The claims of home and foreign politics have obliged us
to neglect the proceedings of the British Association, but we may note that an interesting discussion took place on Monday in the Engineering and Mathematical and Physical Science Sections on mechanical flight. Pro- fessor Bryan, who opened the discussion, while admitting that the demonstration of the possibility of flying belonged to the practical man, maintained that there were many problems which more properly belonged to the domain of mathematics which the practical man persisted in misusing. On the other band, Sir William White defended the experi- ments made by the practical man, and could not admit that most of the fatal accidents were attributable to incomplete mathematical investigations. Had it not been for the risks taken by aviators, little of the progress achieved would have been possible. He therefore preferred that the present methods should be continued rather than that actual flying should be sus- pended pending mathematical investigation. In this context we may note that the French Minister of War announced on Monday that he had ordered ten Bleriot monoplanes and twenty Farman biplanes—the latter to carry two passengers besides the pilot—to be delivered within three months. It is hoped that by the beginning of next year France will possess sixty aeroplanes, manned, equipped, and ready for immediate service under trained military pilots.
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