182 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



—to use his own words—" strongly entrenched behind a barricade of military 

 prejudice," it may be that Mr. Lanchester will prove an efficient bomber in a 

 supervision trench. On the other hand, if that section of the public and newspaper 

 press, who see in the occasional nightly raids of the Zeppelin, reasons for advocat- 

 ing an impossible host of aircraft defenders of all types along our eastern, south- 

 eastern and south coasts would read this book, they would be able to place the 

 dirigible in its proper place, and speed up, instead of harassing, those in authority, 

 on whom a very heavy burden has been laid, by the murder of our civilians and 

 the wanton destruction of private property by the aircraft of a criminal enemy. 



The volume will be a very great help to those young men who have taken up 

 aircraft work to aid their country in its time of stress, as it deals with the subject 

 in all its branches from actual aerial warfare to pure reconnaissance work. All the 

 points are reasoned out in a manner that makes the reading deeply interesting, 

 valuable, and convincing. 



The military value of aircraft is taken up very vigorously by the author. 

 " Now there are many otherwise competent authorities who would deny to the 

 aeroplane (or to aircraft generally) the potential importance which the author 

 hopes satisfactorily to demonstrate is its due ; let us put the matter to the test. . . . 

 The foregoing does not constitute a demonstration that the air service is in the 

 future destined to become as important an auxiliary to an army in the field as the 

 cavalry of to-day, although this is in effect the belief of the author." The author, 

 later, discusses the combined use of the aeroplane and cavalry ; " exactly how 

 the combination of the two arms will be controlled and handled it is impossible, 

 without actual experience, to lay down." 



Here, perhaps, the author may have changed his ideas since 1914, and would 

 willingly concede the added importance of aircraft in modern warfare and promote 

 it from the fourth to the " third arm." 



The only point where we find ourselves differing from the author is in one 

 of his conclusions. " Germany backed the wrong horse. The Zeppelin, from a 

 military standpoint, has proved a complete failure. If the resources thus diverted 

 into a useless channel . . ." 



We have not the slightest evidence that fleets of Zeppelins have been sent out 

 from Germany for military purposes and reasons only. 



The sowing of mines, the indiscriminate throwing of bombs and scouting, may, 

 in the German mind, have more than justified the Zeppelin. Our enemy from 

 the very first has never neglected psychical effects — indeed, they have been 

 most carefully studied and their air raids may be regarded by the Kaiser's 

 Government "to have paid." In other words, they have worried the people and 

 thereby harassed the Government. 



We heartily recommend the book to all readers. 



J. Wemyss Anderson. 



March 1 916. 



