May 15, 1915. 
LAND AND .WATER, 
H not for that lack of knowledge it is very likely that we 
would now be in possession of a large nnmbcr of offensive 
aeroplanes of great dimensions, of large carrying capacity, 
and of good " lifting " and " flying " qualities. 
TWO LARGE AEROPLANES. 
It was towards the end of 1913 or the beginning of 1914 
that the advantages of tl>e large machine over the^small one 
began to be recognised. In France the engineer CoUiex 
was about that time esperimenting with the Jeanson-Colliex 
seaplane — a machine of huge proportions. In Russia, 
Sykcrsky, with the asgistanco of his Government, was develop- 
ing the enormous aeroplane which, two or three weeks ago, 
was used at tlie front for the first time. 
The JeausouColliex hydro-aeroplane has a span of 89 
feet and a lifting surface of 1,560 square feet. It is fitted 
with two Chenu motors of 200 h.p. each and driving a pro- 
peller 16ft. in diameter. The total weight it can lift is 
10,3401b., the " useful " weight being about 4,4001b. Its 
speed is about 60 miles per hour. The offensive potentiality 
of auch a machine, especially as regards bomb-carrying 
capacity, is enormous, and it is a great pity that when the 
war broke out the Jeanson-CoUiex machine was not sufiS- 
ciently ' ' developed ' ' for immediate military application. It 
may be added that its trials were carried out with great 
suc«5gs. 
The Sykorsky biplane is driven by five motors of 100 h.p. 
each. Its span, from wing-tip to wing-tip, measures 121ft., 
and its length from nose to tail 66 feet. It has a lifting sur- 
face of 1,958 square feet, and has already taken, to a height 
of nearly 1,000 feet, a load of sixteen passengers. 
The employment of the Sykorsky biplane in military 
operations will, in the hands of our Russian Allies, be a 
weapon of considerable offensive value, and if the report be 
true that th's biplane has now been successfully adapted for 
use on the Eastern front we may expect some considerable 
development in the matter of aerial attacks. 
Both the Jeanson-Colliex seaplane and the Sykorsky 
aeroplane could carry a load of 1,0001b. of bombs over a dis- 
tance of 250 or 300 miles, and fly back to their starting base. 
OFFENSIVE AEROPLANES FOR 
SIEGE WORK. 
The large aeroplane, besides being well tallied for earrf* 
ing out such offensive operations as have been already •»- 
amined in the columns of this publication, would be esp^iallj 
valuable for siege work. 
It has been estimated that, up to Uie present, nmo 5,000 
shells have been fired by the Germans on the Russian fortified 
town of Ossowiecz without having reduced it. Now a fleet of 
300 large aeroplanes, consisting of 150 machines in actual use, 
and of the same number in reserve or in the repair shopa, 
could drop daily, or several times daily, 6,000 shells of 2ab. 
each; that is, 150,0001b. of shell and high explosives. 
In view of this enormous potentiality of the Sykorsky 
biplane, it would seem that our Government, aa well as that 
of the French, would do well to adopt the Russian type ef 
aeroplane (if its success is such as it has been reported) is 
conjunction with the types already in use. 
A NEW MEANS OF DEFENCE 
AGAINST AIR RAIDS. 
In view of the recent airship raids into this country, and 
ef the possibility of more visits from Zeppelins, the writer 
would like to call the attention of all those connected with 
aerial defence to a note read by Professor Branly at a meeting 
of the Acad^mie des Sciences held in Paris on March 29, 
1915. In hifl note Professor Branly, to whom the world owee 
wireless telegraphy, shows that by means of a email motor, 
Buch as that of a motor-bicycle, it is possible to obtain a light 
of 40,000 candle power. This is a more powerful light than 
that obtained from any other source. As Professor Branly 
says in his communication, one can with such luminous 
sources possess " a mobile defensive belt against night attacka 
of all kinds." It would seem that the most efficient defence 
against aircraft operating in darkness is to dazzle them by the 
employment of an intense light. 
HONOURS OF WAR. 
A STUDY IN GERM-CULTURE. 
