April 29, 1909J 



NA TURE 



267 



that fact, he will be a bold prophet who will venture to 

 aflSrm what may not be done in seven years more. 



I shall not presume to say that at the present moment 

 the wireless telegraph service between London and New 

 York is as efficient and as rapid as that supplied by the 

 cables. For nearly fifty years the Transatlantic cable 

 organisation has been in existence, and there are now 

 sixteen cables working across the North Atlantic, so that 

 in the case of a breakdown of one cable the traffic is sent 

 by one of the others. Moreover, long experience has 

 served to bring their land-line connections to a high state 

 of perfection. Nevertheless, I am convinced that if there 

 were only one cable and the present wireless service, inter- 

 ruptions would be more frequent and much more serious 

 in .the case of the cable than in that of the wireless service. 



We have only to look towards those parts of the globe 

 such as India, South Africa, and so forth, where trans- 

 oceanic communication is dependent upon only one or two 

 cables, and the force of my remarks will be more readily 

 appreciated. The cases of delay in regard, not only to 

 commercial messages, but also to Government despatches, 

 are only too frequent, as no doubt you have observed from 

 time to time in the daily Press. 



Among many people there seems to be a rooted convic- 

 tion that wireless telegraphy is not suitable for the 

 handling of code or cipher messages. Whatever gave rise 

 to this idea I do not know, but I wish to emphasise that 

 it is purely fictitious. Code messages can be sent just 

 as well by wireless as by ordinary methods of telegraphy. 



I need hardly say that most of the wireless messages 

 passing between warships are now expressed in code, as 

 are likewise the majority of the commercial messages 

 handled by the Clifden and Cape Breton stations. 



I do not wish to claim that wireless telegraphy is in- 

 fallible, and although errors do sometimes occur, it is 

 absolutely certain that, having regard to the London and 

 Montreal service, most of the mistakes can be traced to 

 the land-line telegraph transmission between London and 

 Clifden, and between Glace Bay and Montreal. 



I find, however, that probably the greatest ignorance 

 prevails in regard to what is termed " tapping," or inter- 

 cepting wireless messages. No telegraph system is secret. 

 The contents of every telegram are known to every operator 

 who handles it. It is incorrect to suppose that anyone can 

 at will pick up wireless messages. On the other hand, it 

 is easy for anyone knowing the Morse code to step into 

 many telegraph offices and read off the messages by the 

 click of the instruments. 



Further, it is practicable, but illegal in this country, to 

 make arrangements so that messages which pass over a 

 telegraph line can be read by persons who are not operating 

 the line at all. It is also expensive to erect a tall pole 

 or tower and fix up all the instruments which are neces- 

 sary before wireless messages can be taken in, and, more- 

 over, such proceeding is contrary to the law of the land. 



It should be remembered, too, that any ordinary tele- 

 graph or telephone wire can be tapped, and the conversa- 

 tion going through it overheard, or its operation interfered 

 with. Results published by Sir William Preece show that 

 it is possible to pick up at a distance, on another circuit, 

 the conversation which may be passing through a tele- 

 phone or telegraph wire. 



At Poldhu, on a telephone connected to a long hori- 

 zontal wire, the messages passing through a Government 

 telegraph line a quarter of a mile away can be distinctly 

 read. In a paper on his method of magnetic space tele- 

 graphy. Sir Oliver Lodge mentions an occasion on which 

 he was able to interfere, from a distance, with the work- 

 ing of the ordinary telephones in the city of Liverpool. 



Many instances can be enumerated showing that electric 

 light and tramway power-stations have interfered with 

 cables and land-lines. Nevertheless, there are penalties 

 attached to the tapping of a telegraph wire, and it ought 

 to be as well known that, since the passing of the Wire- 

 less Telcgranhy .^ct, there are penalties involved if any 

 wireless stations are erected or worked without the consent 

 of the Postmaster-General. In conclusion, I may say that 

 I am very confident that it is only a question of time, and 

 that not a very long time, before wireless telegraphy over 

 great distances, possibly round the world, will become an 

 indispensable aid to commerce and civilisation. 



