bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On some considerations suggested by the large number of the existing at the close of the Institute observations of 1863
Authors: Tilt Robert Ruthven
Published: June 2019

At a sessional meeting of the Institute held during the period allocated to the collection of the information required for the compilation of the New Mortality Tables, a discussion may not, I think, inappropriately be raised on various points arising in connection with the nature and adaptability for the purpose of the materials used in the construction of the principal Institute Table at present in use, and it is with this view that I venture to submit to the members of the Institute the results of some attempts which I have recently been making to trace the effects produced on the HM Table by the fact that, at the close of the observations from which the Table is derived, there were still in existence nearly 75,000 out of 130,000 males who had come under observation; I have also endeavoured to obtain from the details given in the Mortality Experience published by the Institute some approximate figures as to the new business of the Twenty Offices which supplied the experience upon which the HM Table is based.
On the Distribution of the Divisible Surplus of a Life Assurance Company, with special reference to the Method originated by Dr. Sprague and other Methods derived therefrom
Authors: Lidstone George J.
Published: June 2019

Some time ago, the writer had occasion to examine the principal methods adopted by life assurance companies in the distribution of surplus, and particularly the plan which is known as “Sprague's Method”, from the name of its inventor, Dr. Sprague, or the “Equity and Law Method”, from the name of the company to which it was first applied. The plan is at present employed by comparatively few British offices, but it has recently been adopted by several companies in substitution for systems previously in vogue, and it appears to be rapidly growing in theoretical importance as a standard by which to test the effect of other systems of distribution. Nevertheless, it would appear that, apart from the brief description of the method originally given by Dr. Sprague (and quoted below), there is no systematic discussion of the principles of the method in the pages of the Journal of the Institute of Actuaries, and it is therefore thought that a few notes respecting some of the points which arise in connection with the practical application of the method may be of service to those who are studying the subject, but who may share the experience that little information is to be gleaned from the Journal.
On a New Method of performing approximately certain Operations in Multiplication and Division
Authors: Robertson J. A.
Published: June 2019

The method about to be described is based upon a special application of the principle involved in the slide-rule. As this instrument is less familiar now than it was formerly, and as its working presents many points of interest, I propose to begin with a short account of its construction and use.
A Method of approximating to the Effect of a Reduction in the Rate of Interest used in calculating Reserves under Whole-Life Policies; with Tables
Authors: Stewart John
Published: June 2019

In view of the present movement on the part of life assurance companies towards a reduction in the rate of interest used in calculating their reserves, it is desirable to have some easily applied method of measuring approximately, with sufficient accuracy for the purpose of a preliminary estimate, or a rough check on fully computed valuation figures, the effect of such a change. The process is simple as regards whole-life policies, classified according to age attained, if the premiums valued represent some stated proportions of the gross premiums; but difficulty arises when the premiums used vary with the rate of interest, as in the case of a net-premium valuation. The following Tables I to VI (see pages 268-271) supply the means of approximating from the net-premium reserves for whole-life policies, under the HM or combined HM and HM(5) Tables, at most rates of interest presently used, to the corresponding reserves at rates one-half or one-quarter per-cent less.
Notes on the interpretation of “select” Rates of Mortality
Authors: Elderton W. Palin , Oakley H. J. P.
Published: June 2019

In a report on the results of an investigation of the mortality experience of life annuitants (J.I.A., vol. liv, pp. 43–90), it was pointed out that selection may be divided into “temporary selection” and “class selection.” We felt that there were two forces operating at the moment of entry or selection—(a) an initial selection based on the state of health at the time, (b) a permanent force operating throughout the whole of the after lifetime, due to the class of lives involved. The special investigation then made showed that force (a) soon worked itself out, hence the expression temporary selection; force (b) was doubtless also initial since it came into operation at entry, but it appeared to be permanent from the fact that the mortality remained light practically until the limit of life. Although the present note is the outcome of that investigation, it is not proposed to confine it to annuitants but to consider it in its bearing upon any mortality experience.
Notes on Recent Reports on the Mortality of Annuitants
Authors: Fraser Duncan C.
Published: June 2019

The report on the mortality experience of life annuitants during the period 1900-1920 published in 1923 by the Institute of Actuaries and the Faculty of Actuaries, and the report issued in the present year on the “Mortality experience of Government life annuitants, 1900-1920”, have brought into prominence the necessity of considering in our calculations the probability of future improvements in vitality. The special intention of the present notes is to examine the methods by which this subject has been treated in the two reports, which will be referred to as the 1923 report and the 1924 report. It will be convenient to consider the subject specially in relation to female lives, and more particularly in relation to the ultimate mortality after 5 years of such lives.
Further Notes on the Annuity Business of British Offices and the Valuation thereof
Authors: Elderton W. Palin , Oakley H. J. P.
Published: June 2019

Fifteen years have elapsed since the previous paper on this subject was read before the Institute, and it seems desirable to review the subsequent progress and to consider the present position in the light of the investigation into Annuitant Mortality just completed on behalf of the Institute and the Faculty of Actuaries.

