ve ane de + AOR: wee =u ie bite Wi ae 43 rer ae aoe mre Sghetd sar oS se SETS ‘ % ie} Aare eeu ea Ets a Teh sist Mert ane Isa erage THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES OFFICE BEARERS FOR 2003-2004 Patron Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, AC, Governor of New South Wales. President Ms K. Kelly BA (Hons) Syd Vice Presidents Mr D.A. Craddock, BSc(Eng) NSW, Grad.Cert. Management UWS. Dr W.E. Smith, MSc Syd, MSc Oxon, PhD NSW, MInstP, MAIP. Mr C.M. Wilmot Hon. Secretary (Gen. ) vacant (acting Hon. Sec. Prof. P.A. Williams) Hon. Secretary (Ed.) Prof. P.A. Williams, BA (Hons), PhD Macq. Hon. Treasurer Prof R.A. Creelman, BA, MSc, PhD Hon. Librarian vacant Councillors Mr J.R. Hardie, BSc Syd, FGS, MACE. Prof. J. Kelly, BSc Syd, PhD Reading, DSc NSW Mrs M. Krysko von Tryst, BSc, Grad.Dip.Min.Tech NSW, MAusIMM. Dr W. Sewell Mr M.F. Wilmot, BSc Prof M.A. Wilson, PhD, DSc. Auck, FRACI, C.Chem. Mr R. Woollett Southern Highlands Rep. Mr H.R. Perry, BSc. The Society originated in the year 1821 as the Philosophical Society of Australasia. Its main func- tion is the promotion of Science by: publishing results of scientific investigations in its Journal and Proceedings; conducting monthly meetings; organising summer science schools for senior secondary school students; awarding prizes and medals; and by liason with other scientific societies. Special meetings are held for: the Pollock Memorial Lecture in Physics and Mathematics, the Liversidge Research Lecture in Chemistry, the Clarke Memorial Lecture in Geology, Zoology and Botany, and the Poggendorf Lecture in Agricultural Science. Membership, as an Ordinary, Associate or Absentee Member, is open to any person whose ap- plication is acceptable to the Society. An application must be supported by two members of the Society. Subscriptions for the Journal only are accepted. The Society welcomes, from members and non-members, manuscripts of research and review articles in all branches of science, art, literature and philosophy for publication in the Journal and Proceedings. ISSN 0035-9173 Copyright The Royal Society of New South Wales does not require authors to transfer their copyright. Authors are free to re-use their paper in any of their future printed work and can post a copy of the published paper on their own web site. Enquiries relating to copyright or reproduction of an article should be directed to the author. Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 136, p. 1-17, 2003 ISSN 0035-9173/03/02001-17 $4.00/1 Presidential Address delivered before the Royal Society of New South Wales on 9 April, 2003. Publish and Perish DAVID A. CRADDOCK Abstract: Two major celebrations will occur during this year, 2003. The firgt is the bicentenary of the publication of the first Australian newspaper, the ‘Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser.’ The other major event will be celebrated at the end of 2003, with the centenary of powered, controlled and sustained human flight. Although the Wright Brothers’ flight was an American success, their achievement was initially based on the work of other pioneers. The work of those earlier pioneers became available to the Wrights through the medium of print. This paper explores some of the Australian linkages between the written word and those early aerial endeavours. Keywords: Australian aviation, Lawrence Hargrave, Wright Brothers, human flight INTRODUCTION As well as celebrating the bicentenary of the first publication of Australia’s first news- paper, and the centenary of powered, con- trolled, sustained human flight, another an- niversary has been acknowledged in Syd- ney. The 170°" anniversary of the forma- tion of the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts was celebrated on March 22"¢. Three dates commemorating three forms of human communication: newspapers and the writ- ten word, schools of arts and the spoken word and the final form of efficient, personal communication, by aerial navigation. Academics are urged to publish their ideas, otherwise they may perish. Early Australian pioneers in aeronautics often published their ideas in the press and later through the journals of learned societies. Although some ideas may have lasted, most of those pioneers have been long forgotten, as they published and perished. The first local newspaper was the ‘Syd- ney Gazette and New South Wales Adver- tiser’, which first appeared on 5** March, 1803 and had disappeared by 1842. An- other paper, ‘The Australian’, lasted from 1824 until 1848. The ‘Sydney Herald’ be- gan in 1831 and continues to this day as the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’. Those and several other newspapers provided the medium for the circulation of ideas through the Colony. Some articles on aeronautics fired the imagination of local people, while other correspondence was apparently ig- nored. Practical understanding and skills as well as ideas, were soon needed in the Colony and a means to help ideas along the next step was provided through adult edu- cation. Schools of Arts were a key element in the movement to educate the adult popula- tion, which began in Britain during the lat- ter part of the 18° century. The first such schools or Mechanics’ Institutes in Britain, were formed in 1821 in Edinburgh and Glas- gow and London by 1823. The Sydney Me- 2 CRADDOCK chanics’ School of Arts was the second in Australia, formed in 1833. The first in Aus- tralia was the Van Dieman’s Land Mechan- ics’ Institute, which was founded in 1827, but unfortunately no longer exists. The In- stitutes provided adult education by way of lectures and the maintenance of a library. Many of the lectures were described in some detail in the local newspapers, thus increas- ing the spread of information to the wider community. Mechanics’ Institutes were created to provide the means for intellectual stimula- tion for the community through a multitude of subjects, from astronomy to chemistry, phrenology and beauty to language. Mr Arthur A’Beckett’s fourth lecture in a series on chemistry in July, 1840 provided the first example of ‘aerial navigation’ in the Colony. One of his demonstrations included the fill- ing of a small balloon with hydrogen. It ‘ascended to the roof of the building, and floated about for a considerable time’, but apparently failed to ignite any local inter- est in lighter-than-air flight (Sydney Herald 1840). Another of the lecturers at the School of Arts was Mr A. James Slatterie. He wrote a letter to the press (Slatterie) in January, 1841 and proposed the establishment of a philosophical and scientific society in the colony. He claimed ‘the teeming resources of this and the neighbouring Colonies are yet scarcely known, and even the informa- tion that has been gained, for want of such an institution, is confined within a lim- ited circle.’ His proposed institution was to be along the lines of the Royal Society, to collect and communicate scientific infor- mation. The Philosophical Society of Aus- tralasia had been formed in July, 1821, but fell silent soon thereafter. It was not un- til the 1850s that such societies were insti- tuted in several of the Australian colonies, and continued to this day as Royal Societies of each State. Teaching aids were useful to many of the technical lectures and staff at the Syd- ney Mechanics’ School of Arts had antici- pated the arrival of scientific and philosoph- ical instruments and apparatus from Scot- land. The list of items en route, was pub- lished in the press and provides an under- standing of the state of knowledge and abil- ity within the colonial community. The list included: steam cylinder, for showing force of steam; combination of levers; an inclined plane with carriage; Archimedes screw and wheel; Torricellian apparatus; Medgeburgh hemispheres, pulleys, clocks, balances and magnets. Unfortunately the equipment was shipped aboard the brig Australia, which was lost at sea about one thousand kilo- metres off the Cape of Good Hope. The equipment had been purchased from a lec- turer at the Edinburgh School of Arts and included many items of interest to ‘the intel- ligent mechanic in the pursuit of scientific endeavours.’ (Sydney Herald 1841b) The nineteenth century term ‘mechanic’ would now equate to a tradesman. OVERSEAS NEWS News from England in 1841 carried details of an aerial voyage proposed by Charles Green, who was one of Europe’s foremost aeronauts. This was to be a balloon flight from England to America. Apparently Green displayed a model of the balloon, which was to incorporate several ingenious adaptations, for directing and propelling power. This would have been the first time that a rudder and large paddles were fit- PUBLISH AND PERISH 3 ted for a balloon flight. The rudder was to provide direction, while the paddles would propel the balloon. An earlier invention of Green’s was the guide rope, which was essential to determine true altitude. It was understood that a barometer, or more specifically, an altimeter, would not be ca- pable of identifying rising ground such as a mountain. Green’s proposed voyage re- quired a large sum of money (£3,000) to get off the ground. The balloon would be 27 metres high and 15 metres in diame- ter. The flight time was estimated at six days, from St Pauls, London to the Cupola, Washington (Sydney Herald 1841a). This flight never eventuated. There was no cor- respondence in the local press about this proposed voyage and it failed to create any interest, even though the flight would have been a remarkable feat. A rare item of aeronautical interest ap- peared from America. One Mr Davidson _of Virginia, who was a member of the Bar, proposed a lecture where his ideas could be presented to the public. All that was men- tioned in the news article was that David- son proposed the use of legs and feet to provide the necessary power for propulsion. He claimed that it would be no more tir- ing than walking. His claimed objective was to fly at 160 kilometres per hour (Syd- ney Herald 1841c). Nothing more appeared about Davidson, and this article also failed to engender any response from Sydney resi- dents. Accounts of Charles Green’s balloon flights from Vauxhall Gardens in England were published locally, but those also failed to raise any public interest in aeronautics in the Colony (Sydney Herald 1841d and 1842). The seeds of change for transport it- self had taken root in Britain, which was in the midst of the Industrial Revolution and spawned new ideas about conquering the air. William Samuel Henson made his application for a patent on 29** September, 1842, (Henson 1866) which pre-empted the publication in 1843 of the first full set of plans for his aeroplane, the Ariel. Henson’s aeroplane was to be steam powered, because steam was virtually alone as the meaningful provider of mechanical power. Newspapers in Sydney first reported on Henson’s aerial steam carriage on 9° May, 1843 under the heading ’carriage through the air’ (Sydney Morning Herald 1843a). The brief article, repeated some information from the ‘Lon- don Gazette’, noted that Henson’s inven- tion was for ’certain improvements for loco- motive apparatus and machinery in convey- ing letters, goods and passengers through the air.’ Some aspects of his invention were also applicable to locomotion on land and sea, or so it was claimed. LOCAL INTEREST The first brief mention of Henson’s carriage apparently caused no influx of correspon- dence from the newspapers’ readership. No letters or other articles on aerial naviga- tion were published until just after the ap- pearance of a second article about Henson, which was published locally on 26" May, 1843. This second article was gleaned from several English newspapers. The compos- ite article was introduced by a letter, which added some feeling of authenticity, as its writer described his initial scepticism of the machine (Miles). One feature of newspaper correspon- dence was the use of pseudonyms. It was more likely for correspondence to be en- dorsed with initials, or a name appropriate 4 CRADDOCK to the subject matter, rather than that of the author. ‘Aeronaut’ was one such corre- spondent, who claimed that ‘twenty years ago’ he ‘invented and made known to a few scientific friends a new species of balloon.’ It has not been discovered whether Aero- naut was in Britain, or New South Wales, twenty years earlier, but the former was his most likely location. The plan was to ‘re- vert to the old principle of rarefied air and to accomplish the rarefaction by means of portable gas and Argand burners’ (Aero- naut 1843a). In other words, a hot air bal- loon, inflated by gas fires, much like modern balloons. Aeronaut continued ’a mere balloon would not accomplish the great end of pe- riodical or exact transit’ and ’we might as- cend by mechanical contrivance by which means instead of being at the mercy of at- mospheric currents, we might make them subservient to our wishes.’ He was con- cerned that balloons would always be sub- servient to the air currents. Aeronaut com- mented that Sydney would one day be as near to England as Edinburgh was to Lon- don, one hundred years earlier, once the navigation of the air was mastered. He sug- gested that daily mails would be possible between Sydney, Port Phillip (Melbourne, Victoria), Adelaide (South Australia), the Swan (now Perth, Western Australia) and Port Essington (a failed settlement about 150 kilometres north east of Darwin, in the Northern Territory). Several corresporidents described the possibility of using steam power by way of some modification to Hero’s (or Heron’s) ancient Aeolipile. Hero of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician and scientist, who lived in the first century AD. He invented numerous ingenious devices, including the steam engine (Girling p. 218). The ‘Avery’ engine was described as one of those similar to Hero’s steam engine. William Avery, of Syracuse, New York, invented a small reac- tion steam wheel in the 1830s. For several years it was believed to have been the sim- plest and cheapest steam engine available. It was used to drive circular saws and cot- ton gins (Parsons). Two arms were fed by steam, which could exit the outer ends of each arm, but in opposing directions. This resulted in the apparatus spinning quickly about its axis. Aeronaut described the air as the fulcrum for his flying machine. His machine would ascend due to the lift pro- vided by an airscrew arrangement, acting much like a modern helicopter rotor. For- ward motion was to be provided by another, horizontally acting airscrew. Of particular interest in Aeronaut’s letters, was his de- scription of rudders for directional control, and his identification of flight into various wind conditions ‘...it is quite possible that a head-wind may prove to be the safest cur- rent to ride upon.’ Aeronaut (1843b) also considered air as an alternative to steam for operating the Avery engine. If expanding air could be used to replace heated water, the weight saving would be worthwhile. Aeronaut de- scribed his proposed engine, simply as a tube 3.64m long by 0.91m in diameter. A wheel with fans would be positioned inside the tube, in a similar manner to the com- pressor and turbine discs in a modern jet engine. The Avery engine would then be used to provide power to rotate the fans and thus produce forward thrust from those fans. The idea proposed something close to the same principle that operates in a jet engine. It is unclear from this simple corre- spondence whether Aeronaut had any prac- PUBLISH AND PERISH D tical ideas for the detailed construction of such an engine. Another correspondent was Francis Forbes, the elder son of Sir Francis Forbes, the first Chief Justice of New South Wales. He wrote to the newspaper in early June, 1843, describing his idea, which incorpo- rated a kite and ‘Archimedean screw fan’. Forbes compiled some notes of interest in his correspondence to the press, a few days later. ’... the screw-fans or vanes must turn on an axis lying in the plane of the kite and they must be placed behind the kite, or at the side, and propel it forward; and when the machine is going through the air, both the plane of the kite and the axes of the screw-fans must be nearly horizon- tal. A very slight inclination of the plane of the kite upwards being sufficient to support the greatest weight it is capable of sustain- ing, the screw-fans must be used entirely as a propelling force, and the kite, its plane slanted slightly upwards, as the only sup- porting power. The axes of the Archimedes screw-fans must be all parallel, if they were inclined at any angle there would be a loss of power. Your correspondent ‘Aeronaut’ has placed the axis of his principal screw propeller exactly at right angles to what it ought to be, having made the axis perpen- dicular instead of horizontal. Also, by mak- ing two separate forces, one a propelling and one a supporting force, acting at an angle to each other, he would experience a loss of power ...In my model, I have made two rotatory screw-fans to revolve in oppo- site directions that the machine might bal- ance better, their axes being in the same plane and propelling in the same direction’ (Forbes 1843a). The Archimedes’ screw was a device in- vented for the raising of water, by means of an inclined cylinder, which snugly contained a large diameter ‘screw’. The maritime in- dustry found that some modification to the Archimedes’ screw resulted in the marine propeller. Steamships were originally pro- pelled by means of paddlewheels. Several people invented screw propellers during the early years of the 19*® century, but two ex- celled as the real developers of this inven- tion. Francis Pettit Smith in England and John Ericsson in the United States brought the screw propeller into practical use. The British Admiralty staged a demonstration during March, 1845 to show the effective- ness of the screw propeller. The steam sloop Rattler, fitted with a propeller de- signed by Smith, was set to pull against another steam sloop, Alecto, driven by pad- dle wheels. Except for their paddles and screw, the ships were identical, powered by 149 kilowatt steam engines. The Rattler won the tug-of-war, convincingly towing the Alecto backwards at almost 5 kilometres per hour (Kemp). The Rattler was built of Oak and launched from the Royal Dockyard Sheerness in 1843 (SMH 1843e). It should be understood that the various terms for Archimedes’ screw fan, or propeller would translate into something resembling a mod- ern marine propeller. Local interest in aerial navigation was still not, it appears, easy to gain. Forbes mentioned a Mr Petrie of Moreton Bay (now Brisbane, Queensland) as the only person he had met who approved of his de- sign. Forbes had tried to interest a Mr Co- hen in Sydney with the construction of a working model of his aerial machine, with- out success. He then spent some months at- tempting the construction himself, with the aid of a workman ‘who has been perpetually ill’ (Forbes 1843b). Forbes claimed to have 6 CRADDOCK more than half completed the model when the news from England about Henson was published locally. He felt that some of the ideas in Henson’s machine were similar to his. From Forbes’ description and the pub- lished drawings of Henson’s machine, there were obvious similarities. Forbes claimed to have made mention of his ideas to several people in England and Australia, and only met with ridicule for his trouble. He felt that the idea had been pi- rated, and sought assistance from a friend, William Bland. Forbes claimed to have pro- vided Bland with a list of those people with whom he had discussed the aerial concept (Forbes 1843a). Unfortunately no record of Bland’s investigation into this matter has been uncovered. Forbes built upon some of the pub- lished comments and from Aeronaut’s let- ter, he distilled several changes and sug- gested improvements to the proposal of Aeronaut. He proposed contra-rotating propellers, ‘...two vanes at least, of great diameter, turning on perpendicular axes in opposite directions’. He suggested the best solution would be for the two propellers to be on the same shaft, one above the other. With this arrangement there would be no need for ‘a plane of canvas’ at each end of the craft. He proposed that the rotors, as we would now describe them, could be tilted forward to provide forward motion. With rotors replacing the fixed wing, Forbes had proposed a design configuration we now call the helicopter. He was also of the opinion that human power may be a real alternative to steam power. The heavy weight and low power available from steam engines caused Forbes’ hopes to be dented, until the inven- tion of Avery’s engine. This was hoped to fulfil Forbes’ power requirements, but it too, 6 was a doubtful provider of sufficient power (Forbes 1843c). ‘RMCE’ responded to criticism of Forbes, with support, claiming aerial navi- gation was possible with and without steam power. This correspondent was Robert Mudie, a Civil Engineer. He had his own design for an aerial machine, which he be- lieved would probably require several mil- lion dollars in current values (£5,000) for its development. That was not an amount to be afforded by an individual, so Mudie considered the only possibilities for gaining such support would be through the creation of a company to transfer passengers from Sydney to India and beyond, by air. Mudie mentioned bird flight in his cor- respondence, but the main thrust was his conviction that mechanical flight was pos- sible. ’So may an aerial carriage be con- structed with mechanical power, to move through the air to any place wished; as a steam-boat in a calm makes her destined port without the aid of wind, so may aerial carriages; and contrary winds only retard their flight’ (Mudie 1843a). He later wrote more specifically about his ideas for aerial navigation, which clearly described the ba- sis for the rigid airship of the future (Mudie 1843b). The editorial of June 28, 1843 succinctly identified some of the changes society had undergone during the previous four decades (SMH 1843b). Mountains and oceans had ceased to be barriers, as steam power sur- passed sailing ships. Gas had now been used to light up the cities. The very latest discoveries were ‘conveyances upborne upon the winds’ and ‘the electric fluids’. The ed- itor’s words are indeed worthy of repetition ‘...the improvement of Aeronaut’s engine recommended by Mr Forbes, will show how PUBLISH AND PERISH 7 one mind can act upon another, and how rapidly the agitation of a particular theory may carry on its application to perfection.’ The Wright Brothers learned this very well and did exactly what the Sydney Morning Herald editor proposed. They built upon the knowledge of all before them, and at- tained powered, controlled and sustained mechanical flight sixty years and six months later. As two proposals for flying machines had been published through the newspaper in Sydney, it was argued that so much more could be proposed from those more popu- lous regions, such as Europe, Britain and the East. The Government Astronomer, James Dunlop, was urged to submit his cal- culations on aerial navigation. He had ap- parently been a strong supporter of this new field of endeavour, although no men- tion of this interest appears as record in bio- graphical notes on Dunlop (Pike 1968). The newspaper’s editor was incredulous that Henson’s machine had been proposed with steam as its motive power. The steam en- gine was a lumbering, cumbersome crea- ture, which required fuel as well as water for its operation. It had so far baffled ‘...all schemes to render it buoyant. Neverless as there are pelicans as well as swallows among birds, we may yet behold a stately Leviathan rising in the air’ (SMH 1843b). Even greater promise for the future lay with the electro-magnetic discoveries, ex- panded air and gases. Electricity had been used to turn machinery since 1833 and dur- ing November, 1842 an experiment had demonstrated the use of electricity for pro- pelling a locomotive engine. The editor con- cluded with his thoughts on the future ‘an era when with lightning speed, news will travel round the world, and radiate to its re- motest wilds — when the birth of a Prince in England will be telegraphed to Sydney be- fore the dawn of another day’ (SMH 1843b). Correspondents continued to support or criticise earlier writers. One wrote un- der the initials XYZ, criticising the nega- tive comments of an earlier correspondent, AB. The latter, XYZ made an interesting, and perhaps forgotten suggestion that kites should be flown ‘one above the other.’ This was most likely stated, just as an off-hand part of his criticism of AB, but it was this very same layout that was so successfully employed by Lawrence Hargrave in a later decade. XYZ also confirmed his strong be- lief that success would surely come, once a source of power was discovered that was lighter than steam (XYZ). John Curr of Castlereagh Street, Syd- ney was not convinced of the likelihood that mechanical flight was possible. Curr sup- ported his argument against the likelihood of successful navigation of the air with some basic calculations. He described the power necessary for flight as a function of ’ the complex ratio of the wings, their resistance, and velocity’ and used a table generated by Sir Joseph Banks to work out the drag to be overcome. He then calculated the nec- essary wing area and requisite horsepower for a steam powered aerial machine. The results were either an extra-ordinarily large flight surface of some 338 929 square metres and correspondingly low power, or 637 kilo- watts of power and a more reasonable wing area. Both were impractical, and he con- cluded ‘the aerial carriage will turn out a most notorious failure’ (Curr). One John Holtzapffell wrote a letter from London to a friend in Ceylon, identi- fied only as G.S., dated 15° November, 1842. G.S. then sent the letter on to be published 8 CRADDOCK on 28* March, 1843 in the ‘Straits Messen- ger’. Re-published in the Australian in late June, 1843, it provided more details of Hen- son’s machine. Holtzapffell described the Ariel’s construction from sheets of copper, formed over flattened steel wire. The ’wire’ was claimed to be 9.5 millimetres thick. The blades of the propellers were formed of ‘light iron ribs covered with a strong silk web, which has been rendered more tough and elastic by a solution of caoutchouc.’ He mentioned that the silk had a feature not available in calico. Should a spark from the furnace rest on the propeller surface, it would burn just a spot in the treated silk, and not cause the entire covering to burst into flames (Holtzapffell). Until this time all correspondence about aerial navigation had been generated through the publication of a few relatively short articles, without any real details or diagrams. The first articles of substance, describing the ‘Aerial Steam Carriage’ were published in the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ and ‘The Australian’ on 14'® August, 1843. Several drawings of the craft appeared in the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ and a differ- ent view in ‘The Australian’. In modern terms it would be described as a mono- plane, with twin pusher airscrews. ‘The undercarriage was a tricycle arrangement, which only became commonplace after the Second World War. Henson’s intention was to start the machine on a downward slope, and once airborne, continue its mo- tion through the action of its steam engine powered propellers (SMH 1843c). The full- page account in ‘The Australian’ was ac- companied by a drawing of the Ariel (Aus- tralian 1843b). The effect of publication of details and drawings of Henson’s machine was such that ‘The Australian’ newspaper did reprints of the supplement to satisfy demand. A note about the need for ex- tra copies of their supplement ’deemed this such an extraordinary occasion as may jus- tify us in stepping out of our usual course’ (Australian 1843c). The following day the ‘Sydney Morn- ing Herald’ published another large article on Henson’s Carriage. This second article was based on another London newspaper and included dimensions of the craft. The article had some difficulty describing the craft’s wings, calling them a floor or plat- form, apparently ‘merely because of their large area.’ The wingspan was to be 45.72 metres, chord of 9.154 metres and tail span of 15.24 metres (SMH 1843d). Safety issues associated with aerial nav- igation soon found their way into the cor- respondents’ discussion. What if something broke? What if the engine stopped ‘and the machine at a stand-still in the air, loaded with 48 pascals (a pound to the square foot).’ According to the London correspon- dent this last event would have resulted in a rate of descent of 6.7 m per second, which was then equated to jumping off a wall 2.29 m high (Atlas). On the same page of the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ was another arti- cle, dismissive of the whole business. Un- der the heading ‘The project of aerial lo- comotion refuted’, and ‘pigs may fly, but they are very unlikely birds’, the article proceeded to dismiss the likelihood of suc- cess for Henson. Again, the requisite power from overly heavy steam engines provided the stumbling block. That case was sup- ported with technical details of well-known facts of air pressure on flat plates and the lifting power of kites (Illustrated News). Correspondence from AB regarding the ‘Aerial Steam Carriage’ and Francis Forbes’ PUBLISH AND PERISH a concept was strongly critical of both Forbes and XYZ. In his criticism of those two, AB supported his claims with an English ex- ample of about twenty years earlier. Ap- parently an attempt was made to use a large kite to pull a specially constructed, lightweight carriage along London’s Baker Street. That did not work, and AB asserted that Forbes’ proposed machine would not work either. AB was also sceptical of Hen- son’s machine and considered it no more than a means of raising money. He claimed "no names of acknowledged repute in me- chanical science, nor of known respectabil- ity as regards moral character, have tran- spired as being in connexion (sic) with this company’ (AB). The kite venture to which AB may have referred was actually con- ducted in 1827 by George Pocock. He hooked up a lightweight carriage to two Malay kites, one attached to the other. That trial showed that such kites could as- sist ground transport. Pocock’s carriage travelled at 32 kilometres per hour over a distance of 64 km from Bristol to Marlbor- ough. He called the arrangement ‘Char- volant’, after a combination of chariot and the French term for a kite. Pocock identi- fied his kites as ‘buoyant sails’ (Moolman p-42). The ‘Melbourne Times’ eventually pub- lished something about Henson’s Ariel, which included their own quaint descrip- tion, intended to make the readers under- stand how the Ariel would appear. ’A light wheelbarrow with an additional wheel at each leg — then let a long very long sash frame be tied across the barrow, and then let the handles be very long and stretched over the canvass’ (Melbourne Times). The article continued with a description of the propulsion as a ’small windmill turned by a spring in the barrow.’ The barrow would contain the engineer, fuel and men. For the sceptical readers, it was suggested that they run against a high wind holding an um- brella, then suddenly unfurl it. That would surely convince them of the buoyant power of the air! ‘Arden’s Sydney Magazine’ confirmed the wheel barrow and umbrella stories in reference to the editor of the ‘Sydney Morn- ing Herald’ (Arden). It was deemed an incautious suggestion, as both items were readily available and may have led to the clever and courageous youths ’taking a run off the Rocks some fine morning, searching, on a small scale, for the secret of the aérial passage.’ Thoughts of the many hang glid- ing sites along the coast now spring to mind. Robert Mudie described his proposed aerial carriage, intended as ‘amusement to the curious, tend to dispel the doubts of the sceptic in aeronautics, and be the means of forming a company to have it submitted to the test of experiment’ (Mudie 1843b). His letter to the newspaper clearly described the features of the rigid airship, that would much later become identified with those of Count Zeppelin. Mudie’s airship was de- scribed as 45.7 m long, 12.2 m diameter in the centre and tapering to points at front and rear. Around the middle of this struc- ture was to be a strong belt, to which would be fastened two propellers and the carriage. A cruciform tail would be attached to the rear of the airship, and each of those four surfaces was to be connected to the carriage by way of a cord. These tail members were each 6.1 metres wide and 6.1 m span. The overall length of this airship was 52.7 m. To aid the airship’s directional control, a fin was to be attached to the upper surface, some 18.3 m long, 3 m high in the middle 10 CRADDOCK and tapered to each end. The structural materials were not specified, but the cover- ing was to be silk or fine linen and netting. The entire covered surface would then be coated with caoutchouc for air and water- proofing. The carriage was to house a 15 kilowatt engine, a receiver for holding gas and a force pump to inflate and deflate the gasbag. It was also to incorporate a retort for mak- ing gas. The engine was to burn gas for its fuel. The passengers were to be housed in a small cabin within the main body of the machine. They would be able to move from the cabin to the carriage by way of a rope ladder. The estimated empty weight was 1361 kilograms, with a capability of lifting 817 kg of passengers or other load. Mudie claimed that the obvious problem with Hen- son’s Ariel was the need to take off on a down hill slope, which would cause consid- erable difficulty in places without suitable grounds. Another Muswellbrook correspondent to the Herald, identified as F.R.P-H. sought to save people their money by not invest- ing in the various projects identified in the pages of the newspaper. He was correct when he wrote ‘That man will one day be enabled to imitate the feathery tribes of the air, in the power of aerial locomotion, is not at all unlikely — so soon as a source of power shall have been discovered capable of be- ing indefinitely increased, like steam, with- out nevertheless increasing the weight of the apparatus necessary for the generation of such power.’ He continued with a dissec- tion of Henson’s machine, identifying gravi- tation and the ‘hindering force’ (or drag) as obstacles not yet overcome. Henson’s steam engine was unable to lift itself. The power needed to overcome drag or the resisting, hindering force, increases dramatically with any increase in speed, or velocity. In fact, as F'.R.P-H pointed out, a doubling of the speed of the craft would require eight times the power. ‘In short, this Aerial Steam Car- riage is a monstrous absurdity, and entitles Mr Henson to a place in Bedlam Asylum’ (F.R.P-H). A model of Henson’s machine was even- tually displayed in London, at the Royal Adelaide Gallery. This model measured 3.81 m by 0.91 m and weighed 7.71 kg empty. The full-sized craft was to be 43.89 m long. The reality of aerial navigation was still some way distant, as even the model had not flown (SMH 1843f). In the London of 1843, balloon flight was still the only practical means of nav- igating the air, where another of the lead- ing aeronauts, Monck Mason showed his lat- est idea. He demonstrated a small balloon, which could travel at 6 km per hour inside a large room. The demonstration was de- scribed in the press in Australia, rekindling local interest in aeronautics in 1844 (The Australian 1844a). The Reverend John Saunders had ar- rived in Sydney on 1 December, 1834 aboard the George Hebbert. Saunders was Chaplain on that ship, which served as a female emigrant and convict vessel. (Pike 1967) Saunders arranged to conduct a se- ries of lectures on aeronautics at the City Theatre, soon after the publication of the news about Monck Mason’s demonstration. Saunders was a correspondent to the Syd- ney Morning Herald and had made his opin- ion on various social issues known to the readers. Causes appropriate to his calling, such as aboriginal deaths and abstinence comprised most of his writing. A small notice appeared in the ‘Aus- PUBLISH AND PERISH 11 tralian Daily Journal’, inviting the pub- lic along to hear Saunders present his lec- ture on Wednesday 12*® June. It was men- tioned that there would be some models of balloons and the Aerial Machine of Hen- son (The Australian 1844b). Despite bad weather, a crowd of 400 turned out to hear Saunders. There were models of kites, bal- loons and the Aerial Machine, upon which Saunders promised another lecture (Saun- ders 1844a). The ‘Sydney Morning Her- ald’ editorial apologised for being unable to publish a thorough report on all of the lec- ture’s content, but mentioned some of the most novel points (SMH 1844). These main points were the adaptation of kites, or as Saunders also named them, buoyant sails, for inland discovery or maritime navigation, a new arrangement of the fire balloon, Dun- lop’s plan for guiding the air balloon, and a dissection of the flying machine. A fire balloon was another term for an expanded gas, or hot air balloon. Saunders suggested the use of kites as possible improvement for the operation of sailing vessels. He suggested that kites would be used to increase ships’ abilities to sail within 5 points of the wind’. That is, to be able to sail more efficiently. This suggestion was very much along the lines of Pocock’s light carriage demonstration. The ’fire balloon’ resuscitation was through the use of Argand burners, fuelled by oil and an inner series of burners fuelled by portable gas. Perhaps Saunders had re- membered the letter of Aeronaut, one year earlier, when he made this suggestion. Such a burner was invented by Aimé Argand in about 1782 and featured a cylindrical wick. Air was able to pass both inner and outer surfaces, providing improved combus- tion and brighter light (Simpson p. 622). The gas-fed burners were for emergency use only, and the gas cylinders also provided a solid structure for passengers and equip- ment. Saunders went on to propose the use of such fire balloons for exploration of Australia. His idea was to employ two bal- loons for this inland exploration, with one acting as a tender for the other. At some pre-determined location (or perhaps, dura- tion into the flight) the surplus stores of the tender balloon would be re-assigned to the other balloon for its onward journey. This was novel, ’the idea of planting a balloon in the bush is something new, and we give it as a bright thought to bushrangers and dwellers in the ”far west” ’ (SMH 1844). Dunlop’s plan was described ‘Taking the primitive method, which advanced mar- itime navigation, of joining canoe to canoe, I propose to join balloon to balloon in hor- izontal parallel rows, each to be covered in the usual way, by netting, for the individ- ual security of each balloon, and to be fas- tened to one another by cords on the top of the nets, to obtain a compact well ar- ranged body. ‘There may be three rows, consisting of five each on the outside and six in the inside, giving in the whole six- teen balloons. From the lower extremities of the nettings I would suspend a stage or platform, on which the management of the machine would be conducted. This stage is to be furnished below with a keel extend- ing along the whole length; at each end of the keelson a rudder is to be fixed, turning on a pivot in the usual way, through the top of which an axle is to pass, furnished with vanes set at greater angles than those of an ordinary windmill. The vanes are to act against the air, and to be turned by ap- propriate machinery. By these I propose to gain headway or sternway, and in con- 12 CRADDOCK junction with the keel and rudders steer- age way: I think that by sternway, steerage way may be more effectually obtained. The stage need not be above three-fifths of the whole breadth, and may be surrounded by netting to prevent accidents.’ ’My theory stands thus, sixteen balloons of the usual pear-shape form, of 6.1 m diam- eter will (if I recollect right) possess a lev- ity of 2722 kg. This power will be sufficient to sustain the apparatus, voyagers and bal- last, and leave a surplus for ascension. By having this sized balloon, the needful pres- sure will be more nearly equalised with the strength of materials; by their number an accident happening to one, will not endan- ger the safety of the whole machine, and by their arrangement a better sailing surface is presented. The resistance, when sailing on a current, is as the whole resistance mul- tiplied by the cosine of the angle from the vertical or line of keel’ (Dunlop). Saunders’ second and concluding lecture was presented on Friday 14** June. The Australian newspaper published an article the following day, describing Mason’s bal- loon and also allowed Saunders to sight their copy of a drawing of the same ma- chine in their office. The lecture was again well attended, or crowded as reported in the press. Saunders exhibited the model of Henson’s machine as well as a diagram of Dunlop’s proposed balloon (The Australian 1844c). Saunders’ dissection of the flying machines was incomplete, as he had no pic- ture of Mason’s machine at the time. How- ever he perceived great similarity in the de- signs of both Dunlop and Monck Mason. He thought that Dunlop’s design contained elements of ’safety and success’ that were not possessed by earlier balloons. Dun- lop’s work appeared slightly advanced com- pared with that of Monck Mason, in Saun- ders’ view, although both still had the usual problems with aerial navigation. Sum- marised as ’the great problem of perfect guidance’, they are always at the mercy of the atmosphere. In that respect, Saunders considered Monck Mason’s employment of Archimedean screws superior to Dunlop’s vanes. ‘Those vanes could be more accu- rately described as flat, windmill-like pro- pellers. Saunders did note that aeronauts had some advantage over their seagoing brothers, in that they may find air currents flowing in slightly different directions and speeds at different altitudes. So, by adjust- ing the balloon’s height above ground, the aerial navigator ’can generally choose one of two or three currents, and having the power to rise or fall, he may enter into one which may suit him best.’ Saunders did regret that Dunlop had kept his idea under wraps for some time, and promised to forward the plan to London. He did not state to whom the plan would be sent. He was keen to let London know of the work and that ’Aus- tralians must look sharp to vindicate the priority of the colonial inventor, and secure some of the honour to themselves’ (Saun- ders 1844b). Henson’s steam carriage was not well re- ceived by Saunders. He apparently iden- tified deficiencies with the area (presum- ably the wing area), arrangement (or lay- out of the craft) and the means of con- trol and propulsion. Another of Saunders’ comments is noteworthy regarding the de- sign of propellers : ’...experiments lately made, the velocity obtained by descending an inclined plain (sic) was diminished rather than sustained by the propellers. As this maintenance of velocity is a main feature to the plan, and it has failed, the whole PUBLISH AND PERISH 13 may be considered an abortion.’ It appears that those propellers were providing drag, rather than thrust. Sufficient power must be applied to turn a propeller before it can produce thrust. Otherwise, it merely ’wind- mills’ and produces drag, as evidenced by Saunders. It is also unclear at this distance, to whom Saunders was referring, when not- ing the recent experiments. Saunders ended positively, even though he had dismissed Henson’s craft, the publication of Henson’s work had re-kindled the idea of aerial nav- igation and ’he has given exercise to many ingenious minds, and led to an examination and discussion of principles which may ter- minate in a good result.’ (Saunders 1844b) The main thrust was for success, not for an individual, but rather for humanity. Saunders concluded his lecture ’until some power was invented, which would give greater speed to the rotary fans, than any plan at present devised, he did not think we should be able to travel the regions of the air.’ An aside by the reporting journalist suggested the use of springs and ’the end- less screw (Archimedean) such as that ap- plied in the large musical boxes’ (Saunders 1844b). Many people appeared to believe that mechanical, heavier-than-air flight was achievable. By the same token, steam power was generally considered as an un- suitable source of power for aerial naviga- tion. The publication of details about Hen- son’s Ariel certainly formed the basis for serious thought on aerial navigation. Here at last was something that promised more than just a simple balloon flight. A statement appeared earlier on the subject of the proposed scientific use of bal- loons. (Australian 1843a) ’Once let it be demonstrated that balloons are not more dangerous than railways and steam-boats, and we shall have a few words to say on the use of which they may prove to science, in relation to an examination of the differ- ent strata of the atmosphere.’ To arrive at such a situation, serious scientific input to aerial navigation would be required. The most appropriate means for the dissemina- tion of such knowledge were those various learned societies, which eventually began in the colonies. LEARNED SOCIETIES Several people made presentations to learned Societies, on their thoughts for aerial navigation, some of which will be mentioned briefly. Dr William Bland ad- dressed the Royal Society of New South Wales on 8*® June, 1859 with a lecture ‘On Atmotic Navigation’, although it appears that no transcript has survived (Bland). This appears to have been the first lec- ture on aerial navigation, presented to such a Society in Australia. Bland’s Atmotic Ship was at first designed with a spheri- cal balloon, but after his initial application for patent, the craft was depicted with the more familiar, cigar shaped envelope. Michael Costello addressed the Royal Society of Victoria on 29*® September, 1862 with his proposal for a steering apparatus for balloons. He apparently displayed a model of the apparatus at the meeting, but no more details appear to have survived (Costello). Alexander Adams invented an_ or- nithopter, the details of which were sent to Lawrence Hargrave by George H. Knibbs of the Royal Society of NSW on 24‘ Septem- ber, 1896 (Adams). His ornithopter was to be powered by a hydraulic motor, but it 14 CRADDOCK failed to impress Hargrave. Adams sought a partner in this venture and asked if Har- grave was interested, but received a polite refusal. George Hardacre of Coffs Harbour also patented a similar machine in 1897. His craft featured flapping wings, which incor- porated hinged valves to reduce drag on the upstroke and increased drag on the down going stroke (Hargrave). He built and flew a man-powered version, while tethered be- tween two trees. Lawrence Hargrave provided 23 lectures to the Royal Society of New South Wales from 1884 to 1909, 19 of which were on his experimental work in aeronautics (Shaw). The philosophical Institute of Victoria reported some of the earliest serious investi- gations into the Australian atmosphere. A. C. Gregory read his report on barometri- cal observations on 30° March, 1859 (Gre- gory). Across the Tasman Sea, several re- searchers were publishing their thoughts and one of those was Captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton, ‘Sailing Flight of the Al- batross’ (Hutton). His work was purely or- nithological, and not intended to further the idea of human flight. Hutton was a Fel- low of the Royal Society, Fellow of the Ge- ographic Society and an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of New South Wales, from which he was awarded the Clarke Memorial Medal in 1891 (RSNSW 1890). Professor William Charles Kernot, who was Dean of Engineering, Melbourne Uni- versity, undertook investigations of the at- mospheric effects on engineering structures. One of his papers to the Australasian As- sociation for the Advancement of Science, in 1889 was titled ‘Notes on the Baromet- ric Measurement of Heights’ (Kernot 1889). Maybe not quite aerial navigation, but he followed up in 1892 with an article on ‘Wind Pressure’ (Kernot 1892), which described some of the difficulties encountered by engi- neers in those days. Notice was being taken for civil engineering structures, such as rail- way vehicles, bridges and buildings exposed to the forces of winds. Also, it was quite ap- parent that the science of designing struc- tures to accommodate such forces required much investigation. Quoting from Kernot’s 1892 paper, ‘Not many years ago a bridge over the Yarra, in Melbourne, occupying a very sheltered position, was condemned as liable to be overturned by the wind, and al- tered at great cost, although it would have taken 4.3 kilopascals to move it according to the correct calculation, and 2.7 kPa ac- cording to the engineer that reported upon it, while chimneys and railway vehicles that would overturn with not more than 1.4 kPa were continually to be found in positions infinitely more exposed.’ Kernot continued with descriptions of the various methods of calculating aerodynamic forces and the ex- periments he conducted. Kernot constructed what was probably the first wind tunnel in an Australian uni- versity, possibly the first anywhere in Aus- tralia. A description of the tunnel was pro- vided in his article on wind pressure (Ker- not 1892). It incorporated a wooden, four bladed, screw propeller, of 0.7 m diameter and contoured with a pitch of 1 m. The tun- nel itself was a tube 0.76 m diameter by 0.91 m long. The wind tunnel initially did not provide a ‘uniform blast’ of air, but rather produced ‘a cylindrical shell about 0.15 m thick of helically moving air surrounding a central core of dead or motionless air’. He added some form of straightening vanes and funnel, which provided a jet ‘of air of fairly uniform direction and velocity’ about 0.3 m PUBLISH AND PERISH 15 by 0.25 m cross section. A small flag was used to verify air direction and Revy’s cur- rent meter measured the velocity. NOTICE OF SUCCESS In the United States, the Wright Broth- ers also employed a true scientific attitude to the study of aerial navigation. Suc- cess came finally to Wilbur and Orville Wright on December 17, 1903 at Kill Devil Hills. How did Australians learn of this triumph? ‘That knowledge was provided through the medium of the newspaper, of course. The great French-born American, Octave Chanute sent news of the success to Lawrence Hargrave, together with Ameri- can news reports, and the necessary cor- rections. Hargrave then wrote to the Daily Telegraph and provided an interview to the journalist so assigned. An article was soon published, which described the American success as well as Hargrave’s latest aircraft work. It appeared exactly two months after the Wrights’ success, printed on page nine of the Sydney newspaper (Daily Telegraph 1904)! Aviation was still not page one ma- terial. Newspapers provided the means _ for communicating ideas for aerial machines from England, initially, and subsequently from local inventors. Many good ideas were thus published, but none came to fruition. Mechanics’ Institutes provided technical ed- ucation for many in the community, who were then better equipped to put their ideas forward. Learned societies provided the next level of communication, publish- ing ideas and experimental reports across the globe. Wilbur and Orville Wright built their experiments on the published works of ear- lier researchers. They corresponded with a number of those researchers, but kept se- cret, their understanding of aerodynamic control under the protection of a patent. CONCLUSION In summary, several of the early Australian pioneers provided word pictures of aerial machines. Some others provided draw- ings and models of their ideas. They all failed, but their ideas lived on through the works of others — possibly because they did not hide their ideas away. Lawrence Har- grave published his ideas widely, through the Journals of the Royal Society of New South Wales and the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain. He was a prolific let- ter writer, who urged others to experiment with his ideas and wished them every suc- cess. As he stated in correspondence with Octave Chanute, ‘excellence of design and workmanship will always defy competition’ (Chanute p. 218). Some of his ideas took root, such as the box kite, which appeared in the lineage of Chanute’s hang glider. That hang glider subsequently became the structural model for the Wright kite of 1899. That kite proved the success of wing warp- ing, which was the key to Orville’s powered, sustained and controlled flight at Kill Devil Hills on 17" December, 1903. REFERENCES AB, 1843, letter to Colonial Observer, Syd- ney. 23 August, p. 1256. Adams, A., 1897. Correspondence with Lawrence Hargrave, contained in Note- book on Flying Machines, Powerhouse Museum Sydney, p. 57, 106, 107. 