September ig, 19 12] 



NAl URE 



pathetic CQinprehension. We no longer think of our- 

 selves as alien from the rest of nature, using our lord- 

 ship over it for our own advantage; we recognise 

 ourselves as part of nature, and by acknowledging 

 our kinship we are on the surest road to an intelligent 

 mastery. But 1 must mention one name, that of Carl 

 Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, to be held in high honour 

 by all zoologists and naturalists, although he was not 

 the pioneer, for the open-air treatment and rational 

 display of wild animals in captivity were being begun 

 in many parts of the world while the Thier-Park at 

 Stellingen was still a suburban waste. He has brought 

 a reckless enthusiasm, a vast practical knowledge, and 

 a sympathetic imagination to bear on the treatment 

 of living animals, and it would be equally ungenerous 

 and foolish to fail to recognise the widespread and 

 beneficent influence of his e.\ample. 



However we improve the older menageries and how- 

 ever numerous and well-arranged the new menageries 

 may be, they must always fall short of the conditions 

 of nature, and here I find another reason for the 

 making of zoological sanctuaries throughout the 

 world. If these be devised for the preservation of 

 animals, not merely for the recuperation of game, if 

 they be kept sacred from gun or rifle, they will become 

 the real zoological gardens of the future, in which our 

 children and our children's children will have the 

 opportunity of studying wild animals under natural 

 conditions. I myself have so great a belief in the 

 capacity of wild animals for learning to have con- 

 fidence in man, or rather for losing the fear of him 

 that they have been forced to acquire, that I think 

 that man, innocent of the intent to kill, will be able 

 to penetrate fearlessly into the sanctuaries, with 

 camera and notebook and field-glass. In any event, 

 all that the guardians of the future will have to do 

 will be to reverse the conditions of our existing 

 menageries and to provide secure enclosures for the 

 vi'^itors instead of for the animals. 



I must end- as I began this address, by pleading 

 the urgency of the questions I have been submitting 

 to you as an excuse for diverting vour attention to' a 

 branch of zoology which is alien from the ordinarv 

 avocations of most zoologists, but which none the less 

 is entitled to their fullest support. Again let me say 

 to you that I do not wish to appeal to sentiment ; I 

 am of the old school, and, believing that animals are 

 subject and inferior to man, I set no limits to human 

 usufruct of the animal kingdom. But we are 

 zoologists here, and zoology is the science of the living 

 thing. We must use all avenues to knowledge of life, 

 studying the range of form in systematic museums, 

 form itself in laboratories, and the living animal in 

 sanctuaries and menageries. And we must keep all 

 avenues to knowledge open for our successors, as we 

 cannot guess what questions they mav have to put to 



nature. 



SECTION E. 



geography. 



From the Opening .Vddress by Colonel Sir C. M. 



Watson, K.C.M.G., C.B., President of the 



Section. 



Leaving the Sudan,' I would like to allude to a very 

 important geographical undertaking which has made 

 considerable progress during the past year. This is 

 the production of the international map of the world 

 on the scale of i/ioooooo, a project which has been 

 under the consideration of the leading geographers 

 of the important countries for more than twentv 

 years, since it was first proposed at the International 

 Geographical Congress held at Berne in 189 1. The 

 question was discussed at succeeding geographical 



1 The main part of the address dealt with the geography of the Sudan 

 and some important points in its hislory. 



NO. 2238, VOL. 90] 



congresses, but did not take definite shape until the 

 meeting held at Geneva in 1908, when a series of 

 resolutions dealing with the subject were drawn up 

 by a committee composed of distinguished men of 

 many nations, which was appointed to formulate rules 

 for the production of the maps, so as to ensure that 

 they should be prepared upon a uniform system. 



These resolutions were approved at a general meet- 

 ing of the Geneva Congress, and were forwarded by 

 the Swiss Goverimient to the British Government for 

 consideration, whereupon the latter issued invitations 

 to the Governments of Austria-Hungary, France, 

 Germany, Japan, Russia, Italy, Spain, and the United 

 States of North America, asking them to nominate 

 delegates to act as the members of an international 

 committee to meet in London and debate the question. 

 The committee assembled at the Foreign Office in 

 November, 1909, and Colonel S. C. N. Grant, C.M.G., 

 then Director-General of the British Ordnance Sur- 

 vey, was appointed president. The proceedings were 

 opened by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign 

 .Affairs, Sir Charles Hardinge, G.C.M.G., now Lord 

 Hardinge, who, in his address, referred to the pro- 

 gress that had already been made with regard to the 

 international map, and expressed the hope, on behalf 

 of the British Government, that the great under- 

 taking might be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. 

 The main business before the committee was to 

 settle on the mode of execution of the map, especially 

 as regards the size of the sheets, so as to ensure that 

 adjacent sheets, published by different countries, 

 should fit together ; and also to settle upon the sym- 

 bols, printing, and conventional signs to be used, in 

 order that these should be uniform throughout. .A 

 series of resolutions, embodying the decisions arrived 

 at concerning these various points, was approved and 

 drawn up in English, French, and German, the first 

 of these languages being taken as the authoritative 

 text. .As the map was to embrace the whole surface 

 of the globe, the method of projection to be adopted 

 was, of course, a very important consideration, and, 

 after due deliberation, it was decided that a modified 

 polyconic projection, with the meridians shown as 

 straight lines, and with each sheet plotted in- 

 dependently on its central meridian, would prove the 

 most satisfactory. 



The surface of the sphere was divided into zones, 

 each containing four degrees of latitude, commencing 

 at the equator, and extending to 88° North and 88° 

 South latitude. There were thus twenty-four zones 

 on each side of the equator, and these were distin- 

 .guished by the letters .A to V north, and .A to V 

 south. This fixed the height of each sheet. For the 

 width of the sheets, the surface of the sphere was 

 divided into sixty segments, each containing six de- 

 grees of longitude, and numbered consecutively from 

 one to sixty, commencing at longitude 180°. This 

 arrangement made each sheet contain six degrees of 

 longitude by four degrees of latitude; but, as the 

 width of the sheets diminished as they approached 

 the poles, it was decided that, beyond 60° North, or 

 60° South, two or more sheets could be combined. 

 Each sheet could thus be given a clear identification 

 number defining its position on the surface of the 

 globe, without it being necessary to mention the 

 country included in it, or the latitude and longitude. 

 For example, the sheet containing the central part of 

 England is called North, N 30. . 



In order ta ensure that the execution of all the maps 

 should be identical, a scheme of lettering and of 

 conventional topographical signs was drawn up and 

 attached to the resolutions ; and it was decided that a 

 scale of kilometres should be shown on each sheet, 

 and also a scale of the national measure of length 

 of the country concerned. As regards the representa- 



