June 1. 1896.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



L23 



and if cultivated under proper conditions makes rapid 

 growth. It is best grown in sphagnum moss and fibrous 

 peat. There is great variety of colour, which varies from 

 almost white to a very dark rose. 



The genus (hicidiiim is a very large one, comprising 

 over two hundred and fifty species, and inhabiting 

 tropical America and the West Indies. Some are very 

 cool-growing kinds, and require only the ordinary green- 

 house in which to flourish, whilst others must have 

 more warmth. ('. iiapilin is one of the latter, and 

 must have the warmest house. It is generally known 

 as the "butterfly orchid," and it certainly resembles 

 a large butterfly in shape. The flowers are pale golden 

 yellow, barred with chestnut brown. It may either be 

 grown fixed on a block of wood, or in a wooden basket 

 planted in sphagnum moss and fibrous peat. It is a 

 compact-growing plant, and the flower spikes (which are 

 long and slender) are produced from the base of the last 

 made pseudo-bulb, and the flower at its apex, one following 

 the other in succession for several years. 



[\Xe are indebted to the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, 

 M.P., for his consent to reproduce, with Mr. Burberry's 

 aid, a selection from his orchids. — Eds.] 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE 

 BRITISH ISLANDS. 



By Hugh Eobert Mill, D.Sc, F.E.S.E. 



A SUGGESTION put forward in my paper in the 

 January Number of Knowledge, on " Geography 

 as a Science in England," that a complete geo- 

 graphical account of the British Islands might be 

 compiled on the basis of the Ordnance Survey 

 maps, has been received with considerable favour. It may 

 not be out of place to summarize here the developments 

 which have occurred, and to re-state the plan with the 

 greater precision that lapse of time, the accumulation of 

 fresh information, and the kindly criticism of friends have 

 made possible. 



I must, in the first instance, accord to Mr. J. Logan 

 Lobley the credit of priority, not only in suggesting a 

 complete scheme for the geographical description of the 

 country, but in actually preparing such an account of a 

 representative county. I was unaware of his labours in 

 this direction when I brought forward my scheme and 

 when I wrote a note on the subject in the March Number 

 of Knowledge, and 1 am glad now to call attention to his 

 excellent MS. account of the parishes of the county of 

 Surrey, a work which I hope will soon be brought before 

 the public. Mr. Lobley's work is on a somewhat larger 

 scale than I would propose for use in the uniform treat- 

 ment of the whole country, and it is in some respects 

 treated from a diflerent standpoint. But as work actually 

 done it is of great value, and shows that the advantages of 

 such descriptions had appealed very strongly co practical 

 geologists. Prof. Seeley has also brought to my notice 

 the fact that he hgiS studied the country near London with 

 his students for many years, and has in preparation a 

 description of part of it from the point of view of physical 

 geography. I daro say these are not the only instances of 

 such work having been initiated ; the more cases of the 

 kind that have occurred, the more clearly does the impor- 

 tance of a general realization of the scheme appear. 



The statement of a possible scheme submitted to the 

 Royal Geographical Society on !March (jth, and published 

 in the (jiniirojihiciil Journul for April, 1800, may be re- 

 peated here in the hope that the range of criticism and 

 suggestion may thus be extended. 



The Chief Soubces of Information. 



(a) The basis of the description should be the topo- 

 graphical map of the Ordnance Survey on the scale of 

 1 : 63,360, or one inch to one mile. This, including the 

 new survey of England, will be complete before the close 

 of the present century. The sheets, measuring eighteen 

 inches by twelve, contain two hundred and sixteen square 

 miles of surface for England and Ireland ; but the sheets 

 for Scotland measure twenty-four inches by eighteen, and 

 contain four hundred and thkty-two square miles. The 

 map is in two editions, showing rehef by hachuring and 

 contouring respectively, and aU sheets are graduated on 

 the edge to single minutes of latitude and longitude, with 

 subdivisions to ten seconds. In special cases the maps 

 on the scale of 1 : 10,560, or sis inches to one mile, would 

 be referred to. 



(b) The maps of the Geological Survey on the same 

 scales supply in many cases the geological reasons for 

 geographical conditions, and the memoirs to the various 

 sheets, or on selected districts, usually give valuable sum- 

 maries of the physical geography from the geological stand- 

 point. 



(p ) The charts of the Hydrographic Department supply 

 full details as to sea-depths along the coast, and as to 

 depths of navigable rivers and a few lakes. 



((/) The publications of the Meteorological Office, of the 

 two Meteorological Societies, and of Mr. Symons (for 

 rainfall), contain a great amount of information as to the 

 climate of the British Isles. 



(f) The Census reports give full particulars of the 

 popiilation of each registration district and of their 

 occupations, a matter of great geographical importance ; 

 although I am not aware that the distributional relations 

 of the Census have ever been fuUy worked out in the 

 manner adopted, for example, by the United States Census 

 Office. 



(/') The reports of births, marriages, and deaths sup- 

 plement the Census returns in many ways, and contain 

 materials for statistical maps, including maps of the 

 distribution of diseases as worked out by Dr. Havillaud 

 for the Lake District. 



(</) The Board of Trade and other Government depart- 

 ments publish full accounts of exports, imports, and of 

 internal transport, of mineral and agricultural produce 

 and manufactures, all of which are capable of geographical 

 treatment. 



(/i) The publications of such societies as the Royal 

 Agricultural, the Archivological, the Statistical, the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, and many others, contain 

 papers on subjects which may be profitably consulted ; and 

 there are numerous county histories and books on special 

 aspects of geography from which help may be obtained. 



(0 There are now several amateur photographic societies 

 which make systematic collections of characteristic pictures 

 of tlieir own neighbourhood, such as that over which 

 Sir Benjamin Stone presides in Warwickshire. Numerous 

 local scientific societies are rendered accessible and capable 

 of acting in concert through a committee of the British 

 Association, many of the members of which are willing to 

 act as skilled collectors of information. 



The Plan of the Memoib. 



Taking the one-inch map as a basis, the discussion and 

 treatment would be on a corresponding scale. No doubt, 

 by enlarging on each of the heads to be mentioned, a 

 treatise of great length might easily be compiled for each 

 sheet. My proposal is to aim at conciseness : as far as 

 possible to touch only on essential matters, and to treat 

 these exclusively from tlic geographical standpoint. .\ good 

 deal of repetition would bo avoided by the preparation of 