By JOSEPH THORP. 
THE Comnvandant of Fort A. stood in the laboratory 
cupola of the poison-control watching through his 
mica monocle the Ober-Professor Hauptmann 
von Strafenberg putting the finishing touches to 
an important experiment in germ kultur. The 
air was hushed with mystery. The experimenter trembled 
like a chronic dipsomaniac. 
The Commandant nervously raised his rubber-gloved 
hand as if to brush an upturned moustache, and, encounter- 
ing the celluloid vizor of his helmet, made a gesture and a 
guttural exclamation of profound impatience. 
History was being made. 
The eminent Kriego-biologist was on the eve of the 
greatest discovery of the Great War — the second or third of 
the series of Great Wars that was definitely to end War. 
From the minced fragments of babies' comforters (which 
had been collected by volunteer corps of frightful, armed 
nursemaids throughout the empire, and, of course, ruth- 
lessly commandeered in occupied territory), mixed with the 
tertiary gases of hyper-oxidised taxi-cab lubricating oil, dis- 
tilled by the Hauptmanu-Professor's own pet processes from 
the Imperial dustbins of the All-Absorbing's own pet suburb, 
he had compounded a medium in which the bacillus of cere- 
bro-pneumo-typhus (first bred in the famous State germ- 
kannela of von BLalbskopf) multiplied at an indecently ter- 
rific rate. 
The Professor, overwhelmed with emotion, staggered 
to a ch.iir, tore off his prismatic lenses and amalgamoid in- 
sulators, aad, waving the sealed test tube in his hand, 
exclaimed triumphantly, " It ia finished ! I open. And 
there is no longer an enemy 1 " 
" Good I " said the Commandant on a note of anxiety, 
eyeing the wagging tube. " But are you quite sure that there 
will be any garrison? Not, of course, that it matters," ho 
added in kiyal apology. 
The Professor dived into the pocket of his aluminiumLsed 
overall " If Excellency will but miff this powder, he can 
vith impunity face the aU-removing test tube." 
" Ah I 80," replied the other. " But perhaps a mere 
formality; of course it would be more in accordance witK 
the regulations if I " and here he touched the bell. 
" Precisely," said the Ober-Professor Hauptmann. 
An orderly answered with uncanny promptness. 
" The Lieutenant commanding the Fifth Typhoid Bat- 
tery will attend in five minutes with twelve of his men for 
testing purposes; also the Engineer- Asphyxiator will present 
a report on the controls of his new hyperaesthetic plant," 
But, in fact, the report arrived before the Engineer- 
Asphyxiator, for it was just at that moment that an enemy 
howitzer that had been doing some inconclusive searching 
suddenly landed a lucky shell in the E.-A.'s department. 
The outraged officer a few minutes later rushed ia 
breathless, carrying a smoking germ-mauser in his hand. 
" I have the honour to report to your Excellency that a shell 
has exploded in my battery; that the main retort has been 
shattered, and the new .000042 cm. germ-brood has escaped; 
and that my dogs of men have broken and disgraced my 
regiment." 
"A shell!" cried the Commandant. "Barbarians! 
Swine-dogs 1 They do not fight ; they batter. And your 
men? " said the Commandant, fiercely. 
"They will break no more!" said the Lieutenant 
grimly. " Have I your Excellency's permission to join 
them?" he added, holding the barrel of his mauser under 
his nose and preparing to inhale. 
" It will be more in accordance with the Imperial regu- 
lations if this ceremony is performed in your own quarters." 
The Lieutenant saluted, clicked, and was going when 
the Ober-Professor detained him. 
" It will be still more in accordance with the ultimate 
fitness of things if the Herr Lieutenant will postpone this 
ceremony. Ho wiU live to see the triumph and honour of 
our arms. I open this — pouf ! and the enemy is no more. 
So." And Ober-Professor Hauptmann von Strafenberg 
hugged himself in a bland ecstasy. 
It was at this moment that the Engineer-Asphyxiator 
presented himself. " I have to report, sir, that the main 
barrel of the C.-P.-T. has been split and damaged beyond 
13* 
