upon any subject of science or art when called upon to do so by any department of the govern ment. There are two meetings held each year: An annual meeting, held in Washington in April, and an autumn meeting, held in November, the time and place decided upon at the April meeting. The annual meeting of 1920 was held April 26th-28th. Among the papers read were: "Conservation of National Resources," by J M. Clarke; "On the Rate of Growth of the Population of the United States since 1790 and its Mathematical Expression," by Raymond Pearl; "Growth and Development as Determined by Environmental Influences," by Franz Boas; "Plural Births in Man," by C. B. Davenport; "A Psychological Study of the Medical Officers of the Army," by R. M. Yerkes; "The Vertical Interferometer," by A. A. Michelson; "The Scale of the Universe," by H. Shapley and H. D. Curtis; "The Influence of Cold in Stimulating the Growth of Plants," by F. V. Coville; "Recent Notable Progress in the Theory of Numbers," by L. E. Dickson; "The Air Resistance of Spheres," by L. J. Briggs; and "Reports on the Researches of the Late Professor C. C. Trowbridge," by Mabel Weil. A large number of other subjects were discussed at this meeting and at the autumn meeting held at Princeton University, November 16th-17th. The Academy issues a Report, prior to each annual meeting; Biographical Memoirs and Scientific Memoirs, at irregular intervals; and the Proceedings, the latter a periodical of twelve numbers each year, the only publication issued by the Academy which requires subscription. In 1920 there were 189 active members, one honorary member, and 37 foreign associates. There are 17 trust funds totalling $473,303.84. Officers for 1921 are: President, Charles D. Walcott; vice-president, A. A. Michelson; home secretary, Charles G. Abbot; foreign secretary, George E. Hale; and treasurer, Frederick L. Ransome. Headquarters are care of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

ACCIDENTS. See AUTOMOBILES; RAILWAY ACCIDENTS; SAFETY AT SEA.

ACTIVATED SLUDGE. See SEWERAGE AND

SEWAGE PURIFICATION.

ADAM, PAUL. French writer, died in Paris, January 2nd. He was born in Paris in 1862 and during the Boulangist movement in 1889 was an unsuccessful candidate for parliament. In his first novel, Chair molle (1885), he showed the influence of Zola. He later wrote a number of stories in the vein of the symbolists, and several historical romances. One of the most celebrated of his writings was La ville inconnue, which had passed through ten editions in 1911. He grouped his novels dealing with contemporary life under the title of L'époque and those dealing with an earlier time, under the title Le temps et la vie. The stories which showed the influence of the symbolists were: Robes rouges (1891); Le mystère des foules (1895); and La Bataille d'Uhde (1897). The historical mances, dealing with the period 1792 to 1830, were: La force (1898), new ed. (1910); L'enfant d'Austerlitz (1902); La ruse (1903); and Au soleil de juillet (1903). In 1913 he wrote the problem novel, Stéphanie. He also wrote the drama entitled Le cuivre (1896), and before that, in collaboration with G. Mowrey, another, entitled L'automne (1893).

ro

ADAMS, WILLIAM FORBES. Bishop, died

March 5, 1920. He was born at Enniskillen, Ireland, Jan. 2, 1833; came to the United States in 1841, and was admitted to the Mississippi bar in 1844, but determined to enter the ministry. He was ordained priest in 1860 and was rector in New Orleans from 1860 to 1875, when he was consecrated bishop of New Mexico and Arizona. He resigned soon afterwards on account of failing health and from 1876 to 1887 was rector at Vicksburg, Miss., and from 1887 to the time of his death he was bishop of Easton.

ADELPHI COLLEGE. A non-sectarian institution of the higher education at Brooklyn, N. Y.; founded in 1896. In the summer school of 1920, the enrollment was 145, and for the year 1920-21 in the regular college it was 294: in the extension it was 129. There were 22 members in the faculty. The library contained 17,500 volumes. President, Frank Dickinson Blodgett, LL.D.

