The improvement of which I
am about to speak relates to the regulation of the buoyancy of the
balloon. This is now done by throwing out ballast or by allowing some
of the gas to escape--a method which necessitates the carrying of an
unwieldy amount of sand and the expenditure of an unnecessary amount
of gas.
From the fire balloon invented by the Montgolfier Brothers, in 1782,
to the superior hydrogen balloon of M.M. Charles and Robert, no
material advancement has been made, except the employment of coal gas,
first suggested by Mr. Green. The vast surface presented to the wind
makes the balloon unmanageable in every breeze, and the aeronaut can
do nothing but allow it to float along with the current. This is a
difficulty which has been partly overcome, as was seen at the recent
Paris Electrical Exhibition; but no one will ever be able to guide it
in a direction opposite to a current of air. The aeronaut must ever
content himself in being able to float in the direction of the current
or at certain angles to its course; but to do this even is a matter
which has not been successfully accomplished. An inflated balloon
would ascend too high unless several hundred pounds of ballast were
used to weight it down. This ballast serves another purpose, it is
desirable to maintain the balloon at a uniform distance above the
earth's surface, and as the two per cent.
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