Light Alloys

THE problem of producing an alloy which shall combine great strength with a low specific weight has been before metallurgists ever since the commercial manufacture of aluminium became an accomplished fact; more recently, however, the requirements, in the first place, of racing yachts, then of motor cars and of motor cycles, and, finally, the pressing problems of aerial navigation, have added a rapidly increasing importance to the whole question. At the present moment German manufacturers particularly are putting forth claims in regard to achievements in this direction which appear startling at first sight, and it is interesting to examine the whole state of the question.