KITE ( called apparently because soaring in the air like a bird). A contrivance consisting of a light framework, covered with paper or cloth and held by a string in such a way that the wind acting upon it, as upon a sail, raises it to a greater or less height above the ground. The origin of the kite is doubtful, but it has been for many centuries as a toy, particularly by the Japanese and Chinese. and has recently conic into quite extended use in meteorological obser•a tions. and for other useful put poses. Kites are made in various forms, the favorite form being perhaps an isosceles triangle, the base of which becomes the top of the kite, and is surmounted by a curved rib. This framework is covered with tightly- stretched paper or cloth, and has at its pointed end a taq composed of twisted scraps of paper, tied to a long string. The string for holding the kite during flight is attached near it.; top. In China and Japan the form of kite is more diversified than elsewhere, birds, hats. drag ons, and other creatures being imitated. and the framework being covered with silk or paper having various painted ornamental designs. Modern kites for scientific purposes are generally tailless and constructed in one of two forms, known as the Malay and the Hargrave.
four extremities; a sharp-pointed wire extended a foot from the top of the upright stick of the cross, a silk ribbon was tied to the end of the string which Itch! the kite, the end next the hand, and a key suspended at the junction of the twine and silk. The kite was raised by Franklin a thunder-storm in June, 175'2. and almost immediately he had the satisfaction of experi encing a spark on applying his knuckles to the hey; and when the string became wet by a pass ing shower. the electricity became abundant. A Leyden jar was charged at the key, and by the spark thus obtained spirits were ignited, and other experiments performed.
Since the remarkable experiment of Franklin the use of the kite for scientific purposes has been great ly ext ended. Self-record ing anemometers were sent up to a height of 2500 feet by E. D. Archibald in England in 1882-86. (Consult the volumes of Nature for those years.) In 1885 and 1887 Alexander McAdie used the kite to ex plore the electrical conditions of the air up to 1000 feet above Blue ]fill Observatory. In 1890 'William A. Eddy began adaMing his Malay kite
to meteorological work, and thermometers were thus sent up by him at Bayonne, N. J., in 1891. in 1S94 a Richard self-registering thermometer was sent up to an altitude of 1000 feet above ground by Eddy and .`4. I'. Ferguson. at the Blue Hill Observatory of A. L. Retch, and from that date onward Notch has made kite-work a promi nent feature in the meteorological investigations carried on at this observatory. The subject was taken up in 1895 by Prof. W. L. Moore, as Chief of the United States Weather Bureau, where Prof. C. F. Marvin developed the mechanics of the kite and so improved the construction of the ITareTave or cellular kite, of the meteorograph that goes up with it, and of the reeling apraratus on the ground, that his complete outfit for daily One of the first attempts to use a kite for scientific purposes was made in 1749 by Dr. Alex ander Wilson, an Edinburgh astronomer, who attached thermometers, probably of his OW11 Make. to kites, in order to determine the temperature in the (-hoods. After this came the familiar experi ment of Benjamin Franklin, who demonstrated the identity of electricity and lightnim% Ile con structed a kite whose framework consisted of a cross made of two light strips of cedar: over this was stretched a silk handkerchief, tied to the work at any station is generally recognized as the best that has as yet been made. In 1898 seventeen Weather Bureau equipped for daily 1;ite ascensions. The Hargrave kite, as made by Professor Marvin, consists of a light framework of wood. so eovered with cloth as to form two rectangular cells in front and one larger rectangular cell in the rear: the metcorograph hangs from the centre of the midrib. It is neces sary for the kite to lift its own weight, eight pounds; that of the meteorograph, two pounds; and that of the kite-line, or fine steel wire, which may amount to twenty or thirty pounds in high ascensions. But the principal obstacle to high flights is the pressure of the wind on the wire. Some authorities prefer to ily several kites at tandem, but the Weather Bureau experience is in favor of one kite for elevations up to 7000 feet. Among the highest flights hitherto recorded at Blue Hill is a vertical height of about 14,000 feet, when seven kites were flown tandem and five miles of wire were used.