490 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 92. 



Eddy, or tailless, and the Hargrave, or 

 box kites, and the instrument sent up with 

 them is the aluminum baro-hygro-thermo- 

 graph, constructed for Mr. Eotch, proprietor 

 of the observatory, by Eichard freres, of 

 Paris. The altitudes reached are deter- 

 mined in three distinct ways : by theodo- 

 lites, by the angle and length of the kite- 

 line, and by the pressure as recorded by the 

 barograph. During the summer of 1895 

 the maximum altitude reached by the in- 

 strument in the kite-flying at Blue Hill was 

 2,500 ft. above sea level, but this has been 

 far exceeded during the present year, the 

 height of one mile having been passed on 

 six occasions. On July 20th a height of 

 6,596 feet above sea level was reached. At 

 a short distance above the earth a cloud 

 was encountered, in which the relative hu- 

 midity rose to 100%, while after a further 

 ascent of about 2,500 feet, which must have 

 been the thickness of the cloud, the air was 

 found to be much drier. 



All kite-flying records were broken on 

 August 1st, when the recording instrument 

 was raised to a height of 7,333 feet above 

 sea level, or considerably over a mile above 

 the general level of the country. Five 

 Eddy kites were used. The temperature 

 at the maximum altitude was 20° less than 

 at the observatory, and the records of the 

 relative humidity aloft showed variations 

 of from 30% to 80%. 



Scientific kite-flying, although one of the 

 very newest developments of meteorology, 

 has now passed the experimental stage, and 

 the results obtained from these investiga- 

 tions at Blue Hill are attracting attention 

 the world over. E. DeC. Wakd. 



Haevaed Uuiveesity. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 A BRITISH NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATOEY. 



At the recent meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion Sir Douglas Galton read the report of the 

 committee on the establishment of a national 



physical laboratory. This report enumerated the 

 present facilities afforded by the government, 

 by educational establishments and by private 

 societies, for aiding research in Great Britain. 

 These sources are chiefly the £4,000 per annum 

 given by the government for research purposes 

 and administered by the Royal Society ; the 

 Royal Society donation fund, derived from its 

 surplus income ; the contributions made to re- 

 search by the British Association ; the investi- 

 gations carried on at the Royal Institution, 

 which afford magnificent examples of private 

 munificence in aiding science ; the City and 

 Guilds of London Institute ; the Royal Com- 

 mission of the 1851 Exhibition, which devotes 

 £6,000a year to research scholarships; research 

 committees of various scientific societies ; the 

 Clarendon Laboratory at Oxford and the Caven- 

 dish Laboratory at Cambridge ; the laboratories 

 at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen ; the Vic- 

 toria University and the larger colleges not yet 

 incorporated into universities. There were, 

 however, investigations of particular types 

 which lay outside the range of effort possible 

 either to an individual or to a great teaching 

 institution. These were (1) observations of 

 natural phenomena, the study of which must 

 be prolonged through periods of time longer 

 than the average duration of life ; (2) testing 

 and verification of physical instruments and 

 preservation of standards ; (3) the systematic 

 and accurate determination of physical con- 

 stants and numerical data which may be useful 

 either for scientific or industrial purposes. A 

 laboratory for such purposes would aid and not 

 compete with laboratories for more general 

 physical research, and if England was to keep 

 pace with other countries it was essential that 

 it should be started and maintained by govern- 

 ment. After detailing the functions and man- 

 agement of the proposed new institution on lines 

 similar to those of the very successful German 

 Reichsanstalt, the report recommended that 

 government should be asked to vote a sum of 

 £20,000 to £25,000 for building and an annual 

 grant of £3,000 for maintaining such a national 

 laboratory. An appendix gave the cost and 

 annual expenses of the German institution, 

 which amounted to £200,000 and £15,000 re- 

 spectively. 