ADEN. A British territory consisting of a volcanic peninsula on the Arabian coast which forms an important coaling station on the route to the East and is well fortified. It lies about 100 miles east of Babel Mandeb and part of the Presidency of Bombay. The area is about 75 square miles; with the Protectorate, about 9000 square miles. The settlement includes also the island of Perim with an area of five square miles. The population in 1911 was 46,165 and the population of the Protectorate was about 100,000. The chief industry is salt production and the next in importance is the manufacture of cigarettes. It has mainly a transit trade. In 1918-19 the imports by sea were valued at £5,185,209; by land, £105,129; total including treasure, £5,470,743. The chief imports were cotton piece goods, grain, hides and skins, coal, tobacco and provisions. The exports by sea in 1918-19 were £4,536,949; by land, £16,200; total, including treasure, £4,573,916. The chief exports were coffee, gums, hides and skins, cotton goods, and provisions. The shipping in 1918-19 included 500 merchant vessels of 950,141 tons net entered, of which 323 were British. The government is under a political resident with four assistants.

ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE. This is an association founded in 1848 on the principle that in a democracy where no dependence can be had upon a leisure class, science can only be supported as a result of the organization of scientific men. The association has since its beginning done work of the greatest importance in encouraging scientific research and promoting interest in its results. It consists of affiliated national societies which either meet regularly on their own account or during the annual convention week of the association which is held at the close of each year. During the 10 years of its existence the meetings have been held in Baltimore, Boston, Minneapolis, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Columbus, New York, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis. There is also a Pacific Coast Division which holds meetings independently in the summer and a general meeting under its direction was held in 1915. The official organ of the association is the weekly journal Science. Membership is about 15,000.

The annual meeting in 1920 was held in Chicago on December 29th-31st. A paper was read by Prof. A. A. Michelson, of the University of

Chicago entitled "The Application of Interference Methods to Astronomical Measurement," in which he announced the perfecting of a device for measuring the diameter of stars by interference methods. He gave the result of the first application of the device to one of the stars in the constellation of Orion (Alpha Orionis) whose distance has already been determined by parallax methods. He showed that this star, Betelgeuse, has a diameter of 260,000,000 miles or 300 times that of the sun. The first test of this method was made at the Mount Wilson Observatory in southern California. Professor Michelson, who is recognized as one of America's foremost scientists, has been working on this device for a number of years.

In a paper by Dr. Robert W. Woods of the Johns Hopkins University, he explained what is known as the "chemical eye." This device was used for signaling during the war. Taking the ultra-violet rays, which are invisible to the naked eye, Dr. Woods invented a mechanism which can detect these rays and make them visible to the human eye. A large number of other addresses were read of great value to science.

ADVENT CHRISTIANS. See ADVENTISTS. ADVENTISTS. The Seventh-Day Adventists is the largest branch of this denomination. The latest available figures were for 1919 which showed: 2254 churches with a total membership of 95,645; 708 ordained ministers; 434 licensed ministers; 762 licensed missionaries, with others making a total number of workers of 2881. Total tithe receipts amounted to $3,313,307.05 or $34.64 per capita. Total offerings to foreign missions amounted to $789,691.63. Total contributions for home missionary work amounted to $525,856.66. There were 2987 Sunday schools with a total membership of 96,351 pupils; the 1284 church buildings had an estimated value of $2,753,425.30; church schools numbered 715 with a total enrollment of 15,968; young peoples' societies numbered 1156 with a total membership of 22,128. Total contributions for young peoples' work amounted to $96,720.94. The denomination maintained seven publishing houses, publishing literature in 96 languages. Volumes issued during the year numbered 3015. There are 158 mission fields and 77 educational institutions connected with the church, 16 of which carry full college courses, notably Loma Linda College, Pacific Union College, and Walla Walla College.

Other branches of the Adventists are the Adventists Christian Church, which in 1916 (the latest available statistics) had 30,316 communicants, 640 churches, and 826 ministers (the figures for 1920 being about the same); the Adventists Church of God, with about 10,000 communicants, 100 churches, and 80 ministers in 1920. This denomination was about to build a college in the Central States at a cost of $100,000. Other branches of the Adventists are Life and Advent Union, with about 700 communicants, 20 churches, and 15 ministers; and the Church of God and Jesus Christ, with about 4000 communicants, 90 churches and 50 ministers.

