See also:

• PARACHUTE (from Ital. parare, to shield, protect; cf. " parasol," " parapet," and Fr. chute, a fall)

PARACHUTE (from Ital. parare, to See also:

• SHIELD (0. Eng. scild, cf. Du. and Ger. Schild, Dan. Skjold; the origin is doubtful, but may be referred to the root seen in " shell " or " scale "; another suggestion connects it with Icel. skjalla, to clash, rattle; it is not connected with the Indo-Ger
• SHIELD, WILLIAM (1748—1829)

shield, protect; cf. " See also:

• PARASOL (Fr., from Ital. parasole: parare, to shield, and sole, sun)

parasol," " See also:

• PARAPET (Ital. parapetto, Fr. parapet, from para, imperative of Ital. porare, to cover, defend, and petto, breast, Lat. pectus; the German word is Brustwehr)

parapet," and Fr. chute, a fall)  , an See also:

• INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument more or less resembling a large See also:

• UMBRELLA

umbrella, which by the resistance it offers to the See also:

• AIR (from an Indo-European root meaning " breathe," " blow ")
• AIR, or ASBEN

air enables an aeronaut attached to it to descend safely from a See also:

• BALLOON

balloon or flying See also:

• MACHINE
• MACHINE (through Fr. from Lat. form machina of Gr. µnxavil)

machine in the air . The principle of the See also:

• PARACHUTE (from Ital. parare, to shield, protect; cf. " parasol," " parapet," and Fr. chute, a fall)

parachute is so See also:

• SIMPLE

simple that the See also:

• IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea must have occurred to persons in all ages . See also:

• SIMON, ABRAHAM (1622-1692)
• SIMON, JULES FRANCOIS (1814–1896)
• SIMON, RICHARD (1638–1712)
• SIMON, SIR JOHN (1816–1904)
• SIMON, THOMAS (c. 1623-1665)

Simon de la Loubere (1642–1729), in his See also:

• HISTORY

History of See also:

• SIAM (known to its inhabitants as Muang Thai)

Siam (See also:

• PARIS
• PARIS (also called ALEXANDROS)
• PARIS, ALEXIS PAULIN (1800-x881)
• PARIS, BRUNO PAULIN GASTON (1839-1903)
• PARIS, FRANCOIS DE (169o-1727)
• PARIS, LOUIS PHILIPPE ALBERT
• PARIS, TREATIES OF (1814-1815)

Paris, 1691), tells of a See also:

• PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person who frequently diverted the See also:

• COURT
• COURT (from the O. Fr. court, Late Lat. cortis, curtis, a popular form of class. Lat. cohors, gen. cohortis; the mod. Fr. form tour is due to the influence of the Lat. curia, the word used in medieval documents to translate " court " in the feudal sense)
• COURT, ANTOINE (1696-176o)

court by the prodigious leaps he used to take, having two parachutes or umbrellas fastened to his See also:

• GIRDLE (O. Eng. gyrdel, from gyrdan, to gird; cf. Ger. Gurtel, Dutch gordel, from giirten and gorden; "gird" and its doublet " girth " together with the other Teutonic cognates have been referred by some to the root ghar—to seize, enclose, seen in Gr. )(s

girdle . In 1783 Sebastien Lenormand practically demonstrated the efficiency of a' parachute by descending from the See also:

• TOWER (Lat. turris; Fr. tour, clocker; Ital. torre; Ger. Thurm)

tower of See also:

• MONTPELLIER

Montpellier See also:

• OBSERVATORY

observatory; but he merely regarded it as a useful means whereby to See also:

• ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape from See also:

• FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire . To J . P . See also:

• BLANCHARD, SAMUEL LAMAN (1804-1845)

Blanchard (1753–1809) is due the idea of using it as an See also:

• ADJUNCT (from Lat. ad, to, and jungere, to join)

adjunct to the balloon . As See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early as 1785 he had constructed a parachute to which was attached a See also:

• BASKET

basket . In this he placed a See also:

• DOG

dog, which descended safely to the ground when the parachute was released from a balloon at a considerable See also:

• ELEVATION

elevation . It is stated that he descended himself from a balloon in a parachute in 1793; but, owing to some defect. in its construction he See also:

• FELL
• FELL, JOHN (1625-1686)

fell too rapidly, and See also:

