July 10, 1921 eckhardt and karcher : radio recorder 303 



ciliate, 1 mm. long; inner phyllaries (subtending the female flowers) 2, ob- 

 ovoid, subherbaceous with thin margin, obtuse, glabrous, many-nerved, 5.5 

 mm. long; receptacle stipitate, bearing nine hermaphroditf sterile flowers; 

 female flowers 2, their corollas tubular, annulate-pilose at apex, very short; 

 corolla of the hermaphrodite flowers tubular-funnel form, greenish-white, 1.8 

 mm. long; achenesobovoid-turbinate, thick but somewhat obcompressed, trun- 

 cate, about S-ribbed, glabrous, 4.2 mm. long; pales of the disk suborbicular- 

 cuneate to (inner) cuneate, glabrous, truncate or rounded, many-nerved with 

 thinner apex, 2 to 3 mm. long. 



Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 1042822, collected in forest 

 at Libano, Department of Tolima, Colombia, altitude 1100 to 1300 meters, 

 December 26-29, 1917, by F. W. Pennell (no. 3430). Duplicate in the 

 herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden. 



Although in all its technical characters this species is clearly a member 

 of the genus Ichthyothere, it is very distinct from all the previously known 

 species in its scandent habit and its very loose inflorescence. 



RADIOTELEGRAPHY. — A chronographic recorder of radio time sig- 

 nals ^ E. A. Eckhardt and J. C. Karcher, Bureau of Standards. 

 (Communicated by S. W. Stratton). 



The problem of recording radio signals is one of amplifying the fee- 

 ble energy in the radio signal to such a degree that in the amplified 

 amount it is sufficient to operate a recording device. Whether the 

 recording be done photographically or by means of some form of 

 stylus, the electrical energy of the radio signal at some stage of the 

 process gives rise to a mechanical motion. The aim of the experi- 

 menter is to make the chain of events between the receiving antenna 

 and the mechanically moving element, as well as the apparatus em- 

 bodying it, as simple and reliable as possible. If it is desired to use 

 the recording apparatus in field service these considerations are es- 

 pecially important. Ruggedness then becomes an additional im- 

 perative requirement. The recording apparatus described in this 

 paper was intended primarily for field use, since with it the U. S. 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey wishes to record Annapolis time signals 

 at any field station which it may desire to occupy within the borders 

 of the United States. 



So far as we know, success in recording radio signals at long range 

 has heretofore been attained only by the use of amplifiers of many 

 stages. Despite the great progress which has been made in the de- 

 sign and construction of such devices, a field party, which needs to 

 give considerable attention to the weight of its equipment and which 

 in general is not accompanied by a qualified radio engineer, will not 



' Presented before the Philosophical Society of Washington, March 26, 1921 . Received 

 May 5, 1921. 



