70 National Geographic Magazine. 



data by which later generations can reproduce the marks placed 

 by the local surveyors who make use of it, should they become 

 obliterated or lost; thereby causing a direct increase in the se- 

 curity of property boundaries, and diminution in litigation that 

 now costs millions of dollars annually. Some of the practical 

 advantages to be derived from such a work, are now being de- 

 monstrated in Massachusetts in the " Town boundary Survey," 

 as it is called, in which the corners, or turning points of the 

 boundaries are being determined trigonometrically in a subsi- 

 diary work based upon the Geodetic triangulation of the Coast 

 Survey. Each boundary corner in this scheme becomes a fixed 

 point, and the direction and distance of many other corners are 

 at once accurately ascertained in their true relations to it. The 

 town boundaries will in due time be made the bases of reference 

 for all local surveys and subdivisions of property; so that, even- 

 tually, there will be developed a cadastral map of unrivaled ex- 

 cellence, to supplement the Topographical map that has just been 

 completed. 



The imperfections of our " land surveys," brilliant as the 

 scheme was conceived to be at the time of its inauguration, de- 

 monstrate only too clearly the extravagance of primitive methods 

 in matters intended to be enduring. As time passes and pro- 

 perty taken up under the " land survey " becomes more valuable, 

 the difficulty of accurately identifying boundaries becomes more 

 serious, until finally, it is only after long litigation that rights 

 are determined. The inherent defect in the land survey to ac- 

 complish the purpose for which it was designed, lies in the fact, 

 that while it parcels out the land, or a section of land, in a given 

 number of lots, it fails to provide the means for identifying the 

 boundaries of the lots at any future time; the marks placed for 

 this purpose become obliterated or perhaps are moved by design- 

 ing men, until a large area may be involved in great uncertainty. 

 A triangulation covering the same ground and controlled by 

 Geodetic work, determining the true positions of the old marks 

 that may be left, would be the most economical and precise 

 method of relieving these uncei'tainties and fixing for all time 

 the location and boundaries of the lots originally parcelled out , 

 by observations and marks that cannot be lost or obliterated. 



The system of weights and measures in use throughout the 

 country is largely due to the patient labor of the Coast Survey. 

 Required by law to have standards of length, the only bureau in 



