Count Henri de la Vaula did not succeed in crossing
the Mediterranean with his balloon, nor has M. Santos-Dumont yet rounded the Eiffel Tower. The Count, however, remained safely for forty-five hours in the upper air, and in descending "easily" directed the course of his balloon towards the cruiser which accompanied him; while M. Santos-Dumont in calm weather seems to direct his flight as he will. Both acknowledge that they cannot as yet defeat the wind, but each has done something towards producing a balloon that can be guided. The public has perhaps always expected too sudden a success in this matter of aerial navigation. It is quite possible that it will be attained, if at all, only by minute steps, each inventor contributing something to the removal of an obstacle. That has been, and indeed still is, the history of the use of electricity as a motive power, the electricians conqaering mechanical obstacles almost every month, and even now pausing till they can find an accumulator which shall not have the terrible weight of leaden plates.
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