previous year, a
balloon detachment having been dispatched to Tonkin in 1884. In both
the Tonkin and Soudan campaigns, invaluable work was accomplished by the
balloon sections, with the result that this aerial vehicle has come to
be regarded as an indispensable military adjunct. Indeed the activity of
the German military ballooning section was directly attributable to the
Anglo-French achievements therewith.

In this work, however, the British force speedily displayed its
superiority and initiative. The use of compressed hydrogen was adopted,
and within the course of a few years the other Powers, realising the
advantages which the British department had thus obtained, decided to
follow its example. The gas is stored in cylinders under a pressure
varying from six to ten or more atmospheres; in other words from about
80 to 140 or more pounds per square inch. Special military wagons
have been designed for the transport of these cylinders, and they are
attached to the balloon train.

The balloon itself is light, and made of such materials as to reduce
the weight thereof to the minimum. The British balloons are probably the
smallest used by any of the Powers, but at the same time they are
the most expensive. They are made of goldbeater's skin, and range in
capacity from 7,000 to 10,000 cubic feet, the majority being of the
former capacity. The French balloon on the other hand has a capacity
exceeding 18,000 cubic feet, although a smaller vessel of 9,000 cubic
feet capacity, known as an auxiliary, and carrying a single observer, is
used.

The Germans, on the other hand, with their Teutonic love of the immense,
favour far larger vessels. At the same time the military balloon section
of the German Army eclipses that of any other nations is attached to the
Intelligence Department, and is under the direct control of the General
Staff. Balloon stations are dotted all over the country, including
Heligoland and Kiel, while regular sections are attached to the Navy
for operating captive balloons from warships. Although the Zeppelin and
aeroplane forces have come to the front in Germany, and have relegated
the captive balloon somewhat to the limbo of things that were, the
latter section has never been disbanded; in fact, during the present
campaign it has undergone a somewhat spirited revival.

The South African campaign emphasised the value of the British balloon
section of the Army, and revealed services to which it was speciall