48 



NATURE 



[March 20, 19 19 



Major Toppin, was a trained naturalist, and was 

 able to make the most of his opportunities. 

 Several new butterflies and a new monkey were 

 the permanent testimonials to his skill. One is 

 rather inclined to lament that it is not always 

 possible to take the opportunity of a boundary 

 survey and, by attaching, say, a naturalist, a 

 geologist, and possibly a botanist to the com- 

 mission, gain much knowledge without great cost. | 

 Doubtless this practice might be often followed, 

 but it must be remembered that a boundary com- 

 mission is always in a hurry ; it never has enough 

 time to carry out all the survey observations it 

 would like, and routes, times, and halting-places 

 must be regulated solely by survey considerations. 

 It would, therefore, often result that the natu- 

 ralist or geologist would have to leave almost 

 untouched the regions most fruitful of promise for 

 him, and might return from the expedition with 

 feelings of disappointment at opportunities 

 missed. 



We have no space here to enter upon any close 

 discussion of the technical points raised in this 

 report. The survey was of the class already fami- 

 liar in similar undertakings, and was subject to the 

 same obstacles as those found in previous surveys, 

 both in high mountains and in dense forests : the 

 difliculties of transport, the prevalence of mist 

 and cloud, the impossibility of getting distant 

 views from the constricted valleys, and, in the 

 forest portion of the line, a horrible abundance of 

 malignant insects. Once again, possibly for the 

 last time, an effort was made to determine longi- 

 tudes by occultations, a method which cannot 

 attain the precision requisite for such work, and 

 should be entirely superseded by wireless signals, 

 which can now be received upon instruments of 

 almost any desired degree of portability. In any 

 case, astronomically determined positions are of 

 little value as a check upon a triangulation even 

 of the second order, and are of more interest to 

 the geophysicist than to the boundary surveyor. 

 This commission was fortunate in finding a well- 

 established initial point for the astronomical 

 work in the * observatory at Arequipa, the 

 southern station of the Harvard College Obser- 

 vatory. 



An interesting little note by Sir C. Close is 

 embodied in the report discussing the gravity 

 deflections in the boundary region, and showing 

 that the local attractions are quite similar to those 

 found in the region of the Himalayas near Mus- 

 soorie and Dehra. The volume, produced in 

 the accustomed high standard of the Cambridge 

 University Press, is furnished with all the 

 necessary maps and a rich selection of illustrative 

 plates. We can heartily commend it, both to the 

 reader of the present day as an account of a highly 

 successful piece of geographical survey, and to the 

 reader of the future as an imperishable record of 

 the work that can be accomplished, in spite of 

 innumerable difficulties and in face of great 

 natural obstacles, by a small but thoroughly pro- 

 ficient British survey party. E. H. H. 

 NO. 2577, VOL. 103] 



IRE AIR FORCE ESTIMATES AND 

 AERONAUTICAL RESEARCH. 



''pHE development of military aviation has been 

 -■■ one of the wonders of the war, but we have 

 naturally been kept somewhat in the dark as to 

 the exact extent of such development while the 

 war was still in progress. The veil has now been 

 lifted, and Gen. Seely, in speaking on the Air 

 Estimates in the House of Commons on March 13, 

 has given us a striking summary of the progress 

 made during the past four years. The fact that 

 the expenditure on the Air Force has increased 

 two-hundred-fold since the outbreak of hostilities 

 is a sufficient comment on the enormous advances 

 that have taken .place in the aeronautical world. 

 Gen. Seely states that if the armistice had not 

 been signed, this year's Estimates would have 

 reached the sum of 200,000, oooi. — an amount 

 which is practically four times our pre-war ex- 

 penditure on the entire Navy ! Even with the 

 signing of peace in sight the sum of 66,500,000?. 

 is asked for, in order to ensure the maintenance 

 of the aerial supremacy which we have gained 

 during the war. 



It is exceedingly gratifying to note that the 

 true value of research is at last being appreciated, 

 and the specific provision of 3,000,000/. for "civil 

 aviation, experiments, and research" will be 

 welcome news to those who hope for the scientific 

 development of commercial flying. Gen. Seely 

 further points out that this sum does not by any 

 means represent the total amount that will be 

 spent on research beneficial to the civilian aviator, 

 since the results of experiments carried out for 

 military purposes and paid for out of the Army 

 Estimates will be equally available for the improve- 

 ment of commercial machines. 



The Government has decided that it cannot 

 itself undertake commercial flying, but that it will 

 do everything in its power to give encouragement 

 and protection, and it is already announced that 

 the Postmaster-General is prepared to give con- 

 tracts to private firms which are able to offer 

 approved machines for postal services. Moreover, 

 the Government will place most of the military 

 aerodromes of the country at the disposal of 

 civilian pilots for a small fee, and this alone 

 should do much to encourage civilian flying. 



In the course of his speech Gen. Seely 

 announced that an important invention in wireless 

 telephony had recently been made, by means of 

 which the wireless operator in an aeroplane 

 was able both to send and to receive messages. 

 It was possible during the war for the leader of 

 a scouting aeroplane squadron to communicate 

 with the others, but it was not practicable to 

 receive an answer. A vacuum valve generator 

 was employed to generate smooth oscillations in 

 the hanging aerial, and a vacuum valve magnifier 

 with a crystal rectifier was used as the receiver. 

 The experimental apparatus was in use in pre-war 

 days, but it required years of research to make it 

 practical and trustworthy. We congratulate the 



