CHAPTER XIII. Page 215

The kite--Its construction--The tail--An author’s meditations among the catacombs of Paternoster-row--Works in their winding sheets--How Mr. Seymour strung puns as he strung the kite’s tail--The Vicar’s dismay--The weather, with the hopes and fears which it alternately inspired--Kites constructed in various shapes--The figure usually adopted to be preferred--The flight of the kite--A philosophical disquisition upon the forces by which its ascent is accomplished--The tail--A discourse on the theory of flying--The structure and action of the wings of birds--A series of kites on one string--A kite carriage--The messenger--The causes and velocity of wind explained