the
track and swayed. At about 1,000 feet, the left forward wheel also got
clear of the upper track, and shortly afterwards the right forward wheel
tore up about 100 feet of the upper track. Steam was at once shut off
and the machine sank directly to the earth, embedding the wheels in the
soft turf without leaving any other marks, showing most conclusively
that the machine was completely suspended in the air before it settled
to the earth. In this accident, one of the pine timbers forming the
upper track went completely through the lower framework of the machine
and broke a number of the tubes, but no damage was done to the machinery
except a slight injury to one of the screws.'

It is a pity that the multifarious directions in which Maxim turned his
energies did not include further development of the aeroplane, for it
seems fairly certain that he was as near solution of the problem as Ader
himself, and, but for the holding-down outer track, which was really the
cause of his accident, his machine would certainly have achieved free
flight, though whether it would have risen, flown and alighted, without
accident, is matter for conjecture.

The difference between experiments with models and with full-sized
machines is emphasised by Maxim's statement to the effect that with
a small apparatus for ascertaining the power required for artificial
flight, an angle of incidence of one in fourteen was most advantageous,
while with a large machine he found it best to increase his angle to one
in eight in order to get the maximum lifting effect on a short run at a
moderate speed. He computed the total lifting effect in the experiments
which led to the accident as not less than 10,000 lbs., in which is
proof that only his rail system prevented free flight.

X. SAMUEL PIERPOINT LANGLEY

Langley was an old man when he began the study of aeronautics, or, as
he himself might have expressed it, the study of aerodromics, since he
persisted in calling the series of machines he built 'Aerodromes,' a
word now used only to denote areas devoted to use as landing spaces for
flying machines; the Wright Brothers, on the other hand, had the great
gift of youth to aid them in their work. Even so it was a great race
between Langley, aided by Charles Manly, and Wilbur and Orville Wright,
and only the persistent ill-luck which dogged Langley from the start to
the finish of his experiments gave victory to his rivals. It has been
proved conclus