16 CRADDOCK Aeronaut, 1843a, letter to Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 1 June, p. 3. Aeronaut, 1843b, letter to Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 9 June, p. 3. Arden’s Sydney Magazine, 1843, Sydney. vol 1, number 1, September, p. 19. Atlas, 1843, London, as reported in Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 25 August, p. 2. Bland, Hon W., 1859, On Atmotic Navi- gation, Journal of the Philosophical Soci- ety of New South Wales. 1862-1865, in- sert containing rules, and lists of presen- tations to Society Members 1856-1860, DD. Os Chanute, O., 1976. PROGRESS IN FLYING MACHINES. Facsimile of the whole of The First 1894 Edition, Lorence and Herweg, Long Beach, Ca. Costello, M., 1862, Steering Apparatus for Balloons, Proceedings of Philosophical In- stitute of Victoria. Vol 6, p XXV. Curr, J., 1843, letter to Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 11 July, p.3. Daily Telegraph, 1904. Sydney, 17 Febru- ary, p. 9. Dunlop, J., 1844. As reported in Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 19 June, p. 2. Forbes, F., 1843a, letter to Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 8 June, p. 3. Forbes, F’.., 1843b, letter to Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 9 June, p. 3. Forbes, F., 1843c, letter to Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 23 June, p. 3. F.R.P-H., 1843, letter to Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 16 September, p. 4. Gregory, A.C., 1859, Barometrical Obser- vations, Journal of the Philosophical In- stitute of Victoria. Vol 4, p. 14. Girling, D.A., Ed., 1978. EVERYMAN’S EN- CYCLOPAEDIA, vol 6, Guadagnini - Jan- nequin, Clement, London, J.M. Dent & Sons, pp. 764. Hargrave, L., 1897. Notes on George Hardacre’s flying machine, contained in Notebook on Flying Machines, Power- house Museum Sydney, p. 81. Henson, W.S. 1866. Patent Number 9478 Locomotive Apparatus for Air, Land and Water, in Journal of the Aeronautical So- ciety of Great Britain, volume 1, p. 72. Holtzapffell, J., 1843, letter to The Aus- tralian. Sydney. 28 June, p. 3. Hutton, Captain F.W., 1871, On the Sail- ing Flight of the Albatross; a Reply to J.S. Webb, Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. Vol IV, Wellington, pp. 347-350. Illustrated News, 1843, London, as reported in Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 25 August, p.3. Kemp, P., 2000, THE HISTORY OF SHIPS, Little, Brown and Company, London. Kernot, W.C., 1889, Notes on Barometric Measurement of Heights, Journal of the Royal Society of Victoria. Vol II, Article IX, June 1890, pp. 78-81. Kernot, W.C., 1892, Wind Pressure, Jour- nal of the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science. Vol 5, Section EL pp. 57305 lL. Melbourne Times, 1843. Melbourne, vol 2, number 79, 25 August, p. 2. Miles, J.S., 1843, as reported in Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 26 May, p. 4. Moolman, V., 1980, THE ROAD TO KITTY HAWK, Time-Life Books inc, Morristown, New Jersey, pp. 176. Mudie, R., 1843a, letter to Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 23 June, p. 3. Mudie, R., 1843b, letter to Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, 1 September, p. 3. Parsons, Sir C.A., 1911. THE STEAM TUR- BINE, The Rede Lecture, Part 1, Cam- bridge University Press, as published at PUBLISH AND PERISH IEG http: //www.history.rochester.edu/steam /parsons/part1.html Pike, D., Gen Ed., 1968. AUSTRALIAN DIc- TIONARY OF BIOGRAPHY, 1788-1850, vol 1, A-H, Melbourne University Press, pp. 978. Pike, D., Gen Ed., 1967. AUSTRALIAN DIc- TIONARY OF BIOGRAPHY, 1788-1850, vol 2, I-Z, Melbourne University Press, pp. 634. Royal Society of New South Wales, 1890, Council Meeting 26 November, Journal of the Royal Society of New South Wales. Vol XXV, p. 10. Saunders, J., 1844a, as reported in The Australian. Sydney. 14 June, p. 363. Saunders, J., 1844b, as reported in The Australian. Sydney. 19 June, p. 379. Shaw, W.H. & Ruhen, O., 1988. LAWRENCE HARGRAVE, AVIATION PIO- NEER, INVENTOR AND EXPLORER, Uni- versity of Queensland Press, pp. 199. Simpson, J.A. & E.S.C. Weiner, 1989. THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, second edition, vol 1, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Slatterie, A.J., 1841, letter to Sydney Her- ald. Sydney, 6 January, p. 2. Sydney Herald, 1840. Sydney, 27 July, p. 6. Sydney Herald, 1841a. Sydney, 19 Febru- ary, p.4. Sydney Herald, 1841b. Sydney, 10 April, p: 2: Sydney Herald, 1841c. Sydney, 1 June, p. 3. Sydney Herald, 1841d. Sydney, 20 Decem- ber, Supplement p. 3. Sydney Herald, 1842. Sydney, 10 February, p. 3. Sydney Morning Herald, 1843a. Sydney, 9 May, p. 2. Sydney Morning Herald, 1843b. Sydney, 28 June, p. 2. Sydney Morning Herald, 1843c. Sydney, 14 August, p. 2. Sydney Morning Herald, 1843d. Sydney, 15 August, p. 4. Sydney Morning Herald, 1843e. Sydney, 20 September, p. 4. Sydney Morning Herald, 1843f. Sydney, 4 October, p. 4. Sydney Morning Herald, 1844. Sydney, 19 June, p. 2. The Australian, 1843a. Sydney. 21 July, p. 3. The Australian, 1843b. Sydney. 14 August, supplement. The Australian, 1843c. Sydney. 16 August, Dez: The Australian, 1844a. Sydney. 15 June, p. 367. The Australian, 1844b. Sydney. 11 June, p. dol. The Australian, 1844c. Sydney. 19 June, p. 379. XYZ, 1843, letter to Sydney Morning Her- ald. Sydney, 4 July, p. 2. David A. Craddock, Regional Manager Directorate of Quality Assurance (Air) Department of Defence Locked Bag 18 Darlinghurst, NSW 2010. oe Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 136, p. 19-27, 2003 ISSN 0035-9173/03/020019-9 $4.00/1 Thermal Induction, Salt Treatment and the associated Plumule/Radicle Growth Response of Sorghum at 42/19°C M. A. KADER Abstract: This investigation tested the influence of thermal induction of seeds at various stages of imbibition prior to exposure to heat shock on the germinative and growth response of those seeds and seedlings. Seeds of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) were treated in 2, 4 or 6g NaCl/L solutions and exposed for 2 hours to 45°C during the first, second or third days of imbibition (thermal induction). Thereafter, seeds were dried and germinated at 42/19°C (day/night temperature). Salt treatments did not improve the final germination percentage but increased germination speed over untreated seeds. The higher the salt concentration used, the greater the dry weights of plumules (shoots) and radicles (roots). Thermal induction on the third day of imbibition yielded higher germination percentages than un-induced seeds, while induction on the second day gave faster germination. Both the second and third day induction treatments gave superior germination indices and higher plumule to radicle ratios. It is concluded that thermal induction may assist in acclimating seeds to heat stress. Keywords: Thermal induction, stress, germination, growth INTRODUCTION Seed germination is usually the most crit- ical factor determining the success or fail- ure of stand establishment. Recent interest in presowing seed treatments for improv- ing field emergence under stress has gener- ated considerable advances. Priming with sodium chloride has been used in sorghum and shown to advance germination under drought but not under heat stress (Kader and Jutzi 2001, Kader 2002a). The prin- ciple of inducing seeds or whole plants to stress is also well documented (Amzallag et al. 1990) and has likewise been applied to NaCl treatments in sorghum (Kader 2001). Therefore, the possibility of inducing seeds to heat stress by pre-exposure to high tem- peratures seems to be feasible. In this con- nection, it would be interesting to investi- gate the effects of high temperatures during seed soaking on responses to post-treatment heat stress. The objective of this investi- gation was to test the influence of thermal induction by way of pre-stress acclimative heat exposure and its timing on germina- tion of sorghum variety SPV 462 under heat stress. MATERIALS AND METHODS Salt-based seed priming treatments were applied to SPV 462 seeds stored prior to treatment at 5°C and 50% relative hu- midity for 2 months. Seed lots were ob- tained from the International Crops Re- search Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and had moisture content of 20 KADER 11%, viability (tetrazolium) of 97.3% and germinability of 98.1%. Seed treatments in- cluded soaking in 2, 4 or 6g NaCl/L solu- tions for 3 days (d) in the dark. These so- lutions had osmotic potentials of -65, -135 and -180 mOsmolkg™!, respectively, corre- sponding to -1.5, -3.2 and -4.3 bar, respec- tively. Electrical conductivity (EC) values for these solutions were 3.8, 7.3 and 9.3 mS cm~!, respectively. A water-soaked con- trol was also tested based on previous work (Kader and Jutzi 2001, Kader 2002a, Kader 2002b). Thermal induction treatments were con- ducted on the 18, 2°¢ or 3™4 day of imbi- bition by exposing seeds in solutions to a temperature of 45°C for 3 hours (h) and to 13°C for the remainder of the soaking pe- riod. After treatment, seeds were surface dried at 25°C for 3 h and plated for germi- nation in polystyrene trays at a rate of 100 seeds/tray. A concomitant day/night tem- perature of 42/19°C (12 h/12 h) was used in germination cabinets under dark conditions and filter paper moistened with distilled wa- ter. Trays were replicated five times and observations of seed germination made on 24-h intervals for 10 d. After 10 d, seedling plumules (shoots) and radicles (roots) were excised for 10 seeds/tray from the 5 mid- dle creases of the filter paper, dried in an air-forced cabinet at 80°C for 3 d and av- eraged. This yielded the dry weight of plumule (DWP) and dry weight of radicle (DWR). By dividing the DWP by the DWR the plumule: radicle ratio (PRR) was ob- tained. From daily germination scores, the final germination percentage (FGP), mean germination time (MGT) [MGT = > fa/f where f is the number of seeds germinated on day x] (Orchard 1977) and germination index (GI) [GI = (10 x nl) + (9 x n2) + -+-+(1 x10) where nl, n2 ...n10 = no. of germinated seeds on the 1°*, 2°¢ and subse- quent days until the 10" day; 10, 9... and 1 are weights given to the number of ger- minated seeds on the 15*, 2°4 and subse- quent days, respectively] (Benech Arnold et al. 1991) were calculated. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for salt treatment and thermal induction effects as well as their interaction on arcsine trans- formed germination percentages. Duncan’s Multiple Range Test was used for mean sep- aration. Significance was evaluated at p < 0.05 using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS®). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The main effects, i.e. NaCl concentration and treatment timing, and their interac- tions were significant in their impact on germination and seedling characteristics of sorghum. The results of germination counts following treatment of seeds showed that a 2g NaCl/L treatment gave the same FGP as the control, but higher percentages than the 4 or 6g treatments (Table 1). Enhanced germination rates, as _ re- flected by lower MGT values, revealed a faster germination pattern in all three NaCl treatments when compared to the control. This was accompanied by high GI means in the case of a 2g NaCl/L treatment as seen from Table 1. The highest DWP and DWR values were observed in 6g NaCl/L- treated seeds, but untreated seeds appear to have allocated more growth activity to the plumule than to the radicle since they attained the highest PRR ratios (Table 1). Germination and seedling characteris- tics as affected by thermal induction are presented in Table 2. Whereas the FGP was THERMAL INDUCTION & PLUMULE/RADICLE GROWTH PA not influenced by thermal induction, MGT exhibited progressive decreases when seeds were induced on the 2"¢ or 3° days of im- bibition. When data in Table 2 are exam- ined, it becomes apparent that the 24 and 3™¢ day treatments advanced not only ger- mination speed (lower MGT and higher GI values), but also gave the highest PRR ra- tios. Seed Treatment FGP MGT (g NaCl/L) (7%) (day) 0 (Control) 88.6 ab 3.0a 4 89.7a 2.5b 4 86.1 c¢ Poesia) 0: 6 86.9 be 2.5b Agreement between pooled effects (Ta- bles 1 and 2) and interactive effects of seed treatments and thermal induction, which are shown in Figures 1 and 2, was evident. The FGP was not affected by seed treat- ment or thermal induction, but germination speed was enhanced by NaCl soaks (Figs la-lc). Days 2 and 3 were the best periods to induce seeds during imbibition. GI DWP DWR PRR (mg) (mg) 6999b 48b 13c 36a (OUD ra? 224-3 °C oD eo (a0-2 ab 4:5 be 1.5 b ~+3:0:be (29:33 ab 59a 19a 3.1b Table 1. Effect of NaCl-based seed priming treatments on germination and seedling char- acteristics of sorghum SPV 462 seeds. Means in columns followed by similar letters are not significantly different according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (p < 0.05). FGP: Final Germination Percentage, MGT: Mean Germination Time, GI: Germination Index, DWP: Dry Weight of Plumule, DWR: Dry Weight of Radicle and PRR: Plumule: Radicle Ratio. Acclimation Time FGP MGT GI DWP DWR_ PRR (Days after Imbibition) (%) (day) (mg) (mg) No Acclimation 86.7a 29a 689.2b 45b 16b 3.0b Day 1 87.9a 2.7ab 720.7b 50a 18a 2.8b Day 2 87.4a 2.3¢ 755.0a 48ab 14b 33a Day 3 89.4a 25 be 7550a 52a 15b 34a Table 2. Effect of pre-stress heat acclimation treatments on germination and seedling characteristics of sorghum SPV 462 seeds on exposure to post-treatment heat stress. Means in columns followed by similar letters are not significantly different according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (p < 0.05). FGP: Final Germination Percentage, MGT: Mean Germination Time, GI: Germination Index, DWP: Dry Weight of Plumule, DWR: Dry Weight of Radicle and PRR: Plumule: Radicle Ratio. 