It is not intended to deal with the matter in such full detail as on the last occasion, but to refer only to the more salient features—and even to those, more briefly.
Experiments in Modified Forms of Select Mortality Tables
Authors: Wood C. F.
Published: June 2019

This paper is an account of some experiments which were made with the data relating to the O[M] and allied tables chiefly with a view to ascertaining if the graduation of the tables based on such data could have been shortened or simplified. The possibility of some means of condensing the tables was also borne in mind.
Notes on the Relative Mortality of Married Men and on an Experiment in Forecasting Mortality Over a Limited Period
Authors: Harvey P. N.
Published: June 2019

1. The ideas submitted in the present paper have their origin in an investigation carried out by the author with a view to determining whether it was possible to estimate the mortality likely to be experienced by married men in England and Wales in the course of the next few years. The English law relating to registration of deaths does not require that the marital condition of a deceased man shall be recorded when death is registered, in this respect differing from the law in Scotland and in various other countries. Thus no statistics could be obtained of married men’s deaths in England and Wales, and the question had to be approached by indirect methods.
Group Insurance
Authors: McCormack P. H.
Published: June 2019

The President, in his recent address, referred to the rapid growth of group insurance in the United States, and suggested that the system was well worth the study of members of the actuarial profession in this country. The following notes may possibly be useful as an introduction to the subject. Most of the facts have been collected from contributions to American journals, a list of which is given at the end of the paper.
An Investigation into the mortality experienced by life tenants under reversions, with some conclusions drawn therefrom
Authors: Lever E. H.
Published: June 2019

The necessity for a reliable investigation into the mortality experienced by life tenants under reversions has long been felt.

So far as I am aware, the only published experience is that given by Mr. Neil Campbell in a paper read before the Faculty of Actuaries in 1902 (T.F.A., vol. i, p. 79), although doubtless individual offices have at various times examined the mortality in respect of their own purchases. The investigation by Mr. Campbell was of considerable service in indicating the trend of the mortality, but was unfortunately of limited value inasmuch as it was based upon only 226 lives producing 2,097 years of exposure to risk.
On the Relation between the Course of Wholesale Prices of Commodities and the Market Value of Various Classes of Securities
Authors: Perry S. J.
Published: June 2019

The history of life insurance presents some curious changes in the character of the factors which have from time to time taken precedence as matters of anxiety to those responsible for the successful conduct of the business. In the early days it was anticipated that it was the rate of mortality which would give the greatest possibility of variation, and which was most likely to undermine the foundation of the structure. In time, however, this bogey was laid by the heels. Then, in the final years of last century the fall in the rate of interest was a matter of great concern in view of the persistent fall which had occurred over a long period, the danger being that the rate earned on accumulated funds would fall below that necessary to maintain solvency.
On a Short Method of Constructing Select Mortality Tables. Further Developments
Authors: King George
Published: June 2019

A year ago I had the honour of submitting to the Institute a paper on “A Short Method of Constructing Select Mortality Tables”, which has been published in the Journal, vol. lii, pp. 286–341. For convenience it may be referred to as “the former paper.” A definition of the short method was given as follows:

The short method of constructing select tables consists in preparing first of all an ultimate table, and then in constructing the select columns by means of factors formed from the ratios between the actual deaths and those expected by the ultimate table, and by which factors the ultimate qx is to be multiplied.
Results of an Investigation into the effect of different valuation bases upon Surplus
Authors: Maltby C. H.
Published: June 2019

Many investigations have been made in the past to ascertain the surplus, or the bonuses, which would arise with a given valuation basis, from different assumptions as to the actual experience and premiums of an office ; but there is little on record regarding similar efforts which may have been made to see how the surplus year after year would be varied by the introduction of different valuation bases, the other two factors remaining constant.
On certain Formulas of Approximate Summation and Integration
Authors: Steffensen J. F.
Published: June 2019

The remainder form of Newton's formula of interpolation with divided differences has been known for at least 37 years; yet actuaries have taken hardly any notice of the complete formula which ought to be one of their principal tools. It will, therefore, not be superfluous to begin by reproducing the very elementary proof from first principles.
Austrian National Life Tables
Authors: Richmond George William
Published: June 2019

The problems of vital statistics are of the utmost importance as affecting in many ways the welfare of the people. In connection with the study of such problems the value of reliable life tables applicable to the general population is well recognized. The preparation of national life tables presents various difficulties, however, if the results are to command respect for their reliability. It is therefore in the hope that British actuaries will be interested to see how these difficulties have been met in another country that the following notes have been prepared.
Some Actuarial Aspects of Unemployment Insurance
Authors: Kyd J. G. , Maddex G. H.
Published: June 2019

