On September 19th the airship made a second ascent with the same passengers as before, with the exception of the Duke. According to the report of the brothers Robert, they succeeded in completing an ellipse and then travelled further in the direction of the wind without using the oars or steering arrangements. They then deviated their course somewhat by the use of these implements and landed at Bethune, about 180 miles distant from Paris. In those days it was considered possible that a balloon could be rendered navigable by oars, wings, millwheels, etc., and it was not until the last decades of the nineteenth century, when light and powerful motors had been constructed, that the problem became really practical of solution. During the nineteenth century several airships were built in France and innumerable experiments were carried out, but the vessels produced were of little real value except in so far as they stimulated their designers to make further efforts. Two of these only will be mentioned, and that because the illustrations show how totally different they were from the airship of to-day. In 1834 the Compte de Lennox built an airship of 98,700 cubic feet capacity. It was cylindrical in form with conical ends, and is of interest because a small balloon or ballonet, 7,050 cubic feet contents, was placed inside the larger one for an air filling. A car 66 feet in length was rigged beneath the envelope by means of ropes eighteen inches long. Above the car the envelope was provided with a long air cushion in connection with a valve. The intention was by compression of the air in the cushion and the inner balloon, to alter the height of the airship, in order to travel with the most favourable air currents. The motive power was 20 oar propellers worked by men. This airship proved to be too heavy on completion to lift its own weight, and was destroyed by the onlookers. The next airship, the Dupuy de Lome, is of interest because the experiments were carried out at the cost of the State by the French Government. This ship consisted of a spindle-shaped balloon with a length of 112 feet, diameter of 48 1/2 feet and a volume of 121,800 cubic feet. An inner air balloon of 6,000 cubic feet volume was contained in the envelope. The method of suspension was by means of diagonal ropes with a net covering. A rudder in the form of a triangular sail was fitted beneath the envelope and at the after part of the ship. The motive power was double-winged screws 29 feet 6 inches diameter, to be worked by four to eight men. On her trials the ship became practically a free balloon, an independent velocity of about six miles per hour being achieved and deviation from the direction of the wind of ten degrees.