WARFARE IN THE AIR.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.")
Sra,—I wonder if your readers have noticed the following passage in The Botanic Garden, by. Erasmus Darwin, physician and poet, grand- father of the more celebrated Charles Darwin, the author of The Origin
of Species :-
"Soon shall thine arm, unconquered Stearn, afar
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car ; Or, on wide-waving wings expanded, bear The flying chariot through the fields of air.
Fair crews triumphant, leaning from above, Shall wave their fluttering kerchiefs as they move ; Or warrior-bands alarm the gaping crowd, And armies shrink beneath the shadowy cloud."
Surely, considering the date when these lines were written, 1791, they form a wonderful prophecy of the present warfare in the air.—I am,
Sir, &c., T. H. ORPEN, Mark Ash, Abinger COMMOIL, Dorking.
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