the ratio of diameter to length should be one to five or one to
six and that the smallest cross-sectional area should face the
wind. He proposed that the method of propulsion should be by
oars, although he appeared to be by no means sanguine if human
strength would be sufficient to move them. Finally, he referred
to the use of different currents of the atmosphere lying one
above the other.

This paper caused a great amount of interest to be taken in
aeronautics, with the result that various Frenchmen turned their
attention to airship design and production. To France must be
due the acknowledgment that she was the pioneer in airship
construction and to her belongs the chief credit for early
experiments.

At a later date Germany entered the lists and tackled the
problems presented with that thoroughness so characteristic of
the nation. It is just twenty-one years ago since Count
Zeppelin, regardless of public ridicule, commenced building his
rigid airships, and in that time such enormous strides were made
that Germany, at the outbreak of the war, was ahead of any other
country in building the large airship.

In 1908 Italy joined the pioneers, and as regards the semi-rigid
is in that type still pre-eminent. Great Britain, it is rather
sad to say, adopted the policy of "wait and see," and, with the
exception of a few small ships described in the two succeeding
chapters, had produced nothing worthy of mention before the
outbreak of the great European war. She then bestirred herself,
and we shall see later that she has produced the largest fleet of