The Dominion of the Air. By the Rev. 3. M.
Bacon. (Cassell and Co. 3s. 6d.)—It is abundantly clear from Mr. Bacon's flans. five that "the dominion of the air" has yet to be won. He tells us many interesting stories, one of the best among them being the account of how he went up in October, 1899, "in search of the Leonids." He puts before us all that is known of Andres great experiment, successful in so far that the balloon remained afloat longer than balloons had ever remained before, yet ending in tragical failure. (The fact that, excepting Andre's machine, no balloon has ever exceeded a flight of thirty-six hours, is not encouraging.) In short, there is no experiment in aeronautics of any importance which he is not qualified to appreciate.
Prophecy he avoids, but his experience of the conditions, the exceedingly variable conditions, with which the voyager in the air has to deal is given in significant detail. It is in improving our knowledge of these conditions, and of the changes to which they are liable, that the hope of the future rests. We may quote the actual words with which the volume is concluded : "It is far from unreasonable to hope that but a little while shall pass, and we shall have more perfect and reliable knowledge of the tides and currents in the vast ocean of air, and when that day may have come, then it may be claimed that the grand problem of aerial navigation will be already solved." This is distinctly in the potential mood.
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