TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 527 
~ Phe following Papers Were then read:— 8 
1. The International Map. By Colonel C.F. Cxosz, C.M.G., R.E. 
As is well known to all geographers, the International Map was definitely 
standardised by the labours of an official International Committee which held its 
meetings in the Foreign Office, London, in November 1909, and issued a report 
which was published by the British Government, at whose invitation the Com- 
mittee was assembled. 
The following countries were represented on the Committee: Austria~Hun- 
gary, France, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada, Italy, Russia, 
Spain, and the United States. The Committee was the crowning result of the 
work of many geographers spread over many years. Professor Penck in 1891 
first suggested the scheme, it was again brought forward in 1893 by Professor 
Brickner, and it was discussed again in 1895; but the most important step was 
not taken until the meeting of the Geographical Congress at Geneva in 1908, when 
the delegates of the United States proposed that arrangements should be made 
to standardise the map, a proposition which was agreed to unanimously: 
The chief characteristics of the International Map, as defined by the resolu- 
tions of the Committee, are uniformity, accuracy, and reliability. 
First, as regards uniformity, the adoption of the Greenwich meridian and the 
metre made the scheme a possible one, but with reference to the use of the metre 
there is a proviso that countries using other national units may add the values of 
the heights in these units if they desire. Whilst dealing with uniformity, it 
should be mentioned that a certain flexibility has wisely been allowed. Thus, 
although the normal interval of the contours is 100 metres, in hilly districts 
intervals of 200, 500, or 1,000 metres are permitted, and in very flat countries 
intervals of 10, 20, or 50 metres. Another important point to note is that although 
the normal edition is a ‘ layer’ map—i.e., one in which successive altitudes are 
indicated by a system of colour tints—it is laid down that other editions may be 
published without these tints—a reasonable concession to those who dislike layer 
systems. 
Next, as to accuracy, M. Ch. Lallemand, who was one of the representatives 
of France on the Committee, has worked out the errors involved in the system of 
projection which has been adopted. His report has been published by the sister 
association in France—namely, the Association Francaise pour |’Avancement des 
Sciences—of which he was recently President. M. Lallemand finds as a result 
of his investigation that ‘the errors, whether linear or angular, of the mode of 
development adopted for the International Map on the 1/1,000,000 scale are 
practically negligible, and can give rise to no difficulties in the assembly of a 
group of neighbouring sheets. These deformations, inherent in the construction, 
are, in fact, much smaller than the hygrometric deformations of the paper on 
which the map is printed.’ 
As to reliability, the Committee laid stress on the necessity of obtaining the 
best information available, and expressed the hope that any country producing a 
map covering portions of neighbouring States would consult the Governments of 
those States ‘on the subject of the material available, especially as regards the 
nomenclature.’ No one will deny the importance of this proviso, which is being 
acted upon. In order, also, to ensure reliability and to reduce the personal 
element to a minimum, the Committee adopted contouring as the framework for 
the exhibition of vertical relief and altitude tints for the principal edition; it 
excluded hachuring and confined the use-of shading to the representation” of 
minor features. The governing idea was clearly that the information given on 
the map should be as definite and precise as possible. J 
The total number of sheets required to cover the whole world, including the 
oceans, is 2,084. If, for the present, we omit consideration of the oceans, the 
number of sheets to be produced is equivalent to about 500 ‘full’ sheets—iie., 
sheets entirely representing land. This will serve to give an idea of the amount 
of work to be done. 
And now for a very brief account of the present state of the undertaking. 
. At present five sheets are actually on sale to the public, one sheet of Northern 