Judged by the amount of space devoted to the subject in the Journal of the Institute, Unemployment Insurance has received but little attention from actuaries in the past Public interest in the problem of relieving distress due to unemployment became pronounced in the early years of the present century and led to the appointment in 1904 of a Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and, eventually, to the passing in 1911 of the first Unemployment Insurance Act. These important events found a somewhat pallid reflection in our proceedings in the form of reprints of extracts from Sir H. Llewellyn Smith's address on Insurance against Unemployment to the British Association in 1910 (J.I.A., vol. xliv, p. 511) and of Mr. Ackland's report on Part II of the National Insurance Bill (J.I.A., vol. xlv, p. 456). At a later date, when the scope of the national scheme was very greatly widened, the Government Actuary's report on the relevant measure—the Unemployment Insurance Bill 1919—was reprinted in the Journal (J.I.A., vol. lii, page 72).
On the Classification and Duration of Compensation Claims in the Mining Industry
Authors: Maudling R. G.
Published: June 2019

The actuarial aspects of the liability of the employer towards his employees in respect of industrial accidents and diseases have not been discussed frequently at the Institute,
and the comparatively small number of contributions to the Journal on this subject is doubtless to be attributed, in no small measure, to the difficulty of obtaining access to any considerable body of data bearing more particularly upon the duration of compensation claims. Some three or four Tears ago the author was asked to investigate the experience of a Colliery Owners' Mutual Indemnity Fund, and although the investigation deals with a single industry and relates to a period somewhat remote, it is hoped that, in so far as it may throw some light upon a subject regarding which but little information has as yet become available, the following account of the methods followed, and the results obtained, may nevertheless be of interest and possibly of some value. The author desires to express his indebtedness to the directors of the fund, which for certain reasons it is not desired to name, and which is hereafter referred to as “the Fund,” for their courteous permission to utilize in this manner information obtained in his professional capacity.
The Progress of Life Assurance Business in the United Kingdom during the last Fifty Years
Authors: Deuchar David
Published: June 2019

Omitting from consideration the speculative and evanescent schemes which were the precursors of life assurance companies, and taking into account only the properly-constituted life offices, we find that up to 1 January 1837 the total number of such companies which had been established was 94, of which 20 had ceased to exist, leaving 74 then in operation. The average age of these 74 companies was 17¾ years. Not more than 18 of them had been 25 years in existence, while the remaining 56 had only attained an average age of 7 years. It at first strikes us as a very remarkable circumstance that only 20 offices out of a total of 102 had succumbed in the long period of 131 years, dating from 1706, when the Amicable was founded: but it has to be borne in mind that in 1837 the great majority of the offices had not attained an age sufficient to test their stability.
On the Numerical Calculation of the Values of Complex Benefits, by means of Formulas of Approximate Summation
Authors: King George
Published: June 2019

I do not pretend that much which is original will be found in this paper. Previous writers, notably the late Sir J. W. Lubbock, and Messrs. Woolhouse, Sprague, and G. F. Hardy, have, so far as actuarial science is concerned, nearly exhausted the subject of Formulas of Approximate Summation; and from time to time examples have been given of the practical use of the formulas, which have indicated the great facilities they afford to computers. But something in the way of numerical illustration remains to be done in order to bring the formulas into more general use, and to supply that want is my present object.
Mortality Experience of the Provident Life and Trust Company of Philadelphia, 1866 to 1885
Authors: Wing Asa S. , Sprague T. B.
Published: June 2019

It would be a very useful and interesting task to examine the numerous mortality experiences which have been publisht of late years; to compare them carefully with each other, so as to see how far they agree and in what respects they differ; and to note what contributions (if any) they have made to the general theory of life insurance. On the present occasion I will state the results of my examination of the recently publisht experience of the abovementioned company. The experience extends over 20 years, and contains 124,526 policy-years, the numbers at risk ranging from 301·5 policies in the year 1866 to 13,927 in the year 1885.
On Bonuses arising from Surplus Premiums and Surplus Interest
Authors: Sunderland Arthur W.
Published: June 2019

The great importance of the subject of distribution of surplus, I think, no actuary would be inclined to dispute. With regard to the magnitude of the interests involved, I will content myself with referring to Mr. Hewat's paper, read before the Actuarial Society of Edinburgh on 8 January 1880, and of which an abstract is given in the Journal (xxii, 286–292). In this paper he stated that, from the Board of Trade Returns relating to seventy-seven offices, he found that £2,285,000 was, on the average, annually divided among the policyholders by way of bonuses. Of this sum he estimated that £890,000 arose from surplus premiums or loading, and £1,040,000 from surplus interest.
Progress of Life Assurance throughout the World, from 1859 to 1883
Authors: Besso Marco
Published: June 2019

The important and laborious investigation of which we give the results in the following pages is the last serious contribution to statistical knowledge by Mons. Marco Besso, a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of some years' standing, and an insurance expert of wide experience and great repute throughout the continent. The paper was at first published in part in the Bulletin de l'Institute de Statistique, and a translation subsequently appeared in the German Annual Magazine of Herr Ehrensweig.
A study of the process of making stack silage
Authors: Woodman Herbert Ernest , Hanley Frederick
Published: June 2019

An account has been given of an investigation which was designed to test the efficacy of the process of ensilage in the stack for preserving hay crops which are in danger of spoiling in consequence of adverse weather conditions.