AERONAUTICS. In no field of activity was the after-war readjustment more conspicuous than in many of the fields of aëronautics. Vast numbers of airplanes and airships had been designed, built and used in the World War, and they had figured to a remarkable degree in mili

tary and naval tactics. In an incredibly short space of time improved machines had been designed and developed and hosts of intrepid young men had become skilled in their operation and use. But design and use so rapidly developed had been with the single aim of war, and once hostilities were terminated a vast amount of material and a large personnel were left without corresponding civil activities to which their special equipment and talents could be immediately adjusted. In other words where the military side of aëronautics had advanced by leaps and bounds, in its civil application it had all but languished during the war. However vast industries had been built up, improved machines developed and even transatlantic flight as we saw in the 1919 YEAR BOOK accomplished. The first application was for mail transportation and while there were many sporadic attempts in this field in Europe, the United States, as is related below, was the first to undertake aërial mail service on a wholesale and practical scale. This was developed and in addition. the use of unnecessary military and navar planes, newer models were tested.

Ac

In connection with public and private mail and parcel routes one of the developments of the year was to secure increased carrying capacity both for freight and passengers. In fact it was realized that there must be increased efficiency and power to secure commercial success. cordingly various passenger craft able to accommodate a number of people in large cabins were placed in operation on many routes, and at the end of the year airplanes to carry one hundred or more people were seriously proposed or were reported to be under construction. With all of this however there was confessedly a lack of general demand for aircraft and the natural explanation was that the financial and industrial condition was not such as to warrant large investments in what must be considered a hazardous and uncertain undertaking, though the eventual future success was admitted.

As a result, the use of aircraft outside of the government services while promising and growing was rather sporadic and unevenly distributed, and the same was true of the demand for machines, even when the salvaged or superfluous machines of the military and naval forces were put on the market. This condition was also reflected in design for now the improvements became rather refinements both in the machines themselves and in their power plants, though many of these improvements were dictated by sound principles of mechanical engineering. Many of the leading types were perfected, while newly designed machines did not reveal any radical innovations. However the industry was maintained in such a condition that once industrial conditions improved and commerce and business enterprise developed aircraft would be ready to play their part.

In Europe during the year there was an increased number of passenger routes established and maintained, their operation being attended by regularity of service and safety. Not all were financially successful, however, and this was explained as due to existing conditions rather than to shortcomings in the machines and airplane traffic generally. In America passenger business has lagged somewhat, at least in the establishment of regular routes and service but there was increased use of airplanes for

practical communication even outside of the mail service.

In many countries the assimilation of aëronautics to more normal conditions from those of war presented legislative and administrative problems. In fact even in the military and naval services themselves the position of aviation continued to be discussed. In the United States there were demands for a special national department or administration of aviation while the National Advisory Council of Aëronautics continued to function, composed as it was of notable men. In Europe readjustments were not so much hindered or helped by government action save as they concerned political and financial considerations.

A necessary adjunct of aërial travel is a sure means of communication between aircraft and the ground and other aircraft. Improvements in the radio telephone were made during the year, and on November 10th, the United States navy announced that its instruments could be used up to 300 miles. This method of communication had more than military importance for in the detection of forest fires or in mapping or surveying ability to transmit intelligence to а ground station promptly is a most valuable consideration.

So far as capacity was concerned for American machines a mark was set on September 29th when a large bombing plane, the largest yet built in America, driven by three Liberty motors was accepted by the Army Air Service after trials at Mitchell Field, Long Island, N. Y. This of course indicated a machine that readily could be modified from strictly military purposes for passengers and freight.

In Italy during the year it was reported that Gianni Caproni, the aëroplane inventor, was considering the construction of a huge airplane which would carry 300 persons across the Atlantic in about 36 hours. In the plans for this machine due provision was to be made for dining and sleeping accommodations on board.

