=Observations from Kites.= It is strange that the Chinese, who have been flying kites many thousand years, should not have made improvements in the primitive construction of these devices. It remained for Wendham, in 1866, to perceive the advantage of superimposing two or more planes, one above the other, for the purpose of securing a larger area of sustaining surface. After examining Figure 3 almost any one can build an efficient kite. Heights of two to three thousand feet may be reached by using cable-laid twine No. 24, but in order to gain great altitudes pianoforte wire must be used. Soft pine is the best and most available material. Spruce is stronger, but more difficult to secure. The sticks should be straight-grained. The cloth may be silk or the stronger and finer grades of cotton. It should be torn, not cut. The ends will then be true and square with the fiber of the cloth. Kites are used not only to secure weather observations, but they have been used to draw sleds in the Arctic region, and to draw wagons and boats. By adjusting the points at which the pulling cords are attached to the boat an ingenious sailor is able to proceed nearly at right angles to the direction of the wind. [Illustration: FIG. 3.—STANDARD WEATHER BUREAU KITE.] When it is known that a box kite having only sixty square feet of sustaining surface, flying at a considerable height, may lift a person of ordinary size, one is impressed with the idea that vessels of commerce might employ kites of large dimensions to increase the speed of sailing ships. The kites would fly in a stratum whose velocity is not restricted by friction with the surface of the water. To launch a kite: run out about one hundred and fifty feet of the cord or wire while the kite is held by an assistant, who should give the kite a toss upward in the direction in which it must go. It is important that it be cast off directly in line with the wind. If the wind is light it may be necessary to run a short distance with a long line out in order to effect a launching.