without. By means of long, flexible tubes, air could be
continually supplied to the wearers of the suits, and by an ingenious
contrivance a store of compressed air sufficient to last for several
hours was provided for each suit, so that in case of necessity the
wearer could throw off the tubes connecting him with the air tanks in
the car. Another object which had been kept in view in the preparation
of these suits was the possible exploration of an airless planet, such
as the moon.

The necessity of some contrivance by means of which we should be enabled
to converse with one another while outside the cars in open space, or
when in an airless world, like the moon, where there would be no medium
by which the waves of sound could be conveyed as they are in the
atmosphere of the earth, had been foreseen by our great inventor, and he
had not found it difficult to contrive suitable devices for meeting the
emergency.

Inside the headpiece of each of the electrical suits was the mouthpiece
of a telephone. This was connected to a wire which, when not in use,
could be conveniently coiled upon the arm of the wearer. Near the ears,
similarly connected with wires, were telephonic receivers.

When two persons wearing the air-tight dresses wished to converse with
one another it was only necessary for them to connect themselves by the
wires, and conversation could then be easily carried on.

Careful calculations of the precise distance of Mars from the earth at
the time when the expedition was to start had been made by a large
number of experts in mathematical astronomy. But it was not Mr. Edison's
intention to go direct to Mars. With the exception of the first
electrical ship, which he had completed, none had yet been tried in a
long voyage. It was desirable that the qualities of each of the ships
should first be carefully tested, and for this reason the leader of the
expedition determined that the moon should be the first port of space at
which the squadron would call.

It chanced that the moon was so situated at this time as to be nearly in
a line between the earth and Mars, which latter was in opposition to the
sun, and consequently as favorably situated as possible for the purposes
of the voyage. What would be, then, for 99 out of the 100 ships of the
squadron, a trial trip would at the same time be a step of a quarter of
a million of miles gained in the direction of our journey, and so no
time would be wasted.

The depart