Signor Caproni, during the year was at work on a somewhat smaller airplane capable of carrying 100 persons a distance of 500 miles. This was reaching completion at the end of the year and the larger machine was to be put under way early in 1921.

The comparative advantages and uses of monoplane and biplane continued under discussion and experiment during the year, with improved design and construction being shown particularly for the monoplane. All-metal monoplanes were being turned out for various conditions of service and showed greater strength and made possible relatively more powerful engines capable of more sustained flights.

As showing the trend of airplane design during 1920 one must consider the attention paid to the wings of the various machines, particularly those of high-speed airplanes. In new designs variable camber and variable surface wings were introduced, the former being used in the Dayton-Wright monoplane flown by Rinehart at the Gordon-Bennett competition. By varying the wing surface as was done in certain French highspeed machines it was possible to secure a range of speed from 125 miles to about 30 miles an hour thus increasing the facility of landing which had been a weak point with the swifter planes.

With increased size of machines there have

been developments in the power plants and many improvements and refinements added to the engine. To secure increased power and safety a number of engines are used on a single plane so that they may be run together, or one disconnected for repair as in case of mishap. With greater leisure and the practical experience of the war, the automotive engineers who specialized in this field have sought to perfect their engines and the result has been longer runs and greater reliability.

A typical instance is that of the HispanoSuiza engine at the hands of the engineers of the Wright Aeronautical Corporation. This engine was first made for the United States Air Service in 1917, the first being turned out by the Wright plant in July, 1917. As a result of many improvements and re-designing, the Wright Corporation changed the name of the engine from the Wright-Hispano to Wright. The Hispano engine when first imported to the United States as the best of existing European types had many strong points including lightness and flexibility, but it lacked durability and the Wright Corporation which purchased the American rights sought this important improvement even when the air service was demanding in 1917 and 1918 larger production. The first 2500 Hispano-Suiza engines made at the big New Brunswick plant of the Wright Corporation were only slightly modified, but these modifications were so successful that a number of changes in design were made with the consent of the Air Service and subsequently there were further improvements.

An echo of the famous transatlantic flight of the NC-4, discussed in the YEAR BOOK for 1919, was a trip of this airplane early in 1920 down the Atlantic Coast and up the Mississippi River to Cairo, Ill., returning to the Naval Air Station at Rockaway Point, N. Y., on January 27th. It had then negotiated 7740 nautical miles. Longdistance trips however were quite common during the year and on April 25th Clifford Webster in a Curtiss HS-2L flying boat with two passengers flew 1345 miles from Florida to New York in 18 hours and 27 minutes.

On Monday, Nov. 1, 1920, the first American passenger air line service was inaugurated, to operate on a daily schedule between Key West and Havana, a distance of about 90 miles, for which a little over one hour was required. Six Aeromarine cabin flying boats of the largest size ever used for the transportation of passengers were put into service between the Florida Keys and the Cuban capital. These big boats, which were a development of the F-S-L flying boats of the United States navy have a span of 104 feet, are fitted with two 400 h.p. Liberty engines, and accommodate in comfort 11 passengers.

There are two passenger cabins between which is located the control compartment, housing the dual control gear (permitting the pilot to surrender control at any time to his assistant) and the necessary air navigation instruments. Two pilots and a mechanic make up the crew of each of these flying boats. An interesting and useful work of the Air Service on the Pacific Coast of the United States was the patrol of the forests during the dry season in order to detect and report promptly forest fires. In Oregon and California 494 forest fires were located and reported, in many cases radio reports being rendered promptly to the Forest Service so that

preventive measures could be taken by the rangers. It was estimated that the Air Forest Patrol during the year was the means of saving some $25,000,000 worth of timber. The airplane was also being used in the Dominion of Canada by the government, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police decided that for out

post duty in outlying districts airplanes and flying boats could be used with advantage, and accordingly they were adopted. An interesting event of the year was the unveiling of a monument to Wilbur Wright on July 17th at Le Mans, France. The monument was the work of the French sculptor Landeroski and the architect Bigot. It is a column 40 feet high carved with figures, including those of Orville and Wilbur Wright and the names of their precursors in aviation from Dædalus. There were elaborate and appropriate ceremonies in connection with the dedication. The monument stands hard by the cathedral.

