April 20, 19 16] 



NATURE 



165 



chairmanship of Lord Derby, the Committee being 

 made up of members of the two Air Departments, 

 the chairman, and Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. The 

 Committee had no executive control in the sense 

 desired by the two non-Service members, both of 

 whom decided to resign their p)ositions. As Lord 

 Montagu indicated a lack of co-operation between 

 the members of the two Air Departments, the 

 resignations produced a general feeling of depres- 

 sion, and to those most keenly interested in the 

 ■uture of aeronautics it has been a relief to find 

 :he work of some of the senior members of the 

 Services recognised by promotion. Whatever may 

 oe said as to the existing conditions, it seems 

 ::ertain that the extraordinary progress of aero- 

 lautics during the war would in itself have been 

 sufficient to raise the question of an Air Board ; 

 jerhaps the formation of such a Board would 

 jacilitate reorganisation. The Government being 

 he only body able to deal with the problem with 

 •ufficient knowledge as to facts, the Prime 

 ivlinister's forthcoming statement will be awaited 

 vith considerable interest. 



NOTES. 



The Royal Society has elected the following as 

 preign members : — Prince Boris Galitzin, of Petro- 

 |rad, head of the Meteorological Service in Russia ; 

 >r. C. L. A. Laveran, of Paris, discoverer (1880) of 

 le parasite [Laverania malariae) the cause of mala- 

 al fever; Dr. Johan Hjort, director of Norwegian 

 isheries; Prof. Jules Bordet, of the University of 

 Brussels, eminent in bacteriology; and Prof. H. 

 amerlingh Onnes, of the University of Leyden, the 

 istinguished physicist who was responsible finally for 

 le liquefaction of helium. 



Sir Ray Lankester informs us that Prof. Metch- 

 koflF, of the Institut Pasteur, is recovering from his 

 rious and prolonged attack of pulmonary inflamma- 

 Dn. He is not yet able to go into his laboratory', but 

 able to occupy himself with some speculative in- 

 liries. He would be glad to know of any well- 

 corded instances tending to show whether the 

 >inion that men of genius are not usually the eldest 

 >m in a family is well founded or not. 



The recommendations of the Royal Commission on 

 "rnereal Diseases were dealt with in an article in 

 'RE for April 6, and the opinion w-as expressed 

 the measures proposed by the Commissioners 

 ust be approved of without hesitation. It is satis- 

 ctory to be able to report that on April 14 Mr. Long, 

 esident of the Local Government Board, received 

 ; deputation from the National Council for Combating 

 ,?nereal Diseases, which presented a petition urging 

 je importance of gfiving effect to the recommendations 

 q^the Royal Commission. In his reply to the depu- 

 tion, which was introduced by Lord Svdenham, 

 jr. Long said he had communicated with the 

 jeasury, and it is prepared to provide the necessary 

 flant to carry out the recommendations of the Com- 

 ijssion^ with regard to the provision of facilities for 

 oignosis and treatment. These grants will cover 

 / per cent, of the cost incurred by local authorities. 

 i is not proposed to create special hospitals for treat- 

 t^nt of venereal diseases, since it is thought that 

 tatment will be carried out more efficientlv at exist- 

 » i general hospitals. 



\ THIRD article on aircraft by M. Georges Prade 

 aaears in the Times of April 14, and deals with the 

 NO. 2425, VOL. 97] 



"Armament of Aeroplanes." It is becoming more and 

 more evident as the war proceeds that the most desirable 

 form of fighting aeroplane is a compromise between 

 the conflicting ideal forms for high speed and con- 

 venient gun position. It appears that the practicable 

 weapons are the rifle, machine-gun, and pom-pom, and 

 of these the machine-gun is most frequently used. 

 The position chosen for fighting depends on the field 

 of fire of the machine-gun, which may be fixed relative 

 to the aeroplane, as in the Fokker, or variable, as 

 in most aeroplanes. The machine-gun is commonly 

 mounted so as to fire over the tail, or through a traj>- 

 door in the flooring, and it is said that the shot which 

 killed Pegoud was fired through a trap-<ioor. Usually 

 the German aeroplanes do not fire through the pro- 

 f>eller, and, when attacking, endeavour to overtake 

 and pass under the hostile aeroplane in order to get 

 into a suitable firing position, but the flight manoeuvres 

 during a fight var>- considerably from period to period. 

 The Germans have succeeded in using a full belt of 

 250 cartridges in their machine-gun, but the Lewis gun 

 used by British flyers is said to be the best for aero- 

 plane attack and defence. The pom-poms, firing a 

 small shell an inch or more in diameter, are not yet 

 extensively used, as they call for a larger and more 

 specially constructed aeroplane than that suitable for a 

 machine-gun. 



The issue of the Scientific American for March 4 

 is an '"industrial number," dealing largely with the 

 need for the United States to be prepared for the 

 industrial and economic problems which will arise 

 with the declaration of peace. The editor of our con- 

 temporary is able to publish a letter upon this subject 

 received by him from the President of the United 

 States. Dr. Woodrow Wilson, writing from the 

 White House, Washington, on February 11, says: 

 ■' It will be a signal service to our country to arouse 

 it to a knowledge of the great possibilities that are 

 op>en to it in the mai-kets of the world. The door of 

 opportunity swings wide before us. Through it we 

 may, if we will, enter into rich fields of endeavour 

 and success. In order to do this we must show an 

 effectiveness in industrial practice which measures up 

 to cur best standards. We must avail ourselves of 

 all that science can tell us in aid of industry, and must 

 use all that education can contribute to train the 

 artisan in the principles and practice of his work. 

 Our industries must be self-reliant and courageous 

 because based upon certain knowledge of their task 

 and because supported by the efforts of citizens in the 

 mills. If scientific research and the educated worker 

 go hand in hand with broad vision in finance and with 

 that keen self-criticism which is the manufacturer's 

 first dut\' to himself, the fields will be few indeed in 

 which American commerce may not hold, if it chooses, 

 a primary place." 



An Exchange Telegraph Company message from 

 Paris, dated .April 18, states that the Chamber has 

 voted unanimously in favour of the proposal to effect 

 daylight saving by altering the time by an hour, 

 the object being to economise fuel and lighting. 



The council of the Royal College of Surgeons has 

 awarded the Walker prize of icol. to Mr. W. S. Hand- 

 ley, of the Middlesex Hospital Cancer Research 

 Laboratory, for his work in advancing the knowledge 

 of the pathologA' and treatment of cancer. 



The applications received for admission to Miss 

 E. A. Browne's lecture on " Our Tropical Industries," 

 at the Imperial Institute, on Wednesdays, have been 

 so numerous that no further tickets for Wednesdays 

 can be issued. It has, however, been decided to 

 repeat the lectures on Thursdays in April, May, and 



