Into the Stratosphere The Belgian physicist, M. Piccard, made another
balloon ascent last week into that region of the upper air which is known as the stratosphere. He had made his preparations with such nicety that, starting from Zurich, he reached a height of 101 miles and descended safely in North Italy twelve hours later. No man has ever before reached such a height. Glaisher, Tissandier and other balloonists of the past century went up in open balloons to a height of six or seven miles, but they were rendered unconscious and barely escaped with their lives. Professor Piccard and his companion in their closed gondola suffered from the extreme cold, but were - able to take their observations and view the calm expanse, through which, the Professor suggests, future travellers will pass in six hours across the Atlantic.. The precise scientific outcome of his ascent remains to be disclosed. The mysterious cosmic rays that " beat upon his gondola like rain " come from the outer depths of the universe. But what their effect may be upon the atom or how they influence radio-activity, as some physicists suppose, is as yet obscure. Professor Piccard has, however, given a new impetus to physical science by his remarkable ascent.
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