558 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 588. 



" The lengths of the flights were measured by 

 a Richard anemometer which was attached to the 

 machine. The records were found to agree closely 

 with the distance measured over the ground when 

 the flights were made in calm air over a straight 

 course; but when the flights were made in circles 

 a close comparison was impossible because it was 

 not practicable to accurately trace the course over 

 the ground. In the flight of October 5th a total 

 of 29.7 circuits of the field was made. The times 

 were taken with stop-watches. In operating the 

 machine it has been our custom for many years 

 to alternate in making flights, and such care has 

 been observed that neither of us has suffered any 

 serious injury, though in the earlier flights our 

 ignorance and the inadequacy of the means of 

 control made the work exceedingly dangerous. 



" The 1905 flyer had a total weight of about 925 

 pounds, including the operator, and was of such 

 substantial construction as to be able to make 

 landings at high speed without being strained or 

 broken. From the beginning the prime object 

 was to devise a machine of practical utility, rather 

 than a useless and extravagant toy. For this rea- 

 son extreme lightness of construction has always 

 been resolutely rejected. On the other hand, 

 every effort has been made to increase the scien- 

 tific efficiency of the wings and screws in order 

 that even heavily built machines may be carried 

 with a moderate expenditure of power. The 

 favorable results which have been obtained have 

 been due to improvements in flying quality result- 

 ing from more scientific design and to improved 

 methods of balancing and steering. The motor 

 and machinery possess no extraordinary qualities. 

 The best dividends on the labor invested have in- 

 variably come from seeking more knowledge rather 

 than more power." 



Very respectfully, 

 (Signed) OEVILI.B Weight. 

 (Signed) Wilbtje Weight. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 De. Walther ISTernst, professor of physical 

 chemistry in the University of Berlin, will 

 give this year the Silliman lectures at Yale 

 University. 



Sir George Darwin arrived in New York on 

 March 23. He will represent the Eoyal So- 

 ciety, the British Association, the Eoyal In- 

 stitution and the University of Camhridge at 

 the anniversary meeting of . the American 

 Philosophical Society to commemorate the two 



hundredth anniversary of the birth of Ben- 

 jamin Franklin, its founder. 



Dr. Heinrich Bruns, professor of astron- 

 omy at Leipzig, and Dr. Hugo von Seeliger, 

 professor of astronomy at Munich, have been 

 elected corresponding members of the Berlin 

 Academy of Sciences. 



Professor Egbert Kgch, of Berlin, has 

 been elected a foreign member of the Brussels 

 Academy of Sciences. 



Professor J. M. Pernter, director of the 

 Vienna Meteorological Bureau, has been 

 elected an honorary member of the London 

 Meteorological Society. 



Professor William A. Kellerman, of the 

 Ohio State University, has returned from 

 Guatemala where for three months he has been 

 studying and collecting parasitic fungi. He 

 reports a very interesting and satisfactory trip, 

 and brings from several sections, especially 

 from the higher altitudes including three vol- 

 canoes, a very large quantity of material for 

 critical study. No mycologist has traversed 

 these regions before, and it is expected that in- 

 teresting results will be secured. 



Dr. Paul Kuckuck, curator of the Biolog- 

 ical Institute of Heligoland, has been granted 

 the title of professor by the German govern- 

 ment. 



M. Bouquet has been appointed astronomer 

 in the Paris Observatory. 



Dr. p. W. Clarke, professor of mineral 

 chemistry, George Washington University, 

 will give a special course of lectures in chem- 

 ical geology on Mondays at 4:50 p.m. as 

 follows : 



April 2. — ' Introductory : The Elements and the 

 Atmosphere.' 



April 9. — ' The Hydrosphere.' 



April 16. — ' The Magma and the Igneous Rocks.' 



April 23. — ' The Sedimentary Rocks.' 



April 30. — ' Ore Deposits.' 



May 7. — ' Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas.' 



Mr. William Sowerby, for many years 

 secretary of the Eoyal Botanic Society, Ee- 

 gent's Park, died in Hertfordshire, on March 9. 



The death is also announced of Dr. Her- 

 mann Lorberg, associate professor of physics 

 in the University of Bonn; of Albert Nilsson, 