The character of the ensiled crops and the weather conditions at the time of ensiling, together with the process of building the stack, have been described in detail.

The results of continuous temperature readings in the stack have been given in graphical form. The significance of the two distinct temperature maxima which characterized the temperature curve has been discussed, and the importance of this method of investigation in regard to the elucidation of the processes which go on during ensilage has been emphasized.

The chemical character of the “sweet” silage samples obtained from experimental bags buried in different parts of the stack has been investigated. The losses of dry matter resulting from fermentation and drainage have been determined and the changes affecting the individual constituents of the crop have been followed quantitatively. The results so obtained have been compared with similar figures referring to the process of ensilage in the tower and the clamp.

It has been shown that the loss of dry matter in the “sweet” silage layers of the stack compares satisfactorily in magnitude with the losses accompanying the preservation of crops in the tower silo and is appreciably smaller than that associated with the production of “sour” silage in the clamp.
Dry matter of swedes. I
Authors: Sansome F. W.
Published: June 2019

1. Sampling of single roots of swedes by means of cores is subject to errors of various kinds, of which one, due to the asymmetrical growth of the root in a north-south direction, has previously been overlooked. Cores should be taken horizontally in a north-south direction.

2. In the case of plants left standing in the field there is a marked decrease in dry matter content during winter and spring; this is presumably due to movement of food-material from the root into the developing flowering shoot. A detailed study of the metabolism of the swede during the winter is urgently needed, if only for the practical purpose of determining the “metabolic turning-point,” which is the ideal time at which to determine potential dry matter content.

3. The fresh weight of a core is a function of the weight of the whole root (except in Tankard swedes).

4. There is a well-marked negative correlation (autumn – ·66, spring – ·51) between dry matter content and fresh weight of core, and hence between dry matter content and size of root.

5. For one pair of strains of common parentage clear evidence of the inheritance of dry matter content has been obtained. In other instances the figures are inconclusive.
Investigation on the mineral content of pasture grass and its effect on herbivora: II. Report on the effect of the addition of mineral salts to the ration of sheep
Authors: Elliot Walter , Wood T. B. , Elliot Walter , Crichton Arthur
Published: June 2019

(1) Bent-leg appears to be due to a mineral deficiency and can be prevented by a mineral supplement.

(2) Bent-leg appears, by the growth curves, to be correlated with a general lower nutrition.

(3) The occurrence of bent-leg on pasture grass would indicate theoretically that an extreme lack of some mineral constituent has become evident in the grass itself.

(4) Pasture analyses show that these grave mineral deficiencies do actually occur in large pastoral areas, and that these areas are correlated with high stock death-rates.

(5) The mineral elements of the ration are therefore no less important to the pastoral farmer than to any other stock feeder.
The evaporation of water from soil: III. A critical study of the Technique
Authors: Keen Bernard A. , Crowther Edward M. , Coutts John R. H.
Published: June 2019

Some recent researches on the evaporation of water from soil are reviewed.

Experiments on the evaporation of water from a soil paste spread in shallow pans showed that the drying proceeded very irregularly over the soil mass. Considerable portions became almost completely dry whilst other portions remained very wet. There was a rough relationship between the form of the dry patch and the shape of the corresponding evaporation rate curves.

An improvement in technique was effected by exposing the soil in thin layers below glass plates. Under these conditions, reproducible results were obtained. Soil and kaolin, but not sand, gave considerable linear portions over the region of decreasing rate of evaporation. Tests on soil exposed as central discs, or peripheral rings, and on partially covered full plates, showed that, owing to the type of air currents set up, the drying was largely confined to the outer edges during the early stages.
Alkaline milk and its detection by the brom cresol purple test—I
Authors: Procter F. , Mattick A. T. R.
Published: June 2019

During the past five years many appeals for assistance have been received at this Institute from cheesemakers in various parts of the country, who from time to time have found, themselves unable to secure satisfactory coagulation of their milk by rennet by reason of some abnormality which is not patent to the eye.

Difficulties are also encountered in the liquid milk trade from causes which appear to resemble those which trouble the cheesemaker.