• BROKE, or BROOKE, ARTHUR (d. 1563)
• BROKE, SIR PHILIP BOWES VERE, BART

broke his See also:

• LEG
• LEG (a word of Scandinavian origin, from the Old Norwegian leggr, cf. Swed. lagg, Dan. laeg; the O. Eng. word was sceanca, shank)

leg . See also:

• ANDRE, JOHN (1751-178o)

Andre Jacques Garnerin (1769–1823) was the first person who successfully descended from a balloon in a parachute, and he repeated this experiment so often that he may be said to have first demonstrated the practicability of using the machine, though his See also:

• ELDER (0. Eng. ellarn; Ger. Holunder; Fr. sureau)
• ELDER (Gr. 1rpev(3iTepos)

elder See also:

• BROTHER

brother, J . B .

O . Garnerin (1766–1849), also claimed a See also:

• SHARE (O. Eng. scearu, chiefly in compounds, e.g. land-scearu, a share of land, from sceran to cut; cf. " shear" )

share in the merit of perfecting it . In 1793 he was taken prisoner at Marchiennes, and while in captivity at See also:

• BUDE

Bude (See also:

• BUDAPEST

Budapest) thought out the means of descending from a balloon by means of a parachute . His first public experiment was made on the 22nd of See also:

• OCTOBER

October 1797 . He ascended from the See also:

• PARK (Fr. part; Ital. parco; Sp. Marque; O.Eng. pearroc; connected with Ger. pferch, fold, and pfarrei, district, translating med. Lat. parochia, parish)
• PARK, EDWARDS AMASA (1808–1900)
• PARK, MUNGO (1771-1806?)

park of Monceau, at Paris, and at the height of about i4 m. he 7eleased the parachute, which was attached to the balloon in See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of a See also:

• CAR (Late Lat. carra)

car; the balloon, relieved suddenly of so See also:

• GREAT

great a See also:

• WEIGHT

weight, See also:

• ROSE
• ROSE (Rosa)
• ROSE, GEORGE (1744-1818)
• ROSE, HUGH JAMES (1795—1838)
• ROSE, WILLIAM STEWART (1775-1843)

rose very rapidly till it burst, while the parachute descended very fast, making violent oscillations all the way . Garnerin, however, reached the See also:

• EARTH
• EARTH (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Erde, Dutch aarde, Swed. and Dan. jord; outside Teutonic it appears only in the Gr. 'pq'e, on the ground; it has been connected by some etymologists with the Aryan root ar-, to plough, which is seen in
• EARTH, FIGURE OF
• EARTH, FIGURE OF THE

earth in safety . He repeated his parachute experiment in See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England on the 21st of See also:

• SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September 1802 . The parachute was See also:

• DOME (Lat domus, house; Ital. duomo, cathedral)

dome-shaped, and See also:

• BORE

bore a resemblance to a large umbrella (fig . 1) . The See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case or dome was made of See also:

• WHITE
• WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
• WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
• WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
• WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
• WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
• WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
• WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
• WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
• WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
• WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
• WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)

white See also:

• CANVAS

canvas, and was 23 ft. in See also:

• DIAMETER (from the Cr. &a, through, µErpov, measure)

diameter . At the See also:

• TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top was a See also:

• TRUCK

truck or See also:

• ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round piece of See also:

• WOOD, ANTHONY A2 (1632-1695)
• WOOD, JOHN GEORGE (1827—1889)
• WOOD, MRS HENRY [ELLEN] (1814—1887)
• WOOD, SEARLES VALENTINE (1798—188o)

wood To in. in diameter, with a hole in its centre, fastened to the canvas by 32 See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short pieces of tape . The parachute was suspended from a hoop attached to the netting of the balloon, and below it was placed a cylindrical basket, 4 ft .

high and 24 ft. in diameter, which contained the aeronaut . The ascent took place at about six o'See also:

• CLOCK

clock from See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

North See also:

• AUDLEY, or AUDELEY, SIR JAMES (c. 1316-1386)
• AUDLEY, THOMAS AUDLEY, BARON (c. 1488-1544)

Audley See also:

• STREET
• STREET, GEORGE EDMUND (1824-1881)

Street, See also:

