as an army advances, so as to maintain
unbroken communication with the base of
operations in the rear, and also to be the
medium of question, answer, and command
on the field of battle itself.

But, besides all these, there are two kinds
of aërial messengers peculiar in their
character, occasionally employed in warfare in
past times, and in constant use in the
present Franco-German war. These are
balloons and carrier-pigeons.

It is still an unsolved problem whether
balloons can ever be navigated through the
air: that is, steered to a definite point, and
there stopped, despite of adverse winds.
Scientific men doubt the probability of such
success being attained; whereas enthusiastic
inventors are never tired of contriving
new forms of wings, sails, kites, paddles,
screws, tails, flappers, rollers, levers, and
fans; never tired of ringing the changes
in the form of the balloon to which these
appendages are to be attached—the sphere,
the oblate spheroid, the prolate spheroid,
the fish, the bird, the cylinder, the cone,
the big balloon surrounded by satellites in
the form of little balloons, and many other
strange aëronautical devices. All sorts of
diversities have been tried; but the varying
density of the air, and the fluctuating
force and direction of the wind, have
hitherto frustrated all attempts to render
the balloon really navigable in any proper
meaning of the term. Of course, if the
balloon be captive, held by a rope from the
car to a fixed point on the ground below,
it cannot be blown wholly away, unless
through some accident: but then it would
be only a look-out position, not a
messenger.

So far as war is concerned, the captive
balloon has, until the present year, been
more useful than the free; because,
although more limited in range, it is better
under command. And the like remark is
applicable to scientific investigations.
Although many meteorologists, from Gay
Lussac to Mr. Glaisher, have made valuable
observations on the electric, barometric,
thermometric, and hygrometric state of
the air during balloon voyages, yet captive
balloons are better, because they may
be kept aloft for hours together, and
lowered at pleasure.

In 1794, when the French were at war
with Germany, they organised an
Aërostatic Institute at Meudon, to train a
corps of aërostiers: men whose business it
would be to ascend to a certain height in
captive balloons, watch the movements of
the enemy in a field of battle or in a
besieged fort, and send down signals to the
French commander. At the battle of
Fleurus, in that year, M. Guyton de Morveau
and Colonel Coulette went up with a
balloon, the one to manage it, the other to
make military observations, and to send
down military information. They remained
up four hours (near Charleroi), keeping at
a definite height of a thousand feet or more,
secured by a rope fastened to the ground.
They ascended twice, watched the movements
of the Austrian army, and sent down
signals which assisted General Jourdan in
winning the day. The Austrians fired up
some great guns at the balloon, but failed
to get the range. Three other balloon
corps were sent out with three other French
armies in the same year. In 1808, there
was war of another kind—a duel—
connected with balloons. M. de Grandpré and
M. le Pique quarrelled about a lady
performing at the Paris Opera, Mademoiselle
Tirevit; they agreed to fight a balloon duel,
the victor to win the lady's favour. They
ascended in two balloons from the Tuileries
Gardens, each with his second. They were
to fire at each other's balloons with
blunderbusses, not at the cars nor at the men.
The balloons were about eighty yards
apart; and when they had ascended to a
height of about half a mile, a signal was
given from below. M. le Pique fired, and
missed; M. de Grandpré fired, and hit; Le
Pique's balloon was pierced, the gas escaped,
the balloon descended with fearful rapidity,
and he and his second were dashed to pieces.
The triumphant De Grandpré continued
his voyage, and descended safely at about
seven leagues from Paris. During the
Italian war of 1859, balloon observations
were made by the French to ascertain the
position of the Austrian armies. Early in
the American Civil War, General M'Clennan
had a balloon corps attached to his army.
During the bombardment of Charleston in
1862, three officers ascended in a balloon,
and made observations which greatly
facilitated the work of the besiegers.

What the French and Germans are doing
in this way in the present war, the journals
have abundantly told us. The operations
—always supposing the accounts to be
strictly correct—appear to be of three kinds.
There are captive balloons sent up to a
certain height to watch the strength and the
movements of the enemy, keeping out of the
way of cannon as well as they can; there
are free balloons, carrying letters either
open or closed, allowed to fall wherever