In view of the necessity for detecting milk such as this, use has been made of di-brom-ortho-cresol-sulphon-phthalein or brom cresol purple, which indicates colorimetrically the reaction or hydrogen-ion concentration of milk, and provides a starting point for the further investigation of those samples of which the reaction is abnormal.
Notes on Some Minor English Mathematical Serials
Authors: Archibald Raymond Clare
Published: June 2019

While major mathematical problems were discussed already in the seventeenth century in such serial publications as the Philosophical Transactions (1665) and Acta Eruditorum (1682), it was not till the early part of the eighteenth century that serials containing elementary problems of wide appeal commenced to appear. The first of these seems to have been the Lady’s Diary, started in London in 1704, and “designed for the sole use of the female sex”. It had an immediate success, and continued to appear in various forms for 168 consecutive years. Of the second, Delights for the Ingenious, there were only eight numbers, in 1711. The third publication of the kind was possibly Kunstfrüchte 1. Sammlung (1723), a publication (I have not seen it) of the Hamburg mathematical society, founded thirty-three years before. The Jahrbriefe of this same society were published irregularly during the 140 years 1732-1871. For the fifth and sixth publications we come back to England, Miscellanece Curiosce (York, 1734-35) and Gentleman’s Diary, started in 1741 and continued for a century before its union with the Ladies’ Diary. Then followed five other English serials before Holland’s Mathematische Liefhebberye (Purmerende, 1754), issued annually for seventeen years. During the next 175 years the number of these minor publications became very large. It is my purpose to bring together brief notes on minor English serials and their editors of the past two and a quarter centuries, and to indicate where more information regarding them may be found. It will not be possible, within the limits of this article, to indicate more than very occasionally anything of the contents (often rich and varied) of such serials, many results appearing in their pages for the first time. Problems and their solutions usually occupied the greater part of the space, and most of the prominent English mathematicians of the time were contributors. While some may incline to frown upon such mathematical occupations, it may be recalled that “Sätze und Aufgaben” were to be found in such an exalted source as Crelle’s Journal, so recently as 1858.
Kausambi
Authors: Sahni Daya Ram
Published: June 2019

The late Dr. Vincent A. Smith published an article in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1898 in which he sought to disprove Sir Alexander Cunningham's identifications of Kauśāmbī and Śrāvastī with Kosam in the district of Allahabad and Set-Maheth (Saheṭh-Maheṭh) on the borders of the Gonda and Bahraich districts respectively. He himself located Śrāvastī in the vicinity of the village of Khajura near Balapur in Nepal and Kauśāmbī at or near Sutna in the Riwa state. In 1907–8 and 1908–9, when I had the privilege of co-operating with Dr. J. Ph. Vogel and Sir John Marshall in the exploration of the ancient mounds at Saheth-Maheth, I found two inportant imscriptions which fiṇally and conclusively established the identity of those remains with Śrāvastī. I am now in a position to announce the discovery of an equally important inscription in the vicinity of Kosam which makes it certain that the extensive remains near that village mark the actual site of the city of Kauśāmbī. I have also carefully studied the three inscriptions mentioning the name of Kausambi which were known to Dr. Smith, and find that they definitely support the same view.
Pictographic Reconnaissances: Part VIII
Authors: Hopkins L. C.
Published: June 2019

The enlightened generosity of certain anonymous Japanese gentlemen has given to the author of the Ku Chou P'ien the power to publish the outcome of some thirty-five years' researches on the ancient writing of China in the splendid form in which it now appears. As a scholar thus allowed to see such a result in his own lifetime, Mr. Tadasuke Tanata should he a happy man.
The Semitic Goddess of Fate, Fortuna-Tyche
Authors: Langdon S.
Published: June 2019

Assyriologists have neglected the fundamental meaning of the common Semitic verb, to test, assign, allot. From this verb the name of the Arabic goddess of fate is derived. Curiously enough the earliest known Arabic name ofManâtis writtenin the Thamudic (Minæan) n. pr.Ta'bad- Manât. In Nabatæan the ordinary form is, which WellhausenReste des Arabischen Heidentums, p. 24, takes as a plural, defending this etymology by the Arabic derivativemaniyyat, fate, death, and broken pluralmanāya, in same sense. Goldziher,Archæologische epigraphische Mittheilungen aus Æsterreichvi (1882), 109, also takes the Nabatæan name as a plural, defending it from the Latin inscription from Aquileia, which hasManawat. Lidsbarski,Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik, 313. readsManāwatu. G. A. Cooke,North Semitic Inscriptions, 79, 5et p.readsManūthu, as singular; the writing in the Coran isManātun. Arabic derivatives of this verb aremaniyyatun, fate,māni(n), one who determines, assigns,manā(n), death, fate, number, size. Hebrew derivatives are,mānā, portion,menāth, pi.mĕnayōth, portion, share. Aramaicmĕnāthā, portion, part. Syriacmĕnātha, part, portion;menyānā, number, andqalparticiplemāne kaukebe, one who determines by stars, astrologer.
A Flight of 33,000 Miles
Authors: Pinedo Marchese de
Published: June 2019

At the present stage of the development of the different means of aerial flight, we find that there is a greater use of land aircraft than of seaplanes. The most important reason for this arises from the widespread opinion that a larger output of useful transportable weight may be obtained with aeroplanes than with seaplanes. Another reason is that commercial air lines are nearly always run on land, and consequently can better be operated by means of aeroplanes.
“ Ten Years' Testing of Model Seaplanes ”
Authors: Baker G. S.
Published: June 2019

An Ordinary General Meeting- of the Society was held at the Royal Society of Arts, on Thursday, February ist, 1923, Professor L. Bairstow in the chair.

