188 Historical 



ley, that we should lessen this figure by a quarter of an inch. About 

 1:52, the dry bulb thermometer registered — 5°. Soon I could not see 

 the column of mercury in the wet bulb thermometer, or the hands of 

 a watch, or the fixed divisions of any of my instruments. I asked M. 

 Coxwell to help me get the figures which escaped me, but, because 

 of the rotation of the balloon, which had not ceased since we left the 

 earth, the cord of the valve was tangled. M. Coxwell had to leave 

 the basket and climb on the ring to untangle it. I observed the barom- 

 eter; I saw that it registered 10 inches, and that it was falling 

 rapidly. Its real height, taking care to subtract the quarter of an inch, 

 was 9 and % inches, which indicated a height of 29,000 feet (8838 

 meters). Shortly afterwards, I leaned on the table with my right arm, 

 which had had its full strength an instant before; but, when I wanted 

 to use it, I saw that it was no longer able to render me any service. 

 It must have lost its power instantaneously. I tried to use my left 

 arm, and found that it too was paralyzed. Then I tried to move my 

 body, and succeeded to a certain degree; but it seemed to me that I 

 no longer had any limbs; I tried once more to read the barometer, and 

 while I was making this attempt, my head fell on my left shoulder. 

 I stirred and moved my body again; but I could not succeed in raising 

 my arms. I lifted my head but only for an instant; it fell once more. 



My back was leaning on the rim of the basket and my head in one 

 of its angles. In this position I had my eyes fixed on M. Coxwell, 

 who was in the ring. When I succeeded in sitting up, I was completely 

 master of the movements of my spine, and certainly still had great 

 control over those of my neck, although I had lost command of my 

 arms and my legs; but the paralysis had made new progress. Sud- 

 denly I felt incapable of making any movement. I vaguely saw M. 

 Coxwell in the ring, and I tried to speak to him, but could not move 

 my powerless tongue. In an instant, thick darkness seized upon me; 

 the optic nerve had suddenly lost all power. I still was perfectly 

 conscious and my brain was as active as while I am writing these 

 lines. I thought that I was asphyxiated, that I should make no more 

 experiments, and that death would seize me unless we descended 

 rapidly. Other thoughts were rushing into my mind when I suddenly 

 lost all consciousness, as when one falls asleep. 



My last observation took place at 1:54, at 29,000 feet. I suppose 

 that one or two minutes passed, before my eyes ceased to see the little 

 divisions of the thermometers, and that about the same time elapsed 

 before my faint. Everything leads me to believe that at 1:57 I lapsed 

 into a sleep which might have been eternal. I was not able to move 

 when I heard the words temperature and observation. I perceived 

 that M. Coxwell was speaking to me and that he was trying to awaken 

 me; hearing and consciousness had then returned to me. I then heard 

 him speak louder, but I could not see him; it was much more impos- 

 sible to answer him or make a movement. He was saying to me: 

 "Try now, try." Then I vaguely saw the instruments and soon after- 

 wards surrounding objects. I rose and looked around me, as if I 

 were coming from a feverish sleep, which exhausted instead of resting 

 one. "I fainted", I said to M. Coxwell. "Certainly," he answered, 

 "and I nearly fainted too." I then pulled up my legs, which were 



