2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 62 



suchsanstalt at Gottingen ; and (4) the newly organized laboratory 

 adjoining the flying field at Johannisthal near Berlin, known as the 

 *' Deutsche Versuchsanstalt fiir Luftfahrt zu Adlershof." 



These establishments resemble each other in some important 

 features, but dififer in others. All are devoted to both academic and 

 engineering investigations. All are directed by highly trained 

 scientific and technical men. The directors are not merely execu- 

 tives ; they are the technical heads — scientists or engineers specifically 

 qualified by superior training in aeronautical engineering and its 

 immediately cognate branches — who initiate the researches, and 

 assist their technical staffs in devising apparatus, interpreting results, 

 and making systematic reports. 



The establishments differ in their organization, resources, and 

 equipments, and, to a considerable extent, in the scope and character 

 of their investigations. Of the five institutions mentioned, the one 

 in England and the one at Gottingen are now supported largely by 

 governmental appropriations ; and the other three are maintained by 

 private capital, allotted as required, or accruing from fees or endow- 

 ment funds. Again, the laboratories near London, at St. Cyr, and at 

 Adlershof are practically unlimited in the scope of their researches, 

 while Eiffel's and the Gottingen laboratory have confined their 

 activities substantially to wind-tunnel experiments. 



The aeronautical researches of the British goz'ermnent are in 

 charge of the British Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, a self- 

 governing civilian organization which was appointed by the Prime 

 Minister of England to work out theoretical and experimental prob- 

 lems in aeronautics for the army and navy, and comprises twelve 

 to fourteen expert men. under the presidency of Lord Rayleigh. This 

 committee initiates and directs investigations and tests at the Royal 

 Air Craft Factory, at the National Physical Laboratory, at the 

 ]\Ieteorological Office, at \'ickers Sons and Maxim's, etc. It expends, 

 in performing its regular functions, a sum exceeding the income of 

 any private aeronautical laboratory, and received directly from the 

 government treasury. 



The committee is primarily occupied with work for the government, 

 but also performs researches and tests for private individuals, for 

 suitable fees, but without guaranteeing secrecy as to the results. 

 The work of the committee is manifold and comprehensive. Whirl- 

 ing-table measurements, wind-tunnel measurements, testing of en- 

 gines, propellers, woods, metals, fabrics, varnishes, hydromechanic 

 studies, meteorological observations, mathematical investigations in 



