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341 



for war ; and the publication of the great surveys of most Euro- 

 pean countries has given an impetus heretofore unknown to the 

 studies I have alluded to. 



The progress of the European surveys, and esiiecially of our 

 own, has been marked by many results which have indirectly in- 

 fluenced the advancement of geographical science. Such are the 

 improvements in instruments made during the progress of the 

 triangulation ; the introduction of the Drummond light, Colby's 

 compensating bars, &c. ; the connection of the English and Con- 

 tinental systems of triangulation ; the pendulum observations at 

 various places ; the measurement of arcs of the meridian ; the 

 comparison of the standards of length of foreign countries, of 

 India, Australia, and the Cape of Good Hope, with our standard 

 yard, which has recently been completed at the Ordnance Sur- 

 vey Office, Southampton. In the same category may be placed 

 the improvements in the art of map engraving, in the application 

 of chromo-lithography to the production of maps as exemplified 

 in the Dutch process of Col. Uessier and the Delgian maps ; and 

 the employment of electrotyping to obtain duplicates of the 

 original plates. The method of copying maps by pIiotogra]>hy 

 without any error in scale, or any distortion that can be detected 

 by the most rigid examination, was first proved to be practicable 

 and was .adopted in the Ordnance Survey Department in 1S54, 

 by Major-General .Sir Henry James, for the purpose of facilitating 

 the publication of the Government maps of the United Kingdom 

 on the various scales. Since that date the necessity of rapidly 

 producing, multiplying, enlarging, and reducing maps has tended 

 towards the development of the various photographic processes 

 which have been brought to such a high state of perfection. 

 During the last five years jiliotographic negatives on glass cover- 

 ing an area of 10,071 square feet were produced at the Ordnance 

 Sun'ey Office for map-making purposes alone, and from these 

 negatives 21,760 square feet of silver prints were prepared and 

 used in the various stages of the Survey. An area of 959 square 

 feet of the negatives was also used in jiroducing 13,595 maps on 

 various scales b)- the photosincographic process, which was also 

 introduced by Major-General .Sir Henry James. It was by simi- 

 lar processes that the Germans were enabled to provide the enor- 

 mous number of copies of the various sheets of the map of 

 rr.ance required during the war of 1870-1. Any comparison of 

 the maps of various countries would necessarily occupy much 

 time, so I will only add that as specimens of engraving the 

 sheets of our one- inch map are unrivalled, and that no foreign 

 maps can compare for accuracy of detail and beauty of execution 

 with the sheets of our si.x-inch survey. Our great national Sur- 

 vey is the most mathematically accurate in Europe, and it speaks 

 much for the ability of the officers who h.ave brought it to its 

 present .state of perfection, that from the very first they recognised 

 the necessity of extreme scientific accuracy in their work, and 

 that they have never had to withdraw from the position they have 

 taken up with regard to the many questions of detail that have 

 arisen from time to time. 



