An Experiment With a Gilder.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIII, Issue 2, 14 July 1909, Page 43

An Experiment With a Gilder.

At Morris Park recently Mr. Wilbur R. Kimball, the secretary of the Aeronautic Society, tried a Chanute-type glider in a new way. Instead of hanging from the machine and jumping off an elevation, as is usually done with a machine of this kind, Mr. Kimball tried launching it upon a starting rail by means of a catapult consisting of a dropping weight like that used by the Wright brothers. This catapult and starting rail was built by members of the Aeronautic Society, but it had never been used before. The glider to be tested was fitted with runners and was mounted upon two small vheels, so that it could run along the.

Turned upward by a wind gust when shot from the catapult at Morris Park.

rail. The rope from the catapult ran around a pulley at the end of the rail and then baek to the glider. A loop in the end of the rope was slipped over a hook so placed on the glider that when it reached the end of the rail, the rope would slip off automatically and allow it to soar.

. When all was ready, Mr. Kimball seated himself in the glider and grasped the handle that worked the horizontal, or elevating, rudder. Just as the weight fell, a sudden gust of wind struck the aeroplane and lifted it in front. The rope slipped off, and the machine shot skyward, as shown in our photograph, Mr. Kimball being unable, to regain control of it by means of the horizontal rudder. It quickly fell again, while remaining in the position shown, and was reduced to a mass of broken sticks and cloth. Mr. Kimball sprained his back, but was - otherwise uninjured. Had it not been for the sudden wind gust and the detaching of the rope, it is probable that a good glide would have been made. Nevertheless, it is preferable, in making gliding experiments, to run down an incline against the wind, rather than to be projected suddenly forward. ❖ <s><?> An Attempt to ‘Prove Gravitation. “All scientific Germany is talking of the remarkable experiments of Professor Arthur Korn in the mysterious domain of gravitation," says a correspondent of the “Westminster” in a very valuable and lucid article. “Of the score of physical reasons given for gravitation not one has passed beyond the domain of theory. It has fallen to Professor Korn to propound yet one more theory, and for the first time on record to prove experimentally that his theory is right.

Professor Korn has constructed a machine which shows even to the unscientific eye small bodies attracting one another in the same way and under the same laws as regards distances and speed as Newton’s apple was attracted by the earth, and as all the heavenly bodies are attracted by one another. Probably till these experiments were made no human eye had seen a small body, without impulsion by any known force, being attracted by another small particle; and to the average man it seems incredible that a tiny globe should attract another tiny globe. Yet that M exactly what Professor Korn has

accomplished in his attempt to prove Ms theory of gravitation.

Professor Korn started a priori with the assumption that gravitation is merely the result of the vibrai ion of elastic bodies in an inelastic medium. This is a theory based on the fact that earth, sun, and stars, all being elastic matter, are surrounded by ether, which science assumes is inelastic and incompressible. Modern science has ascertained that all matter is in a state of eternal vibration. The vibration, according to the professor, is analogous to the vibration of a violin string. Of such complex character, assumed Korn, are the vibrations of all particles of matter, and it is these vibrations which lead respectively not only to the attractive force of gravitation, but also to the repulsive force which, in the ease of the heavenly bodies, is observed at the same time.

The machine constructed by the professor to produce such “artificial gravitation” is extremely simple. A metallic globe, fitted with a window for observa* tion of ,what as going on inside it, it united by tubes with a cylinder, one enf of which is closed only by a To this membrane is attached an electro, motor, which, by pushing and pullini the membrane alternately, makes rapi, pulsations. The metal globe contains tw® air-filled indiarubber balls of different sizes. The larger one is fixed firmly to the inside wall of the globe. The smaller is free to move whither it likes. The whole apparatus is then filled with water, and the motor set to work.

Each time the membrane is pressed in, the increased water pressure causes the rubber balls to contract, and each time the membrane returns to its original position, the relaxed pressure of the water causes the two balls to expand. The motor is set working so quickly that these pulsations become inconceivably rapid vibrations, and the contraction and expansion of the balls is invisible to the eye. As water is practically incompressible, Professor Korn thus obtains the conditions he needs—he has two elastic bodies vibrating in an inelastic medium. Then the phenomenon looked for occurs. When the vibrations attain a certain speed the smaller ball, impelled by a mysterious force, begins slowly to move through the water to the larger ball, and gradually increases its speed, exactly as the apple observed by Newton increased its speed as it fell nearer and nearer to the ground.

So far this was merely a puzzling phenomenon. But that it was gravitation. and no other force, which drew the balls together was soon proved. Measurements showed that the bigger ball attracted the smaller exactly in accordance with Newton’s law, or in inverse ratio to the square of the distances between them. It became, therefore, possible to construct an exact working model of the solar system in water, in which the planets should all move in their appointed paths without any visible support, or externally applied power. <B> <®> A New Method of Identifying Criminals. A novel method of identifying criminals with absolute certainty has been devised by Professor Tamassia. When comparing the veins on the back of both hands, a striking diversity will be observed. Far more important, however, are the differences noted in the hands of different persons. In order to cause the veins to stand out more distinctly, the wrist should be bandaged for a short time. Their courses can then be photographed. Owing to the size of the hand, it is far easier to discover slight diversities than in minute prints of finger tips. Nor can any voluntary alteration of the vein tissues b< feared, unless the hand be seriously » ‘ jured. <?>■s><?> A Simple and Useful Ventilator. A novel, but simple, device for ventilating cars, factories, and houses has just been devised by an Englishman. In a panel of glass or sheet metal a large number of bosses is stamped, each boss being perforated by a hole about a quarter of an inch in diameter. The panel is mounted in a wall or window, and if the bosses project outward the wind causes a distinct current of air outward through the holes, but if the panel is reversed the current passes inward. The action is still the same whether the wind blows directly against the nancl or across it.