• LONDON

London; and at a height of about (it is believed) 8000 ft . Garnerin separated the parachute from the balloon . For a few seconds his See also:

• FATE

fate seemed certain, as the parachute retained the collapsed See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state in which it had originally ascended and fell very rapidly . It suddenly, however, See also:

• EXPANDED

expanded, and the rapidity of its descent was at once checked, though oscillations were so violent that the car, which was suspended 20 ft. below, was sometimes on a level with the See also:

• REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of the apparatus . Some accounts state that these oscillations increased, others that they decreased as the parachute descended; the latter seems the more probable . It came to the ground in a See also:

• FIELD (a word common to many West German languages, cf. Ger. Feld, Dutch veld, possibly cognate with O.E. f olde, the earth, and ultimately with root of the Gr. irAaror, broad)
• FIELD, CYRUS WEST (1819-1892)
• FIELD, DAVID DUDLEY (18o5-1894)
• FIELD, EUGENE (1850-1895)
• FIELD, FREDERICK (18o1—1885)
• FIELD, HENRY MARTYN (1822-1907)
• FIELD, JOHN (1782—1837)
• FIELD, MARSHALL (183 1906)
• FIELD, NATHAN (1587—1633)
• FIELD, STEPHEN JOHNSON (1816-1899)
• FIELD, WILLIAM VENTRIS FIELD, BARON (1813-1907)

field at the back of St Pancras See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

Church, the descent having occupied rather more than ten minutes . Garnerin was hurt a little by the violence with which the basket containing him struck the earth; but a few cuts and a slight See also:

• NAUSEA (from Gr. vain, a ship)

nausea represented all the See also:

• ILL

ill effects of his fall . A few years later, Jordaki Kuparento, a See also:

• POLISH

Polish aeronaut, made real use of a parachute . He ascended from See also:

• WARSAW
• WARSAW (Polish Warszawa, Ger. Warschau, Fr. Varsovie)

Warsaw on the 24th of See also:

• JULY

July 1808, in a fire-balloon, which, at a considerable elevation, took fire; but he was able to effect his descent in safety by means of his parachute . The next experiment made with a parachute resulted in the See also:

• DEATH

death of See also:

• ROBERT
• ROBERT (1275—1343)
• ROBERT, HUBERT (1753-1808)
• ROBERT, LOUIS LEOPOLD (1794-1835)

Robert Cocking, who as early as 1814 had become interested in the subject . The great defect of Garnerin's umbrella-shaped parachute had been its violent oscillation during descent, and Cocking considered that if the parachute were made of a conical See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form (vertex downwards) the whole of this oscillation would be avoided; and if it were made of sufficient See also:

• SIZE

size there would be resistance enough to check too rapid a descent .

He therefore constructed.a parachute on this principle (fig.2), the See also:

• RADIUS

radius of which at its widest See also:

• PART

part was about 17 ft . It was stated in the public an- nouncements previous to the experiment that the whole weighed 223 lb; but from the See also:

• EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence at the See also:

• INQUEST (O. Fr. enqueste, modern enqueete, from Lat.inquisitum, inquirere, to inquire)

inquest it appeared that the weight must have been over 400 lb exclusive of Cocking'sweight,which was 177 lb . On the 24th of July 1837, the See also:

• NASSAU

Nassau balloon, with See also:

• CHARLES
• CHARLES (1270-1325)
• CHARLES (1421-1461)
• CHARLES (1525-1574)
• CHARLES (c. 1319-1364)
• CHARLES (Fr. Charles; Span. Carlos; Ital. Carlo; Ger. Karl; derived from O.H.G. Charal,latinized as Carolus, meaning originally " man ": cf. Mod.Ger., Kerl," fellow," A.S. ceorl, Mod. Eng. " churl ")
• CHARLES (KARL EITEL ZEPHYRIN LUDWIG; in Rum. CAROL)
• CHARLES [KARL ALEXANDER] (1712-1780)
• CHARLES, ELIZABETH (1828-1896)
• CHARLES, JACQUES ALEXANDRE CESAR (1746-1823)
• CHARLES, THOMAS (1755-1814)

Charles See also:

