September 13, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



337 



from the top of a houseboat on October lY, 

 1903, and -wrecked in a second attempt on De- 

 cember 8 of that same year. 



With this ended sixteen years of effort on 

 the part of Langley to attain mechanical 

 flight, and his long period of fruitful scientific 

 achievement closed with failure due primarily 

 to lack of funds. The report" of Major Ma- 

 comb to the War Department concerning the 

 tests made on the Potomac is interesting and 

 illuminating. 



After describing the attempted launching on 

 October 7 and the subsequent wrecking of the 

 great aerodrome on December 8, Major Ma- 

 comb closes with the following paragraphs: 



Having reached the present stage of advance- 

 ment in its development, it would seem highly 

 desirable, before laying down the investigation, to 

 obtain conclusive proof of the possibility of free 

 flight, not only because there are excellent reasons 

 to hope for success, but because it marks the end 

 of a definite step toward the attainment of the 

 final goal. 



In the meantime, to avoid any possible mis- 

 understanding, it should be stated that even after 

 a successful test of the present great aerodrome, 

 designed to carry a man, we are still far from the 

 ultimate goal, and it would seem as if years of 

 constant work and study by experts, together with 

 the expenditure of thousands of dollars, would still 

 be necessary before we can hope to produce an 

 apparatus of practical utility on these lines. 



The War Department had made two allot- 

 ments of $25,000 each to Langley to further 

 his experiments, one in 1898 and the second 

 in 1899. The large aerodrome was completed 

 in July of 1903, the long delay being due to 

 Langley's inability to secure a suitable motor, 

 which he finally had to design. The tests re- 

 ferred to above were made in the fall of 1903 

 and on March 3, 1904, the Board of Ordnance 

 and Fortifications stated^ that it was " not 

 prepared to make an additional allotment at 

 this time for continuing the work." All ma- 

 terial was left in Langley's possession for 

 such future experiments as he might wish to 



' Langley, ' ' Memoir on Mechanical Might, ' ' p. 

 276, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. 

 27, 1911. 



■Langley, "Memoir," p. 278. 



On November 14, 1908, the board again re- 

 ported:* 



Doctor Langley considered it desirable to con- 

 tinue the experiments, but the Board deemed it 

 advisable, largely in view of the adverse opinions 

 expressed in Congress and elsewhere, to suspend 

 operations in that direction. 



The persistent misrepresentations of the 

 public press caused Langley to publish the 

 following statement. 



Smithsonian Institution, 

 Washington, B. C, 

 August 19, 1903. 



To THE Press : The present experiments being 

 made in mechanical flight have been carried on 

 partly with funds provided by the Board of Ord- 

 nance and Fortification and partly from private 

 sources, and from a special endowment of the 

 Smithsonian Institution. The experiments are car- 

 ried on with the approval of the Board of Eegents 

 of the Smithsonian Institution. 



The public's interest in them may lead to an 

 unfounded expectation as to their immediate re- 

 sults, without the explanation which is here briefly 

 given. 



These trials, with some already conducted with 

 steam-driven flying machines, are believed to be 

 the flrst in the history of invention where bodies, 

 far heavier than air itself, have been sustained in 

 the air for more than a few seconds by purely 

 mechanical means. 



On my previous trials, success has only been 

 reached after initial failures, which alone have 

 taught the way to it, and I know no reason why 

 the prospective trials should be an exception. 



It is possible, rather than probable, that it may 

 be otherwise now, but judging them from the light 

 of past experience, it is to be regretted that the 

 enforced publicity which has been given to these 

 initial experiments, which are essentially experi- 

 ments and nothing else, may lead to quite un- 

 founded expectations. 



It is the practice of all scientific men, indeed of 

 all prudent men, not to make public the results of 

 their work till these are certain. This considera- 

 tion, and not any desire to withhold from the 

 public matters in which the public is interested, 

 has dictated the policy thus far pursued here. The 

 fullest publicity, consistent with the national in- 

 terest (since these recent experiments have for 

 their object the development of a machine for war 



* Langley, ' ' Memoir, ' ' p. 279. 



