70 



NATURE 



[September 27, 19 17 



Much has been said lately about the commercial 

 possibilities of aircraft after the war, and the ques- 

 tion of an aerial post has been discussed by a respon- 

 sible committee; yet to the man in the street such a 

 proposition seemed to be rather far-fetched. The 

 splendid flight made on September 24 by Capt. Giulio 

 Laureati from Turin to London was a most practical 

 and striking demonstration of the possibilities of the 

 use of aircraft, and could scarcely have come at a 

 more appropriate time. Capt. Laureati flew the whole 

 distance of 650 miles without descending in seven 

 hours and twenty minutes, a speed of eighty-nine 

 miles per hour. The wind was adverse, so that the 

 actual flight speed was above this figure. Letters 

 were carried, including one from the King of Italy to 

 our own King; and the Italian morning papers were 

 delivered in London in the afternoon. A more direct 

 proof of the practicability of the rapid delivery of 

 light articles over long distances by means of aircraft 

 could scarcely be imagined. The machine flown was 

 one built by the Society Italiana Aeroplani, fitted with 

 a Fiat engine, a similar machine to that on which 

 the same pilot previously flew 920 miles without stop- 

 ping — from Turin to Naples and back. The present 

 flight is the longest 'international" flight yet made, 

 and the pilot met with a very warm reception at 

 Hounslow, where he landed, and where he was met 

 by representatives of the Air Board, the Admiralty, 

 and the War Office. Capt. Laureati deserves the 

 highest congratulations on his splendid feat, and it 

 is to be hoped that this flight marks the commence- 

 ment, of a new epoch of rapid transit from country 

 to country by means of aircraft, with a corresponding 

 benefit to international trade. 



The August issue of the Proceedings of the U.S. 

 National Academy of Sciences contains reports of the 

 meetings of the Executive Committee of the National 

 Research Council since April 4 last. At the meeting 

 on June 21 it was announced that the Carnegie Cor- 

 poration of New York had authorised a grant of 

 io,oooL to the Carnegie Institution of Washington 

 for purposes of the National Research Council, with 

 the understanding that disbursements on account of 

 this donation should be made at the discretion of the 

 president of the institution. The committee appointed 

 to consider the question of the organisation of State 

 research committees and their relation to the National 

 Research Council recommended that a letter offering 

 the complete co-operation and assistance of the National 

 Research Council be sent to those State councils 

 which have already organised research committees, 

 and that a letter be sent to the proper officer of all the 

 State councils of defence which have not already 

 organised research committees pointing out that fhe 

 National Research Council has carefully considered 

 the question of the general organisation of State com- 

 mittees or councils of research, and has come to the 

 conclusion that such organisation should be deter- 

 mined by local needs and conditions. Local causes, 

 such as the development or investigation of natural 

 resources or the proper development of the use of 

 research methods in industries, or the correlation of 

 industries with research laboratories already existing 

 at educational institutions, may make it very desir- 

 able to organise" such State research committees. In 

 fact, the present emergency offers, in some respects, 

 an unusual opportunity for improving the correlation 

 of industry and research, and it is highly desirable 

 that those concerned with this development should not 

 only consider it with reference to the emergency, 

 but should also plan for the permanent continuance 

 of any research committees which may be formed. 



NO. 2500, VOL. 100] 



A REPORT presented at the Newcastle meeting of the 

 British Association last year directed attention to the 

 lack of organisation and general neglect of higher 

 geodesy in the United Kingdom. The discussion upon 

 this report led to the extension of the terms of refer- 

 ence of the committee so as to include, in addition 

 to geodesy, other departments of geophysics, such_ as 

 terrestrial" magnetism, tides, atmospheric electricity, 

 and seismology. It was felt ihat steps should be taken 

 to constitute a committee or association to promote 

 the advance of the various branches of science which 

 deal with the physical, metrical, and dynamical pro- 

 perties of the earth, on both their theoretical and 

 observational sides. We are glad to learn that such 

 a committee has been appointed by the British Asso- 

 ciation and has arranged meetings for the discussion 

 of geophysical subjects. The first meeting will be held 

 in the ajpartments of the Royal Astronomical Society 

 on Wednesday, November 7, at 5 p.m., and will be 

 presided over by the chairman of the committee, Sir 

 Frank W. Dyson, the Astronomer Royal, who will 

 make a brief statement concerning the objects and 

 future programme of the meetings. The subject of 

 magnetic surveys will be introduced by Dr. S. Chap- 

 man, who will make a report on magnetic surveys and 

 charts by land and sea throughout the world. Dr. 

 G. W. VValker will give an account of the recent 

 magnetic survey of the United Kingdom made under 

 the auspices of the Royal Society and the British Asso- 

 ciation. Major Lyons will exhibit and describe two 

 of Gauss's heliotropes, on loan to the Science Museum. 

 At the second meeting, which has been provisionally 

 appointed to take place on December 5, Prof. A. 

 Schuster will preside, and Sir Napier Shaw will open 

 a discussion on the general constitution and condition 

 of the atmosphere, which will be continued by Mr. 

 J. H. Jeans and others. Among the subjects which 

 the committee has under consideration for report and 

 discu'ssion at later meetings may be mentioned seiches 

 and tides ; atmospheric electricity ; British earthquakes ; 

 observatories; methods and instruments in connection 

 with the various branches of geophysics; geodetic 

 and gravity surveys ; and the constitution, temperature, 

 and other physical conditions, motions, and secular 

 changes of the interior of the earth. Papers on these 

 and other geophysical subjects for reading and dis- 

 cussion at the meetings, as approved by the committee, 

 should be addressed to Dr. S. Chapman, secretary of 

 the committee. Royal Observatory, Greenwich, S.E.io. 

 The post of Director of Food Economy at the 

 Ministry of Food has been undertaken by Sir Arthur 

 Yapp, the national secretary of the Y.M.C.A. 



The seventh Norman Kerr lecture of the Society for 

 the Study of Inebriety will be delivered by Major W. 

 McAdam Eccles, on Tuesday, October 9, at 5.30 p.m., 

 in the Robert Barnes Hall, i Wimpole Street, Caven- 

 dish Square, London, W.i. The subject will be "War 

 and Alcohol." 



Dr. G. T. Walker, Director-General of Observa- 

 tories,. India, informs us that in view of the uncer- 

 tainty of postal arrangements, and in order to save 

 space on shipping, it has been decided to discontinue 

 sending the publications of his department out of 

 India during the continuation of the war. 



The death is announced, at fifty-six years of age, 

 of Mr. R. D. Pullar, president of the Society of Dyers 

 and Colourists in 19 14, and chairman of the well- 

 known firm of Messrs. J. Pullar and Sons, dyers and 

 cleaners, of Perth. Mr. Pullar was a life fellow of 

 the Chemical Society of London. 



The Geological Physics Society has arranged a 

 museum demonstration on "Pseudo-Fossils, or Lusus 

 Naturae," at the British (Natural History) Museum, 



