Fuly 2, (885 | 
THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF BELGIUM 
SE ee the publication of our note on this subject 
(NATURE, vol. xxxii. p. 154) letters have reached us 
representing both sides of the controversy ; but into the 
controversy itself we do not propose to enter. The ques- 
tion whether this party or that is most orthodox and 
geologically accurate is not one that greatly concerns the 
world at large ; but all who watch with interest the pro- 
gress of national scientific undertakings cannot but feel 
regret that a geological survey which has already achieved 
such important results as that of Belgium should have 
been suspended. The Belgian Senate has followed in 
the wake of the Chamber of Representatives, and the 
Government is understood to be now engaged in the 
formation of a new Commission to deal with the re- 
organisation of the Survey. Meanwhile the field-work is 
suspended. Geologists everywhere will rejoice if by any 
means the Commission can succeed in producing better 
maps and memoirs ; but those who are familiar with the 
publications of the Survey will not be very sanguine as to |: 
its success in this respect. They do not need better maps 
or memoirs, and can only regret that the further progress 
of the work should have been arrested for this year. The 
loss of a working season is itself a serious injury. The 
Belgian authorities would have acted more wisely had 
they kept the field-work going while they made any 
necessary investigations as to methods of procedure. 
We sincerely hope they may see their way to start the 
Survey again with as little delay as possible. 
SYSTEM OF ORTHOGRAPHY FOR NATIVE 
NAMES OF PLACES 
BR SSING into consideration the present want of a 
system of geographical orthography, and the con- 
sequent confusion and variety that exist in the mode of 
spelling in English maps, the Council of the Royal Geo-_ 
graphical Society have adopted the following rules for 
such geographical names as are not, in the countries to 
which they belong, written in the Roman character. 
These rules are identical with those adopted for the 
Admiralty charts, and will henceforth be used in all 
publications of the Society. 
(1) No change will be made in the orthography of 
foreign names in countries which use Roman letters ; thus 
Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, &c., names will be spelt as 
by the respective nations. 
(2) Neither will any change be made in the spelling of 
such names in languages which are not written in Roman. 
character as have become by long usage familiar to 
English readers: thus Calcutta, Cutch, Celebes, Mecca, 
&c., will be retained in their present form. 
(3) The true sound of the word as locally pronounced 
will be taken as the basis of the spelling. 
_(4) An approximation, however, to the sound is alone 
aimed at. A system which would attempt to represent 
the more delicate inflections of sound and accent would 
be so complicated as only to defeat itself. Those who 
desire a more accurate pronunciation of the written name 
must learn it on the spot by a study of local accent and 
peculiarities. 
(5) The broad features of the system are that vowels are 
pronounced as in Italian and consonants as in English. 
(6) One accent only is used—the acute—to denote the 
syllable on which stress is laid. This is very important, 
as the sounds of many names are entirely altered by the 
misplacement of this “ stress.” 
(7) Every letter is pronounced. When two vowels 
come together each one is sounded, though the result, 
when spoken quickly, is sometimes scarcely to be distin- 
guished from a single sound, as in ad, az, e7. 
(8) Indian names are accepted as spelt in Hunter’s 
Gazetteer. 
The amplification of the rules is given below :— 
7 
Letters | 
a 
e 
1 
u 
ch 
d 
a'o 
“eked cu4 
NATURE 
English e; ¢as in ravine ; the 
sound of ce in det. 
Thus, not Feezee, but 
| 9aSin mole... wee eae 
| longzas in /Zue ; the sound of 0 
in doof. Thus, not Zooloa, but 
All yowels are shortened in 
sound by doubling the fol- 
lowing consonant 
Doubling of a vowel is only 
necessary where there is a 
distinct repetition of the 
| single sound 
English z as in zee ... 
| ow as in how. 
| Thus, not Foochow, but 
is slightly different from above 
| is the sound of the two Italian 
vowels, but is frequently 
slurred over, when it is 
scarcely to be distinguished 
from ey in the English they 
English é 
is always soft, but is so nearly 
the sound of s that it should 
be seldom used 
| If Cekbes were not already re- 
cognised it would be written 
Selebes 
is always soft as in cherch 
English @ 
English f 4 should not be 
used for the sound of 6 
Thus, not Hazphong, but 
| isalwayshard. (Soft gis given 
1°) 7) CCC 
is always pronounced when in- 
serted 
English 7. D7 should never be 
put for this sound 
English & It should always 
be put for the hard ¢ 
Thus, not Corea, but 
The Oriental guttural 
is another guttural, as in the 
Turkish 
| As in English 
| has twoseparate sounds, theone | 
hard as in the English word 
finger, the other as in stzger. 
Asthesetwosoundsarerarely 
employed in the same local- 
ity, no attempt is made to 
distinguish between them 
As in English 
| should never be employed ; gz 
is given as Az 
| 
| | 
) As in English | 
| is always a conson2nt, as in | 
yard, and therefore should | 
never be used as a terminal, | 
7 or e being substituted. 
Thus, not JZiéindény, but | 
not Awady, but | 
Binglishter cu wets 0 ses | 
Accents should not generally be 
used, but where thereis avery | 
decided emphatic syllable or | 
stress, which affectsthe sound 
of the word, it should be | 
marked by an acuée accent | 
199 
Pronunciation and Remarks Examples 
ah, a as in father Java, Banana 
eh, eas in benefit Tel-el-Kebir, Oleéleh, 
Yezo, Medina, Le- 
vuika, Peru 
Fiji, Hindi 
Tokio 
Zulu, Sumatra 
Yarra, Tanna, Mecca, 
Jidda, Bonny 
Nuultta, Oosima 
Shanghai 
Fuchau 
Macao 
Beirtit, Beilul 
Celebes 
Chingchin 
Haifong, Nafa 
Galapagos 
Japan, Jinchuen 
Korea 
Khan 
Dagh, Ghazi 
Kwangtung 
Sawakin 
Kikuyu 
Mikindani 
Kwale 
Zulu 
Tongatabu, Galapagos, 
Palawan, Sarawak 