NO. 2061, VOL. 80] ' 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — .applications to occupy the University's 

 table in the zoological station at Naples should be 

 addressed to Prof. Langley on or before Thursday, 

 May 20. 



Mr. C. L. Boulenger has been appointed assistant to 

 the superintendent of the museum of zoology from 

 Marcli 15 to September 30. 



Mr. G. I. Taylor has been appointed assistant demon- 

 strator of experimental physics for five years from 

 January i, 1909. 



The Anthony Wilkin studentship in ethnology and 

 archaeology will be available at the end of 1909. Applicants 

 should send their names, qualifications, and a statement 

 of the research which they wish to undertake to the Vice- 

 Chancellor before November i. 



Oxford. — A new departure was taken in Oxford some 

 time ago by the establishment of a department of forestry. 

 A site for the necessary building was provided by St. 

 John's College on a plot of ground adjoining their own 

 gardens, and the work of the departhient was placed under 

 the direction of Prof. W. Schlich, F.R.S., formerly of 

 Coopers Hill. Coincidently with this movement, the chair 

 of rural economy, founded by John Sibthorpe, who in 1747 

 succeeded DiUenius as professor of botany, was re-endowed 

 and put on a new footing by the liberality of the same 

 college. A building for the use of the present occupant 

 of the Sibthorpian chair, Prof. W. SomerviUe, was also 

 provided by St. John's College, this, together with the 

 new quarters of the forestry department, forming a hand- 

 some block nearly opposite the University museum. The 

 combined structure was opened on April 20 by the Vice- 

 Chancellor, the president of Magdalen, in the presence of 

 a large company, which included Sir Thomas Elliott, Sir 

 Charles Crosthwaite, Mr. Rider Haggard, and many resi- 

 dent members of the University. The president of St. 

 John's, who is now in his ninetieth year, was unfortunately 

 prevented from being present by slight indisposition. In 

 his speech at the opening ceremony the Vice-Chancellor 

 dwelt on the traditions associated with the names of Sib- 

 thorpe and Dillenius, and referred in appreciative terms to 

 the services rendered by St. John's College to the scientific 

 studies of the University. 



Under the Irish Universities Act, 1908, a professor of 

 botany will be appointed shortly for the Queen's University 

 of Belfast. Other appointments will include_ readerships 

 or lectureships in physics, organic chemistry, bio-chemistry, 

 and geology and mineralogy. 



In furtherance of the movement for the establishment 

 of a National Aeronautical College, we learn from the 

 daily papers that the Aerial League has appointed a sub- 

 committee consisting of Dr. Hele Shaw, F.R.S., Mr. 

 .\rtliur du Cros, M.P., Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Sir 

 Buchanan Scott, and Mr. Stephen Marples. We are glad 

 to see that the promoters are keenly alive to the import- 

 ance of placing the movement on a strictly scientific basis, 

 and that the mathematical side of the problem is to receive 

 its due share of attention. This is the more important 

 as the practical experimental side is pretty certain to be 

 efficiently represented. That a serious effort is being made 

 to wake up our country in the present connection 

 may be gathered from the following remarks of Mr. 

 Marples as reported in the Standard: — "Our object," he 

 said, " is to prevent Great Britain from being beaten in 

 aijronautics by foreign countries in the same way as we 

 have been in commercial enterprise. France and Germany 

 liave had their technical and commercial colleges, which 

 have produced such good results, and now they have their 

 aeronautical colleges in full swing. Unless we have one 

 we shall fall behind in aeronautics too. Aeronautics is a 

 most scientific subject, and goes more deeply into higher 

 mathematics than anv other subject connected with 

 engineering. Hence the great necessity for putting the 

 college on a sane, sound, and businesslike footing to meet 

 the needs of the moment. It is no use teaching even the 

 practice of flying unless we have something of the theory. 

 We hope that the Government will help us. We are also 

 appealing to the public for money." 



