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The History of the Arch To the Editor of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: In your issue of April 19th there appears, in the article on Babylonian Excavations by the Germans, the following statements: Though we have long been taught that the arch was of Roman origin, the arch of this sewer was perfect and symmetrical and from an age not far from B. C. If later and fuller research corroborates this date, this will undoubtedly be the oldest arched structure on record, though it is hardly true to give to the Romans any credit for the invention of the arch. Many very early brick arches have been found, notably at Nippur in Babylonia (in 4000 B. C.) and in Egypt at Rekakna (3500 B. C.), Dendera (in 3000 B. C.), and beside the Ramesseum at Thebes (13th century B. C.). The earliest known masonry arch has been found in a tomb at Bet Khallaf in Egypt and belongs, according to Prof. Breasted, to tha30th century B. C. Arches were, as a matter of fact, used all through the ancient world long before the Romans and were, as a matter of fact, invented by no one race. The wonder is that this form of construction was not known to the Greeks; though Fowler and Wheeler (Greek Archeology, p. 181) mention examples as early as the fifth century. It is strange enough that pre-Hellenic Greece, whose relations with Egypt and the East have been proven, continued to rely on the clumsy corbeled arch; and more so that classic Greece, whose construction was so perfect in every respect, made no use of the arch, with which they must have been familiar, save in one or two isolated examples. Perhaps some one of your readers can explain the reason for this. CYRUS HAMMOND. BaUiol CoUege, Oxford, England. Kapok as Stuffing for Life-saving Appliances To the Editor of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: My attention was drawn to an article in your issue of January 18th last about His Mattress a Liferaft." Inclosed I send you a booklet edited by the Department of Agriculture at Buitenzorg, Java, Dutch East Indies, wherein you will see that the best material for such purposes is the genuine kapok fiber (Ceiba pen-tandra L. or Eriodendron anfractuosum D. C.) growing in Dutch East India and also in the Philippines. The German navy and many passenger lines are using Java kapok only. Lifebelts, lifebuoys, mattress rafts, deck chair cushions, waistcoats for sailors working outside shipboard, may be stuffed with it. It is not necessary that the cover be waterproof; the fiber alone will have buoyancy enough. J. BLEY. Selokaton, Java. A Plea for the Enlisted Marine To the Editor of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: Your very able and timely article on Reorganization of the Navy Personnel is almost exclusively taking care of the officer; and while you are at it, why not break a lance for the enlisted marine, who in numerical proportions surely is an item to be figured with. At present the prospects of this latter class are indeed limited, and with a growing navy these prospects do not grow in proportion. Some means should be found to provide civil positions in the Government service for honorably discharged soldiers and sailors, similar to the practice in vogue in the German army and navy. The navy especially will always suffer for want of mariners because the pay is small and the possibilities of pleasant married life remote, while with some such arrangement as guaranteeing the honorably discharged men civil service preferment in police, court, land office, etc., inducements could be created which so far nowhere are offered. Chicago, II. E. GAIDZIK. The Flame Detector To the Editor of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: In your issue of March 15th appeared a note to the effect that the German, Leithauser, had discovered that a flame, especially if enriched by potassium salts, will act as a detector for wireless waves. It should scarcely be necessary to remind your readers that Leithauser is nearly thriteen years behind in his discovery." I observed this phenomenon in September, 1900, and it has frequently described in scientific papers, especially in a paper presented by myself before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in August, 1906. The flame detector was the first hot gas deWctor and the forerunner of the present audion, which is now known to almost every wireless man, especially in America. The flame and incandescent filament audions are covered by twelve United States patents, the basic one ? being No. 979,275 of December 20th, 1910, filed February 2nd, 1905. LEE DE FOBEST. Palo Alto, Cal,
