while
engaged upon his experiments the inventor suddenly concluded that it
would be a more profitable asset if devoted to the grim game of war. At
the time the military significance of the airship and the aeroplane
were becoming apparent; hence the sudden diversion of the idea into a
destructive channel.

This aerial torpedo is a small missile carrying a charge of high
explosive, such as trinitrotoluene, and depends for its detonation upon
impact or a time fuse. It is launched into the air from a cradle in the
manner of the ordinary torpedo, but the initial velocity is low. The
torpedo is fitted with its own motive power, which comes automatically
into action as the missile climbs into the air. This self-contained
energy is so devised that the maximum power is attained before the
missile has lost the velocity imparted in the first instance, the result
being that it is able to continue its flight in a horizontal direction
from the moment it attains the highest point in its trajectory, which is
naturally varied according to requirements. But there is no secret
about the means of propulsion. The body is charged with a slow-burning
combustible, in the manner of the ordinary rocket, whereby it is given a
rapid rotary motion.

Furthermore it is stated to be fitted with a small gyroscope in the
manner of the torpedo used in the seas, for the purpose of maintaining
direction during flight, but upon this point there is considerable
divergence of opinion among technicians, the general idea being that
the torpedo depends upon an application of the principle of the ordinary
rocket rather than upon a small engine such as is fitted to the ordinary
torpedo. The employment of a slow combustible ensures the maintenance
of the missile in the air for a period exceeding that of the ordinary
shell. It is claimed by the Germans that this projectile will keep aloft
for half-an-hour or more, but this is a phantasy. Its maintenance of
flight is merely a matter of minutes.

The belated appearance of this much-lauded projectile and its restricted
use suggest that it is unreliable, and perhaps no more effective than
the aerial torpedo which appeared in the United States during the
Spanish-American War, and proved a complete failure. An effective and
reliable means of combating or frustrating a dirigible attack, other
than by gun-fire or resort to the drastic remedy of ramming the enemy,
has yet to be devised.

CHAPTER XVII. WIRELESS IN AV