660 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 



TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6. 



The following Papers were read : — 



1. A New Globe Map of the World and a New Equal-scale Atlas. 



By W. Wilson. 



The use of the globe as an aid in teaching geography has largely disappeared 

 owing to the high cost and cumbrous nature of the globes employed. The author 

 overcomes this difficulty by mounting a special globe map on thin cardboard and 

 cutting out the gores. The two ends of the map are joined at the equator by a 

 clip; a spindle is introduced, and the tips of the gores are passed down over the 

 ends of the spindle by means of holes punched at the ends of each gore where 

 the poles would be, a metal clip at each end holding the tips in position and 

 serving as a convenient means of handling the globe. The result is an instrument 

 which can be used effectively in place of an ordinary globe. It can be made up 

 or dismantled in a few seconds, studied as a flat map or as a globe, and packs 

 readily, taking up no more space than an ordinary school book. 



Several novelties have been introduced with a view to giving beginners a firm 

 mental grasp of the world as a globe. The tropic and polar circles are deferred 

 for later consideration. The world from the equator, 0°, to the pole, 90°, is 

 divided into three belts of 30° each : a tropical belt, from 0° to 30°; a temperate, 

 or rather intermediate belt, 30° to 60° ; and a polar belt, or rather cap, extending 

 from 60° to 90°. These form the primary divisions of latitude, and are indicated 

 by heavier lines, preferably printed in colour. The series is easily remembered, 

 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, and works in effectively with the value of a degree of longitude 

 at each latitude : — 



At 0°, 60 geog. miles. 

 At 30°, 52 

 At 60°, 30 



These are readily remembered, and form a foundation for any further details 

 regarding latitudes. The primary belts are subdivided for later teaching, each 

 into three belts of 10°, with distinguishing names. 



The longitudes are divided primarily into eight groups of 45° each, a group 

 forming a gore. Each group of 45° is subdivided into three groups of 15°— one 

 hour each, three hours to each gore. These have been found in practice the best 

 working divisions of longitudes and are easily remembered. A few exercises will 

 give the beginner a firm grasp of latitudes and longitudes, distances, and areas. 



By these primary divisions the world is divided into forty-eight sections, each 

 45° E. and W. and 30° N. and S. Each section is treated as a straight-sided figure, 

 so converting the globe into a polyhedron of forty-eight facets. All sections or 

 facets in the north tropical belt are exactly alike. The sections in the south 

 tropical belt are of the same figure, only inverted, making sixteen in all. The 

 intermediate belt sections are narrower, east to west, than the tropical sections, 

 but every section of the two belts is the same as every other section. 



The polar belt, or rather cap, is a series of triangles which are more effectively 

 dealt with when grouped two or more together, but each section is kept distinct. 

 By this arrangement there are only three differing figures in the polyhedron, and 

 each is characteristic of its belt. The error or distortion in each section is strictly 

 limited, and once effectively demonstrated for any one of the three figures is 

 immediately applicable to the remaining fifteen. The sections can be enlarged to 

 any extent, forming an atlas on a simple equal scale that is readily grasped and is 

 suited for many purposes besides elementary geography. A set of 'window' 

 diagrams, each one combining a section of one belt on this plan and the same area 

 as shown on Morcator, makes an instructive demonstration of the exaggeration 

 necessary to Mercator, which is not usually clearly understood. 



