September 12, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



357 



the auspices of the geological department of 

 Harvard University, of reproducing the vol- 

 cano in naturalistic relief, it is proposed to 

 make a series of aerial photographs from kites 

 flown at heights of from one to several miles 

 above the crater and adjacent region. Not 

 only will the data obtained be applied to sup- 

 plement the photographic survey just com- 

 pleted after three months of field work, itself 

 probably the most comprehensive of its kind 

 yet made for the reproduction of a land-form 

 type, but it is hoped there may be secured an 

 opportunity of novel comparison with lunar 

 craters, which are more nearly approached by 

 the Hawaiian type than by any others known 

 to lie on the earth's surface. The kite pho- 

 tography will be conducted by expert F. W. 

 Haworth, of Pittsburgh, who has developed 

 this subject and pertaining apparatus to un- 

 equaled perfection. 



ATTEMPT AT ACCURATE LAND RELIEF BY 

 AMERICAN GEOLOGISTS 



Primarily the purpose of the aerial photog- 

 raphy is to furnish checks for and to supple- 

 ment the data of the terrestrial, linear and 

 photographic surveys, so that complete record 

 of the surface forms of Kilauea will be ob- 

 tained. 



The aid of aerial photography in obtaining 

 data for reproducing land in relief was em- 

 ployed in 1902, when the city of Washington 

 was modeled for the U. S. Senate — views 

 from a captive balloon — but this will probably 

 be the first instance where kite photography 

 has been called in to supplement the data 

 requisite to construct a naturalistic model. 



One of the oldest means employed for earth 

 representation has naturally been actual relief, 

 since it is the most truthful and indeed the 

 only complete medium in which the solid 

 world can be expressed, but strange as it may 

 seem comparatively little attention has been 

 given to its rational or scientific side, its 

 aspect as a study in natural phenomena em- 

 bodying for adequate treatment the observa- 

 tion, research and understanding which nat- 

 ural science demands. Thousands of dia- 



grams in relief exist which place the arbi- 

 trarily taken points on some map into three 

 dimensions, with little regard to the existing 

 form and appearance of the part of the globe 

 represented (or rather misrepresented), but 

 they have neither been like, nor looked like, any- 

 thing natural on earth. Those who under- 

 stand the meaning of an ordinary map can see 

 that the placing of its conventional data in a 

 form of relief can never result in a true repro- 

 duction of the natural forms of earth surface, 

 which for competent exposition must call for 

 field observation and collection of the neces- 

 sary field facts. 



In the biological sciences similar procedure 

 is well established, so that there are in our 

 museums to-day specimens, especially of ani- 

 mal and plant life, which give forceful ex- 

 pression of the truth and vitality of the living 

 outdoor world. Even more is there need of 

 comparable naturalistic specimens in the 

 earth sciences, for while most of the forms of 

 botany and zoology are of size to be readily 

 viewed, those of the earth's surface are so 

 extensive and often complex that they can 

 rarely be well comprehended in the field where 

 frequently but a small portion of a unit is to 

 be seen at once. Too long have geology and 

 geography been without this unrivaled means 

 for illustrating and forcibly interpreting the 

 forms with which they deal, too long have the 

 earth sciences been lacking adequate represen- 

 tation in the most comprehensive of all the 

 natural arts, the one which rightly belongs to 

 and can so richly enhance these sciences. 

 There are signs, however, of an awakening. 

 Men whose views have permitted seeing out- 

 side the customary methods of procedure have 

 begun to recognize some of the need and value 

 of the new work, and the Kilauea Crater prob- 

 lem now being undertaken is a result. 



Kilauea Crater is situated on the island of 

 Hawaii, American territory, within the " Pro- 

 posed National Volcano Park." So new is 

 the work of naturalistic land relief in this 

 country that it may be said that scarcely a 

 single American land form has been so repro- 

 duced (excellent work has already been done 



