OYSTER CULTURE IN AMERICA. 851 



position on the ground, by finding the point where the 

 angles measured between the objects agree with those 

 already determined upon the map. Or this process may 

 be reversed : the lot can be staked off, the angles measured 

 at each corner, and then subsequently laid down by the 

 protractor on the map, and the boundaries of the lot 

 determined. The method is not only simply and accurate, 

 but is the only one practicable at small expense. Its 

 advantages are : 



1. Any lot entered and located on the water can be 

 laid down in its exact relative position on the map, and, 

 vice versa, any lot located on the map can be laid down in 

 its exact relative position on the water. 



2. There is absolutely no method of making a fraudu- 

 lent survey, as any fraud on the part of the Engineer could 

 "'be instantly detected by any examiner, and any misappro- 

 priation of area by the owner, by moving stakes or buoys, 

 could be immediately ascertained by re-measurement of 

 the angles subtended at the suspected mark. 



3. After the angles are once ascertained, the stake or 

 buoy can be re-established, if lost, without difficulty. 



4. But three instruments are needed at the most, viz. : 

 Two sextants and one three-armed protractor. After the 

 lot is laid down on the maps the area is found either 

 graphically or by calculation, and the description, giving 

 metes and bounds and the angles subtended at each corner, 

 is drawn up. The whole, together with a plot, is recorded 

 in the record-books of the Engineer. A scale of I0 ^ 

 (equal to about 27.8 yards to an inch) has been adopted 

 for lots of 10 acres and under, and a scale of 20 ^ (equal to 

 about 556 yards to an inch) for lots of 100 acres and 

 upwards. Intermediate scales will be used as necessary. 



