ABNEY, Sir WILLIAM DE WIVELESLIE. British scientist, died at Folkstone, England, December 2. Since 1903 he had been scientific adviser to the Board of Education and a memher of the advisory council for education to the War Department. He was born at Derby, July 24, 1843, and became a captain of the Royal Engineers in 1873. He was president of the Royal Astronomical Society 1893-5 and of the Physical Society 1895-7. He was celebrated for his researches in photography and spectroscopy, in which fields he published several important books, including Instruction in Photography (1870); Treatise on Photography (1875); Color Vision, Color Measurement and Mixture (1893); Trichromatic Theory of Color (1914). He also wrote a volume on Thebes in 1876, and The Pioneers of the Alps (with C. D. Cunningham) in 1888.

ABYSSINIA. A monarchy in northern Africa to the southwest of the Red Sea with Sudan, Massaua, the French Somali coast, and the British Somali Protectorate on the west, and British East Africa and the Uganda Protectorate on the northwest and south. Its estimated area is 350,000 square miles and its estimated population more than 8,000,000. It is divided into the following nine provinces: (1) Harar and dependencies; (2) Wollo; (3) Kassa and Magi; (4) Gore; (5) Tigré; (6) Damot and Gojam; (7) Equatorial Provinces; (8) Gondar; (9) Gima or Jimma. Its independence was recognized by Italy on October 26, 1896, by the convention of Addis Abeba and its frontiers were determined by treaties with Great Britain and Italy. On December 13, 1906, Great Britain, France and Italy undertook to preserve its integrity and agreed that henceforth industrial concessions should be so granted as not to injure the interests of any of the contracting Powers. They also agreed to abstain from interfering in the internal affairs of the country, but to act together in harmony for the protection of their interests in bordering lands, etc.

The inhabitants have been Christians since their conversion in the fourth century and they have remained members of the Alexandrian church under an Abuna or head bishop who is always a Copt and appointed by the patriarch of Alexandria, subject to a native prelate known as the Echegheh. The ecclesiastics number about 100,000. The people are generally illiterate, education being for the most part confined to the clergy. Only one school was reported, namely, Y-B-20-1

that of Addis Abeba, and this had about 100 pupils, for although an edict was passed in 1907 declaring education compulsory it has remained a dead letter. The administration of justice is in the hands of the provincial governors and chiefs with right of appeal to the emperor; and the basis of the legal system is the code of Justinian. The people are of Semitic origin and consist of the following race groups: Gallas, Somalis, Shoans, Tigrians and Danakils. The Gallas constitute fully one-half of the population and are chiefly pastoral and agricultural. The Shoans, from whom the ruling class is derived, number about 1,500,000. The Danakils are Mohammedans. There are also some negroes in the southern part. The chief pursuits are agriculture and grazing; though the soil is capable of producing diverse crops, culture is backward. Theoretically the soil belongs to the Negus or Emperor and the system of private property can hardly be said to exist. Stock-raising is of some importance, and cattle, sheep and goats are plentiful. Breeds of small horses and small donkeys are raised and are used as pack animals. Cotton, sugar cane, dates, coffee and the vine are cultivated to some extent. Coffee production is increasing and besides the cultivated coffee, which is the long berry Mocha, there is in the southern and western portions a considerable growth of wild coffee plants. The total exports of coffee were estimated in 1916 at 6364 metric tons. Other native products are hides and skins, millet, barley, wheat, tobacco and gesho. The manufacturers are in a backward state, but in some districts hatchets, knives and other implements are made. Minerals are found, including iron, coal, sulphur, copper and silver, but are not extensively worked. In some parts of the country placer gold-mining is carried on. Commerce takes for the most part the route of the French Ethiopian railway, but there is a considerable caravan trade in the interior. The chief exports are hides and skins, coffee, wax, civet, ivory and butter. Spices, gums, gold and rubber are also exported to some extent. The imports, which are chiefly from England, France, India, Italy and the United States, comprise for the most part manufactures, including cotton goods, arms and munitions, liquors, railway materials, sugar, and petroleum. The exports through Jibuti in 1917 were reported as follows: Hides, 5,704,423 kilos; coffee, 5,092,647 kilos; and beeswax, 381,313 kilos. In that year the exports to the Sudan were reported as follows:

Coffee, £E105,895; wax, £E18,265. Imports from the Sudan in 1917 amounted to £E65,226. The Board of Trade reported the exports from Abyssinia into Great Britain for 1919 at £28,947 and the imports from, Great Britain to Abyssinia at £10,822. Highway communications are backward and transportation depends on mere trails on which pack animals, including sometimes camels, are employed, but in the neighborhood of the capital some few miles of metaled road have been made. There is a French railway line to Jibuti and to Diré Dawa, 187 miles in length, and after January, 1909, measures were taken to complete the line to Addis Abeba. This reached the capital in 1917. Telegraph lines connect Addis Abeba with Harar, with Jibuti in French Somali, and with Massaua in Eritrea, the length being about 1056 miles. There is also a small mileage of telephone wire. coin of the country is the Maria Theresa dollar, to which in late years has been added the Menelek dollar of about the same value, that is, in the neighborhood of fifty cents.

