Jtine 6, 1878J 



NATURE 



145 



MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ANDREW SCOTT 

 WAUGH 



FROM a paper in the Royal Engineer Journal, we 

 obtain some interesting facts concerning the career 

 of this able officer of the Indian Survey, whose death we 

 announced at the time (vol. xvii. p. 350). Having been 

 appointed in July, 1832, and retiring in i86r, his services 

 in the department extended over a period of close upon 

 thirty years. 



Under Col. Everest, as his astronomical assistant, 

 Waugh took part in the measurement of the great arc 

 of the meridian extending from Cape Comorin, the most 

 southern point of the peninsula of India, to the Deyrah 

 Doon at the base of the Himalayas. In December, 1834, 

 we find him with his Chief at the measurement of the 

 northern base-line in the above valley, an operation that 

 extended over a year. In the connection of this base with 

 that near Sironj, about 450 miles to the south, Waugh 

 took a large share of work, and also, in 1 837, at the re- 

 measurement of this *Sironj base with the new bars that 

 had been used in the Deyrah Doon. The wonderful 

 accuracy secured on these grand operations may be esti- 

 mated by the difference of length of the Deyrah base-hne, 

 as measured, and as deduced by triangulation from Sironj, 

 being only 7-2 inches. 



He shared with Everest the arduous observatory work, 

 carried on simultaneously at the stations of Kaliana 

 Kalianpur, and Dumargidda, by which the arc of ampli- 

 tude was determined, and brought this important work to 

 an end in 1841. Between 1834 and 1840 he was also 

 conducting the Ranghir series in the North-West Pro- 

 vinces, and in 1842, the triangulation through the 

 malarious Rohilkund Terai, which Everest acknowledged 

 to be " as complete a specimen of rapidity combined with 

 accuracy of execution as there is on record." Sir Andrew 

 thus had the good fortune to be the immediate pupil of 

 the great geodesist who placed the Indian Surveys on 

 their present footing, for the whole system was then, 

 elaborated and brought to a high pitch of excellency 

 This, Waugh, on succeeding to the appointment of Sur- 

 veyor-General and Superintendent of the Topographical 

 Survey in 1843, made it his first object to keep up and 

 improve. Sir George Everest's high opinion of the man 

 who had served under him on so many important opera- 

 tions may be understood from the singularly strong terms 

 which he used when recommending Waugh as his 

 successor. 



He began by carrying out the remaining series, seven in 

 number, a total of 1,300 miles in length and embracing an 

 area of some 28,000 square miles, originating from the 

 Calcutta longitudinal series on the gridiron system pro- 

 jected by Sir G. Everest, The eastern side was formed 

 by the Calcutta meridional series (begun in 1844 and 

 finished in 1848), which terminated in another base-line 

 near the foot of the Darjeeling hills. 



One of the finest of surveying operations, commenced 

 about this period of Sir A. Waugh's tenure of office, was 

 the north-east Himalaya series, connecting the northern 

 ends of all the before-mentioned meridional series. In 

 these field-operations Waugh took a leading part. The 

 line of country was along the base of the Himalayas (the 

 Terai). These operations led to fixing the positions 

 and the heights of some of the highest and grandest 

 of the Himalayan peaks in Nipal and Sikkim ; one 

 of these, 29,002 feet above the sea, was named by 

 Waugh Mount Everest, and was found to be the 

 highest in the world ; its name, one well-known to the 

 natives, is Devidanga. Mr. Clements Markham, in his 

 exhaustive memoir on the Indian Surveys, states that the 

 dangers and difficulties in the execution of this work were 

 air greater than have been encountered in the majority of 

 the Indian campaigns. 



On the South of India, the South Concan, the Madras 



coast series, the South Parisnath and South Maluncha 

 series were also begun and finished, and several pages 

 might be written of the dangers and difficulties the Survey 

 Staff had to contend with. Of all the Indian Survey 

 work that originated in Col. Waugh' s tenure of office, on 

 account of the general interest attaching to the country, 

 its beauty, and its vastness, the survey of Kashmir was 

 chief. This important and difficult survey, finally com- 

 pleted in 1864, was in full swing of work at the time Sir 

 Andrew Waugh retired from the department, and we 

 cannot do better than quote the lines the late Lord 

 Canning was pleased to write privately to Sir Andrew 

 Waugh in July, 1859, on being shown the first instalment 

 of this work. Coming from so high and intelligent a 

 source, they are a tribute not only to the Surveyor- 

 General, but to the whole department. " I cannot resist 

 telling you at once with how much satisfaction I have 

 seen these papers. It is a real pleasure to turn from the 

 troubles and anxieties with which India is still beset, and 

 to find that a gigantic work of permanent peaceful useful- 

 ness, and one which will assuredly take the highest rank 

 as a work of scientific labour and skill, has been steadily 

 and rapidly progressing through all the turmoil of the 

 last two years. I never saw a more perfect or artistic- 

 like production of its kind than this map." 



The other meridional series were also pushing forward. 

 Jogi Tila by Jhelum and the Gurhagurh by Umritsur to 

 join the Arumlia. Kattywar and Cutch must also be in- 

 cluded. For a full and detailed account of these many 

 difficult operations that comprise every kind of country 

 and climate that India presents, we must refer the reader 

 to the memoir before-mentioned. 



Space will not allow us to enter into detail of all the 

 important work done for the survey of India during 

 Waugh's tenure of office, but it may be stated roundly 

 that he advanced the triangulation by no less than 316,000 

 square miles, an area three times that of England, Wales, 

 Scotland, and Ireland, and of this 94,000 were topo- 

 graphically surveyed. Col. Waugh retired from the 

 service in 1861, receiving as usual the honorary rank of 

 Major-General, and Her Majesty conferred on him the 

 honour of knighthood in the same year. He had held the 

 post of Surveyor-General for seventeen years, had main- 

 tained the high character of the survey, and was highly 

 esteemed by the whole department. The results of the 

 work during his incumbency are given in some thirteen 

 different volumes and reports deposited in the India 

 Office, parts of which originally complete appear to have 

 been lost. In 1856 the Royal Geographical Society pre- 

 sented him with their gold medal, and in 1858 he was 

 elected a member of the Royal Society. For some years 

 past his health had been failing, and he suffered much, 

 dying on February 21, 1877, at his residence in South 

 Kensington. 



THE HARVEY TERCENTENARY 



C\^ Saturday evening the Royal College of Physicians 

 ^^ commemorated the tercentenary of Harvey, the dis- 

 coverer of the circulation of the blood, by a banquet in 

 the library of their institution in Pall Mall. The presi- 

 dent, Dr. Risdon Bennett, occupied the chair, and the 

 company included the Marquis of Ripon, Viscount Card- 

 well, Mr. Gladstone, M.P., Mr. Lowe, M.P., Mr. Spencer 

 Walpole, M.P., Baron Cleasby, Mr. Justice Denman, 

 Prof. Huxley, Dr. Allen Thomson, Prof. Owen, Capt. 

 Cameron, R.N,, Dr. Carpenter, Mr. Benett- Stanford, 

 M.P., Dr. Lyon Playfair, M.P., the President of the 

 Royal College of Surgeons, the President of the College 

 of Physicians, Ireland, Dr. Richardson, Sir W. Jenner, 

 and Sir W. Gull 



The Marquis of Ripon and] Mr. Walpole, M.P., in 

 responding to the toasts 'of the House of Lords and 

 the House of Commons, respectively, paid highftributes 



