Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci.. Vol. VIII. 



Plate XX. 



Count Von Zeppelin's Airship— the largest and fastest thus far constructed — coming out of its shed 

 and performing various evolutions above Lake Constance. 



{.This airship, which is 38 feet in diameter by 410 feet in length and which lias a capacity of 367,120 cubic feet, held itself 

 ., stationary against a 33'2-mile-an-hour wind in January last, by means ol two 35-horsepower gasoline motors driv- 

 ing four propellers. The airship can lift three tons additional to its own weight, which gives it a radius of 3,0:0 

 miles at 31 miles an hour. On October 11, 1906, Count Zeppelin maneuvered this dirigible balloon above Lake 

 Geneva, ascending to a height of 2.500 feet and steering the huge cigar-shaped ai'-rostat very nicelv. The airship 

 is mounted on floats, so that it works equally well on the water. During one flight it remained in the air an hour 

 _^ and twenty minutes, although the steering-gear was caught in the skeleton framework and became partly unman- 

 i J ageable. The attempts proved also that the airship was dirigible in spite of its great size, as several complete 

 t .. circles were made while in the air. Illustrations from the Scientific American. 



