SOME astounding figures have been recorded of the services of life-boats in 1961. The month of August this year was, for instance, by far the busiest month the service has ever known since it was founded 137 years ago. During the month life-boats were called out on service 181 times. The previous highest figure recorded for any one month was in August, 1956, when there were 146 launches. By the end of August this year the number of services by life- boats had already exceeded the average annual figure during the years of the last world war. At the time of going to press reports are pouring in of services during the gales in the autumn of this year, and it is clear that the record for the whole year will be one of remark- able achievement and endeavour.

NAVIGATIONAL AIDS The Institution has decided to fit echo sounders as navigational aids in all new life-boats and to equip some older life-boats with echo sounders where they are clearly needed. Experi- ments designed to test the practical value of echo sounders in life-boats have been carried out over the past four years, seven different types of instru- ments having been experimented with.

All those life-boats which at present have an older type of R/T transmitter- receiver are to be fitted with the more powerful Curlew type. One consequence of this will be to increase substantially the number of boats which can operate direction-finding equipment on both the distress frequency and on the naviga- tional beacons around our coast.

USE OF MORPHIA The Institution has obtained permis- sion from the Home Office under the Dangerous Drugs Regulations for cox- swains and motor mechanics to be in possession of morphia, and for certified first-aiders who are crew members to administer morphia at sea to the injured. This permission is at present confined to those parts of the United Kingdom in which regulations issued by the Home Office are applicable, and for the time being, therefore, Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man are excluded.

INTERNATIONAL LIFE-BOAT CONFERENCE Edinburgh has been chosen as the site of the ninth international life-boat conference, which will be held from the 3rd to the 6th June, 1963. These con- ferences have taken place at intervals of four years, with interruptions be- cause of the last war, since 1924, when the first international life-boat con- ference was held in London. The site of the eighth international conference was Bremen. Invitations have been issued to 26 overseas life-boat societies to attend.