Before concluding this portion of my address I would draw 

 your attention to the appliances used in the minor schools of this 

 country for teaching geography, as they would seem to need some 

 improvement. The appliances to which I allude are models or 

 relief maps, wall maps, atlases, and globes. The use of models 

 as a means of conveying geographical instruction has been too 

 much neglected in our schools. If anyone considers the diffi- 

 culty a pupil has in understanding the drawing of asteam->ngine, 

 and the ease with which he grasps the meaning of the working 

 model, and how from studying the model and comparing it with 

 the drawing he gradually learns to comprehend the latter, he 

 will see that a model of ground may be used in a similar manner 

 to teach the reading of a map of the same area. Relief maps of 

 large areas on a small scale have their uses, but they are unsuit- 

 able for educational purposes on account of the manner in which 

 heights must be ex.aggerated to make them appear at all ; this 

 objection, however, does not apply to models of limited areas on 

 a sufficient scale, which always give a truthful and elTective repre- 

 sentation of the ground. One reason why models have not been 

 more used has been their cost, but the means of constructing 

 them with ease, rapidity, and at slight expense, are quickly ac- 

 cumulating as the six-inch contoured sheets of the Ordnance 

 Survey are published. Instruction in geography should begin at 

 home, and I would suggest that .as the six-inch survey progresses 

 each decent school throughout the country should be provided 

 with a model and a map of the district in which it is situated. If 

 this were done, the pupils would soon learn to read the model, 

 and having once succeeded in doing this, it would not be long 

 before they were able to understand the conventional manner in 



which topographical features are represented on a jilane surface 

 and acquire the power of reading not onlv the map of their own 

 neighbourhood, but any map which was placed before them. In 

 our wall maps I think We have been too much inclined to pay 

 attention to the boundaries of countries, and to neglect the 

 general featui-cs of the ground. It is difficult to say whether the 

 maps have followed the teachers or the teachers the maps, but I 

 fear Instruction in ijhysical geography too often comes after that 

 in political geography, instead of a knowledge of the latter being 

 based on a knowledge of the physical features of the earth. My 

 meaning may perhaps be explained by reference to a wall map 

 probably well known to everyone, that of Palestine, which fre- 

 quently disfigures rather than ornaments the walls of our school- 

 rooms. In this map there are usually deep shades of red, yellow,, 

 and green to distinguish the districts of Judea, Samaria, ,indl 

 Galilee, and perhaps another colour for the Trans- Jordanic. 

 region, with a number of Bible names inserted on the" surface,, 

 whilst the natural features are quite subordinate, and sometimes 

 not even indicated. There is perhaps no book that bears the im- 

 press of the country in which it was written so strongly as the' 

 Bible ; but it is quite impossible for a teacher to enable his pupils- 

 to realise what that country is with the maps at present at his. 

 disposal. The first object of a wall map should be to show the 

 geographical features of countries, not their boundaries, and for 

 this purpose details should be omitted, .and the grajidcr features 

 have special attention paid to tliem. In school atlases the same 

 fault may be traced, physical features being too often, made sub- 

 ordinate to political divisions ; and there is also in many cases 

 a tendency to overcrowd the maps with a multitude of names 

 which only serve to confuse the jnipil and divert his attention 

 from the main jjoints. The use of globes in our schools should 

 be encouraged as much as possible, as there are many physical 

 phenomena which cannot well be explained without them, and 

 they offer far better means of conveying a knowledge of the rela- 

 tive positions of the various countries, seas, &c., than any maps.. 

 The great expense of globes has hitherto prevented their very 

 general use, but some experiments are at present being made 

 with a view to lessening the cost of the construction, which it is 

 hoped may be successful. I cannot pass from this .subject with-- 

 out alluding to that class of maps which gives life to the large 

 volumes of statistics which are accumulating with such rapidity. 

 On the Continent these maps are employed to an extent unkno-\\'n ; 

 in this country, both for purposes of reference and education, . 

 and they convey their information in a simple and effective ■ 

 manner. 



I will only detain you to notice briefly a few of the most im-- 

 portant geographical events of the year, and foremost amongst 

 these ranks the publication of Dr. Schweinfurth's work which ^ 

 every one has recently been reading with so much interest and 

 pleasure. Dr. Schweinfurth, who received the Fourjder's medal' 

 of the Royal Geographical Society this year, is, I am happy to - 

 say, amongst us at present, and has contributed a valuable paper ' 

 on the oases of the Libyan Desert. 



Lieut. Cameron, R.N., has reached Ujiji, and extracts from a ' 

 journal which he has sent home will be read to you. The obser- 

 vations which he has made are of high value, and the presence 

 of a trained surveyor on the shores of Lake T-inganyika cannot 

 fail to be followed by great results. A short report of Dr. Nach- 

 tigall's tr.avels has been prepared for this Section ; and Dr. Rowe, 

 who acted as Chief of the Staff to Sir John Glover during his 

 recent operations on the Gold Coast, will read an interestin;j 

 paper on the country passed through on the march to Coomassie 

 and thence to the coast. Two Ijigineer officers, Lieuts. Watson 

 and Chippendale, have recently left England to join Col. Gordon 

 at Gondokoro, with the special object of surveying the territory over 

 which Col. Gordon has been appointed Governor by the Khedive. 

 In Algeria the French have been actively engaged on the survey 

 of the country, and the exact level of the Ch jltniil-Rhir has been 

 determined. Mr. Stanley's second expedition to the east coast 

 of Africa, under the auspices of an English and .\merican news- 

 paper, should not remain unnoticed, and I cannot pass from 

 Africa without expressing my deep regret at the death of Dr. 

 Beke, whose travels in Abyssinia were rewarded by the gold 

 medal of the society, and whose observations in that country 

 were, for their great accuracy, of so much service during the 

 Abyssinian war. 



The survey of Palestine, a work which has been said by a dis- 

 tinguished German geographer to mark the commencement of a 

 new era in geographical research, is progressing favourably, and 

 has le<l to the formation of an .\merican society for the explora- 

 tion of the country cast of Jordan, and of a German society fur 



