REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. Investigation of the Upper Atmosphere by Means of Kites in co-operation with a Committee of the Royal Meteorological Society.-Second Report of the Committee, consisting of Dr. W. N. SHAW (Chairman), Mr. W. H. DINES (Secretary), Mr. D. ARCHIBALD, Mr. C. VERNON Boys, Dr. A. BUCHAN, Dr. R. T. GLAZEBROOK, Dr. H. R. MILL, and Professor A. SCHUSTER. (Drawn up by the Secretary.) THE results of last year's work have been published; a description of the apparatus and methods employed being given in the 'Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society,' vol. xxix., No. 126, p. 65; and a discussion of the results obtained, in a paper by Dr. Shaw and Mr. W. H. Dines, which appears in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,' series A, vol. ccii., 1903. The apparatus used at Crinan last year was erected at Oxshott in the autumn, and it was hoped that to a limited extent the observations might be continued there; but before the end of October the wire was accidentally dropped across the main road leading from Esher to Leatherhead. Fortunately the wire rested on trees on both sides of the road; but before it could be removed many carriages and bicyclists had passed under it. This accident convinced us that it would be unwise to continue the work at Oxshott, excepting for winds between south and north-west. The winter has been devoted to an endeavour to improve the apparatus. This has been accomplished: a new winding-gear has been constructed, which so far has given every satisfaction, and the details of the construction of the kites have been altered, so that they exert a more uniform pull and seem to be more reliable. The apparatus was brought to Crinan at the beginning of August, and in view of the uncertainty about obtaining a vessel, was erected on the same island as last year. The apparatus in the possession of the Committee now consists of— I. Engine, boiler, and winding-gear used last year. II. New winding-gear. III. About 14 miles of wire, six of which have been purchased this year. IV. Ten kites 7 feet 6 inches high; three kites 9 feet high; materials of a kite 12 feet high. V. Two self-recording instruments made by Mons. Tesserenc de Bort.1 VI. Spare bamboo sticks, &c., for repairs. The old winding-gear is hardly reliable, but many of the parts will be available for making another. Application was made to the Government Grant Committee of the Royal Society for a grant of 250l. for the hire of a vessel. On the suggestion of this Committee the Admiralty were asked to lend a vessel for the purpose, and they kindly consented to do so; but unfortunately the vessel they proposed to place at the disposal of the Kite Committee has met with an accident and is unavailable. The Royal Society have, however, made a grant of 2007., and the Committee are now endeavouring to hire a suitable vessel. Addendum to the Report of the Kite Committee. Great difficulty has been experienced in obtaining a suitable vessel owing to the lateness of the time at which inquiries about one were instituted and to the fact that July and August are the yachting season. A steam tug, the Renown,' has been hired for a month, and reached Crinan on August 13. The apparatus was fitted on board by the evening of the 14th, and since then daily ascents have been made. No great height (over 6,000 feet) has been reached, for the weather has been of the most unfavourable description for kite flying; but one very interesting trace has been obtained-namely, that of August 20, when the kite was drawn in from a height of 4,500 feet during a sudden and unexpected thunderstorm which was accompanied by extremely violent rain and hail. Magnetic Observations at Falmouth.-Report of the Committee, con• sisting of Sir W. H. PREECE (Chairman), Dr. R. T. GLAZEBROOK (Secretary), Professor W. G. ADAMS, Captain CREAK, Mr. W. L. Fox, Professor A. SCHUSTER, and Sir A. W. RÜCKER, appointed to co-operate with the Committee of the Falmouth Observatory in their Magnetic Observations. THE Committee report that the grant voted at the last meeting has been used in support of the ordinary magnetic work of the Falmouth Observatory, and that records of the horizontal force, the declination, and the vertical force have been kept during the year. The curves up to December 31, 1902, have been examined at Kew, and, specially in view of the disturbed state of the Kew instruments and the uncertainty as to the future magnetic observatory to replace Kew, have a real value. The results for the quiet days are published in the Report of the Falmouth Observatory, and will be reprinted in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. The vertical force instrument to which reference was made in the last report has worked in a fairly satisfactory manner during the year. In conclusion the Committee ask for reappointment with a further A third is promised by him and expected shortly, grant of 600. The reasons for this request are in the main the same as last year. It has not yet been found possible to establish the new magnetic observatory and to remove the recording instruments from Kew, though the Committee are informed that progress has been made in the arrangements for this; at the same time electric traction has increased greatly in the neighbourhood of Kew, and the records are in consequence very seriously disturbed. Thus the Falmouth records are of special importance to science just now. Experiments for improving the Construction of Practical Standards for Electrical Measurements.-Report of the Committee, consisting of Lord RAYLEIGH (Chairman), Dr. R. T. GLAZEBROOK (Secretary), Lord KELVIN, Professors W. E. AYRTON, J. PERRY, W. G. ADAMS, and G. CAREY FOSTER, Sir OLIVER J. LODGE, Dr. A. MUIRHEAD, Sir W. H. PREECE, Professors J. D. EVERETT, A. SCHUSTER, J. A. FLEMING, and J. J. THOMSON, Dr. W. N. SHAW, Dr. J. T. BOTTOMLEY, Rev. T. C. FITZPATRICK, Dr. G. JOHNSTONE STONEY, Professor S. P. THOMPSON, Mr. J. RENNIE, Dr. E. H. GRIFFITHS, Sir A. W. RÜCKER, Professor H. L. CALLENDAR, and Mr. GEORGE MATTHEY. APPENDICES I. On the Values of the Resistance of certain Standard Coils of the British Association. By F. E. SMITH. (From the National Physical Laboratory). II. On some new Mercury Standards of Resistance. By F. E. SMITH. (From III. On the Platinum Thermometers of the British Association. By J. A. PAGE 38 44 45 51 DURING the year a very complete comparison of the resistance standards belonging to the Association has been carried out, and the standards have been compared with those of the Reichsanstalt and of the Board of Trade. The various units discussed in the report are: (1) The ohm,' 10o C.G.S. units of resistance; (2) the international ohm-viz., the resistance at 0°C. of a column of mercury of uniform section 106.3 cm. in length and 14-4521 grammes in mass; (3) the original B.A. unit; (4) the Board of Trade unit, supposed to represent the international ohm, but constructed in 1891 so as to be equal to 1.01358 B.A. units; (5) the N.P.L. unit defined as No. 4, as deduced from the wire standards of the Association; (6) the Reichsanstalt unit, constructed at the Reichsanstalt to represent the international ohm; (7) the mercury tubes, constructed at the National Physical Laboratory to represent the international ohm. A full account of this comparison is given in Appendix I. to the report, by Mr. F. E. Smith, of the National Physical Laboratory. It appears from this that changes have shown themselves in all the original platinumsilver coils. The relative values of these coils are discussed in the Reports of the Committee for 1888, 1890, and 1892. The 1888 report contains a very complete comparison of all the coils, not merely those of platinumsilver; and it is there shown that they then agreed with the values 1903. D |