This and sundry other flights amply demonstrated the dirigibility and relative safety of the balloon under varying atmospheric conditions. But the difficulties that attend the management of such a craft when not high in air were again vividly illustrated when, in April, 1910, the Zeppelin II., was totally wrecked while at anchor by the force of a gale which it might easily have outridden had it been beyond the reach of terrestrial obstacles. X THE TRIUMPH OF THE AEROPLANE Although the dirigible balloon in the hands of Santos-Dumont gained a decisive victory over all mechanical methods of flight theretofore discovered, even the inventor himself considered it rather as a means to an end, than the end itself. That end, it would seem, must be a flying-machine, many times heavier than the atmosphere, but able by mechanical means to lift and propel itself through the air. The natural representative of this kind of flying-machine, the bird, is something like a thousand times as heavy as the air which its bulk displaces. The balloon, on the other hand, with its equipments and occupants, must necessarily be lighter than air; and as the ordinary gas used for inflating is only about seven times lighter than the atmosphere, it can be readily understood that for a balloon to acquire any great amount of lifting power it must be of enormous proportions. To attempt to force this great, fragile bulk of light material through the atmosphere at any great rate of speed is obviously impossible on account of the resistance offered by its surfaces. On the other hand, any such structure strong enough to resist the enormous pressure at high speed would be too heavy to float. [Illustration: THE AEROPLANE OF M. SANTOS DUMONT. M. Santos Dumont's chief fame as an aviator is based on his flights with a dirigible balloon. He has experimented extensively, however, with the heavier-than-air type of machine, though none of his flights with this apparatus has been record-breaking.] These facts are so patent that it is but natural to inquire how the balloonists could ever have expected to accomplish flight at more than a nominal rate of speed; and, on the other hand, it might be asked, naturally enough, how the aviators expected to fly with aeroplane machines at least a thousand times heavier than the air. In reply, the aviators could point to birds and bats as examples of how the apparently impossible is easily accomplished in nature; while the balloonists could simply point to their accomplished flights as practical demonstrations. The aviators could point to no past records of accomplishments, but nevertheless they had good ground for the faith that was in them, and as we shall see were later to justify their theories by practical demonstrations.