April 13, 191 1] 



NATURE 



2^1 



10 carry only one or two, of a machine fitted with a 

 50 horse-power engine flying faster than one ahnost exactly 

 similar having a loo horse-power engine. It all seems to 

 show how very little we know of the principles which 

 underlie the matter, and how much really careful experi- 

 ment and research are needed if we are to go by anything 

 more than rule of thumb. 



Now that a certain amount of experience has been 



ined, we can get at some idea as to which type of 

 ...achine is generally pronounced the most satisfactory. It 

 is perhaps curious that two types so different as the Far- 

 man biplane and the Bl^riot monoplane have performed 

 so similarly, and there does not seem to be any decided 

 preference among flying men between the two. The 

 following figures of the machines on which certificates had 

 been gained in France last year give some idea of the 

 p<>j)ularitv : — 



93 Bl'^riot monoplane, 8i H. Farman biplane, 37 

 Antoinette monoplane, 30 Sommer biplane, 26 Voisin 



ijlane, 16 Wright biplane, 15 Hanriot monoplane, 9 M. 



irman biplane, 20 on other biplanes, 17 on other mono- 

 planes (besides 10 others not specified)j that is, 162 mono- 

 planes and 182 biplanes. 



Of British-owned machines, according to Jane's " All 



• World's Airships," there are (or were five months 



,-;'>) :— 



34 Bl^riot, 14 H. Farman, 6 Voisin, 8 Wright s, 

 5 Sommer, 4 Antoinette, i Demoiselle (besides small 

 numbers of various English makes). 



This list is, however, not very trustworthy as an indica- 

 tion, as many of these machines have scarcely been tried, 

 and many others (not included) have done good service 

 luring the last four or five months. 

 Xutomatic Stability. — A great deal has been said and 

 ritten on this subject. Before practical flight had been 

 lUained, it was often thought that it would be necessary 

 to apply some controlling mechanism actuated by a 

 pendulum or gyroscope, so that when the machine tilted 

 iiver it would be automatically forced back. Practice has 

 -hown that such an arrangement is quite unnecessary. 

 ' e still hear of projects of this nature, but it is evident, 

 't only from the performances of actual machines in the 

 iiands of expert aviators, but also from uncontrolled 

 models, that a properly designed and properly balanced 

 Machine is quite stable by itself. 

 Motors. — The subject of motors for aerial work is 

 rhaps rather beyond the scope of this paper, but since 

 I much depends upon the motive power — indeed, the 

 Ivent of the successful aeroplane may be said to have 

 "■en entirely due to the invention of the petrol engine — I 

 must refer briefly to it. 



The chief notable feature in this line is the very general 



loption of the Gnome rotary motor. This peculiar 



igine, which, of course, consists of seven cylinders 



idiating from a central shaft, which spin round forming 



fly-wheel, and very eftlciently cooling themselves by their 



i apid motion through the air, was at first looked upon 



IS an impracticable freak. In 1909, however, it was fitted 



■ several machines, and at once proved itself trustworthy 



id superior to all other motors for the purpose. Recently 



luite a number of engines of somewhat similar design 



have been brought out, and some of them, such as the 



iluckman, seem likely to prove even more efficient. 



Meanwhile, several British-built engines of more ordinary 

 sign have come to the fore, notably the Green, with 

 >ur water-cooled vertical cylinders, the N.E.C., a two- 

 roke motor, and the E.N.V., and several others, but for 

 le reason or another these do not seem to be so popular 

 ith practical aviators. 



Future Developments. — It is, of course, extremely 



ificult to foresee in which direction aeroplanes are likely 



> develop. There is, however, here again one of those 



iiat I may call " reciprocal " situations such as I have 



ferred to with regard to balloons. The tendency seems 



:.> be to make the planes smaller. By this decrease the 



weight is lessened as well as the resistance. By lessening 



'he resistance the machine should travel farther, and the 



i crease of weight of planes should enable a heavier and 



tore powerful engine to be carried, and thus speed again 



ncreascd. By travelling faster we obtain more lift, and 



an therefore further cut down the size of the planes. So 



NO. 2163, VOL. 86] 



we go on, making the machines smaller and the speed, 

 faster; and who can say where the limit may be? 



