276 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Deoember 2, 1895. 



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AERIAL WARFARE. 



By Thomas Moy. 



ALAEMING notices occasionally appear in print, 

 describing tbe terrific results wbicb are likely to 

 ensue wben aerial navigation becomes an accom- 

 plished fact. The nation to ■which the discovery 

 will belong is to conquer the rest of the world ; 

 dynamite, or something still more violent, is to bring into 

 subjection or destroy every enemy ; Government buildings, 

 arsenals and ships are to be annihilated ; in fact, the 

 terrible aerial navigator is to become monarch of all he 

 surveys, and to be able to survey to his heart's content. 



When these forecasts emanate from writers upon penny 

 papers mankind can afford to smile, and enjoy their sleep 

 undisturbed by fears of explosive missiles kindly dropped 

 at midnight by ai.-rial cherubs sailing up aloft ; but when 

 men in the position of Mr. Hiram Maxim and General 

 Hutchinson treat the public seriously in this manner, their 

 views should be carefully studied and their arguments 

 weighed. 



Mr. Maxim represents gunnery and the aviator flying 

 machine, pure and simple. 



General Hutchinson represents the dirigible balloon and 

 the British Army. 



As Mr. Maxim possesses mechanical knowledge, he 

 must be well aware that a flying machine, such as he 

 has built, must have considerable velocity in order to 

 sustain it in the air ; in other words, it is not a 

 flying machine unless it flies, and it cannot fly slowly, 

 it must have speed. Another requisite is perfect 

 balancing, commonly called horizontal stability ; and 

 this stability must not be rudely disturbed while in 

 flight, otherwise the machine would speedily come to 

 grief. Now, Mr. Maxim should be well acquainted with 

 the flight of shot and the laws of motion. He must also 

 be well aware that if a missile were dropped from an aerial 

 machine while in rapid flight, its downward path would 

 be very far from the perpendicular, and the aim would 

 be as erratic as can possibly be conceived. An aerial 

 " Shoeburyness " would be required to teach aerial soldiers 

 the new art of gimnery. Having studied the subject of 



aerial navigation for fifty years, it appears to me a most 

 impracticable idea to suppose that aviators could be put to 

 any other use, for purposes of war, than that of observing 

 an enemy, signalling, and conveying information. There 

 is a trite old saying as to making jugged hare — " First 

 catch your hare " ; and I may here say " First make your 

 aviator." Mr. Maxim is a long way off aijrial flight, and 

 much farther off' aerial warfare, and still farther off taking 

 aim from a height of several miles, while traveUing at a 

 high speed. 



But General Hutchinson must, from his training as a 

 soldier, be well acquainted with the art of defensive as well 

 as offensive warfare, and he must have heard of rockets ; 

 yet he proposes to attack an enemy with dynamite from 

 slow-sailing gas bags ! Would he not, as a general in the 

 British Army, be bound to make use of rockets if an enemy 

 attacked this country from the regions above ? Suppose 

 an aerostat came overhead on warlike deeds intent, 

 carrying dynamite missiles, would not General Hutchinson 

 send up a number of rockets, and would not the aeronauts 

 cut a sorry figure under the action of gravitation '? It 

 would not be a pleasant experience to have Congreve 

 rockets surrounding the gas bag, and it would be very 

 strange if one of these missiles did not enter the envelope 

 and cause an explosion. Yet General Hutchinson writes 

 upon this subject as though the whole business were one- 

 sided — as though it would be all attack and no defence. 



If any owner of an aerostat would like to try his hand at 

 hitting an object from above, he can do so at any time 

 with derelict vessels in the Atlantic, but I fear that he 

 would get tired before he destroyed one. His ammunition 

 would run short. 



To my mind, it appears that the accomplishment of con- 

 quering the air would make for peace instead of war. 

 Aviators would be first applied in short journeys across 

 the English and Irish Channels, carrying a few passengers 

 who fear sea-sickness ; also in looking after disabled vessels 

 at sea, and giving notice at seaports where to send tag- 

 boats to aid them into port ; and other useful services of a 

 similar nature. And this is all that may be expected for 

 many years to come. 



Note. — We learn with regret, as we go to press, of the death of 

 General Hutchinson. 



S((tn« Notts. 



— — ♦ — 



C. Dufour, in a paper in the Comptes Bemlus, refers to 

 the abnormal refraction phenomena frequently seen on the 

 Lake of Geneva. When the air is colder than the water, 

 fine mirages are observed ; when warmer, the Castle of 

 Chillon, which, under ordinary conditions would be in- 

 visible, even if it were twice its actual height, can be seen 

 at Morges. M. Dufour points out that these effects would 

 render observations on solar and stellar altitudes faulty, 

 and suggests the compilation of tables making the necessary 

 corrections for different temperatures of the air and sea. 



1~¥-* 



The aluminium vessels now in use in the French army 

 are found to wear very little. They can be heated over 

 gas and coal, and are not attacked by the food and wine, 

 i&c, as the food does not remain long in the vessels. 

 Flasks in which ordinary water is kept for months show 

 whitish spots near specks of impurities — iron, carbon, &c., 

 and on the soldered portions if other metals have been 

 admixed. The vessels are made simply by stamping, 

 without soldering, except at the handles. In salt water, 

 corrosion of the metal proceeds more quickly than in 

 fresh water ; it becomes black, but sulphuric acid restores 

 the original brightness. 



