a le 
SEPTEMBER 21, I1916| 
NATURE 
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to the modern base-line apparatus, and accurately 
computed sides of a geodetic triangulation, is a far cry, 
and the advance in this matter is certainly remarkable. 
So far what I have said has had chiefly to do with 
some of the earlier attempts at surveying and map- 
making, and the instruments and methods by which 
these have been carried out; and I will now try to 
give you an outline of what has been done in com- 
paratively recent times, and state briefly the present 
position of various parts of the world as regards the 
condition of their mapping and the survey basis upon 
which their maps depend. 
Little by little civilised man, by his daring, his love 
of adventure, and the necessities of events and circum- 
stances, has penetrated into the unexplored parts of 
the earth and pushed back the clouds and mists that 
so long shrouded them from his knowledge, until at 
the present time the regions that are entirely un- 
mapped are very few indeed, and do not amount to 
more than about one-seventh of the whole land-surface 
of the globe, including the unexplored areas of the 
polar regions, which may be either land or water. 
Not content with a mere vague acquaintance, he has 
striven for greater accuracy, and has turned to various 
branches of science and called them to his aid, in 
order that he may obtain more correct knowledge and 
a better comprehension of the earth’s features. To 
enable him to fix with definiteness the position of 
places upon its surface, map out the various land- 
forms, and obtain their accurate measurements, he 
has consulted the astronomer and mathematician. 
Commencing with the rudest instruments and measur- 
ing apparatus, these, as greater accuracy was required, 
have gradually been improved, until the present-day 
appliances and equipment of a surveyor are wonders 
of refinement and delicacy. 
I have attempted to form an estimate of the condi- 
tion of the world’s surveys for 1860 and 1916; and, 
taking the total area of the land-surface of the earth 
together with the unknown parts of the Arctic and 
Antarctic regions which mav be either land or water, 
to be 60,000,000 square miles, I have obtained the 
following results :— 
1860 if 1916 
Sq. stat. Proportion Sq. stat. Proportion 
miles to whole miles to whole 
x. Mapped from accurate shea) 
graphical surveys based on | 1,957,755=0°0326 
triangulation or Rigorous} or roughly +5 
traverses 
2. Mapped from less trustworthy ee 
surveys, chiefly heal pets mee 
graphical | gnly s 
3. Mapped from route traverses | 25,024,360=0"4170 
and sketches {or roughly 7 
4- Entirely unsurveyed and) 30,997,054=0°5166 
unmapped for just over 4 
8,897,238 =0'1482 
or roughly 4 
5,178,008 =0'0866 
or just over y's 
£7;550,552—=076258 
or little less than $ 
8,250,794 =0°1391 
or little less than 1 
These proportions can perhaps be more clearly seen 
from the following diagram (Fig. 1), on which num- 
bers and tintings have the same significance as on the 
maps and table. 
From the figures here given it is plain that with the 
same rate of progress as that of the past sixty years 
or so it would take more than four hundred years 
more to complete the accurate trigonometricai survey- 
ing and topographical mapping of the earth’s land- 
surface, including the parts of the polar regions that 
mav possibly be land—that is, the 60,000,c00 square 
miles which we have taken for this total area; but 
this will certainly not be the case, since the rate at 
which such surveys have been carried out has been 
greatly accelerated during recent years, owing to the 
rapidly increasing demands for accurate topographical 
maps, improvements in methods. and other causes. 
so that it will possibly not be half this time before all 
the parts of the earth’s surface that are likely to be of 
any use to man as settlements, or capable of his 
NO. 2447, VOL. 98] 
development, are properly surveyed and mapped. 
There are, of course, regions, such as those near the 
poles and in the arid deserts, that are never likely to 
be accurately triangulated and mapped to any extent, 
and it would be mere waste of time and money to 
attempt anything of the kind. 
From its very foundation the Royal Geographical 
Society has had a remarkable influence on the survey- 
ing and mapping of the earth’s surface, and especially 
those parts of it which have been previously but very 
imperfectly known or entirely unexplored. I think it 
must be admitted that this influence has increased 
as years have gone by, and it is no exaggeration to 
say that it has done more in this respect than any 
other body. It is therefore perhaps fitting that I 
should give some account of what has been accom- 
plished, as it has a direct bearing on route-surveying 
and mapping by travellers and explorers. Itis not only 
by the awarding of annual medals to explorers whose 
journeys have resulted in an increase to our geograph- 
ical knowledge, and the more accurate surveying and 
mapping of little-known parts, that the society has 
stimulated and encouraged geographical research, but 
it has also assisted financially numerous expeditions, 
and the money thus granted has enabled many a man 
to carry out his explorations to a successful issue, ° 
1860 
1916 
| Fic. 1.—Relative condition of world surveys in 186. and 1916. 
which he otherwise could not have done for want 
of funds. Still more frequently has it been the case 
that travellers going into little-known parts of the 
world have been granted loans 6f surveying instru- 
ments which they could not otherwise have taken, and 
encouraged to do what mapping they found possible. 
Altogether 331 expeditions have been lent instruments, 
and about 38,500!. have been devoted to grants of 
money by the society to further geographical explora- 
tion and surveying. 
There is still another way, by no means the least 
important, in which the Royal Geographical Society 
has done much to promote geographical surveying, 
and that is by providing suitable instruction in the 
work of surveying for travellers. It is all very well 
to grant money and lend instruments, but the impor- 
tant thing is to know how to make good use of the 
money and the instruments so as to take proper advan- 
tage of opportunities afforded and to produce the best 
surveys and maps of the regions visited. In the early 
days of the society a man had to pick up the requisite 
knowledge as best he could, but in 1879 a scheme of 
proper instruction was started at the suggestion of the 
late Sir Clements Markham, who was then one of our 
honorary secretaries. This had small beginnings, but 
in recent years has made rapid strides, until at present 
