io6 NATURAL SCIENCE. feb , 



Yezo and the Kuriles. In 1862, the Americans P. Blake and 

 R. Pumpelly, who were engaged by the Tokugawa Government, 

 made some observations in the southern part of Yezo ; while from 

 1873 to 1875 various surveys were made under the superintendence of 

 B. S. Lyman. Work was then suspended for thirteen years, till in 

 1888 Mr. K. Jimbo was appointed Chief Geologist of the Hokkaido 

 and carried on the survey for the local authorities independently of 

 the Imperial Survey, but in accordance with its methods. 



Of Japan proper, the first geological survey was undertaken in 



1878, by Mr. T, Wada, under the Geographical Bureau. In May 



1879, the Imperial Geological Survey was established in accordance 

 with the plans of Dr. Edmund Naumann, then Professor of Geology in 

 the University, who was appointed its head. After some changes, the 

 Survey finally assumed the title of " Chishitsu-cho-sajo," or Geological 

 Survey Institute, T. Wada was appointed Director and E. Naumann 

 Chief Geologist. In 1885 Dr. T. Harada succeeded Dr. E. Naumann, 

 as inspector of both geological and topographical surveys, while the 

 chemical laboratory was transferred from the direction of Mr. O. 

 Korschelt to that of Mr. J. Takayama. At present the only foreigner 

 on the staff is Dr. Max Fesca, the adviser of the agronomical 

 survey. 



The work of the Survey is distributed among four Sections, — 

 Topographical, Geological, Agronomical and Chemical. 



The Topographical Section makes and publishes maps upon 

 which the geological features may subsequently be laid down. The 

 original survey is done on the scale of i : 50,000, and in the office 

 these sheets are reduced to the various scales required for the pub- 

 lished maps. Simple topographical maps are published, both in 

 Japanese and English, on the scales of i : 200,000 and i : 400,000, and 

 each is constructed after the modified Flamsteed's projection, with 

 the middle meridian 136° E. of Greenwich and the middle parallel 

 36° N. Of these maps, the large scale have contour-lines at 

 distances of 40 metres, and the small scale at distances of 100 metres.. 

 Naturally the work of this Section has to be a stage ahead of that 

 of the Geological. In the summer of last year, out of 97 sheets, the 

 surveys of 53 had been finished, 29 sheets had been issued and 6 

 were in course of preparation. 



The Geological Section makes a systematic geological examina- 

 tion of the whole country, with special regard to economic 

 requirements. The surveyor examines the geological deposits and 

 their structure within the region to which he has been appointed, and 

 collects specimens of rocks, minerals and fossils from that region. He 

 makes sketches of the routes he has traversed on the scale of i : 500,000, 

 and puts on them detailed geological information, as well as the 

 position of available economic materials. He also sketches profiles 

 and sections, whether artificial or natural. On the return of the 

 geologist to the office, the specimens that he has collected are 



