12 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



said that the problem has been satisfactorily solved ? I think not. 

 Sir James Hector believed with myself that it might be explained 

 by some peculiar mechanism in the wing of the bird, and at a 

 meeting of our society some years ago he elaborated a very 

 ingenious theory on the subject, exhibiting at the same time an 

 albatross wing specially prepared to illustrate his argument. In 

 1889 he took the trouble to send to England a fine adult 

 specimen in spirits of wine for critical examination by an expert. 

 I forwarded it to the well-known comparative anatomist, Dr. 

 Hans Gadow, F.R.S., at Cambridge, but he reported that he could 

 not discover any departure from the normal character in the 

 structure of the wing ; and so the matter rests at present." 



All the older theories ignored the fundamental condition laid 

 down above, and on the evidence of imperfect observers scientists 

 spent their energies in futile efforts to solve the so-called soaring 

 problem, not recognizing our old friend perpetual motion in a 

 different guise. Mr. L. Hargrave, a well-known experimenter in 

 aerodynamics in New South Wales, says on this point — "No 

 amount of observation of birds will solve the soaring problem ; it 

 can alone be done by making some kind of apparatus that will 

 advance against the wind without losing its velocity." I must 

 reply that no apparatus will ever be made to fulfil this condition 

 unless provided with motive power, such as the revolving screw in 

 Mr. Maxim's machine ; and if an apparatus be ever made that will 

 gain motion relatively to the earth (which is a very different thing) 

 without the expenditure of power, it will have to take advantage 

 of the same variations in the wind as a soaring bird. The latter 

 achievement is however very problematical, though Mr. Maxim's 

 successful experiments seem to promise flying machines provided 

 with motive power in the near future. 



A most extraordinary theory is advanced in a letter to Nature, 

 October, 1894, by Mr. A. Kingsmill, who found, on developing 

 a snap shot at an albatross, that the wings in the picture were 

 vertical, although the indication on the camera showed them at 

 the moment of exposure apparently at full stretch. The bird was 

 probably in the act of turning to one side, but his conclusion that 

 it seems to entirely upset the accepted theories as to the flight of 

 this bird involves the fantastic suggestion that the movement of 

 the wings is too quick to be perceptible to the human eye. 



In his account of Tristan da Cunha, in " Linn. Trans.," vol. xii., 

 Captain Carmichael relates that he threw a Mollyhawk (Diomedea 

 culminata) over a cliff and saw it fall like a stone without attempt- 

 ing to flap. On my last visit to Albatross Island I repeated this 

 experiment on some of the Shy Albatrosses, but after falling a 

 short distance they all found their wings and soared away. I 

 have said that it is only by a consideration of the movements of 

 the wind that a solution of the problem is possible, and here 

 it may be noted that soaring is only practised when there is a 



