524 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 
Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Italy, Spain, and the United 
States of North America, asking them to nominate delegates to act as the 
members of an International Committee to meet in London and debate the 
question. This Committee assembled at the Foreign Office in November 1909, 
and Colonel S. C. N. Grant, C.M.G., then Director-General of the British 
Ordnance Survey, was appointed President. The proceedings were opened by the 
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Charles Hardinge, G.C.M.G., 
now Lord Hardinge, who, in his address, referred to the progress that had 
alréady been made with regard to the International Map, and expressed the 
hope, on behalf of the British Government, that the great undertaking might 
be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. 
The main business before the Committee was to settle on the mode of execu- 
tion of the map, especially as regards the size of the sheets, so as to ensure that 
adjacent sheets, published by different countries, should fit together; and also 
to settle upon the symbols, printing, and conventional signs to be used, in order 
that these should be uniform throughout. A series of resolutions, embodying 
the decisions arrived at concerning these various points, was approved and drawn 
up in English, French, and German, the first of these languages being taken as 
the authoritative text. As the map was to embrace the whole surface of the 
globe, the method of projection to be adopted was, of course, a very important 
consideration, and, after due deliberation, it was decided that a modified poly- 
conic projection, with the meridians shown as straight lines, and with each 
sheet plotted independently on its central meridian, would prove the most satis- 
factory. 
The surface of the sphere was divided into zones, each containing four degrees 
of latitude, commencing at the equator, and extending to 88° North, and 88° 
South latitude. There were thus twenty-two zones on each side of the equator, 
and these were distinguished by the letters A to V north, and A to V south. 
This fixed the height of each sheet. For the width of the sheets, the surface of 
the sphere was divided into sixty segments, each containing six degrees of 
longitude, and numbered consecutively from one to sixty, commencing at longi- 
tude 180°. This arrangement made each sheet contain six degrees of longitude 
by four degrees of latitude; but, as the width of the sheets diminished as they 
approached the poles, it was decided that, beyond 60° North, or 60° South, two 
or more sheets could be combined. Each sheet could thus be given a clear 
identification number defining its position on the surface of the globe, without it 
being necessary to mention the country included in it, or the latitude and longi- 
tude. For example, the sheet containing the central part of England is called 
North, N. 30. 
In order to ensure that the execution of all the maps should be identical, a 
scheme of lettering and of conventional topographical signs was drawn up and 
attached to the resolutions; and it was decided that a scale of kilometres should 
be shown on each sheet, and also a scale of the national measure of length of 
the country concerned. As regards the representations of altitude it was 
arranged that contours should be shown at vertical intervals of a hundred metres, 
or at smaller intervals in the case of very flat, and larger in the case of steep 
ground, the height being measured from mean sea-level, as determined in the 
case of each country; while the levels of the surface of the country were to be 
indicated by a scale of colour tints, the colours being green from 0 to 300 
metres, brown from 300 to 2,500 metres, and purple above 2,500 metres. In the 
same manner the depths of the ocean and of large lakes were to be indicated by 
varying tints of blue, so as to show intervals of 100 metres. In order to ensure 
uniformity in the scale of colours to be used, a copy of it, as approved by the 
Committee, was included in the plate of topographical symbols. 
The whole scheme was thoroughly well worked out, and great credit is due to 
the members of the International Committee for the manner in which they 
carried out their difficult task. Since the meeting of the Committee in 1909 the 
preparation of the sheets, in accordance with the principles decided upon, has 
been taken in hand in several countries, and a number of these have been issued, 
which give a good idea of what this great map, the largest ever contemplated, 
will be like. These sheets deserve to be carefully studied, and will doubtless 
be the subject of considerable criticism, as there are several points which seem 
worthy of examination. 