The Chairman, in opening- the proceedings, said that Mr. G. S. Baker, O.B.E., of the National Physical Laboratory, would deal with flying boats and seaplanes. He would deal with the hull and its design, that part of the seaplane which differentiates it from the aeroplane. That subject had been touched on very lightly by Major Rennie at the previous meeting of the Society, in view of the present paper by Mr. Baker.Mr. Baker had begun work in 1912 on the problems of hull design, at a time when nothing of a definite nature was known; a few individual experiments had been carried out, but there was no systematised knowledge at all at that time. From that state of ignorance a great deal of experimental work had now rescued us. He did not know how far Mr. Baker would stress the point, but it was quite clear, from the investigation of certain accidents to seacraft, that there were fundamental differences in the behaviour of seaplane hulls on the water, differences which had a great deal of effect on the risk of flying-. For instance, if one type of hull was such that when the plane rose in the air it stalled, then all the aerodynamical consequences of stalling- followed, and there was difficulty. On the other hand, it appeared that we had a type of flying- boat which did not make the plane stall on getting into the air, and consequently if it came back to the water it was still controlled. For this type of development, which he believed really dated back to the C.E.i, we were mainly indebted to Mr. Baker and his associates at the National Physical Laboratory, and to the generosity of Sir Alfred Yarrow in placing such a magnificent piece of apparatus as the experimental tank at the disposal of the nation.

Mr. Baker then read his paper on “ Ten Years’ Testing of Model Seaplanes.”
Note on the Experimental Aspect of one of the Assumptions of Prandtl's Aerofoil Theory
Authors: Piercy N. A. V.
Published: June 2019

Mr. Glauert's paper “Theoretical Relationships for the Lilt and Drag of an Aerofoil Structure ” strikes a bold note in asking us to discuss the fundamental principles of Prandtl's aerofoil theory rather than its detailed application. His suggestion is a particularly good one, however difficult the task. Justification of the geeneral truth of the suggestions brought forward by Lanchester, and so ably developed bv Prandtl and his colleagues and others, have frequently been afforded by the application of the theory, and similar support only awaits the seeking. But, to achieve its greatest utility, the theory should enable us to extrapolate experimental knowledge with confidence; an example is provided by the question as to what limit, if any, exists to the camber of wings on economic grounds and apart from burble considerations. An approximate tally—rough, in some cases—of the theory with observation over a limited range is inadequate to establish it sufficiently for such a purpose. The theory may indicate with truth the existence of, say, a limit to a certain development, but its numerical calculation of the limit may yet be widely wrong.
Airscrew Vibration and Gear Stripping
Authors: Morris J.
Published: June 2019

Mr. J. D. Siddeley in a paper on the reliability of aircraft engines in the Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society for March, 1925, says under the heading Reduction Gears: “ The inclusion of this component has been responsible for limiting seriously the degree of reliability of the power unit. Considerable progress has been made, but the difficulties have by no means been solved. A stage existed when this component controlled the period between inspection and overhauls on the power unit. Improvements in the method of manufacture, particularly as affecting tooth form, have been responsible for a very considerable increase in the degree of reliability, but it is suggested that it represents one of the chief factors controlling the standard of reliability of the power unit as a whole.”

This statement is sufficiently serious ; coming from so great an authority on aircraft engines it compels attention and investigation.
Bernoulli's Theorem in Aerodynamics
Authors: Hooper M. S.
Published: June 2019

Students of Nature have come to believe that the sum total of energy cannot be changed; that is, in the principle of the conservation of energy. Bernoulli's theorem is a simple expression of the application of the principle to fluid motion and in this form the principle is probably one of the most useful conceptions that the engineer has as a guide in a subject which presents many difficult problems.
The Relationship of Physics to Aeronautical Research
Authors: Wimperis H. E.
Published: June 2019

Aeronautics is a youthful study—a mere Cinderella of the Sciences, distinguished from her sisters by her tender years, by her guileless and impetuous disregard of the pinch of the financial shoe, and by her beauty.

That it is Applied Physics is to me the most inspiring definition of engineering; and if this be true for engineering in general, as I think it is, especially true is it of aeronautics. To illustrate the close association of these new studies with the work of physicists, I shall select a few of the more striking results of recent research.

