THE GREATEST FLYING CREATURE. 



653 



^^. de Luci/s table. 

 [From the Fourth Annual Report of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain for 1S(>9, page 63.] 



Names. 



Gnat 



Dragon fly (small) 



Coce'inella (ladybird) 



Dragon fly (common) 



Tipula, or daddy longlegs 



Bee 



Meatfly 



Drone (blue 



Cockchafer 



Lucanus ^i-vus, stag beetle (female) 



Lucanr., cervus, stag beetle (male) 



Rhinoceros beetle 



BIRDS. 



Swallow 



Sparrow 



Turtle dove 



IMsrcon 



Square 

 feet of 



wing sur- 

 face per 



pound of 

 weight. 



49 

 30 

 26.6 

 21.6 

 14.5 

 5.25 

 5.6 

 5.08 

 5.15 

 4.66 

 3.75 

 3.14 



2.72 

 2.13 

 1.25 



In this table eaeli creature is supposed to be niagnilied or diminished 

 in all its existing proportions till it weighs 1 pound. The surface 

 dimensions of its wings will then be as given. 



The above insects and birds vibrate their wings and do not soar. 

 The table shows that the law (i. e., the law that the larger the creature 

 the less the necessary relative area of support to a given weight) holds 

 not only in the case of the large soaring bird, but in the case of smaller 

 ones whii'h tiap their wings, and even in the case of insects. The 

 explanation may be very near at hand, ])ut it is not to me evident. 



The accompanying table, from Mouillard's L'Empirt^ de L'Air. 

 deals with the same facts, and exhibits the paradoxical law that the 

 greater the creature the smaller the (relative) supporting surface: 



Tahle shou'iiKj ireight, wing arci, and square feet of iritig smfdce irliirh saxtains 1 jioiukI 



of weight. '•' 



Latin name. 



(,'oinmon name. 



.•^cops zorca Screech owl 



.\ccipiter Tiisns Sparrow hawk 



Larus mclanocophahis Black-headed gull 



.\stnr pahuiil>arius ' Gosshawk 



( )tus hrachyi itus I Short-eared owl . . . 



Ibis falcincllus Glossy ibis 



( 'orvns corax ] Raven 



Milvus scgyptiacns I Kite 



I'andinn huliactus Fishhawk 



Xcophron piTcnopterns | Scavenger vulture. 



("athartcs aura ' Turkey buzzanl . . . 



rdccanus onocrotalus Wliile pelican 



Phicnicopterus antitinonun Flamingo 



( iyps f ulvus , Grilfon vulture .... 



Sarcorhamphus gryphus Condor 



0t«gyps auricularis Eared vulture 



Weight in h\|^"4«j^>- 

 I"-"^"'- Isqutrefeet. 



.33 



.336 



.619 



.641 



.67 



.806 



.34 



.41 



.so 



.S3 



.6 



.66 



.34 



—16.; 



—16. ." 



—17.: 



0.776 



.69 



.92 



.84 



1.50 



1.24 



2.50 



3.02 



3.01 



3. 65 



5. 33 



6.32 



3.50 



11. 3S 



9. SO 



11.99 



Square feet 

 of wing 



surface per 

 pound of 

 weight. 



2. 35 



2. 05 



1.49 



1.31 



2. 24 



1.54 



1.S7 



2.14 



l.OS 



. 95 



.95 



.95 



.55 



.68 



. 59 



.6.S" 



'Data compiled cliiefly from Mouillard, L. 1'., L,'Kmpire de L'Air, i'aris, 1881. 



