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Dawn of Aerial Navigation 251 heavier-than-air machine, or dynamic flight, and the distinction is well merited. He set out the lines of construction which are still followed fundamentally ; introduced the practice of rendering the sui faces movable instead of the man ; and strove to secure automatic equilibrium. Certainly his work contri- buted such valuable results as to prompt other in- dustrious and persevering experimenters to embrace the problem, not only in the United States, but throughout Europe as well. There were, in particular, two men who, fascinated by Chanute’s achievements, took up the subject. They had a small cycle store in the eastern American city of Dayton, Ohio. They were also first-class mechanics, and, in fact, built their own machines. In 1900 these two bicycle makers, Wilbur and Orville Wright, built a gliding machine upon the broad lines favoured by Chanute, but with planes having quite twice the superfices of any which had been tested previously. They also abandoned the upright position for the flier in favour of one prone upon the bottom plane. Nor was this all. Instead of the tail or rudder at the rear they introduced a similar device in front of the machine, and in such a manner as to be easily and readily controllable by the occupant. But the feature which attracted the greatest measure of attention, and which, indeed, acted as the key to the problem, was a means of warping the wings for maintaining lateral stability while turning. As events proved, this was the vital factor, and represented all the difference between complete and partial success. With this machine more than one hundred glides were made.