Aviation is now entering upon a new and intensely interesting phase—one which will call for every scientific resource at our command. The materials of -construction are changing : wood is giving place to metal. The engine proves ito have most unexpected possibilities ahead of it through the increase of intake pressure; whilst the very lifting structure itself promises to change, for some purposes at least, from linear motion to rotary.
Experimental Flying from the Pilot's Point of View
Authors: Ragg R. L.
Published: June 2019

The term “Experimental Flying” is used to cover so many different subjects dealing with the development of practical aviation that I feel the title of this paper would be suitable for a volume of no small size, if I were to deal in detail with all it infers.
On the Pressure Distribution Round Certain Aerofoils of High Aspect Ratio
Authors: Wrinch D. M.
Published: June 2019

The development of aerodynamical research into the usefulness of wing profiles of various types for aerofoils of high aspect ratio lends special interest to new results in two-dimensional hydrodynamics relating to the motion of a perfect fluid in the presence of a cylindrical body, especially in the case when the curve of cross-section of the body possesses only a smali amount of camber and is cusped at one end and rounded at the other.

The possibility of formulating a theory which represents with reasonable accuracy the actual motions of aerofoils of high aspect ratio in a stream of air, when the air it taken to be inviscid, depends, of course, essentially in the first place on finding motions in which there is a force on the body at right angles to the direction of streaming. No theory which omits to produce this lifting force can give an account of the actual motions of aerofoils which is even approximately satisfactory.
Tests on Model Propellers
Authors: Hodgson J. Lawrence
Published: June 2019

The investigation summarised in the two preceding papers formed part of a rapidly carried out research which was made at the commencement of the war in order to determine whether a machine on the helicopter principle could be built, and whether, when built, it was likely to prove of any special value for belligerent purposes.
Consolidated Wood a New Material for Various Industries
Authors: Turnbull W. R.
Published: June 2019

When engaged on war work as Chief Inspector for Fredk. Sage & Co. at Peterboro’, England, in the spring of 1918, I observed that when Honduras mahogany was compressed across the grain, and parallel, to the annular rings of the wood, a “first” or “natural” elastic limit was reached, after which the deflections increased more rapidly than the load, as has been commonly observed in all testing of all materials.
Two-Dimensional Aerofoil Theory
Authors: Glauert Muriel
Published: June 2019

The object of the present paper is to give some account of certain methods developed by Joukowsky, Mises and others for calculating the forces experienced by a body of aerofoil shape placed in a stream moving in a fixed direction with uniform speed. The span of the aerofoil is supposed infinite and the cross section uniform and the motion thus becomes two-dimensional.
How Empires Make Peripheries: ‘Overseas France’ in Contemporary History
Authors: Wood Sarah L.
Published: June 2019

The inhabitants of the overseas departments and collectivities of France have, of late, been reconsidering their relationships both to each other and to the former imperial metropole. In 2011 Mayotte, previously classified as an overseas collectivity, acceded to full French and European status as an overseas department of France following a referendum. This decision to, in the words of the social scientist François Taglioni, further ‘anchor’ the island in the republic has commonly been understood as a pragmatic decision as much as an ideological one. It was a way of distancing Mayotte from the political turmoil in neighbouring independent Comoros, as well as an indicator of the improbability of a small island nation achieving full sovereignty in a multipolar, resource hungry world. The narrative that self-determination must necessarily be obtained through national independence is still prevalent in the language of certain independence movements, including that of the Kanak people of New Caledonia. But it has been repeatedly tested at the ballot box, not least in November 2018 when New Caledonians voted in a referendum on their constitutional future. This referendum – and the further two due to follow it before 2022 – will be observed with interest by other self declared nations in waiting. Some anticipate, not a reclaiming of local sovereignty in the event of independence, but rather a transferral of economic hegemony from France to China, a prospect hinted at by Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Nouméa in 2018. However, the demographic minority status of the Kanak people whom the independentist Kanak and Socialist Liberation Front (Front de libération nationale kanak et socialiste;FLNKS) claims to represent, coupled with divisions within the movement, means it is very hard to predict the contours of a future independent New Caledonian state.
Finding of bands of higher molecular weight than expected in three proteins in bovine preimplantation embryos
Authors: Kinterova Veronika , Petruskova Veronika , Kanka Jiri , Toralova Tereza
Published: June 2019

We report here the existence of bands of higher molecular weight after western blot analysis in three proteins – Skp1, p27 and IκBα in bovine preimplantation embryos. This finding is specific to preimplantation embryos (from the 2-cell stage to the blastocyst stage) and not differentiated fibroblast cells in which these bands were of expected molecular weight. We suggest that these bands of higher molecular weight represent a complex of proteins that are characteristic of preimplantation embryos.
‘Putting Mexico on its feet again’: the Kemmerer mission in Mexico, 1917–1931
Authors: Nodari Gianandrea
Published: June 2019

