Thomas Jefferson Papers

Note on Balloons, [ca. 9 January 1793]

Note on Balloons

[ca. 9 Jan. 1793]

Blanchard tells me that it takes

  • 3000 ℔ vitriolic acid } for a single person to ascend in a baloon.
    2000 ℔ iron1 filings
  • the vitriolic acid costs in London 4d. sterl. per ℔.
  • the baloon he ascended in was 22. feet French in diam.
calculating this without regard to fractions, and on supposition it was equal to a sphere of that diameter, it would contain 6800. cub. feet. this is about 3/10 ℔ of iron to every cub. foot of air.

MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 234: 41865); written entirely in TJ’s hand on a small scrap; undated; endorsed by TJ: “Baloons.”

1. Word written over what appears to be “steel,” erased.

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    Jefferson Papers
    Title
    Note on Balloons, [ca. 9 January 1793]
    Author
    Jefferson, Thomas
    Date
    9 January 1793

    Reference

    Cite as
    “Note on Balloons, [ca. 9 January 1793],” Founders Online, National Archives, last modified June 13, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-25-02-0043. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 25, 1 January–10 May 1793, ed. John Catanzariti. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992, p. 42.]