ave been on terra firma.

In the same month an attempt to reach a record height was made by MM.
Jovis and Mallet at Paris, with the net result that an elevation of
23,000 feet was reached. It will have been noted that the difficulty
through physical exhaustion of inhaling oxygen from either a bag or
cylinder is a serious matter not easily overcome, and it has been
suggested that the helmet invented by M. Fleuss might prove of value.
This contrivance, which has scarcely attracted the attention it has
merited, provides a receptacle for respiration, containing oxygen and
certain purifying media, by means of which the inventor was able to
remain for hours under water without any communication with the outward
air.

About the period at which we have now arrived two fatal accidents befel
English aeronauts. We have related how Maldon, in Essex, was associated
with one of the more adventurous exploits in Mr. Simmons's career. It
was fated also to be associated with the voyage with which his career
closed. On August 27th, 1888, he ascended from Olympia in company with
Mr. Field, of West Brighton, and Mr. Myers, of the Natural History
Museum, with the intention, if practicable, of crossing to Flanders;
and the voyage proceeded happily until the neighbourhood of Maldon was
reached, when, as the sea coast was in sight, and it was already past
five o'clock, it appeared prudent to Mr. Simmons to descend and moor
the balloon for the night. Some labourers some three miles from Maldon
sighted the balloon coming up at speed, and at the same time descending
until its grapnel commenced tearing through a field of barley, when
ballast was thrown out, causing the balloon to rise again towards
and over some tall elms, which became the cause of the disaster which
followed. The grapnel, catching in the upper boughs of one of these
trees, held fast, while the balloon, borne by the force of a strong
wind, was repeatedly blown down to earth with violence, rebounding each
time to a considerable height, only to be flung down again on the same
spot. After three or four impacts the balloon is reported to have burst
with a loud noise, when high in the air, the silk being blown about over
the field, and the car and its occupants dashed to the ground. Help
was unavailing till this final catastrophe, and when, at length, the
labourers were able to extricate the party, Mr. Simmons was found with a
fractured skull and both companions badly injured.

Four