• GREEN, A
• GREEN, ALEXANDER HENRY (1832—1896)
• GREEN, DUFF (1791—1875)
• GREEN, JOHN RICHARD (1837—1883)
• GREEN, MATTHEW (1696-1737)
• GREEN, THOMAS HILL (1836-1882)
• GREEN, VALENTINE (1739–1813)
• GREEN, WILLIAM HENRY (.1825–1900)

Green, the aeronaut, and See also:

• EDWARD

Edward See also:

• SPENCER
• SPENCER, HERBERT (1820-1903)
• SPENCER, JOHN CHARLES SPENCER, 3RD EARL (1782-1845)
• SPENCER, JOHNPOYNTZ SPENCER
• SPENCER, WILLIAM ROBERT (1769-1834)

Spencer, a solici- tor, in the car, and having suspended below it the parachute, See also:

• PARADISE (Gr. lrap6BEwos)

PARADISE 751 in the car of which was Cocking, rose from See also:

• VAUXHALL

Vauxhall Gardens, London, at twenty-five minutes to eight in the evening . A See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

• DEAL

deal of difficulty was experienced in rising to a suitable height, partly in consequence of the resistance to the air offered by the expanded parachute, and partly owing to its weight . Cocking wished the height to be 8000 ft.; but when the balloon reached the height of 5000 ft., nearly over See also:

• GREENWICH

Greenwich, Green called out to Cocking that he should be unable to ascend to the requisite height if the parachute was to descend in daylight . Cocking accordingly let slip the catch which was to liberate him from the balloon . The parachute for a few seconds descended very rapidly, but still evenly, until suddenly the upper rim seemed to give way and the whole apparatus collapsed (taking a form resembling an umbrella turned inside out, and nearly closed), and the machine descended with great rapidity, oscillating very much . When about 200 or 300 ft. from the ground the basket became disengaged from the remnant of the parachute, and Cocking was found in a field at See also:

• LEE
• LEE (or LEGIT) ROWLAND (d. 1543)
• LEE, ANN (1736–1784)
• LEE, ARTHUR (1740–1792)
• LEE, FITZHUGH (1835–1905)
• LEE, GEORGE ALEXANDER (1802-1851)
• LEE, HENRY (1756-1818)
• LEE, JAMES PRINCE (1804-1869)
• LEE, NATHANIEL (c. 1653-16g2)
• LEE, RICHARD HENRY (1732-1794)
• LEE, ROBERT EDWARD (1807–1870)
• LEE, SIDNEY (1859– )
• LEE, SOPHIA (1950-1824)
• LEE, STEPHEN DILL (1833-1908)

Lee, literally dashed to pieces . Many objections were made to the form of Cocking's parachute; but there is little doubt that had it been constructed of sufficient strength, and perhaps of somewhat larger size, it would have answered its purpose . See also:

• JOHN
• JOHN (1167–1216)
• JOHN (1290-c. 1320)
• JOHN (1296-1346)
• JOHN (1371–1419)
• JOHN (1468-1532)
• JOHN (1801-1873)
• JOHN (Heb. llni')
• JOHN (ZAPOLYA) (1487-1540)
• JOHN, 4TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (c. 1695-1762)
• JOHN, DON (1545-1578)
• JOHN, DON (1629–1679)
• JOHN, GOSPEL OF ST
• JOHN, or HAYS (1513–1571)
• JOHN, THE APOSTLE
• JOHN, THE EPISTLES OF

John See also:

• WISE, HENRY ALEXANDER (1806-1876)
• WISE, ISAAC MAYER (1819-1900)

Wise (1808–1879), the See also:

• AMERICAN

American aeronaut, made some experiments on parachutes of both forms (Garnerin's and Cocking's), and found that the latter always were much more steady, descending generally in a See also:

• SPIRAL

spiral See also:

• CURVE (Lat. curvus, bent)

curve . A descending balloon See also:

• HALF

half-full of See also:

• GAS

gas either does rise, or can with a little management be made to rise, to the top of the netting and take the form of a parachute, thus materially lessening the rapidity of descent . Wise, in fact, having noticed this, once purposely exploded his balloon when at a considerable See also:

• ALTITUDE (Lat. altitudo, from altus, high)

altitude, and the resistance offered to the air by the envelope of the balloon was sufficient to enable him to reach the ground without injury .

In more See also:

• RECENT

recent times the use of the parachute has become fairly See also:

• COMMON

common, but a good many serious accidents have occurred .