58 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 550. 



tion that the latter should share the expense 

 of the cruise. Accordingly, on June 3, Mr. 

 Clayton sailed from Boston for the Mediter- 

 ranean on board the White Star steamer 

 Romanic, equipped for raising self-recording 

 instruments with kites, as was first done in, 

 1901 by Messrs. Eotch and Sweetland, whose 

 experiments on a voyage from Boston to 

 Liverpool are described in Science^ Vol. XIV., 

 pp. 896-897. A despatch from Mr. Clayton, 

 at Gibraltar, announced that flights had been 

 made on six days and a mean height of 3,000 

 feet attained. The results of aerial sound- 

 ings in the region of permanent high pressure 

 around the Azores, and near the northern 

 limit of the northeast trades, are expected to 

 prove of special interest. At Gibraltar, Mr. 

 Clayton is to embark on the Otaria, a yacht 

 of 350 tons and capable of steaming eleven 

 knots, which its owner has already employed 

 for kite-flying in European inland waters. 

 The boat will proceed south, touching at 

 Madeira, Canary and Cape Verde Islands, and 

 perhaps go as far as St. Paul, near the equator, 

 returning by a more westerly course to the 

 Azores, the whole voyage occupying about six 

 weeks. On this route the northeast trade- 

 winds and doldrums are traversed and the 

 southeast trades entered. Should there be too 

 little wind, either at the surface or higher iip, 

 the speed of the vessel will enable the kites 

 to rise, and, should the wind at any time be 

 too strong, by steaming with it the pull of 

 the kites can be moderated. By this method 

 it is hoped that all the strata up to a height of 

 15,000 feet or more will be penetrated, so that 

 their condition as regards temperature, mois- 

 ture and wind may be investigated. Besides 

 determining the depth of the northeast trade- 

 wind, the supposed southwest, or return trade, 

 which has only been observed on the Peak 

 of Tenerifle, will be sought and its height 

 above the ocean in different latitudes meas- 

 ured, but in case the kites do not reach a 

 sufficient altitude, it is proposed to liberate 

 small balloons from Madeira and observe their 

 change of direction as they rise. Professor 

 Hergesell, on board the Prince of Monaco's 

 yacht, executed last summer a series of kite- 

 flights in the region between Spain, the Canaries 



and the Azores, without encountering the upper 

 anti-trade, as was mentioned in Science, Vol. 

 XXL, p. 464. The present expedition expects 

 to make similar soundings in these and lower 

 latitudes and will attempt to extend them to 

 greater heights. 



REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE SIXTH 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF 



APPLIED CHEMISTRY. 



The sixth International Congress of Ap- 

 plied Chemistry, under the patronage of His 

 Majesty the King of Italy, will be held at 

 Eome in the spring of 1906. The president 

 of the committee of organization is Professor 

 Emanuele Paterno, Via Panisperna, Rome, 

 and the secretary. Professor Vittorio Villa- 

 vecchia. Central Customs Laboratory, Rome. 

 All who are interested in promoting the appli- 

 cations of chemistry are eligible for member- 

 ship in the congress. Active members are 

 those who signify their desire to be such to 

 the general secretary either before the opening 

 of the congress or during its session, and who 

 send the subscription fee, twenty francs. 

 Donating members comprise those persons or 

 societies who contribute the sum of at least 

 one hundred francs or lire. Those who give 

 a thousand lire or more belong to the list of 

 patrons. 



The congress is divided into the following 

 sections and subsections: 



1. Analytical chemistry, apparatus and in- 

 struments — president, Pietro Spica, professor 

 of pharmaceutical chemistry in the University 

 of Padua. 



2. Inorganic chemistry and industries re- 

 lated thereto — president, Luigi Gabba, pro- 

 fessor of technical chemistry in the Higher 

 Technical School, Milan. 



3. Metallurgy and mining, explosives; (a) 

 metallurgy and mining — ^president, Ettore 

 Mattirolo, Geological Survey, Rome; (h) 

 explosives — president, Cav. Guiseppe Ninci, 

 colonel of artillery, superintendent of powder 

 of Fontana Liri. 



4. Organic chemistry and industries related 

 thereto; (a) industry of the organic products 

 — president, Giacomo Ciamician, professor of 

 geneial chemistry in the University of Bo- 



