will suffice for this duty as a rule, and in calm weather little
difficulty is encountered in moving from point to point. This
method possesses many advantages. The balloon can be inflated
with greater ease at the base, where it is immune from
interference by hostile fire. Moreover, the facilities for
obtaining the requisite inflating agent--hydrogen or coal gas--
are more convenient at such a point. If the base be far removed
from the spot at which it is desired to operate the balloon, the
latter is inflated at a convenient point nearer the requisite
position, advantage being taken of the protective covering
offered by a copse or other natural obstacle.

As is well known, balloons played an important part during the
siege of Paris in 1870-1, not only in connection with daring
attempts to communicate with the outer world, but in
reconnoitring the German positions around the beleaguered city.
But this was not the first military application of the aerial
vessel; it was used by the French against the Austrians in the
battle of Fleurus, and also during the American Civil War. These
operations, however, were of a sporadic character; they were not
part and parcel of an organised military section.

It is not generally known that the British War office virtually
pioneered the military use of balloons, and subsequently the
methods perfected in Britain became recognised as a kind of
"standard" and were adopted generally by the Powers with such
modifications as local exigencies seemed to demand.

The British military balloon department was inaugurated at
Chatham under Captain Templer in 1879. It was devoted