22 KADER As seen from Figure 2a, the high- est DWP values were obtained in the 6g NaCl/L treatment with acclimation on the 18t day of imbibition being superior to other timings at this NaCl level. The highest DWR was observed in the 6 g NaCl/L treat- ment, when seeds were acclimated on the 18t day (Fig. 2b). Control seeds which were not acclimated yielded the highest PRR (igs Ze). Observation of seed and seedling charac- teristics confirmed that germination speed was improved and that a 6g NaCl/L treat- ment increased both the DWP and DWR whereas control seeds had a higher PRR. Such a PRR value would indicate a ten- dency, on the seed’s part, to shift growth activity to the shoot rather than the root. Speculations on the larger axis (heavier plumules and radicles) in 6g NaCl-treated seeds can be deduced from reports of earlier differentiation in secondary xylem in seedlings exposed to NaCl conditions for both root and shoot (Valenti et al. 1992). Additionally, osmotic adjustment of plumules and radicles in NaCl-treated seeds may have contributed to this increase in weight due to the accumulation of Nat and Cl~ ions (Nabil and Coudret 1995). This, however, is in disagreement with the data of Roundy et al. (1985) who reported that sodium, chloride, sulphate and calcium ions interfered with germination and growth processes resulting in lower radicle growth. We tend to favour the assumption that the accumulation of ions in the seed during the 3 d soaking treatment led to the subsequent translocation of Nat and Cl~ to the newly growing parts in the plumule and radicle leading to osmotic adjustment (Kader and Jutzi 2002, Kader et al. unpublished data). This adjustment would render the axis ca- pable of taking up more water from the surrounding medium, thus providing both plumules and radicles of treated seeds with an advantage over untreated counterparts. While advancement in the speed of ger- mination was obtained by thermally induc- ing seeds on the 2"¢ and 3" days of imbibi- tion, the FGP is postulated to be less “im- provable” by acclimation than the MGT. However, the positive effects of thermal in- duction may not be ruled out since 24 and 3' day-treated seeds germinated faster and gave a higher PRR. We take this as evi- dence that the ratio between shoot and root is governed by the environmental conditions surrounding the seed. We speculate that stress tends to lead to larger radicles result- ing in a lower PRR. This stress may take the form of limited moisture, high temper- ature or osmotic pressure, but in all three cases the reaction on part of the plant would be to enhance root growth in the search for moisture at lower soil profiles. This is rein- forced by the fact that untreated seeds had a higher PRR than 6g NaCl-treated seeds. This may suggest that untreated seeds, be- cause not exposed to “stress” caused by NaCl treatment, “sensed” that no stress existed and thus focused on plumule elon- gation to emerge and make use of this “non-stress opportunity” (Kader and Jutzi 1998a). Seeds treated with salt, on the other hand, responded by increasing radi- cle elongation leading, in turn, to a lower PRR. If the same were true for heat, it would mean that seeds acclimated to heat stress by pre-exposure to 45°C on the 2°¢ or 3°4 day of imbibition did not “sense” stress when they were transferred to a 12-hours-a- day regime of 42°C. They would have been acclimated to such a temperature range THERMAL INDUCTION & PLUMULE/RADICLE GROWTH 23 through hormonal signals (Kader 2001) and thus the need for producing larger radi- cles would diminish, leading to a higher PRR. Such gradual acclimation of seeds to high temperatures has been reported in cowpea by El-kholy et al. (1997). Gong et al. (1997), working on maize, also pre- sented evidence that plants have the capac- ity to acquire thermotolerance when they are prehardened at an elevated but non- lethal temperature. It can be argued that the function of such a treatment would be to activate so-called “Heat-Shock Proteins (HSPs)” (Kader and Jutzi 1997, Kader and Jutzi 1998b, Kader 2001). In studies with soybean, Jinn et al. (1997) found that in seedlings treated with 40°C for 2 h, low molecular weight HSPs were found in ag- gregated granular structures distributed in the cytoplasm and nucleus. These may as- sist in the resolubilization of proteins denat- urated or aggregated by heat and may also participate in the restoration of organular functions after heat shock. Abernethy et al. (1989) found that dur- ing the initial 9-12 h of imbibition, imbib- ing wheat cv. Lancer and Guard seed ex- hibited substantial tolerance to high tem- perature. This initial tolerance gradually declined with increasing time of seed imbi- bition. This timing of tolerance is shifted well into the later phases of germination in pearl millet (Carberry and Campbell 1989). The most responsive time to acclimate seeds was observed on the 2" and 34 days after soaking. We assume that the seed’s inner mechanisms are responsive to external heat impulses during this period or else acclima- tion at this time would not have advanced subsequent germination (Kader 2001). During the 1%t day of soaking a seed is being forced out of its former dry, quiescent state into a metabolically and physiologi- cally active one (Gong et al. 1997). During this imbibition phase it would not be rea- sonable to expect response from the seed because it is still in the process of fulfilling the threshold level of moisture needed to initiate this active form (Kader and Jutzi 2002). By the 2¢ and 3" days of soaking the seed is active enough to respond to ex- ternal factors. From a practical standpoint, despite reports of air temperatures reach- ing 44.9°C in sorghum growing areas (Maiti 1996), soil temperatures within the vicin- ity of the seedbed would not stay at these levels for long, and such extreme cases are the exception rather than the rule (Kader 2002c). Finally, reflections from controlled- environment studies such as this are a po- tentially useful tool in screening for varia- tion in response to temperature (Carauford et al. 1996), but field validation of results obtained is required to advance the appli- cation of recommendations. 24 KADER 6g NaCl/L < 4g NaCl/L iz 2¢ NaCl/L Fy Og NaCl/L [] Acclim. | Acclimation (Day of Soaking) (b) 6g NaCl/L & 4g NaCl/L in 2g NaCl/L A 0g NaCl//L O No Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Acclim. Acclimation (Day of Soaking) (c) 1000 e 2 oe 6g NaCl/L 600 4g NaCl/L c | 2g NaCl/L 400 ven Og NaCl/L [] 200 0 No Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Acclim. Acclimation (Day of Soaking) Figure 1. Interactive effects of NaCl-based seed priming treatment and heat induction on (a) the final germination percentage (FGP), (b) mean germination time (MGT) and (c) germination index (GI) of sorghum SPV 462 seeds. Bars having similar letters represent means that are not significantly different according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (p < 0.05). THERMAL INDUCTION & PLUMULE/RADICLE GROWTH 25 6g NaCl/L 2 4g NaCl/L = 2g NaCl/L 2 Og NaCl/L (b) 6g NaCl/L 2 4g NaCl/L = 22 NaCl/L A 0g NaCl/L O No Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Acclim. Acclimation (Day of Soaking) (c) 5 4 6g NaCl/L & - 3 4g NaCl/L A, 2g NaCl/L Ea Og NaCl/L [] No Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Acclim. Acclimation (Day of Soaking) Figure 2. Interactive effects of NaCl-based seed priming treatment and heat induction on (a) the dry weight of plumule (DWP), (b) dry weight of radicle (DWR) and (c) plumule:radicle ratio (PRR). Bars having similar letters represent means that are not significantly different according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (p < 0.05). 26 KADER REFERENCES Abernethy, R., Thiel, D., Petersen, N. and Helm, K., 1989. Thermotolerance is de- velopmentally dependent in germinating wheat seed. Plant Physiolology, 89, 569— 576. Amzallag, G., Lerner, Hand Poljakoff- Mayber, A., 1990. of increased salt tolerance in Sorghum bicolor by NaCl pretreatment. Journal of Experimental Botany, 41, 29-34. Benech Arnold, R., Fenner, M. and Ed- wards, P., 1991. Changes in germinabil- ity, ABA content and ABA embryonic sensitivity in developing seeds of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench induced by water stress during grain filling. New Phytol- ogist, 118, 339-347. Carberry, P. and Campbell, L., 1989. Tem- perature parameters useful for modeling the germination and emergence of pearl millet. Crop Science, 29, 220-223. Craufurd, P., Ellis, R., Summerfield, R. and Menin, L., 1996. Development in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). 1. The influence of temperature on seed germination and seedling emergence. Experimental Agri- culture, 32, 1-12. El-kholy, A., Hall, A. and Mohsen, A., 1997. Heat and chilling tolerance during germi- nation and heat tolerance during flower- ing are not associated in cowpea. Crop Science, 37, 456-463. Gong, M., Li, Y., Dai, X., Tian, M. and Li, Z., 1997. Involvement of calcium and calmodulin in the acquisition of heat- shock induced thermotolerance in maize seedlings. Journal of Plant Physiology, 150, 615-621. Jinn, T., Chang, P., Chen, Y., Key, J. and Lin, C., 1997. Tissue-type-specific heat- shock response and immunolocalization of calls 1 low-molecular-weight heat shock proteins in soybean. Plant Physiology, 114, 429-438. Kader (Al-Mudaris), M and Jutzi, S., 1997. Germination of Sorghum bicolour (L.) Moench under heat and drought stress as affected by NaCl seed priming. Inter- national Conference on Sustainable Agri- culture for Food, Energy and Industry. FAO, Braunschweig, Germany, Book of Abstracts, p. 304. Kader (Al-Mudaris), M. and S. Jutzi, 1998a: The influence of genotype, prim- ing material, temperature and osmotic potential of priming solution on imbi- bition and subsequent germination of sorghum and pearl millet seeds during and after treatment. Journal of Agricul- ture in the Tropics and Subtropics, 99, 133-145. Kader (Al-Mudaris), M. and Jutzi, 5S., 1998b. The effect of incubation temper- ature during presowing seed treatments on the subsequent germination behaviour in Sorghum bicolor and Pennisetum glau- cum. German Journal of Agronomy, 3, 131-134. Kader, M. and Jutzi, S., 2001. Drought, heat and combined stresses and the asso- ciated germination of two sorghum vari- eties osmotically primed with NaCl. Phy- tology, 3, 22-24. Kader, M., 2001. Heat shock events, inhi- bition of seed germination and the role of growth regulators in stress allevia- tion. Journal of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 134, 79-88. Kader, M., 2002a. Physiological modifica- tion of stress: Exogenous GA3 applica- tions to seed. Proceedings of the 5" Aus- tralian Horticultural Conference, Sydney, THERMAL INDUCTION & PLUMULE/RADICLE GROWTH age Australia, September 29 — October 3, 2002, p. 21. Kader, M., 2002b. Seed thermodormancy as impacted by kinetin and sodium chlo- ride combination treatments. Proceed- ings of the 5° Australian Horticultural Conference, Sydney, Australia, Septem- ber 29 — October 3, 2002, p. 22. Kader, M., 2002c. An analysis of air, soil and seed-bed temperatures in sorghum growing locations in the arid and semi- arid sub-tropics. Consultica Worldwide Internal Report, Sydney, Australia, Au- gust 2002, 1-6. Kader, M. and Jutzi, S., 2002. ‘Tem- perature, osmotic pressure and seed treatments influence imbibition rates in sorghum seeds. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 188, 286-290. Maiti, R., 1996. SORGHUM SCIENCE, Lebanon, USA, Science Publishers Nabil, M. and Coudret, A., 1995. Effects of sodium chloride on growth, tissue elas- ticity and solute adjustment in two Aca- cia nilotica subspecies. Physiologia Plan- tarum, 93, 217-224. Orchard, T., 1977. Estimating the param- eters of plant seedling emergence. Seed Science and Technology, 5, 61-69. Roundy, B., Young, A. and Evans, R., 1985. Germination of basin wildyre and tall wheatgrass in relation to osmotic and ma- tric potential. Agronomy Journal, 77, P29>135. Valenti, G., Melone, L., Orsi, O. and Riveros, F., 1992. Anatomical changes in Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce seedlings growing at different levels of NaCl salin- ity. Annals of Botany, 70, 399-404. Dr M.A. Kader PO Box 3089 Tamarama NSW 2026 Australia (Manuscript received 29.4.2003) (Manuscript received in final form 19.09.2003) oe Sher Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. 136, p. 29-43, 2003 ISSN 0035-9173/03/020029-15 $4.00/1 “The Celluloid Strip’ — Mass Screening for Tuberculosis in New South Wales, 1950-1975 DR PETER J. TYLER The White Death, consumption, phthi- sis, TB -— by whatever euphemism it was known, tuberculosis was one of the most feared human diseases for at least three millennia. Despite the romantic deaths of operatic heroines like Mimi and Violetta, the reality for most people was more stark. Lassitude and nightime sweating were early symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis, fol- lowed by a chronic cough, loss of weight and a pallid complexion as the disease pro- gressed, until the terminal stage when the victim was spitting blood. If the patient was the male breadwinner, most families then faced destitution. When the German bacteriologist Robert Koch devised a technique to visualise the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacillus in 1882, medical practitioners realised that the disease had a microbiological origin, and was not a hereditary affliction or punish- ment for a dissolute lifestyle as previously believed. Understanding the aetiology was one thing; developing effective therapy that could overcome these germs was another matter. In the late nineteenth century, the favoured treatment was bed rest, fresh air and a diet rich in saturated fats, preferably taken at a sanatorium in a fashionable re- sort on a ‘Magic Mountain’ in the Swiss Alps. For most people this was out of the question. In Australia, from the 1870s there were small private or charitable sanatoria that catered for a handful of patients, but most sufferers stayed at home infecting the other family members who shared their bed or eating utensils. If a patient was too ill to be cared for at home, or had no family, he or she went to one of the State Asylums to die, surrounded by the demented and insane. It was 1911 before the NSW Govern- ment opened the large Waterfall Sanato- rium for Consumptives, and by this time there were smaller establishments run by the Red Cross Society and the Queen Vic- toria Homes on the Blue Mountains and in the Picton area. Sanatoria were some help in preventing the spread of infection, but few of the patients recovered their health. Various other treatments were tried. Koch himself developed Tuberculin, which was popular for a period, and seemed to im- prove the condition of certain patients. Less reputable practitioners advocated their own miracle cures, such as Spahlinger’s Serum and the expensive, but ineffective gold ex- tract Sanocrysin. ‘Artificial sunlight’ en- joyed a vogue in the United Kingdom, but Australia seemed to have enough of the nat- ural variety. Throughout this period, the incidence of tuberculosis in the community was actually declining, which gave physi- cians an unwarranted sense of optimism about the treatments they were advocat- ing. Nevertheless, in 1910 tuberculosis re- mained, after heart disease, the most com- mon cause of death in New South Wales. In 1895, Wilhelm Rontgen discovered the remarkable powers of certain electro- 30 TYLER magnetic emissions to penetrate the human body, and to visualise the internal organs on a fluorescent screen. By the end of the first decade in the twentieth, primitive X- ray machines were installed in the main Sydney teaching hospitals for orthopaedic procedures such as reducing dislocations or fractured bones. Some physicians also recognised the potential of the technique for revealing abnormal pathology in the lungs, particularly tuberculosis, but their more conservative colleagues were scepti- cal, claiming that their own experience en- abled them to identify tuberculosis sufferers by physical examination and auscultation of the chest through a stethoscope. Pathol- ogy tests did become routine, however, with sputum specimens subjected to microscopic examination to determine whether the tu- berculosis bacillus was present. In New South Wales, the first X-ray equipment dedicated to the diagnosis and assessment of tuberculosis was installed at Waterfall Sanatorium in 1929, to be fol- lowed shortly afterwards in 1930 by the Anti-Tuberculosis Association of NSW at its chest clinic at Albion Street in Surry Hills. - Their Kelly-Koet apparatus was a Heath Robinson contraption by modern standards, and of relatively low efficiency, although at the time it was described as ‘one of the most delicate instruments of its kind in existence’. The radiologist could ex- amine the patient directly through a fluo- rescent screen placed in front of the chest, or a large piece of specially-coated photo- graphic film would be exposed in a light- tight magazine, to give a life-size image that could be processed and examined later. The Anti-Tuberculosis Association of New South Wales, later known as Commu- nity Health and Tuberculosis Australia, had been founded by a group of influential con- cerned citizens in 1911 to grapple with the misery caused by tuberculosis amongst the impoverished residents of Sydney who could not afford private treatment. Many of the Association’s practices became a model for other voluntary organisations and govern- ment agencies throughout Australia. This paper refers mainly to the New South Wales experience because that can be regarded as a microcosm of the later national campaign. Early X-rays were a great help in con- firming a diagnosis of tuberculosis, but it was a Slow, inflexible and relatively expen- sive procedure. With only a handful of machines available, the technique could be used only with high-risk groups. ‘To illus- trate this point, the Anti-Tuberculosis As- sociation recorded only 351 X-rays in its first year of providing this service in one of the poorest parts of Sydney, where there was a high incidence of tuberculosis. It was 1937 before more than one thousand X-rays were taken in a single year. By 1941 this had risen to almost three and a half thou- sand, with 172 confirmed cases of tuber- culosis detected, a rate of one in twenty, which was a rather disturbing result that was never equalled in the later mass sur- veys. The obvious limitations of the early technique stimulated researchers to look for a simpler, cheaper solution. In 1936, Dr Manuel de Abreu in Rio de Janeiro be- gan the first mass survey experiments with a camera using 35mm cinema film. He mounted the camera in an enclosure be- hind the fluorescent screen so that he could photograph the image, using a wide-angle lens and the faster film emulsions that were becoming available. After reading about these experiments, Dr Harry Wunderly im- THE CELLULOID STRIP 31 provised some equipment along the same lines in his Adelaide consulting rooms in 1939. A standard Leica camera was fixed to a cardboard tunnel with adhesive tape. Because the level of this home-made de- vice could not be adjusted, it is said that Wunderly kept a pile of old medical books nearby so patients of different sizes could stand at the correct height for the screen. Some practitioners were sceptical that such a small image (36mm x 24mm) would be useful, compared with the image on the conventional 17 inch by 14 inch (430mm x 360mm) sheet film. However, by view- ing the 35mm negative through a suitable magnifying viewer, experienced radiologists found that they could detect major abnor- malities almost as easily as with the larger film. New approaches to treatment were also being introduced. The most common inter- vention was known as artificial pneumotho- rax, where an incision was made in the chest wall to collapse a diseased lung. To main- tain the collapse, nitrogen or compressed air was introduced into the pleural cavity. The theory behind this procedure was that a col- lapsed lung, being relieved of its breathing function, was given a chance to rest and re- cuperate. Patients could still live reason- ably normally on the remaining active lung, but had to return to a clinic every six or eight weeks to have a ‘refill’ of the gas, a simple outpatient procedure. When the Second World War erupted, the Australian military authorities decided that it was necessary to screen all recruits for tuberculosis before enlistment into the armed services. This was intended not only to weed out those who were unfit for ac- tive service, but also to prevent transmis- sion of the disease to healthy personnel. Dr Wunderly and others continued their exper- iments to convince the medical establish- ment that miniature radiography on 35mm film was a viable technique. Within two months, over 20,000 men had been exam- ined in this way, and 109 cases of active tuberculosis detected — one in every 183 re- cruits. Manufacturers soon modified their equipment so that a Leica or Contax minia- ture camera could be fitted, in addition to the conventional large-film magazine. This paved the way for many images to be made in quick succession on continuous film — ‘the celluloid strip’ referred to in the title of this paper. This experience prompted the Anti- Tuberculosis Association of NSW to acquire similar miniature equipment for screening the civilian population. One problem encountered with using standard 35mm cameras was that the film had to be wound forward manually after each exposure. During a busy period, this could result in inadvertent double expo- sures, or accidentally winding on more than one frame. Sometimes the film was fin- ished before the operator realised this. If the frame numbers got out of sequence with the patient record cards, the wrong person would be recalled for further examination. Furthermore, it was easy for the camera fo- cus to shift during film winding, so that all subsequent images were indecipherable. By 1942 the Anti-Tuberculosis Associa- tion was in a position to conduct its first mass industrial survey, when all 830 mem- bers of the staff of Philips Electrical In- dustries came to the Albion Street Chest Clinic for X-ray. Following the example of Philips, other factories, shops and gov- ernment departments began clamouring to be screened for tuberculosis. ‘These sur- veys were paid for by the firm taking part. 32 TYLER Philips had a vested interest in this project because they supplied the equipment, but as the war progressed, it became impossible to source further supplies from Europe. To meet the growing demand, in 1944 the As- sociation ordered additional 35mm X-ray camera equipment from the Fairchild Cor- poration in the USA. This duly arrived, but encountered a couple of unexpected hitches. Firstly, there was a waterfront strike in Sydney Harbour, and the wharf labourers refused to unload the crates. This difficulty was overcome through some deft negotiation, when mem- bers of the Waterside Workers’ Federation were promised the first screening survey us- ing the new apparatus. Then, to the dis- may of the Association, when the crates were unpacked it was found that the equip- ment consisted of modified aerial photogra- phy cameras using 70mm film, instead of the 35mm size ordered. None of the exist- ing processing or viewing equipment could use the wider film, but wartime exigencies meant that returning the equipment and re- placing it with the correct gear was likely to be a lengthy and uncertain process. So the Anti-Tuberculosis Association decided to persevere with 70mm film, and adapted its other equipment to suit. This size then became the de facto standard for all future mass X-ray screening in Australia, as a result of a simple clerical error in an American factory. One advantage was that, being twice the width of the 35 mm film, the image provided better resolution, and made the radiologists’ task easier. After the war, when Philips returned to the market they tried to promote a new film size - 40mm, but in Australia at least they were unsuc- cessful. Later, 100mm film was introduced for fixed, stationary installations, as an eco- nomical alternative to 17 by 14 inch sheet film. Following the end of the Second World War, Australia enjoyed an unprecedented period of prosperity and confidence, with a buoyant economy based on worldwide de- mand for primary products like wheat and wool. Having emerged victorious from the conflict, there was a widespread feeling that no goal was impossible to achieve. Some of the people at the Anti-Tuberculosis Asso- ciation began to dream of an ‘X-ray plant on wheels’ that could provide a tuberculo- sis diagnostic service in major rural or ur- ban centres, as well as the existing facility at the Chest Clinic in Surry Hills. Fundraising appeals organised by community groups in the Southern Tablelands yielded sufficient funds to translate that dream into reality. A standard Sydney single-deck bus was ac- quired, and fitted-out to the Association’s specifications, with