October 21, 1920] 



NATURE 



261 



association." This conference had been preceded by 

 the international meeting in Brussels of representa- 

 tives of the scientific academies of the Allies, at which 

 ineteorologA' was amongst the subjects considered. 

 A Geodetic and Geophysical Union was set up, 

 one of its branches being meteorology with Sir 

 Napier Shaw as chairman and Dr. Marvin (of the 

 I'.S. Weather Bureau) as secretary. A meeting in 

 Paris followed, summoned by the French Government, 

 at which a new international meteorological com- 

 mittee was apoointed, with Sir Napier Shaw as presi- 

 dent, in coniinuation of the old committee. A further 



complication arises out of the convention relating to 

 aerial navigation, which formed part of the work of 

 the Peace Conference, and by Annexe G regulates 

 "the collection and dissemination of statistical, cur- 

 rent, and special meteorological information." 



What shape international co-operation may ulti- 

 mately take is sufficiently obscure, but it is satisfactory 

 to know that Sir Napier Shaw, who has been respon- 

 sible for so great a development in the past, is to 

 continue to act as president of the new International 

 Committee. 



E. .M. W. 



Proposed British Institute for Geodetic Training and Research.* 



By Dk. E. H, GKniiiii^, F.R.S., and .Major K. O. He.nkici. 



GOOD maps are necessary for the development of 

 a country, for such purposes as defining property 

 boundaries, limits of mining and other concessions, 

 and so on, as well as for such engineering purposes 

 :- railway, road, and canal schemes, hydro-electric 



lienies, water-supply, irrigation, etc. The importance 

 of good charts, as well as of trustworthy information 

 .i> to tides and currents, scarcely needs emphasising. 

 .\n incorrect or out-of-date .chart will cause losses 

 due to delays to shipping, even if it does not lead to 

 more direct loss, .\nything that will assist in the 

 production of up-to-date and accurate charts is of 

 great and direct benefit to the shipping industry, 

 and through it to the nation. Even when such work 

 has once been completed there is no finality, as both 

 maps and charts require periodical revision at more 

 or less frequent intervals, according to circumstances. 



The economical and speedy production of such maps 

 ;ind charts necessitates a thorough knowledge of the 

 principles on which all survey work is based and of 

 the best means of applying such principles under 

 varying conditions, .\part from revision work, there 

 i* still a great deal of survey work waiting to be 

 carried out, enormous areas still exist in the Empire 

 which are surveyed very inadequately or not at all. 



Very large sums have been misapplied in the past 

 owing to a lack of appreciation of the principles 

 which should underlie all survey work. The Egyptian 

 Survey of 1S78-8S cost some 36o,o(k)I., and produced 

 incomplete niaps of some 2000 square miles. .Almost 

 the whole of the work had to be repeated in 1892-1907, 

 when, owing to the adoption of proper methods, and 

 in spite of many difficulties, some 13,000 square miles 

 were satisfactorily mapped at a cost of less than 

 45(>,(><xJ. 



The methods to be adopted depend upon cir- 

 curo.stances, the nature of the country, and the 

 object.s of the survey. The difficulties to be over- 

 come vary in different parts of the worlii. The e.\peri- 

 ences of the various surveyors have betn published in 

 their records and reports, but these are not in an 

 easily accessible form, nor is there any general index 

 or summary to be found. The originals are circulated 

 to a limited numl>er of persons and institutions, and 

 buried in libraries, even if their e.xistenre is not 

 forgotten. When a new <lifficirlty arises in any survey 

 it has to be tackled de novo, though it is quite likely 

 that similar circumstances have ariiicn before. In 

 such a rase it is probable that the surveyor in ques- 

 lion dfx's not know of it; and, even if the reporf.s ;ire 

 i rpssible to him (which they frequently are not), the 



' From ftn addrei.t on " The Urr«nt Ne«d for th« O^iitton within lh« 



I ,...- .,r ft Centrml In'tilntion Inr 'I'rsiniiir and RcMarch in the Science* 



■"K< HyHroffraphy, and Geodeny," delivered to ft joint meeting 



':^i A end K et the Cardifr icevting of the British Associa- 



• AiigaM 97. 



NO. 2660, VOL. ro6] 



actual information he wants is most effectually buried. 

 This leads to much waste of etfort, as there is no 

 central body to which he can refer. 



.■Vs regards e.N.isting departments and instiiulimis, 

 the Dominion, Indian, and Colonial Surveys are all 

 independent, and, broadly speaking, train their own 

 staff. There are, however, good survey schools in 

 some of the Dominions. The Ordnance Survey 

 produces its well-known maps, which are revised 

 periodically, and they are so complete that no exten- 

 sive survey work is required by outsiders in this 

 country. This accounts for the lack of attention paid 

 to the subject outside Government Departments, but 

 the result has been that the development of the science 

 of surveying has largely stagnated in this country, 

 the centre of the Empire. 



There is, therefore, a distinct need for a school 

 and institution in which students can be trained in the 

 principles of survey work, and where the subject is 

 studied as a whole. This school would also serve 

 as a central information bureau, enabling the scat- 

 tered surveyors of the Empire to keep in touch with 

 developments, and to which they could apply for 

 information and assistance. 



It might seem at first sight thai this could and 

 should be undertaken by a Government Department, 

 but this is scarcely possible for various reasons. 

 There is no central authority which deals with the 

 Government Surveys of the Empire, though a link is 

 kept between the Colonial (as distinct from the 

 Dominion) Surveys by the Colonial Survey Committee. 

 The various Surveys and Departments n.iturally have 

 to consider their own immediate needs first ; they are 

 usually short of funds, and consequently not in a 

 position to carry out the work now being discussed. 

 Even if a central authority were formed for this pur- 

 pose, it could deal only with (ioverninent Surveys, and 

 could not train surveyors and engineers for private work. 

 There .seems little doubt that most of the Govern- 

 ment Surveys would welcome a school from which 

 thev could recruit their staff and an instimiioii to 

 which they could apply for information, aod which 

 could keep them in touch with the activiii.- .md pro- 

 gress in other parts of the world. 



The existence of such an establishment would also 

 encourage the prmluction of improvetl designs of 

 instruments and the production of new time-saving 

 devices; there have been many such improvements of 

 late years, but mostly from abrcid. e.g. invar tapes 

 and wires for base measurement (France) and an im- 

 proved levelling instrument (Germany). There are 

 also many developments in view which require 

 working out, e.g. the use of wireless time-signals for 

 the determination of longitude in the field, survey 

 from aircraft, etc. .At present makers have little 



