564 IMOVAT al IDIVPILIOVNS IDA SD, 
The topographic data were obtained principally from maps of 
the State Mining Bureau,’ the United States Geological Survey, 
the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, various reconnais- 
sance surveys, and from topographic descriptions and railway 
surveys, and from elevations of peaks, passes, and places obtained 
from various sources, both published and unpublished. 
The gross relief of the state was then built up on a rigid 
wooden base by cutting out card-boards of the proper thickness 
in the shape of each 1000-foot contour and nailing them in place 
one on’ top of the other. | Dle steps or terraces made) byathe 
card-board and the minor details of relief were then filled in 
with wax.? The best reference maps of the particular area being 
modeled, were kept constantly at hand during the process of 
filling in the details. After the completion of the original, a 
negative was made in plaster of Paris, and from this the positives 
are made. ihe completediirelich” map represents) ab outuesix 
months of continuous and careful work. It shows the relief 
with all the detail which the scale permits except in those parts 
of the state in which topographic data are wanting. But even 
in these parts the drainage made it possible to show the general 
features fairly well. 
TOPOGRAPHIC REGIONS. 
General features—TVhe northern part of the state is largely 
composed of three parallel and almost equally extensive topo- 
graphic belts running lengthwise the state. These belts are the 
Sierra Nevada on the east, the California Valley in the center, 
and the Coast Ranges on the west. The Sierra Nevada, with its 
main crest from 6000 to 13,000 feet above tide and its highest 
peak reaching an elevation of nearly 15,000 feet, is the highest 
and most prominent mountain system of the state. The con- 
tinuation of the Sierra Nevada in extreme northern California is 
*The Preliminary Mineralogical and Geological Map of California, issued in 
1891 by the State Mining Bureau, was used as a base. 
2This wax was composed of 16 parts of beeswax, 8 of cornstarch, 4 of Venice 
turpentine, 1 of Venetian red, and 1 of sweet oil. 