CIVIL FLYING IN GREAT BRITAIN. On May 1, 1919, civil flying was resumed in Great Britain and a number of commercial ventures were launched ranging from passenger and express service to the Continent to less ambitious local activities. At the end of the year, or May 1, 1920, there were reported for the 12 months 38,954 flights and a total of 70,000 passengers carried. The number of miles flown aggregated 734,200 and the goods carried totaled 116,498 pounds. Up to the end of March, 1920, there had been more than £200,000 worth of imports and exports carried by air. There were 114 aerodromes licensed and 519 machines registered for civil flying during the year. In many cases salvaged military and naval planes were used.

The British Air Ministry was alive to the necessity of developing aviation and the airplane industry and accordingly announced a series of valuable prizes for encouraging improved design and development of efficient machines, both airplanes and seaplanes. The first prize for the large aeroplane was not awarded as the Judges'

Committee considered that the results of the Competitions for aëroplanes showed collectively less radical advance in general design than had been anticipated, and that though very useful developments in detail design have been produced, which in themselves justified the Competitions, the award of the full prizes originally specified was not warranted. The following

Other commercial ventures in the way of European passenger services suffered in similar fashion but the reason assigned was the prevailing uncertainty and commercial depression rather than technical shortcomings. First place in

GORDON BENNETT COMPETITION. the annual competition for the James Gordon Bennett trophy held at Etampes, France, on Sept. 20, 1920, was won by Sadi Lecointe, flying in a Nieuport monoplane with a 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza motor. This distinguished French

aviator covered the course of 300 kilometers or 186.3 miles in 1 hour 6 minutes 17.2 seconds, making the first 100 kilometers in 21 minutes 36.6 seconds, which, however, was done by Kush of France also in a Nieuport in 21 minutes 29 seconds. But one other competitor besides Lecointe was able to finish the race. Captain de Romanet, also of France, who accomplished the distance in 1 hour 39 minutes 53.4 seconds. There were two American entries, Howard M. Rinehart and Maj. R. W. Schroeder, United States army, who flew in a Dayton-Wright monoplane and a Verville-Packard machine respectively. Both were forced to abandon the race soon after starting on account of mechanical troubles. F. P. Raynham, the sole British contestant, was forced to withdraw after going around the first lap. This was the third successive time that the Gordon Bennett Cup was won by France.

PULITZER TROPHY CONTEST. Forty-four airplanes of American, French, British, Italian and German design were entered in the race for the Pulitzer Trophy which was flown on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1920, around a triangular course of 33 miles at Mineola, L. I. The entire distance was 132 miles, and 34 machines of the seven flights of starters were in the air at once, the entire competition taking place without a single serious mishap. The race was won by Capt. C. C. Moseley, United States Army Air Service, in a Verville army racer, his time being 44 minutes 29.57 seconds, or an average speed of over 3 miles a minute for the entire distance. The Verville army racer was driven by a 600 h.p. Packard motor which was a variation of the Liberty motor. Second place in the competittion was taken by Capt. H. E. Hartney in a Thomas Morse American machine with an elapsed time of 47 minutes 00.03 seconds, and the third fell to Albert Acosta in a S.V.A. Italian airplane with an elapsed time of 51 minutes 57.62 seconds.

The summary of winners of the first 10 places in the contest for the Pulitzer Trophy and the Valentine Liberty Bond prizes, aggregating $5100, follows below. The Valentine prizes were awarded for the elapsed time winners with a particular type of aëroplane.

No.

£7,500

Time

1-Verville (Am.), Lt. C. C. Moseley, U. S. A. 44: 29 2-Thomas Morse (Am.), Capt. H. E. Hart

ney, U. S. A.

47:00

£3,000

3-Ansaldo S. V. A. (Ital.), Albert Acosta, civilian

51:57

£1,500

Late in the year and after transporting some 5000 passengers and carrying mail between London and Paris, the Airco Company found itself compelled to abandon operations.