The Log of the Flying Fish | Page 3

A ship of metal would never float in the
atmosphere."
"A zimilar remarg was made nod zo very many years ago when id was
suggesded that ocean shibs could be buildt of medal," retorted the
professor. "Yed there are thousands of medal shibs in exisdenze do-day;
and there can be no doubt as do the facd thad they fload. And zo will an
aerial shib. The gread--in facd the only diffiguldy in the madder is thad
air is eight hundred dimes lighder than wader; and an air shib of given
dimensions musd therefore be ad leasd eight hundred dimes lighder
than her ocean sisder do enable her do fload in the atmosphere. The
broblem, then, is this: How are you to gonsdrugt a medal shib, of given
dimensions, sdrong enough do hold dogether and withsdand the shock
of goming do earth, yed of less weighd than her own bulk of air? With
the medals hitherdoo ad our disbosal, I admid thad the dask is a
diffiguld one; bud I maindain thad id is by no means an imbossibilidy.
An ocean shib musd be buildt sdrong enough nod only do susdain the
weighd of her gargo--often amounding do upwards of a thousand
dons--bud also do withstand the dremendous and incessandly varying
sdrain do which she is exbosed when garrying thad gargo through a
moundainous sea. This enormous sdrength necessidades the use of a
gorresbonding thickness--and therefore weighd--of the medal used in
her gonsdruction. Such brovision would of gourse be unnecessary in
the gase of an aerial shib; begause no one would dream of garrying an
ounze of unnecessary weighd through the air; and there are no
moundain seas in the admosphere to sdrain a shib. A vasd saving in
weighd would resuld from these zirgumsdances alone; and a further

saving--zufficiend, I believe, to aggomblish the desired object--gan, no
doubd, be effecded by skilful engineers, one of whose greadesd
driumphs id is do design sdrugdures in which the maximum of sdrength
is zecured with the minimum of weighd. Id musd nod be forgodden,
either, thad an air shib musd, in one imbordand bardigular, be dreated
exactly like her ocean sisder. An ocean shib gonsdrugded, say, of sdeel,
will sink if filled with wader, begause sdeel is heavier than wader, bulk
for bulk; bud bump oud all the wader from her inderior, and if she be
proberly gonsdrugded, she will fload on the elemend she is indended do
navigade. And the same with an air shib: bump out all or nearly all the
air which she gondains, and if she be gonsdrugded in aggordanze with
the brincibles I have indigaded, she will fload in the lighder elemend."
"Upon my word, professor, you have argued your case extremely well,"
exclaimed the colonel. "I can see only one difficulty in the way; and
that is in the matter of weight."
"Which diffiguldy I have gombledely gonquered," triumphantly
exclaimed the professor, rising excitedly from his seat with flushed
cheeks and flashing eyes. "Do me, Heinrich von Schalckenberg,
belongs the honour and glory of having made dwo mosd imbordand
disgoveries, disgoveries of ingalgulable value do the worldt,
disgoveries which will enable me do soar ad will indo the highesd
regions of the embyrean, do skim the surface of the ocean, or do blunge
do ids lowesd debths."
"Bravo, professor; that was positively dramatic!" exclaimed the baronet.
"You have mistaken your business, my dear sir; you were undoubtedly
born to be an actor. But what are these two most important discoveries
of which you so exultantly speak?"
"They are a new medal and a new power," exclaimed the professor.
Then, fumbling in his breast-pocket, he drew forth a wallet from which
he extracted a small rectangular plate of--apparently--polished silver. It
measured about five inches long by four inches broad, and was about a
quarter of an inch thick.
"There, Sir Reginald," he exclaimed, offering the plate to the baronet,

"dell me whad you think of thad."
"Very pretty indeed," commented Sir Reginald, as he held out his hand
to take it. "What is it? Silver? Phew! No; it can't be that," as his fingers
closed upon it; "it is far too light for silver. Why, it seems to be
absolutely devoid of weight altogether. What is it, professor?"
"Thad, my good sir, is my new medal, which I gall `aethereum' begause
of ids wonderful lighdness. See here."
There was a very handsome cut glass water-jug, full, standing on the
table in a capacious salver of hammered brass. The professor took up
the jug and emptied it into the salver, almost filling the latter. Then he
laid the glittering slab of metal down on the surface of the water, where
it floated as buoyantly as though it had been an empty box constructed
of the lightest cardboard. The professor raised the