BY THE USE OF KITES OFF THE WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND, 1902. 
125 
on every day on which it v'as availalde, and the instruments were raised 38 times. 
A fill’ greater average heiglit would have heeu ol:)tained had tiiere l)een a sjmre set of 
recording instruments; as there was <.»nly one set, and as the risk of losing the 
instruments is greatly increased hy using additional kites, mjt more tliau t^N'o kites 
were used for any ascent until tiie last week. 
The average angular elevation given by the kites witli a short lengtli of line was 
62" 30f The greatest heights attained were 5500 feet (1076 metres) with one kite, 
9200 feet (2804 metres) with tAvo, 12,400 feet (3790 metres) with three, and about 
15,000 feet (4500 metres) Avith four. In the last case the instruments AA^ere lost 
tlirough the })reaking aAvay of the top kite on August 26, and the precise eleAurtion is 
unknoAAm. 
Recording Instruments. 
The recording instruments Avere of the Avell-known form made hy Alessrs. IIichard 
Freees, of Paris, in AAdiich a single drum is used for three pens, recording in aniline 
ink, on ruled paper, the height in metres, the temperature in degrees centigrade, and 
the humidity in percentages of saturation. As regards the sensitiveness of graduation 
of the instruments, it may be remarked that the rulings on the sheet Avere such that 
a sufHcientiy fine trace Avould give a reading of the height to 10 metres, of temperature, 
Avitli someAvhat less certainty, to T °C., and of humidity, witli still less certainty, to 
‘1 per cent. 
No special calibration of the instruments AAas made. Temperature comparisons 
Avith ordinary thermometers Aveie made finm time to time at ordinary tem])eratures, 
and for the range of ohsei’Antiou, Avlu’ch AAuas not large, the differences Avere found to 
Ire Avithin the prolrable errors of readirrg arrd exposure. The temperatures are 
accordiirgly taken from the crrrves Avithout correctiorr. No claim is irrade to any higlr 
degree of accuracy in the rrreasurernent, Irut differeirces of ternperatru'e are prolralrly 
recorded AA'ith sufiicieirt accuracy for this stage of the irrquiiy. 
In vieAv of the uncertainties attaching to the estirrration of heights Iry an aneroid 
haronreter, iirdependent measures of the height of the kites Avere nrade for the purpose 
of correcting the instrrrrrreirtal readiirgs. With a kite ascent from land, this is rrot 
very easy, since a kite is seldom statiorrary, and it is difficult to iderrtify the time on 
the chart exactly Avith the time of an observation. It is different when using a 
vessel, for by alter!irg tlie speed or direction of the vessel, the angular elevation of 
the kite can, as a rule, he varied at pleasure within wide limits, and hy this means a 
decided crest or hollow, that is easily identified on the trace, is obtained. The 
angular elevation corresponding to the top of the crest or the bottom of the holloAv 
is observed by a sextant, and this, together witli the known length of Avire out and a 
small correction for sag,* gives the height Avlth fair accuracy. 
* ‘Monograph on the Mechanic.? and Eqnilil)riiim of Kites,’ hy C. F. Maraon, U.S. Weather Bureau, 
Washington, 1897, p. 69. 
