[29] "Ressort". Cyrano's mechanics are vague. He may or may not have imagined some sort of propeller.
[30] This was a popular superstition of the age.
[31] The subsequent pages satirising the book of Genesis were greatly mutilated in the early editions, to the great detriment of the sense.
[32] All this long paragraph comes from an earlier work of Cyrano's, a letter called "Le Campagnard". Œuvres Diverses. 1654. In Jacob's edition, 1858, the title is "D'une Maison de Campagne".
[33] Juppont considers this a premonition of the balloon.
[34] A parachute. (Juppont).
[35] Cyrano seems to have forgotten that the apple of Eden came from the Tree of Knowledge, not the Tree of Life.
[36] See Appendix I. for Swift's use of this idea.
[37] Famous sorcerers.
[38] See Introduction.