MUCH attention has been given recently in Parliament and the public Press to the subject of protective measures against Zeppelins and other hostile aircraft. The position of the matter suggests that we have here another instance of the result of neglect of scientific knowledge, and of the prevision which conies with it, in our national executive. For many years Germany has been perfecting the Zeppelin airship with the view of making it an effective weapon of war. Every failure of an airship during this period has been gleefully chronicled in our daily papers, but until Zeppelins appeared over Antwerp and rained down bombs upon the city, little serious attention was given to them by the lay Press. We should have supposed, however, that the executive officers of departments entrusted with the country's defence would be fully informed of the progress that was being made, and that practical provision would be made to meet the danger likely to arise.