This article scrutinizes the results of the mission carried out by Edwin Walter Kemmerer in Mexico during 1917. Based on unpublished materials from his private archive, as well as other Mexican archives, this article analyses the process of approval, installation and implementation of the reforms introduced by Kemmerer's mission in Mexico. It is argued that Kemmerer's work as a financial advisor for Venustiano Carranza was not a total failure, as the existing literature on the subject claims. Indeed, on the eve of Great Depression, Mexico exhibited the main institutional features of ‘Kemmererized’ countries: a central bank, the gold standard and a centralized tax system. It is also suggested that the economic knowledge brought into the country by the money doctor moulded the ideological foundation of the new financial and economic elite of revolutionary Mexico.
La Société hellénique en 1886
Authors: Le Conseil d'administration
Published: June 2019

Messieurs, c'est la huitième fois, depuis la fondation de notre Société, que nous nous présentons devant vous, conformément à nos statuts, pour vous rendre compte de ce que nous avons fait dans le courant de l'année.
La Société italienne en 1886
Authors: Della-Somaglia G.-L.
Published: June 2019

Conformément aux dispositions de l'art. 15 de nos statuts, j'ai l'honneur de vous rendre compte aujourd'hui, d'une part, des opérations de votre Comité central, depuis la dernière assemblée générate jusqu'à la fin du mois de mars, et, d'autre part, des progrès accomplis par la Société entière, depuis la même époque jusqu'à ce jour.
On the Arithmometer of M. Thomas (de Colmar), and its application to the Construction of Life Contingency Tables. (Continued from Vol. xvii page 266.)
Authors: Gray Peter
Published: June 2019

Problem V.—To construct a complete table of the Values of Temporary Annuities; that is, a table which shall comprise all ages and all durations.

This benefit, being a function of the ages at commencement and cessation, say x and w (to the former of which ages also its value is referred), it will be here for convenience denoted, in accordance with the usual functional notation, by ϕ(x, w); and its duration, consequently, will be w–x=n
On the Solution of Problems connected with Loans repayable by Instalments
Authors: Makeham W. M.
Published: June 2019

The only treatise of any value on this subject that I am acquainted with is a paper by Mr. Peter Gray, in vol. xiv of the Journal of the Institute of Actuaries. Considering the magnitude of the pecuniary interests frequently involved in transactions of the nature referred to, it is somewhat surprising that Mr. Gray's valuable labours have not, ere this, been followed up by contributions from other writers on the doctrine of Interest and Annuities. This, I think, is much to be regretted,—and must form my apology for the following attempt to add something to what Mr. Gray has given us.
On Lubbock's Formula for Approximating to the Value ov a Life Annuity
Authors: Sprague T. B.
Published: June 2019

The method proposed by the late Sir J. W. Lubbock ov approximating to the value ov a life annuity, appears hitherto to hav been very littl notist by mathematicians and not at all by practical men. It was demonstrated by him in the Cambridge Philosophical Transactions for the year 1829, in a paper entitld “On the Comparison of various Tables of Annuities”; and a short account ov it is also givn in the articl Probability, publisht by the Useful Knowledge Society, and very offen bound up with David Jones's work on Annuities: see § 56, p. 36. The former paper was reprinted in the Assurance Magazine (vol. v, p. 277). The original is disfigurd by numerous misprints, which ar all faithfully reproduced in the reprint; and when we add that very littl numerical illustration ov the application ov the method is givn, we hav probably said enuf to account for its attracting so littl attention in any quarter. Considerd as a means ov approximating to the value ov an annuity, the formula has been superseded by the simpler one givn by Mr. Woolhouse; but I believ it may still be practically useful in som cases.
On Mortality Fluctuations
Authors: Macfadyen James R.
Published: June 2019

There is nothing immutable in this world, and certainly life companies are no exception to the general rule; for in them, from year to year, we find fluctuations of every kind—in amount of new assurances—in expenses of management—in value of assets—in realized interest—in the death claims—in fact, in every branch and item of their business. Of all these variations there is none so important as that concerning the mortality experienced. The fluctuations in the other elements of a life office's affairs are trifling as compared with this, and can without difficulty be prepared for. But in the perturbations of the death claims from year to year, we are dealing with a matter that cannot be calculated on in advance —an element which, if violent, may endanger the safety of the company itself; and, even when this is not the case, will often prove a serious inconvenience to it. I have called violent mortality fluctuations inconvenient to a life office. To men acquainted with the practical as well as the theoretical side of assurance, the word will not seem exaggerated. They, at least, know how important it is that the bonus to policyholders and the dividend to shareholders, do not retrograde. The moment the bonus tide begins to ebb, there is an outcry; and variations in the mortality may thus create disgust in those already connected with an office, and at the same time add another difficulty to the already sufficiently difficult task of its agents and canvassers.
New Formulas for the Calculation of the Probabilities which occur in the Question of Invalidity, or Permanent Incapacity for Work
Authors: Samot David J.A.
Published: June 2019

It is one of the fundamental theorems of the Doctrine of Probability that, “If a compound event consists in the concurrence of two or more independent simple events, that is, events the happening or failing of any of which has no influence on the happening or failing of any of the others, the probability of the compound event is equal to the product of the probabilities of the simple events.”