There is a publication called the “Aeronautical Annual,” edited by James Means, Boston, Mass. In No. ‘Z and 3 of that work, Mr. Octave Chanute goes exhaustively into the question of sailing flight, and specifies every letter and article that bears on the subject. This paper may be said to take up the running where Mr. Chanute leaves off. My reasons for not writing to that periodical straight, are that publication would be delayed for many months; and the state of the art is such that at any moment some one of the many who are investigating this subject may drop on the facts stated in this paper, take out a master patent which would rule the construction of all future flying machines, and tax us all round for our good, as the protectionists say, thus throwing our work back for years. I therefore, with your permission, read this paper, and show the models that work as I describe, and thereby destroy the novelty of the invention for all time.