that fond morigeration to the mistaken customs of the age

Is it the phi phenomenon or the persistence of vision? Originally, the illusion of motion that movies excel at was thought to be the effect of the persistence of vision.

It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].

In the more Midland counties, there are thirteen ; in Staffordshire (Wolverhampton), one; in Warwick (Birmingham), seven; in Nottingham, three; in Leicester, one; and Northampton, one.