Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . cident is an illustration ofthis fact. A certain man, who suffered from giddiness to suchan extent that he was scarcely able to look out of the window of aroom on fche first floor, was induced, for the purposes of a bet, toundertake a trip in a balloon. After two hours he was able toget up from his seat in the corner, and cautiously look at thehorizon from bhe middle of the car. At a later stage he wasable to look over the edge of the basket without any
Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . cident is an illustration ofthis fact. A certain man, who suffered from giddiness to suchan extent that he was scarcely able to look out of the window of aroom on fche first floor, was induced, for the purposes of a bet, toundertake a trip in a balloon. After two hours he was able toget up from his seat in the corner, and cautiously look at thehorizon from bhe middle of the car. At a later stage he wasable to look over the edge of the basket without any feeling ofanxiety or giddiness ; but when he reached the ground he wasjust as bad as before. In a free balloon there is no sensation of sea-sickness, as theballoon floats gently along; but with a captive balloon thingsare very different on a windy day, and sooner or later everybodysuccumbs. The first ascent offers curious sensations for thenovice1, lie seems to see the earth sinking away from him, andwhen he comes down again, the trees and houses rush to meethim and welcome him back. The speed can be estimated by BALLOONING AS A noting the time which it takes to reach places on the map, hutan experienced halloonist can generally make a fairly accurate 206 AIRSHIPS PAST AND PRESENT. guess. The height affects the apparent speed, and must betaken into account. In the year 1899 Captain von Sigsfeld made an ascent in thecompany of the author and Herr von Haxthausen, and theincidents of this journey may be of interest to the balloon started in clear weather from Berlin, and reachedBreslau in two hours, the speed having been about 92 miles anhour. The start had been made under difficulties, and no kindof proper balance was possible, seeing that the balloon wasalmost thrown to the ground by the wind. Ordinarily, after thepassengers have taken their places, the ballast is loaded into thecar until the lift appears to be reasonable. If the balloon seemsinclined to rise
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