306 

Aeronautical Research Committee. 
PRE report of the Aeronautical Research Com- 
mittee for the year 1921-22 (H.M. Stationery 
Office, 1922, 2s. 6d.) consists of two parts. The 
first—the report proper—gives a formal résumé of 
the activities of the committee, and of its sub- 
committees on air-inventions, aerodynamics, engines, 
materials and chemistry, meteorology, accidents, 
fire prevention, and load factors. A feature of great 
interest in this report is the reference to the loss of 
the Airship R38 and of the valuable lives thus cut 
short. The committee deprecates the tendency to 
make development in aircraft depend upon the 
investigation of accidents, and advocates strongly 
the method of systematic research directed to each 
element of the design. It asserts the necessity of 
employing the highly trained and skilled researchers 
that are now available for the scientific study of 
aeroplane and airship development, and on _ the 
question of finance counters the “‘ axe ’’ enthusiasts 
as follows: ‘‘ The money which would have come 
to this country had R38 been a success would have 
maintained the research of the Committee in full 
activity for a period of five years. In another way 
it may be stated that, should the work of the Com- 
mittee lead to a reduction by one of the aeroplanes 
written off per year as a result of crashes, it would 
have earned the cost to the Air Ministry of the fees 
paid to its members.”’ This is a sufficiently cutting 
condemnation of so-called ‘‘ economy,’ but one 
wonders how much effect it will produce in official 
circles. 
The second part of the report consists of a supple- 
ment, giving in some detail an account of the re- 
searches that have been and are being conducted, 
with indications of their scope and results. In 
aerodynamics the chief topics studied have been 
control at low speeds, the general theory of aeroplane 
flight (investigated by Prof. G. H. Bryan), aerofoils, 
the circulation and vortex theory of Prandtl, etc. 
On internal-combustion engines work was done on 
trustworthiness, sparking-plugs, fuels, etc., while it 
is of interest to read that a beginning is being made 
(at Cambridge University and at Armstrong College, 
Newcastle) to bring University workers into contact 
with Government aircraft research. The meteoro- 
logical work dealt with the structure of the atmo- 
sphere and the formation of cyclones and fog, and 
with instruments, etc. 
The part of the supplements dealing with accidents 
will naturally attract much notice. The accident to 
the Tarrant Triplane ‘‘ Tabor ”’ led to the discovery 
of inadequacy in the rudder control, and to the 
development of relay controls for dealing with the 
longitudinal control plane. Airship R36 suffered 
accidents which showed the necessity for experi- 
mental work on an actual airship. In the case of the 
R38 the disaster was due to structural weakness in 
the design. No calculations had been made of the 
stresses caused by aerodynamicalforcesandmovements, 
although such stresses may exceed considerably those 
due to weight and buoyancy. While it appears that 
model data would, indeed, have been sufficient to 
indicate the kinds of stresses that would be obtained 
in flight manceuyres, the committee emphasises the 
importance of full-scale work. 
It is not possible here to mention all the numerous 
items of aeronautical research referred to in the 
report. Suffice it to add that, at a ridiculously small 
cost to the nation, work is being done that will add 
as much to our national security and commercial 
prosperity as the many millions we spend so thought- 
lessly in response to popular clamour. 
NO. 2783, VOL, 105) 
NATURE 


Ly 
[Marcy 3.1923 9% 
The Hydrautomat. 
‘THE problem of raising a small quantity of water 
to a considerable height by utilising the energy 
of a larger mass of water has been solved in a number 
of ways. In the seventeenth century, the City of 
London was supplied with water pumped from the 
Thames by means of a reciprocating pump, driven 
by a crank which was made to rotate by a water- 
wheel turned by the flow of the river. The “ hy- 
draulic ram’ is a device that has been successfully 
used, and recently there has been developed a device, 
the hydrautomat, which utilises the pressure of the 
atmosphere to lift water (Allen Hydrostatic Pump 
Syndicate, Ltd., 110 Victoria Street, S.W.1). 
Let it be supposed that there is a source of supply 
at a height of H feet above a tail race. For example, 
water might be led along a channel constructed by 
the side of a falling stream, the slope of the channel 
being less than that of the stream, to some point at 
which there is a difference of level H feet between 
the water surface in the channel and the river. 
At a height H/2 from the river bed is constructed a 
closed tank which is connected to the supply channel 
by means of a siphon pipe entering the closed tank 
at the bottom, and to the bottom of the tank is 
connected another siphon which has a rising limb 
and a discharging limb taken down to the river bed. 
To the top of the closed tank is connected an air-pipe 
which has connexions to a series of closed tanks 
placed at various heights, on a hillside, say. Each 
of these closed tanks has a siphon pipe led from 
the bottom of the closed tank to the top of an open 
tank at a higher level. From the top tank of all the 
water can be taken to any desired point. 
Let now the water be allowed to flow from the 
channel into the lowest closed tank, entering at the 
bottom. The air in this tank will be compressed 
and will be conveyed under pressure along the rising 
pipe, and to each of the closed tanks above, from 
which the water is raised to the open tanks above. 
When the pressure in the lowest tank reaches a 
certain value, the discharging siphon automatically 
operates. The escaping water acts upon a flat vane, 
which is connected to a lever controlling a valve 
which cuts off the supply from the channel to the 
lowest tank, and a partial vacuum is produced in 
the closed tanks. Water is thus drawn from any 
; one of the open tanks to the closed tank immediately 
above it. There is thus an alternate delivery and 
suction stroke for each lift of }H. The only valve 
is that between the channel and the lowest tank. 
The device is an exceedingly interesting and simple 
one, and the plant required is inexpensive in first 
cost and upkeep. A plant is working at Carshalton, 
Surrey. 

University and Educational Intelligence. 
Bristor.—A tablet bearing the names of all 
members of the University who fell in the war is 
shortly to be placed in the new University buildings. 
The war memorial committee is very anxious to 
guard against omissions, and will be grateful if 
relatives of the fallen who have not already com- 
municated particulars will inform the secretary of 
the committee accordingly. 
CAMBRIDGE.—The offer of the Ministry of Agri- 
culture to found a professorship of animal pathology 
with funds from the Development Commissioners has 
been accepted. The Council of the Senate has pub- 
lished recommendations as to the duties and emolu- 
ments of the professorship, and if these are approved 
the election to the new chair need not be long delayed. 
