell into the water, and not rescued for six hours. " Thompson, in crossing the Irish Channel, was run into with the bowsprit of a ship whilst going at the rate of twenty miles per hour. " Brioschi--gas balloon ascended too high and burst the balloon; the hurt he received ultimately caused his _death_. " A Venetian nobleman and his wife--gas balloon--_killed_. " Pilatre de Rozier and M. Romain--gas balloon took fire--both _killed_. 1806. Mosment--gas balloon--_killed_. " Olivari--Montgolfier balloon--_killed_. 1808. Degher attempted a flight with wings. 1812. Bittorf--Montgolfier balloon--_killed_. 1819.