Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . us inconveni-ence. At a height of 26,000 ft. henoticed that his heart was beatingrather strongly when he happenedaccidentally to drop the tube con-nected to the cylinder of a great effort he rose still higher, to 30,000 ft., when all the ballast was exhausted and the thermo-meter showed a reading of - 54° F. He was obliged to descend,though he was still in a physical condition to hold out longer, evenat a greater height. On another occasion B
Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . us inconveni-ence. At a height of 26,000 ft. henoticed that his heart was beatingrather strongly when he happenedaccidentally to drop the tube con-nected to the cylinder of a great effort he rose still higher, to 30,000 ft., when all the ballast was exhausted and the thermo-meter showed a reading of - 54° F. He was obliged to descend,though he was still in a physical condition to hold out longer, evenat a greater height. On another occasion Berson and Dr. Suringsucceeded in reaching a level of 35,500 ft., which is probablythe greatest height at which existence is possible. A balloonwith a capacity of 300,000 cubic feet was used, and in the middleof July, 1901, a trial trip was made, Berson and Suring beingaccompanied by Dr. von Schroetter of Vienna. The balloon wasfilled three-quarters full with coal gas, and rose to a height of25,000 ft., during which time Dr. von Schroetter carried outphysiological observations. The training which the observers. Fig. 171.—Bavo-thermo-hygro-graph, designed for recordingballoons by Dr. Hergesell,and made by Bosch, ofStrassburg:. 272 AIKSHIPS PAST. AND PEE SENT. underwent was curious. Bert had placed himself in a vacuumchamber, where the pressure had been reduced to 975 in. ofmercury in 85 minutes. A man named Mosso had withstood apressure of 7*5 in., which corresponded to a height of 38,200 , Sirring, and Schroetter went into the vacuum chamber,and the pressure was lowered in 15 minutes to 885 in. Thepump did not admit of a more perfect vacuum. At this pressure, rabbits were killed in1J hours, but pigeonsmanaged to survive,though they tumbledabout helplessly on theground. Schroettermade careful observa-tions on the pulse, rateof breathing, etc., andreports as follows: Wewere now surroundedby an atmosphere at apressure of 11*8 the mercury wassinking, we noticed
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