162 REPORT— 1887. 



care must, of course, be taken that even the deepest tints do not obscure 

 the underlying outline and lettering. 



In practice it will be found that this system of tinting, whilst tho- 

 roughly applicable either to a country of hills or to a mountain region, is 

 not well suited to a map embracing both low hill ranges and lofty moun- 

 tain chains. On a map of the British Islands tinted on this system the 

 lower hill ranges would merge almost completely into the surrounding 

 plains, so as to be hardly recognisable. 



9. Hence a ' regional ' system of tinting has generally been applied 

 to maps of countries presenting great variety of surface configuration. 

 If we apply distinct colours, presenting striking contrasts, to each stratum 

 of elevation, as in Map 5, the various strata or regions can be readily 

 traced, but the map assumes a highly artificial appearance, and hence we 

 are unable to recommend this arbitrary system of colouring. 



10. It appears to us that all practical and scientific requirements can 

 be met by limiting the number of regions to be distinguished by colours. 



On Maps 3 and 6 only two regions are distinguished, viz., lowlands 

 up to 500 feet, and the more elevated parts of the country. The former 

 are shown in five shades of green, the latter in brown, growing paler 

 with the elevation. 



On Map 7 three regions are distinguished, viz., lowlands up to 500 

 feet, shown in green ; hills and uplands, between 500 and 1,000 feet, 

 shown in orange or red ; and the mountainous regions, which are coloured 

 brown, the depth of colour increasing with the height. 



A yellow tint is introduced on Map 8 for lowlands up to 100 feet ; the 

 effect, however, is far from pleasing. 



We believe that a map tinted on the principle adopted in Maps 4 and 

 7 would best meet all reasonable requirements. 



11. Should it be desired, for special reasons, to distinguish a larger 

 number of regions, the tints of Map 9 recommend themselves for adop- 

 tion. In this instance the colours of the prism have been employed in 

 regular succession, viz., brown, red, orange, yellow, and green for the 

 land, and blue, indigo, and eventually violet and lavender-grey for the 

 sea. This succession of colours, whilst presenting fair contrasts easily 

 caught by the eye, afibi'ds at the same time a natural gradation from 

 the darker to the lighter tints, supposing, of course, that the shades of 

 the various colours employed are judiciously selected. 



It should be stated that the specimen maps which accompany this 

 report have been coloured by hand, and that maps tinted by the litho- 

 graphic process would present better facilities for identifying each tint by 

 a reference to the scale of colours attached to the map. 



12. One other method of colouring hypsographical maps remains to 

 be attended to, viz., the employment of a double scale of tints — one for 

 valleys and level ground generally, the other for uneven ground. This 

 system has been applied with much effect to maps of the Alps, but its 

 application to the whole of the British Islands would undoubtedly lead to 

 confusion and indistinctness. In our opinion the contrast between even 

 and uneven ground could be more clearly exhibited by shading the hills 

 on the system in ordinary use. 



13. The map should not be crowded with names. Altitudes and 

 depths — the former in upright, the latter in sloping characters — should 

 be freely and judiciously inserted. 



14. Your Committee think it desirable that the bathy-hypsographical 



