TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 700 



the navigator, but was nevertheless not universally accepted until the middle of 

 the iifteenth century, when the mediaeval compass and plane charts finally dis- 

 appeared. 



The German cartographers of that age are to be commended, not because they 

 copied Ptolemy's maps — for iu this they had been preceded by others — but because 

 they adopted his scientific methods in producing maps of their own. Their reforms 

 began at home, as all reforms should. They were amply supported in their efforts 

 by the many astronomers of note of whom Germany then boasted, and by quite a 

 stafi' of local ' geographers,' of whom nearly every district of the empire boasted 

 the possession of one. Among tliese local maps, that of Bavaria, by Philipp 

 Bienewitz, or Apianus (1566), holds a distinguished place, for it is the first map on 

 a large scale (1 : 144,000) based upon a regular survey. Its errors iu latitude do 

 not exceed V, and those in longitude 3', which is marvellously correct considering 

 the age of its production. Like most maps of the period, it is engraved on wood, 

 for though the art of engraving on copper was invented in Germany before 1446, 

 and the first map was engraved there in 1450, copper engraving only became 

 general at a much later date. 



Perhaps the earliest general map of Germany, and certainly one of the most 

 interesting, was that which the famous Cardinal Nicolas of Cues or Cusa com- 

 pleted in 1464, the only existing copy of which is to be found in the British Museum, 

 where it was 'discovered' by Baron Nordenskjold. Mercator's map of Germany, 

 published more than a century after that of the learned Cardinal (in 1585), was 

 naturally far more complete in all respects, and was certainly far superior to the 

 maps of any other country existing at that time. This fact is brought home to us 

 by an inspection of a collection of maps to be found in the well-known Theatrum 

 Orbis of OrteUus (first published in 1570), where we may see that the maps 

 supplied by Humphrey Lloyd and other British cartographers are still without 

 degree lines. 



But when we follow Mercator, or, in fact, any other cartographer of the period, 

 into regions the successful delineation of which depended upon an intelligent inter- 

 pretation of itineraries and of other information collected by travellers, they are 

 found to fail utterly. Nowhere is this utter absence of the critical faculty more 

 glaringly exhibited than in the maps of Africa of that period. 



Among the Dutch cartographers of that age one of the foremost places must be 

 accorded to Waghenaer of Enkhuizen, whose ' Mirror of the Sea,' a collection of 

 charts published in 1583, enjoyed a considerable reputation among British seamen. 

 Other famous Dutch publishers of charts were Ortelius, Janssen, Blaeuw, and 

 Vischer, who accumulated large stocks of copperplates, wbich constituted valuable 

 heirlooms, and, not unlike the plates of certain modern map-publishers, supplied 

 edition after edition without undergoing any change, except perhaps that of the 

 date. 



The age of great discoveries was past. All blanks upon our maps had not yet 

 been filled up, but the contours of the great continents stood out distinctly, and in 

 the main correctly. Discoveries on a large scale had become impossible, except in 

 the Polar regions and in the interior of some of the continents ; but greater precise- 

 ness had to be given to the work already done, and many details remained to be 

 filled in. In this ' Age of Measurements,' as Peschel significantly calls it, better 

 instruments, and methods of observation superior to those which had sufficed 

 hitherto, were needed, and were readily forthcoming. 



Picard, by making use of the telescope in measuring angles (1667), obtained 

 results of a degree of accuracy formerly quite unattainable, even with instruments 

 of huge proportions. For the theodolite, that most generally useful surveying 

 instrument, we are indebted to Jonathan Sission (1737 or earlier). More impor- 

 tant still, at all events to the mariner, was the invention of the sextant, generally 

 ascribed to Hadley (1731), but in reality due to the genius of Newton. Equally 

 important was the production of a trustworthy chronometer by John Harrison 

 (1761), which first made possible the determination of meridian distances, and ia 

 invaluable whenever a correct knowledge of the time is required. One other instru- 