The

The government is feudal, under a sort of state council consisting of the chief notables. In 1919 a form of cabinet government was introduced. The army amounts to about 200,000 men, but is ill equipped and ill organized. After the death of Menelek in December, 1913, his grandson, Lidj Yasu, succeeded, but was deposed September 27, 1916, and succeeded by a daughter of Menelek, Waizeru Zauditu, born in 1876. She was crowned February 11, 1917, and the chief or Ras, Taffaria, was proclaimed regent and heir to the throne. The government was recognized by Great Britain, but unstable conditions as the result of civil war prevailed during 1917, 1918 and 1919.

ACADEMY, FRENCH (ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE). The oldest of the five academies which make up the Institute of France and officially considered the highest; founded in 1635; reorganized in 1816. The list of its members known as the Forty Immortals in 1920 was as follows: Othénin de Cléron, Comte d'Haussonville; Charles Louis de Saules de Freycinet; Louis Marie Julien Viaud (Pierre Loti); Ernest Lavisse; Paul Bourget; H. G. Anatole François Thibault (Anatole France); Gabriel Hanotaux; Henri Emile Lavedan; Paul Deschanel; Frédéric Masson; René Bazin; Alexandre Ribot; Maurice Barrès; Maurice Donnay; Jean Richepin; Raymond Poincaré; Eugène Brieux; Jean Aicard; René Doumic; Marcel Prévost; M'g'r Duchesne; Henri de Régnier; Denys Cochin; General Lyautey; Emile Boutroux; Alfred Capus; Pierre de la Gorce; Henri Bergson; Marshal Joffre; Louis Barthou; R. M. A. Tardiveau Boylesve); François de Curel; Alfred Baudrillart; Marshal Foch; Georges Clemenceau; Jules Cambon; Henri Bordeaux; Robert de Flers; Joseph Bédier; Louis Chevrillon. Three of the above were elected in 1920, namely Robert de Flers, Joseph Bédier and André Chevrillon, whose receptions were to be held between February 7 and April 15, 1921, at intervals of one month. The Academy held its great annual public meeting on November 25th, with M. Raymond Poincaré presiding. There were speeches by the presiding officer and reports from M. Frédéric Masson, and M. Jean Richepin. Meanwhile the work on the dictionary was proceeding and had advanced into the letter H.

(R.

Of those elected in 1920, Robert de Flers is a

popular dramatist, who had won great success before the war by a long series of plays written in collaboration with G. A. Caillavet, including one, l'habit vert, which had humorously satirized the Academy itself. Joseph Bédier is a prominent philologist. He was an active propagandist during the war and his writings, including an edition of the diaries of German soldiers, published early in the war, were widely circulated in translations in the countries of the Allies. André Chevrillon is the nephew of Taine and the author of books on India and on Ruskin in English literature, among other subjects, and has visited the United States.

ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS, AMERICAN. Founded in 1904 by seven members of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. This society is patterned on the French Academy in Paris. Membership is limited to 50 persons. Beginning in 1909 a series of annual meetings have been held. Until 1919 William Dean Howells was president of the Academy, but his death on April 11, 1920, caused the election of a new president, William Milligan Sloane. During 1920 four new members have been elected to the Academy: Childe Hassam of New York,. David Jayne Hill of Washington, D. C., Lorado Taft of Chicago, Ill., and Booth Tarkington of Indianapolis, Ind. These members were to fill vacancies caused by the death of Julian Alden Weir, Horatio William Parker, and William Dean Howells, and one chair previously vacant.

The fifth series of addresses given under the auspices of the Academy was given at the Chemists' Club, 50 East 41st Street, New York City, during 1920. Speakers and their subjects were as follows: "The Spirit of Italy," by William Roscoe Thayer; "Music and Liberty," by William J. Henderson; "The English Language in America," by Paul Shorey; "The Literature of Japan," by William Elliot Griffis.

In 1920 the membership list was as follows: John Singer Sargent, Daniel Chester French, John Burroughs, James Ford Rhodes, William Milligan Sloane, Robert Underwood Johnson, George Washington Cable, Henry van Dyke, William Crary Brownell, Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Woodrow Wilson, Arthur Twining Hadley, Henry Cabot Lodge, Edwin Howland Blashfield, Thomas Hastings, Brander Matthews,. Thomas Nelson Page, Elihu Vedder, George Edward Woodberry, George Whitefield Chadwick,, Abbott Henderson Thayer, George de Foret Brush, William Rutherford Mead, Bliss Perry, Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Nicholas Murray Butler, Paul Wayland Bartlett, Owen Wister, Herbert Adams, Augustus Thomas, Timothy Cole, Cass Gilbert, William Roscoe Thayer, Robert Grant, Frederick MacMonnies, William Gillette, Paul Elmer More, Barrett Wendell, Gari Melchers, Elihu Root, Brand Whitlock, Hamlin Garland. Those elected after 1918 were Paul Shorey, Charles Adams Platt, Maurice Francis Egan, Archer M. Huntington, Childe Hassam, David Jayne Hill, Lorado Taft, Booth Tarkington. The permanent Secretary of the Academy in 1920 was Robert Underwood Johnson. Headquarters are at 347 Madison Avenue, New York City.

ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, NATIONAL. A body of distinguished American scientists incorporated by act of Congress, March 3, 1863, for the purpose of promoting scientific research and of examining, investigating, and reporting

upon any subject of science or art when called upon to do so by any department of the government. 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.

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 inIcludes 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

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 romances, 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).

ADAMS, WILLIAM FORBES. Bishop, died

sels 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 aeronautics. 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

use.

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 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 to the use of unnecessary military and naval 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 aeronautics 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 a 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 Aëronautical 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 Aëromarine 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