Other types of machines have often been suggested, 

 notably those of the wing-flapping sp>ecies, and those with 

 vertically acting screws. Seeing the success which has- 

 attended the simple aeroplane, I think it is doubtful if 

 any other form will supersede it, but I have long been of 

 opinion that some combination may prove advantageous. 

 For instance, it is possible to arrange for vertically thrust- 

 ing screws to assist in starting the machine, and it seems- 

 quite probable that a propeller on the flapping-wing prin- 

 ciple may prove highly efficient. 



THE AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC 

 EXPEDITION.^ 

 A USTRALIA and New Zealand have always beer* 

 ■^ anxious for further knowledge of the great frozen^ 

 continent lying to the southward of them. Because the 

 Ross sea area is more conveniently situated to the south" 

 geographic pole, most expeditions to the Australian quadrant 

 have wintered there. This has led to the neglect of the- 

 great coast-line westward of Cape Adare. Our informatior> 

 regarding it is very fragmentary, and for the most part 

 untrustworthy. Properly equipped, an expedition to this 

 region should have no difficulty in achieving great 

 geographical successes. In the words of Dr. H. R. Mill, 

 "It is time, at any rate, that someone should revisit the 

 lands discovered bv Biscoe, Ballenv, D'Urville, and" 

 Wilkes. ..." 



Lying within wireless telegraphic distance of our borders, 

 this region has a special call upon Australians. Alive to- 

 the value of scientific data there massed waiting to be 

 collected, I have ardently sought for an opportunity to^ 

 reap the harvest. Captain Scott's programme was too fulf 

 with the determined efforts in view, upon the south geo- 

 graphical pole and King Edward VII. Land, to accede to 

 my request to be landed this year with a party at Cape 

 Adare. It was then that Sir Ernest Shackleton proposed 

 to raise the necessary funds, and, with myself in charge of 

 the scientific work, to attack the whole coast-line between 

 Cape Adare and Gauss Berg. The plans were publishecf 

 in the Press on March ig, 1910, and repeated later in the 

 year. Eventually Sir Ernest Shackleton handed over 

 command to me. 



Until the last fifteen years, though touched upon as 

 early as 1820, only about seven expeditions, excepting 

 whalers in the areas south of America, have come within 

 sight of the continent. It was not until 1898 that the first 

 Antarctic night had boon experienced ; even to the present 

 day but four expeditions have wintered on the continent, 

 and their contributions refer only to isolated spots of the- 

 8000 miles, more or less, of coast-lino. It is gratifying to- 

 note the successes which ha%'c attended recent assaults upon 

 the unknown, and we can confidentlv look forward to the 

 complete unravelling of the broader features and secrets of 

 Antarctica within the next three years. 



The .Antarctic Continent. 



Conclusions of any but local value based on the data 

 available are obviously liable to prove in error, but will 

 always serve a useful purpose in directing the attention of 

 explorers to possible contingencies. The inadequacy of the 

 data available is comprehended when we find, based upon 

 them, several entirely different views regarding the geo- 

 morphology of the South Polar region. There is, never- 

 theless, a general agreement regarding the seaward limits 

 of the land and the permanently attached ice. That is to 

 say, we can now guess approximately the limits of south- 

 ward navigation — where ships must be brought up either 

 by land or barrier ice. Assuredly considerable portions of 

 this coast-line are no more than barrier ice — marginal 

 shelf-ice of great thickness — which in the recent past may 

 have been of greater seaward extent, and in the future may 

 retreat even hundreds of miles before the rocky coast-Hne is 

 revealed. These barriers originated from the land glaciers, 

 and are partlv aground, partly afloat. It appears probable 

 that the immense thickness of nearly 2000 feet is some- 

 times reached. In such cases the barrier ice, though afloat, 



1 From .1 paper re.-id before the Royal Geographical Society, on April lo^ 

 by Dr. Douglas Mawson. 



