. Popular science monthly. onvielle, was borne by the wind,in February, 1869, in thirty-five minutes, from Paris to Neuilly-Saint-Front, a distance of fifty miles. Keeping abreast with the progress ofelectrial science, Tissandier conceived the idea of employing storage-batteries instead of steam or hand power, as the immediate source ofenergy to actuate the propeller of an elongated balloon. He con-structed a small experimental balloon, which was filled with hydrogen, * The writer takes pleasure in acknowledging his personal indebtedness to M. Tissan-dier for the full accounts from which the f
. Popular science monthly. onvielle, was borne by the wind,in February, 1869, in thirty-five minutes, from Paris to Neuilly-Saint-Front, a distance of fifty miles. Keeping abreast with the progress ofelectrial science, Tissandier conceived the idea of employing storage-batteries instead of steam or hand power, as the immediate source ofenergy to actuate the propeller of an elongated balloon. He con-structed a small experimental balloon, which was filled with hydrogen, * The writer takes pleasure in acknowledging his personal indebtedness to M. Tissan-dier for the full accounts from which the facts set forth in the latter part of this articlewere obtained. 302 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. the effective ascensional force being two kilogrammes. A motor, ofthe Siemens type (Fig. 2), weighing only two hundred and twentygrammes, was made to turn the propeller, which consisted of a pair otvanes, each ten centimetres long ; storage-cell, motor, and propellerbeing supported on a light platform suspended by netting. This. ilG. 2. -TXSSANDlEliS MlfilATCBE ELECTRIC MOTOU ANI> PROPELLER, 1881. dirio-eable aerostat was exhibited at the Electrical Exposition of1881,and a bronze medal awarded to the inventor. It attained aspeed of about three metres per second. Encouraged by this success, Tissandier undertook the work of con-structing an aerostat large enough to lift two or three persons in addi-tion to the weight of the propelling apparatus and other accessories. RECENT PROGRESS IN AERIAL NAVIGATION. 303 The task was one which involved a heavy expenditure of money, asidefrom the time, labor, and thought bestowed by the inventor. Hesought in vain to organize a company with a capital of two hundredthousand francs for the purpose of constructing an aerostat of threethousand cubic metres capacity ; but the plan was not sufficientlypromising of large dividends to be attractive to investors. No for-tunes have been made thus far by the navigation of the air, and capi-talists have not
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