April 1, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



547 



as formidable an obstacle in aeronautics as 

 in marine navigation, where it is one of the 

 chief resistances. To overcome the friction 

 on the surface necessary to support 100 pounds 

 under practical conditions of flight requires 

 about one horse power on a tow line, or nearly 

 two horse power applied by propellers. 



Mr. Charles M. Manly, of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, presented the ' History and Pres- 

 ent Status of Aeronautics.' He traced briefly 

 the development of balloons for a century till 

 Eenard and Krebs in 1884 made a flight of 

 two and one half miles, returning to their 

 starting point; and he gave the data of the 

 machines and flights of Santos Dumont, von 

 Zepplin, Le Baudy brothers and others. The 

 highest speed reported is twenty-three miles 

 per hour. 



The development of aeroplanes was traced 

 in more detail. Models heavier than the air 

 were Rown in 1842 and 1878. In 1868 String- 

 fellow built a model with steam-engine and 

 boiler carried by the superposed planes sug- 

 gested by Wenham in 1866, though this never 

 flew. In 1891 Professor Langley, and about 

 the same time Maxim in England, published 

 the results of systematic experiments on the 

 principles underlying the subject. Some 

 years later successful flights were made by 

 machines with motors of over one horse power. 

 In 1903 Mr. Langley's aerodrome, with a 52 

 horse-power gasoline-engine weighing with 

 cooling water and all accessories only 200 

 pounds, and carrying one passenger, was 

 launched. Accidents to the launching de- 

 vices prevented a successful flight; but the 

 speaker had no doubt of the ability of the 

 machine to fly. Reference was made to the 

 reported success of the Wright Bros, in North 

 Carolina, but full data are not yet available ; 

 to the remarkable invention of Mr. A. G. Bell 

 whose tetrahedral kites promise to furnish 

 supporting jjlanes, the weight of which in- 

 creases little faster than the area; and to the 

 experiments of Lilienthal and others with 

 gliding machines. 



In the discussion that followed Professor 

 Langley emphasized the value of Dr. Zahm's 

 measurements, of Mr. Manly's work in re- 

 ducing the weight of the motor, and of Mr. 



Bell's novel supporting planes. Professor 

 Bell told of the curious history of the idea 

 of air ships, and said Mr. Manly was the first 

 to risk himself on a power-driven aeroplane. 

 Others spoke of recent English theoretical 

 work, and of the attitude of the U. S. Patent 

 Office which, though granting nearly 300 

 patents for structures involving a gas bag, 

 has held that aeroplane devices, not having 

 been shown to be operative, are not entitled to 

 protection by a patent. 



Charles K. "Wead, 



Secretary. 



THE NORTHEASTERN SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



The fiftieth regular meeting of the section 

 was held in Huntington Hall, Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology, Boston, Thursday 

 evening, February 25, with President W. H. 

 Walker in the chair. About 900 members 

 and guests were present. 



Mr. E. Stiitz, vice-president of the Gold- 

 schmidt Thermit Co., gave an address on 

 ' Aluminothermics, and their Applications to 

 Engineering and Metallurgy.' Mr. Stiitz de- 

 scribed the various uses of thermit, the trade 

 name given to a mixture of powdered alu- 

 minum and the oxides of various metals, in 

 which when ignited a reaction is brought 

 about, whereby a great amount of heat is gen- 

 erated, oxide of aluminum is formed, and the 

 metal set free from its oxide is obtained in a 

 molten condition. Large masses of pure 

 chromium, manganese and other metals were 

 shown, and a demonstration of the prepara- 

 tion of pure nickel from the oxide was made. 

 The principal use of thermit at present is in 

 the formation of iron from a mixture of 

 powdered aluminum and oxide of iron, and 

 the application of this to various forms of 

 welding. Mr. Stiitz demonstrated the method 

 by burning a hole through a plate of wrought 

 iron three fourths inch thick, by allowing a 

 stream of molten iron as formed by the reac- 

 tion to fall on the plate, also by welding a 

 nine-inch girder rail, by welding iron to cast- 

 ing to illustrate a method of repairing flaws, 

 by welding iron pipe, and other experiments. 



A number of lantern slides were also shown. 



