TRANS ACTIO-VS OF SECTION E. 721 



square miles, and are represented on nearly a thousand map sheets. The author 

 proceeds finally to point out some of the various uses of the survey and resulting 

 facts in addition to the purely geologic applications. 



8. The Topograpliical Worh of the Geological Survey of Canada. 



By J. White. 



This paper treats of the topographical work of the Geographical Survey from 

 its inception in 1841 to the present time. 



In the absence of anything hke a general geodetic survey of the Dominion the 

 Geological Survey, as the only organisation charged with the mapping of the 

 country as a whole, has been forced to undertake extensive surveys and explora- 

 tions. 



The operations in the field may be divided under two heads : — 



1. The reconnoissance and exploratory surveys of the unexplored and the less 

 accessible areas of Northern and Western Canada. 



2. The detailed surveys, for mapping on regular scales, of the more accessible 

 and the settled portions. 



9. The United States Daily Weather Survey. By Professor Willis L. 

 Moore, LL.D., Director of the United States Weather Bureau. 



^ It is the purpose of this paper to present a summary sketch of the work of the 

 AVeather Bureau in ascertaining the various features controlling climate in the 

 United States and in adjacent territory. To this end the growth of the bureau is 

 sketched and the methods pursued in various stations and offices, extending from 

 the Pacific to the Atlantic, are described. Special note is made of recent extensions 

 in the service into Mexico on the south-west and Canada on the north, and plans 

 for extending the work into the West Indies are developed. Special attention is 

 given also to the recent improvement in forecasting through the use of kites, by 

 which the condition of the air is determined at altitudes of one to two miles above 

 the land surface. 



TUESDA r, ,1 UG UST 24. 

 The following Papers were read : — • 



1. The Economic Geography of Rhodesia. By F. C. Selous. 



The author traces the history of the British occupation of South Africa, and 

 goes on to discuss the economic geography of the country, mainly with regard to 

 agriculture. 



The form of the land, an elevated plateau, insures a generally healthful climate, 

 and avoids the most serious drawback to European colonisation in tropical Africa. 

 Fever is still common in many parts, but may be confidently expected to disappear 

 in the more elevated regions when the land is cultivated and the swamps are 

 drained. The superior healthiness of Western Matabeleland is attributed to the fact 

 that for sixty years the land has been cultivated by a relatively dense population. 



With regard to agriculture and cattle-rearing, the present visitation of rinder- 

 pest IS an epidemic, and not the usual condition of the country. Locusts, which 

 have recently wrought much damage to crops, come periodically, but in ordinary 

 times Rhodesia is healthy for cattle and fertile for grain. Irrigation will achieve 

 much in many parts of the country. There may never be a great export of agri- 

 cultural produce, but Ehodesia bids fair to be self-supporting and to supply the 

 whole population_ drawn into the country by its mineral wealth. 



Details are given in the paper drawn from the author's residence in South 

 Africa for twenty-five years. 



1897. 3 A 



