350 A. Keith Johnston, Esq., on the Scale adopted for 



tho scale of one-third of an inch to a mile, would be eight feet high. 

 The proportions for a Map of Scotland would not differ materially 

 from these estimates. 



A difference of opinion exists as to whether the system of contour 

 lines could be advantageously introduced on a map on the scale of 

 one inch to a mile. Mr Griffiths thinks that it could, and that its 

 usefulness would thereby be greatly increased ; but he considers that 

 a scale of three inches to a mile would not contain the requisite de- 

 tails, and be quite unfit for this purpose. It appears from this evi- 

 dence, therefore, that of the two maps proposed for Scotland, the 

 one will be so large as to be of no practical use, and the other so 

 small as to be quite imperfect. For as contour lines give none of 

 the effect of mountains, the most elevated regions will be the same 

 as a Hat country ; and since it is impossible to colour geologically 

 the sheets on the six-inch scale, such a map must prove useless to 

 the geologist and the scientific traveller. 



The experience of Ireland further shews, that there is not the 

 slightest probability of a map of the whole country on the one-inch 

 scale ever being supplied by private enterprise, because it would not 

 pay. 



In corroboration of this, it is stated,* that " Greenwood, who pub- 

 lished the counties of England on this scale, failed in consequence, 

 and that the quarter sheet of the Survey comprising Manchester, 

 one of the most extensively sold of any in England, cost the Go- 

 vernment, for engraving alone, £313, that 2450 copies were printed, 

 and that the return to the public will be just one-half of the original 

 cost." It is stated, besides, that, even if such a publication were 

 attempted, " it would be erroneous and inaccurate, if taken from the 

 large printed sheets, on account of the contraction of the paper." 

 If, therefore, a Map of Scotland on the desirable scale of one inch 

 to a mile be not produced by the Government, its execution may be 

 looked on as utterly hopeless. It may be proper to explain, that 

 the scale of the published map does not in the least affect that of 

 the original Survey, which must necessarily be large ; and that the 

 MS. maps may be consulted or copied, on payment of a fee, at the 

 Ordnance Office. 



Conceiving that it might be interesting to show the practice of 

 other nations in this respect, I have drawn out a Comparative Table 

 of the proportionate scales of the maps engraved from Surveys of 

 different countries in Europe. From this it will be seen that the 

 Map of France, in the preparation of which men of the highest scien- 

 tific attainments have from the first been employed, is on the scale 

 of three- fourths of an inch to a mile, or one-fourth less than the 

 Ordnance Survey of England ; and that all the others are smaller 

 than this, with the exception of Bavaria, WUrtemberg, and Baden. 



* Parliamentary Papers, vol., xv., page 39. 



