310 EXPLORATIONS OF THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE. 



At Warsaw the balloou Strella, having a cubic capacity of 1,000 

 meters, tilled with ordiuary illuminating gas, and directed by Lieuten- 

 ant Prince Obolensky, with Lieutenant Oiilianin as observer, ascended 

 at 3.15 a. m. and descended near Erzozow, in Austria, at 12.50. It was 

 up, therefore, for nine hours and thirty-iive minutes. Its maximum 

 altitude was 3,500 meters, but the temperature could not be observed 

 beyond 2,000 meters, where 20° C was shown. Beyond this the 

 observations were interrupted, the mercury being wholly within the 

 bulb of the thermometer. 



At Munich, the balloou Academic, having a cubic capacity of 1,300 

 meters, and tilied with pure hydrogen, ascended at 6.45 a. m., central 

 European time, having on board M. Erk, director of the Meteorological 

 Observatory at Munich, and Captain Guttenberg. The lowest tem- 

 perature observed was —6.5° C, with a barometrical pressure of 505 

 millimeters, taken at 12.02. The wet bulb thermometer gave —7.9°. 

 This expedition was certainly one of the most interesting of the day. 

 As the sun drew near to the meridian the balloon rose progressively 

 above a sea of clouds, between which glimpses were obtained of the 

 immense panorama of the Alps. The temperature, which had regu- 

 larly descended up to that time, rose again when above the clouds, 

 and attained a maximum of +2.7° at 1,600 meters, to redescend to 

 — 6.5° at the culminating point of the ascension, at 3,350 meters. A 

 landing was effected without any notable incident after traversing 

 about 200 kilometers, at 1.45, at Longvitz. In none of the ascents were 

 any shooting stars perceived. 



It would at this time be premature to attempt to draw any conclu- 

 sions from these simultaneous observations, although it may be alSrmed 

 in a general way that up to an altitude of from 8,000 to 10,000 meters 

 the local influences and the configurations of the ground cause great 

 differences in the temperature of the air, observed at the same time 

 and altitude. We must wait until successive observations made upon 

 the higher atmosphere shall have changed in some degree the theo- 

 ries believed to be the best settled; but it should not be forgotten 

 that observations made in meteorological stations on mountains have 

 prepared us for conclusions of this kind. There, as is well known, the 

 differences in the temperature of the air taken with the metallic ther- 

 mometer in the shade and in the sun vary with the altitude. Much is 

 yet to be studied before we can settle in a definite and certain manner 

 these various questions. 



VI.— ASCENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY MADE ON THE 18TH OF FEBRUARY, 1897. 



In accordance with the advice given by the Scientific Commission at 

 Paris, at its session of February 3, a new exploration of the distant 

 strata of the atmosphere was decided upon, in concert with the Inter- 

 national Committee of Aeronautics and Meteorology. The Aerophile, 

 which returned in a pitiable state after its journey to Belgium, had been 



