What is without doubt one of the most important attempts to solve the problem of the navigation of the air is now being made on tha shores of the Bodenzee, in Wurtemberg. The general idea is that of what has hitherto been called a dirigible balloon, but this term hardly describes the huge snip with its metal framework and outer cover containing a number of balloons. It is nothing more or less than an aerial steamship.

A report has been going the rounds of the press abroad to the effect that a party of German aeronauts contemplate making an experimental long–distance balloon trip, starting from Germany and travelling in an easterly direction, the object of the voyage being to discover experimentally how long a balloon may (remain in the air before coming to the ground.

Whether there is any foundation for this report or not, there can be no doubt that experiments of this kind are necessary for the advancement of the science of aeronautics. Long–distance ballooning has been hitherto neglected, as far as practical trials are concerned.