*Limitations of Use.* Nothing excites the Teutonic imagination so strongly as things military to which the characteristic German adjective _kolossal_ can be enthusiastically applied. It was for this reason that, despite its uniform record of tragic disaster for years before the war, the Germans pinned their faith to the Zeppelin as a weapon that could not fail to strike terror to the hearts of the British and French and make them hasten "to sue for peace." However, apart from its reputed employment on the single occasion that the German grand fleet left the security of the Kiel Canal, it is not known to have been used in any purely military operation. The aeroplane has been developed to a point that, in spite of the ability of the Zeppelin to ascend rapidly when hard pressed, would make it suicidal for one of the huge gas bags to sally forth in daylight, unless attended by a large number of battle planes to prevent enemy flying machines from attacking it. No such use of the Zeppelin has been recorded thus far. Consequently, it has been used only in nocturnal bomb-dropping expeditions, chiefly directed against London and only undertaken when weather conditions made detection difficult. In order to carry these out, it has been necessary to establish stations in Belgium, since the fuel consumption of the Zeppelin is so great that, even with its tremendous fuel supply of 3 to 5 tons, a flight to London and return to points well within the German border is impracticable. The first raids of this character were carried out successfully, but subsequent attempts were marked by the loss of one or two airships on each occasion, so that the practice was abandoned as being too expensive for the results attained and aeroplanes were substituted. *Number Built.* Taking it for granted that the numbering of the German airships has been consecutive, the total number built during the first three and one-half years of the war by the Germans would be between eighty and one hundred. All large German airships have come to be commonly termed Zeppelins, but a number of them were of the Schutte-Lanz type, almost equally large and also characterized by rigid construction, which, however, was of wood with aluminum fittings instead of being all metal, as it was found that the huge metal frame accumulated a static charge of high potential that was responsible for igniting the gas in one or two instances.