The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-07


the practical use of man. To answer
these questions from thoroughly scien-
tihc observations is the ultimate object
of a series of Investigations by DR.. Won
Leudoufeid of the Geological institute,
Prague. conductor under d grant from
tho Smithsonian Institute at Washing
ton Machines sustained by. gases
lighter than air have been found un-
Viedly and impTdcJicable If man is
ever To Doe carried through the atmos-
phera it is now generally conceded that
he must be by the application of some
scientific principle involved in the flight
of birds ana insects.
Dr Won Lendenfeld's researches. ex-
tending over period of about six
years have brought to light fitaIly
interesting facts so full of possibilities
that the secretary of the Smithsonian
Institute has just signed a further
grant 10 enable a continuance of the
work.
Tho fund from which these grants
are made was established in 1891 by
Thomas George Hodgkins of Setauket.
n T-S200 O00-the income from one
half of which is devoted to the in
crease ana diffusion OF more exact
knowledge i'm regard to the nature and
properties of atmospheric air in con-
UeCtiOn with the welfare of man. The
object of the fund has been interpreted
broadly.
To discover the secret of the flight
of birds and insects is a purpose to
which a portion of the income of the
Hodekins fund has been devoted. 1t is
au object touching directly upon hui
usu progress. The fund therefore
I.uJs material support to experiments
which may meau the ultimate extern
sion Of mans control over an element
hitherto unCOnquered.
The present grant to Dr. Won Len
deufeid is for the special purpose, as
Secretary Walcott says, Ito make a
thorough and exact investigation of the
organs of fight of the best represent
atiVe flyers Of the insect orders. In
this investigation the wings of insects
are to be considered IN their relation
90 the mechanics of fight as well as
from a purely mOrpholOgiCal point of
view This research follows naturally
upon conclusions which DR.. Won Len
danfeld has already reached in work
conducted personally and under his di-
recticn for a number of years. Two
reports have been published by the
Smithsonian Institute. and two more
are now in press to appear as regular
issues of the Smithsonian miscellaneous
collections.
Or. Won Lendenfeld's first work I'M
der Smithsonian grant was per
formed i'm 1900. In consisted mainly of
general studies into the structure and
functions of the organs of flying crea-
lures, as a preparation suitable for re-
searches into the actual mechanics of
fight Since then much of his time
has been taken up in personal labora-
tory Investigations or i'm directing in
vestigatio1s of his pupils in the uni
versity at Prague.
The first set of experiments, complet-
ed about three years ago, brought cut
some curious facts concerning the
wings Of birds in relation TO the weight
of their bodies. 1t was established be-
yoHd a doubt that some property of air
enabled larger and heavier birds, such
as the albatross and the eagle, to sus-
tain their weight with comparatively
much smaller wing surface. 1t was
worked out by analogy that, given the
secret of control Of motion, a man
Weighing 200 pounds go kilOgrams)
could sail through the air with sus-
taining wing surface of about three
square yards OF square meters).
But when DR. Won Lendenfeld turned
20 consider the actual mechanics Of
flight. he was confronted Immediately
by the fact that all birds by no means
fly alike. In fact there could hardly
be established a mean similarity be
tween all the varieties. From the great
soaring albatrOss and sea eagle, which
may sail for half an hour without the
culver of a feather, TO the whiTring
sparrow and the buZzing humming
bird, which rely solely for support upon
the rapid motion of their wings. there
is a long line of flyers. These two eX-
tremes, the albatrOss and the humming
birds, the experimental took as types.
Insects, also, he found to be classed in
a like manner:
Among both birds and insects, how
ever the sailers were found not to be
restricted TO the large creatures and
the lappeTs to the small. On the con-
trary, there were discovered creatures
OF al sizes in each group. In the sailer
class the lemon butterfly was placed
beside the stoTk, and the silver gull
beside the dragon fly. The fapper
class embraced flyers from the bust
ard and the pheasant to the house fly
and the gnat In this study Of flight
method, therefore, the question of size
had TO be eliminated.
Muscular power was an element to
be considered. DR.. Won Lendenfeld was
satisfied that the flappers were gifted
with much stronger muscles than the
sailers. And merely for illustrative
purposes, for he does not as yet con-
slider the feasibility of actually attach
ing wings 10 man, he found that al
though a human being could not imme-
diately develop enough muscle to join
the class of Hopping flyers, he might
well be able, if he knew how, to soar
at viii.
All these conclusions hinged upon the
interesting phenomenon that the in
crease in weight to be carried through
the air is not proportional TO the lie
eessary increase in size of the support
ing surface, that is, the larger the bird
tn smaller in proportion are the wings
The results can be explained only
upon the suppOsition that the resist /
ance of the air against moving wings is
not directly proportional to their size,
eut that i'm enlarging the wings the
resisting power of the air against them |
increases in a greater ratio than their /
superficial dimensions. Knowing that /
the air requires an appreciate time TO