July 1 8, 1S89] 



NATURE 



^7^ 



and Cotard, and these gentlemen, who have received 

 many congratulations on their success, have lately issued 

 an account of the manner in which their project has been 

 realized. 



Maps on a plane surface give, of cau^e, a very in- 

 adequate impression of the real appearance of our planet ; 

 and ordinary globes are too small to indicate, even 

 vaguely, the extent of the spaces represented on them. 

 The idea of making a globe one millionth of the size of 

 the earth deserves, therefore, to be described as a "happy 

 thought," for, although the meaning of a million may not 

 be fully appreciated, it is not absolutely inaccessible to 

 the human mind. When we see a place or a district 

 marked on a globe, and learn that the reality is a million 



times larger, the proportions are impressively suggested, 

 with at least some approach to accuracy. 



The diameter of the globe constructed by MM. Villard 

 and Cotard is 1273 metres. It has a circumference of 

 40 metres, and a millimetre of its surface represents a 

 kilometre. The globe consists of an iron framework made 

 chiefly of meridians united to a central core. This 

 structure is carried by a pivot resting on an iron support. 

 To the meridians pieces of wood are attached, and on 

 these are fixed the panels composing the surface of the 

 globe. These panels are made of sheets of cardboard 

 bent by hand to the required spherical shape, and covered 

 with plaster specially hardened, fig. i ^ shows how they 

 are applied to the underlying structure. The total surface 



Fig. I. 



is divided into forty spindle-shaped spaces, the breadth 

 of each of which at the equator is exactly one metre. 

 Each " spindle " is itself subdivided, so that there are 600 

 panels of various dimensions. The designs are painted 

 on the panels before they are put in their place, in order 

 that the globe may ultimately be easily dismantled and 

 removed. 



The edifice in which the globe is shown has a metallic 

 framework forming a cupola. It is lighted from above, 

 and by the great glass frames of the sides. From a terrace 

 or narrow foot-bridge at the upper part the visitor can see 

 the polar and temperate regions of the northern hemi- 

 sphere. As he descends, he is able to see in succession 

 all the regions of the globe to the south pole. At the 



bottom he comes to the support of the globe with the 

 apparatus for putting it in motion (Fig. 2). 



Even the loftiest mountains, if shown in relief, could 

 only have been represented by elevations a few milli- 

 metres in height. Consequently the various mountain 

 ranges have been painted on the surface. The various 

 depths of the ocean are indicated in a similar manner. 



To facilitate the study of the globe, it has been mounted 

 with its axis vertical, and it may be turned upon the pivot 

 which carries it. If its rotation were made to equal that 

 of the earth, at its equator, a point 'of its surface would 

 move at the rate of half a millimetre in the second. This 



' We are indebted [to the editor of Li Naiiirj Pjr the figures here re- 

 produc;d. 



