Stresses in Beams

I should like to say a word with regard to Lhe origin of this paper. The paper which was read by Mr. H. Kempton Dyson some time ago acted as a thought stimulant, and started me pondering on flexural stress. The next incentive was the inauguration of the Lancashire & Cheshire Branch, and, being elected Chairman, circumstances willed me to prepare the first paper. This paper was written under very keen pressure, but, I have thought a good deal over it since, and, as a result, I commend it to your consideration. I hope you will set aside, for an hour or two at any rate, orthodox opinions, and treat this matter with a philosophical mind. I recognise that it is a serious thing to challenge a theory which is generations old, but, at the same time, I feel confident that there is supplementary resistance that we are not fully cognisant of. Albert S. Spencer Introdztctiorl. - There is an

In Mr. H. H. Clapham’s paper on the “ Education of a Structural Engineer,” published in this Journal(pp. 301-311) there is an appalling list (p. 304) of subjects which the student should master, and an equally terrifying list of things of which he should have some considerable knowledge. Of course, the student who could carry through the programme has not yet been born; but if we examine it carefully we shall find that nothing has been included that it is really desirable to omit. With the most careful pruning of syllabuses the poor student must be in grave danger of mental indigestion. W.G. Sheppard