October 28, 1922] 



NA TURE 



581 



23. Harv. Bui. 763. 



24. Mt. W. Contr. 156, p. 5, and 157, p. 14. 



25. Zeits. fiir Physik, 7, p. 390. 



26. Mon. Not. R.A.S. 79, p. 19. 



27. This conclusion may not hold for close double stars, as certain results 

 from eclipsing binaries are not in full agreement; the less dense, dark 

 companion is believed to be, frequently, less massive and also less developed 

 than its primary. 



28. Harv. Bui. 765 ; Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 8, p. 69. 



29. Pub. Ast. Soc. Pac, October I9r9- 



30. Mt. W. Contr. 213 and 2t4. 



3r. Ml. W. Contr. 156, p. r2 ; cf. Graff, Ast. Nach. 5133. 



32. Jour. o/Geol. 29, p. 502. 



33. Tbe annual number brighter than the tenth magnitude actually exceeds 

 forty, according to Bailey's data. Pub. Am. Ast. Soc. 4, p. 248. 



Current Topics and Events. 



In an article on Lord Inchcape's task in the Sunday 

 Titties of October 22, a former finance member of the 

 Government of India, Lord Meston, makes an 

 alarming suggestion. Speaking of things " useful, 

 but not essential," he says " many of the research 

 institutes and the like will come under the shears." 

 The illiberal spirit which inspired our domestic 

 wielders of the axe may thus be carried by one of 

 them to India — a country which, more than any 

 other, perhaps, has benefited by the application of 

 science to " useful " purposes. The plant breeders 

 there, alone, have literally added millions to the 

 country's wealth ; new wheats and cottons yielding 

 20 to 30 per cent more than the indigenous varieties 

 have already been successfully introduced. It must 

 not be forgotten that, in India, the prosperity of 

 agriculture is a fundamental element of the solvency 

 of the' Government, for there, the State, as owner of 

 the soil, takes one half of the rental value of the land. 

 The sum thus raised approaches a moiety of the 

 whole taxation of the country. It is to be hoped 

 that such a suicidal policy as that indicated by Lord 

 Meston will not be advocated by Lord Inchcape, 

 though as a quondam member of the Geddes Com- 

 mittee he may be inclined to repeat its mistakes. 



The French airman, M. Maneyrolle, won the prize 

 of 1000/. offered by the Daily Mail, by a wind flight 

 on October 21 lasting three hours and twenty- two 

 minutes. The notable successes registered during 

 the recent French contests, and especially during the 

 German contests, raised the question whether British 

 fliers could rival the feats of their foreign colleagues, 

 and the offer of a prize of 1000/. by the Dailv Mail 

 led to the organisation, at Itford Hill and Firle Beacon 

 on the South Downs, of the first British gliding 

 contests since the war, which commenced on October 

 16 and continued through the week. Additional 

 prizes were offered by the Royal Aero Club and others. 

 The entry of British machines and pilots was very 

 encouraging, there being some two score British 

 fliers, besides foreign aviators, notably the Dutch 

 airman, M. Fokker. A large number of short flights 

 and some quite long flights were made ; yet on the whole 

 the results of the meeting were not of a sensational 

 nature until the last day of the meeting. The 

 general conclusion is that British aviators do not fall 

 behind those of Germany, and that it is possible to 

 find suitable arenas in this country for the practice 

 and display of motorless flight. The most notable 

 achievement of the first day of the contest was a 

 thirty-seven-minute glide by M. Fokker, but this was 

 surpassed by a fine flight executed by Mr. F. P. 

 Raynham. This aviator had already taken a place 

 in the front rank of British pilots in the recent air- 

 NO. 2765, VOL. J IO] 



race round England : he added to his laurels by 

 remaining in the air in a motorless machine for one 

 hour and fifty-three minutes, thus putting himself in 

 the same category as the German record-makers, 

 Martens and Hentzen. But on the last day, Saturday, 

 two world-records were nevertheless established. 

 J. R. Olley went up in a Fokker biplane, and remained 

 in the air with a passenger for forty-nine minutes, 

 while M. Maneyrolle, in a tandem monoplane glider, 

 succeeded in remaining in the air for three hours 

 twenty-two minutes, thus winning the Dailv Mail 

 prize and beating the previous record, that of Hentzen, 

 by twelve minutes. During the last ninety minutes 

 of his flight, M. Maneyrolle was accompanied by a 

 monoplane glider flown by Squadron-Leader A. Gray, 

 and it was night when the two machines landed 

 within 100 yards of the point from which they 

 started. These competitions on the South Downs 

 i will serve as an encouragement to motorless flight in 

 this country, and will help in the accumulation of 

 knowledge and experience on one of the most interest- 

 ing developments in modern aeronautics. 



The height of the ground at Firle Beacon, where 

 the gliding competition referred to in the foregoing 

 paragraph was held, is 718 feet above sea level, and 

 it slopes downwards somewhat to Itford Hill, which 

 is situated about three miles to the westward. The 

 gliding was chiefly from one or other of these positions. 

 The meteorological conditions during the week could 

 not be considered altogether favourable, and there 

 was wide difference in the weather on the several 

 days. At times the winds were too boisterous and 

 unsteady for gliding, while at others the gliding was 

 hampered by winds which were too light or by cloud 

 and mist ; the direction of the wind was chiefly 

 from between north and east. On the closing day, 

 Saturday, the surface wind was blowing at the rate 

 of about 20 to 30 miles an hour, and M. Maneyrolle, 

 in his record flight, kept mostly at about 200 feet 

 above ground. The controlling conditions of the 

 weather were similar throughout the week ; a region 

 of high barometer was situated to the north of 

 Scotland and a region of low barometer was fairly 

 stationary over the north of Spain. All who took 

 part in the gliding contest, however, would know 

 well what different weather could be experienced 

 with similar controlling conditions. 



At a meeting of manufacturers held on October iS 

 at the Institution of Electrical Engineers it was 

 unanimously agreed, in view of the approval of the 

 Postmaster-General to the memorandum and articles 

 of association of the British Broadcasting Company 

 having been obtained, to proceed with the registra- 

 tion of the company. The capital of the company, 



