September 13, 191;] 



NATURE 



39 



ional measurements can be obtained and further 

 n formation secured relative to special conditions 

 nising in practice. 



Special Matters. — As usual, a large number of 

 -pecial questions have been referred to the committee 

 or advice or investigation. The experiments relating 

 ) bombs have been continued, and valuable com- 

 nunications relative to the flight of bombs have been 

 eceived from the Air Department of the Admiralty 

 md from the Central Flying School. The committee 

 - indebted to Prof. Karl Pearson, F.R.S., for com- 

 nunicating to it the results of his calculations 

 if bomb trajectories. This question has also been the 

 -abject of investigation at the National Physical 

 ; -aboratory. 



Questions relating to the attack of aircraft from 

 iircraft have been examined. Problems in connection 

 Aith the aeroplane compass have been further con- 

 sidered. Other instruments and apparatus for use 

 >n aircraft have been investigated. 



As previously, a number of inquiries have been | 

 received from the Board of Invention and Research j 

 and the Munitions Inventions Department, and in- 

 vestigations have been carried out at their request at 

 the National Physical Laboratory and at the Royal 

 Aircraft Factory. 



Reports from the Experimental Stations of the Air 

 Services. — A number of communications have been 

 received during the year relating to experimental work 

 carried out by the R.N.A.S., and by the Testing 

 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. Many of these 

 have been of gieat interest and value, and of much 

 assistance in the application of the results obtained 

 from the model experiments and in the estimation of 

 af roplane performance. 



The committee visited on various occasions during 

 the year military and naval air stations, as well as 

 the Royal Aircraft Factory and the National Physical 

 Laboratory, and v^^itnessed many interesting experi- 

 ments and trial flights. 



Experimental Work at the Royal Aircraft Fac- 

 tory. — Engine Experiments. — Much research has been 

 made into various methods for improving the output 

 and the trustworthiness of aeroplane engines. A large 

 number of radiators of various types have been tested, 

 and an efficient type has been standardised. Great 

 progress has been made in the development of the 

 air-cooled engine. Work has been dene on the com- 

 pensation of carburettors for variation of air density, 

 and a device for improving the performance of engines 

 at great heights has been tested on several engines. 



Full-Scale Aeroplam Experiments. — The measure- 

 ment of the resistance of aeroplanes in flight has been 

 continued with the object of confirming the model 

 experiments, and an instrument for measuring the 

 resistance directly has been developed. The distribu- 

 tion of air-pressure over the s-urface of the wing of i 

 an aeroplane in flight has been measured, and further 

 experiments on these lines are in progress. Experi- 

 ments have been made on longitudinal and lateral 

 stability of aeroplanes in flight, and much theoretical 

 work on the same subjects has been done. Measure- 

 ments have also been made of the disturbance of the 

 air behind a propeller to obtain data which are re- 

 quired in the design of new machines. 



Instruments. — The behaviour of various tvpes of 

 magnetic compass in an aeroplane in flight hss been 

 investigated. Two new types of bombsight have been 

 developed, and are now being tested. The improve- 

 rrent of the standard aeroplane instruments has been 

 continued, and a number of special instruments have 

 been devised for use in connection with full-scale 

 experiments on aeroplanes. The means of communi- 

 cation between pilot and observer have been improved. 

 Fabrics, Dopes, etc. — Weathering tests on fabrics 

 NO. 2498, VOL. 100] 



and experiments on the influence of humidity ur» 

 their strength have been made. The development of 

 a calendered fabric has received attention. The ile- 

 teriorating effect of various agents (bacteria, light » 

 etc.) has formed the subject of considerable research. 

 The experiments on the composition of dopes, var- 

 nishes, and pigments, and on fluxes, paints, and oil* 

 have been continued 



Light Alloys. — Much experimental work has been 

 done to arrive at the most suitable aluminium alloys 

 for engine parts. Experiments have also been carried 

 out in the application of the alloys which have been 

 developed at the National Physical Laboratory. 



Meteorological Work. — Experimental work in 

 meteorology has been mainly in connection with the 

 inquiry into the location of distant thunderstorms and 

 the tracing of their progress across the map by means- 

 of a properly organised system of observations at 

 various stations. 



On some occasions the progression of thunderstorm* 

 across the map has been satisfactorily identified » 

 although the identification on other occasions was 

 uncertain. 



Further attention is necessary in order to develop^ 

 an apparatus which is more directly suitable for the 

 purpose than that which is at present in use, in con- 

 sequence of the variability of the sensitiveness, which 

 with the present form of apparatus is unavoidable. 



In addition, an inquiry into the variation of the 

 gustiness of wind between day and night has been 

 provided for by the erection o: an anemometer with 

 its vane at 140 ft. above the ground. 



Observations have also been made of the variation 

 of the wind with height close to the ground ; and a 

 large number of observations of pilot-balloons have 

 been made and duly reported. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



We learn that Dr. W. C. MTntosh, professor of 

 natural history in the University of St. Andrews since 

 1882, is about to retire from the position, in con- 

 sequence of advanced years and conditions of health. 



Mr. W. Brew, hitherto lecturer in electrical engineer- 

 ing at the Belfast Municipal Technical Institute, has 

 beea appointed head of the electrical department of the 

 Birmingham Municipal Technical School. 



According to the Aftonbladet, special lectures are 

 to be given during the coming winter at Greifswald 

 University on "Germany's Commercial Relations with 

 Scandinavia," and a chair of the Swedish language is 

 to be founded in the University after the war. 



The new session of the Sir John Cass Technical 

 Institute commences on September 24. The syllabuses 

 of classes which have reached us show that special 

 courses of higher technological instruction in connec- 

 tion with the fermentation industries have been ar- 

 ranged; instruction will be given in brewing and malt- 

 ing, and in the microbiology of the fermentation indus- 

 tries. The methods of differential and integral calculus 

 and their application to chemical and physical problems 

 will be studied in the department of physics and mathe- 

 matics. Courses of an advanced character will be 

 provided in the metallurgy department on gold, silver, 

 and allied metals, and on'the heat treatment of metals 

 and allovs. The courses of instruction are for the most 

 part designed to supply a technical training for per- 

 sons engaged in chemical, metallurgical, and electrical 

 industries, and in trades connected with them. A 

 number of the more specialised courses of instruction 

 which in former vears formed a characteristic of the 

 work of the institute have for the present been dis- 

 continued. 