space for a physician’s consulting room, a photographic darkroom, and storage for the delicate X-ray equip- ment in transit. On arrival at the selected location, the X-ray apparatus had to be re- moved from the bus, assembled indoors and connected to the electricity supply. The first visit by the new mobile unit was to Goulburn in 1947, where over five thousand examinations were made. Par- ticipation was voluntary, with a fee of five shillings (fifty cents) charged to individu- als, or ten shillings (one dollar) for a fam- ily group. Patients were required to par- tially undress, stripping to the waist — not an inviting prospect in a draughty country shire hall in mid-winter. Because of this, separate sessions for men and women were held each day. Films were processed on the spot and interpreted by the medical officer who accompanied the mobile unit. THE CELLULOID STRIP 33 In that euphoric spirit of postwar recon- struction, one of the rare amendments to the Australian Constitution was achieved in 1946, when the Commonwealth gained the power to legislate for the provision of medical services. Dr H. (later to become Sir Harry) Wunderly was appointed Com- monwealth Director of Tuberculosis to deal with the apparently intractable problem of reducing the damaging effects of tubercu- losis on society. Dr Wunderly himself had been a tuberculosis sufferer who had spent some time in sanatoria, both in Switzerland and Australia. His first task as Director was to investigate existing provisions. Over- all, they were poor — ranging from fairly good in Tasmania, to being almost non- existent in Queensland, and not much bet- ter in New South Wales. Wunderly esti- mated that there was a shortage of 3,200 hospital beds for tuberculosis throughout Australia, at a time when the total popu- lation was just over seven million. Coincidentally, the long-awaited thera- peutic breakthrough was occurring at the same time, with the release of two new ‘wonder drugs’ that seemed to promise a cure for tuberculosis. One was the an- tibiotic streptomycin, developed by Sel- man Waksman and his team of soil mi- crobiologists in the USA. The other was para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS), prepared through chemical manipulation of the as- pirin molecule by Jorgen Lehmann in Swe- den. Although initial results for both thera- pies were very encouraging, it soon emerged that in some patients there were serious side effects, or more disturbingly, a relapse of the disease. It was apparent that the bacillus developed a resistance to these drugs unless they were used in combination. Even then, about twenty per cent of patients were not cured. Isoniazid was synthesised in 1952 al- most simultaneously in both Europe and America. This was more effective, had few side effects, and was cheap to produce. Once again, however, the tuberculosis bacil- lus learnt to deal with the new drug, so chemotherapy took the form of a cocktail of all three drugs. During the 1960s a num- ber of new preparations were developed, re- placing both streptomycin and PAS, so that modern triple therapy usually consists of these newer drugs. Thoracic surgeons were also becoming more adventurous in applying their wartime battlefield experience, and were removing diseased portions of lung, or even whole lungs, in selected patients. In other pa- tients, a lung was collapsed by removing several ribs. These techniques stopped the spread of the disease, but could leave the patient disfigured or disabled. As the effec- tiveness of chemotherapy became evident, such radical surgery became unnecessary, so that the practitioners began to trans- fer their skills to the emerging discipline of cardio-thoracic surgery. As Director of Tuberculosis, Dr Wun- derly recommended measures for a con- certed national campaign to control the dis- ease. The concept of a common strategy had been agreed upon as early as 1911, but the First World War intervened before any action was taken. Then, in 1925, a Royal Commission on Health recommended that the States work together to deal with tuberculosis, but this time the proposals were thwarted by the Great Depression. So the Wunderly Report of 1947 in some ways was a repetition of what the experts had been saying for nearly forty years, except that this time the Government listened, 34 TYLER and voted funds to begin a national cam- paign, whose aim in Prime Minister Ben Chifley’s words was ‘to reduce tuberculosis to a problem of minor importance within two decades’. The essence of the Wunderly scheme was that the States should be financed to engage in a program of early detec- tion through compulsory radiography of all adults. This would be supplemented by a massive expansion of treatment facili- ties, because existing hospitals had exten- sive waiting lists. Finally, and despite ob- jections from Treasury, an adequate pension would be payable to tuberculous patients while they were infective, to ensure that they followed the prescribed therapy. These principles formed the basis for the Com- monwealth Tuberculosis Act of 1948, and the subsequent Tuberculosis Agreements under which the Commonwealth Govern- ment met all additional capital and opera- tional costs incurred in tuberculosis control by the States, on condition that the services were provided to the public without charge. New South Wales initially was wary about becoming involved, but eventually signed the Agreement in November 1949. The Anti-Tuberculosis Association of NSW was also invited to participate in the pro- gram because of its long involvement with tuberculosis diagnosis, prevention and cure, becoming the only non-government organi- sation in Australia to be offered this priv- ilege. The Association formally became a partner in April 1952, and twelve months later was ready to begin its intensive case- finding project. Six additional mobile X- ray units were acquired to supplement the two buses already in service, and extra staff were recruited and quickly trained to op- erate this equipment. At the same time, the Association’s new purpose-built Clinic opened on the corner of Crown Street and Foveaux Street in Surry Hills, partially funded by the Commonwealth. This Clinic provided a comprehensive range of diag- nostic and treatment services, including a twenty-bed hospital wing. The new fleet of mobile units bene- fited from the experience gained in pre- vious years, and the improved equipment then available. Compact 70mm camera X- ray apparatus fitted comfortably into an eighteen-foot caravan that could be parked in front of a prominent public building such as a railway station or town hall. Patients could remain fully clothed, so there was no need to schedule separate sessions for women and men. Film cassettes were re- turned to the Association’s headquarters in Crown Street for processing. There, each photographic frame would be examined sep- arately by two specialist radiologists, and if there was disagreement about interpreta- tion, a third opinion was sought. Some of the earlier technical problems had been overcome. Special cameras with fast, short-focus lenses having minimal op- tical aberrations were available. Large ca- pacity film magazines were fitted, holding up to 400 frames instead of the 36 on a stan- dard 35mm cassette. More importantly, motorised film advancing mechanisms were linked to the X-ray control panel so that synchronisation was maintained, and the X- ray could not be taken unless there. was film in the gate for the next exposure. Later still, the patient record card was pho- tographed on the same frame, to avoid mis- identification. It was almost foolproof, but a careless operator could still put the wrong record card in the reader, or forget to take it out between patients. Furthermore, an ac- THE CELLULOID STRIP | 39 ceptable result depended ultimately on the quality of the film processing. Careless han- dling or exhausted chemicals could degrade the image. To cope with the enormous demand for chest X-rays generated by the mass screen- ing campaign, the mobile units began work- ing a twelve-hour day, 9.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and sometimes on Saturdays. The staff attached to each unit normally worked in two shifts of three peo- ple. They were multi-skilled, and rotated the radiography, clerical and reception du- ties every hour. An experienced team could easily X-ray 800 people a day — better than one a minute. A mobile unit might be tour- ing country regions for up to three months, followed by a three-month stint in subur- ban areas. This was a lifestyle which did not suit everybody, although some of the young operators relished the opportunity to move away from the parental home in the less permissive era of the 1950s. Many incidents and tribulations accom- panied these efforts. Mobile units had to traverse rough country roads, cross flooded rivers, cope with heat, dust, and torrential downpours, yet still provide X-ray services in a remote town on the advertised dates. An advance party had previously visited the area to arrange a site for the van, electric- ity connections, and publicity. They also had to enlist teams of volunteers to help the survey proceed smoothly. Members of Red Cross, Country Women’s Associations, Rotary Clubs and Boy Scouts were amongst the many recruits who assisted with clerical work. Every person examined received a re- sponse from the Association within three weeks. For most people, this was merely a card to advise that no abnormality ex- isted. If further investigation was needed, the person received a notice to attend the Association’s Clinic or a major regional hos- pital for a larger X-ray and other tests to confirm the diagnosis. In later years, the service was improved by equipping a sepa- rate mobile unit for taking large X-rays, and this unit visited many of the smaller centres about three weeks after the initial screen- ing, accompanied by a travelling medical of- ficer who would follow-up doubtful cases. With the rapid expansion of the ser- vice in 1953, it was clear that the Anti- Tuberculosis Association of NSW would never be able to mobilise sufficient resources to cover the whole population with regu- lar surveys. The Division of Tuberculo- sis within the NSW Department of Health gradually developed its own facilities for community X-ray surveys, based closely on the Association’s model. To rationalise the itinerary, the Association agreed to take responsibility for the northern and north- western areas of New South Wales, while the Department took care of the remain- der. Similarly, municipalities in the Sydney metropolitan area were shared between the two agencies, with the State’s population divided in the ratio of one-third to the As- sociation, two-thirds to the Health Depart- ment. The procedures and equipment that had been developed by the Anti-Tuberculosis Association of NSW also provided a model for the compulsory campaign in other States, where the service was conducted solely by the respective State Health De- partments. For three months, NSW sta- tioned some of its mobile units in Mel- bourne to provide a pilot scheme for the Victorians. Ultimately, there were about thirty chest X-ray caravans working 36 throughout Australia. Surveys in Federal Territories such as the Northern Territory, A.C.T., Nauru and Christmas Island, were conducted by the Anti-Tuberculosis Associ- ation of NSW, under contract to the Com- monwealth Government. As the campaign continued, better equipment became available. The most no- table improvement was the introduction of the ‘Odelca’ mirror camera. This was based on the principle of the Schmidt camera used in astronomy, where a spherical mirror is used instead of a lens system to form the op- tical image. Although this is a rather bulky device, it is much faster and gives better sharpness over the full field. Although the Wunderly Report recom- mended that every person over the age of fourteen should be required by law to present for X-ray examination, at first both New South Wales and Victoria were reluc- tant to implement the sanction of fines for non-compliance. Their stance seemed vin- TYLER dicated in the first survey, where it was common in many areas for 85 per cent of the adult population to present for X-ray. In some western towns of New South Wales, the number of X-rays exceeded the official population statistics. Presumably, people were travelling long distances from outlying settlements. On the other hand, the fact that the re- maining 15-20 per cent of the population were not being examined was a concern, be- cause it was likely that a proportion of these knew or suspected that they may have tu- berculosis, and consequently avoided the X- ray examination. Initially, the results of mass screening were impressive, as the notifications of new tuberculosis cases in Metropolitan Sydney show (Figure 1). The number attend- ing usually declined when the mobile units made return visits two or three years later, probably because people became apathetic after being cleared on their first X-ray. 1000,000 1400 ©, 800,000 8 1200 bd Number surveyed = < ie) © 600,000 Te ge 8 2 : 800s N 400,000 600 : S) Cases diagnosed 400 200,000 200 %S x S) \ ts)