4-i6 



The National Geographic Magazine 



2. The Congress proposes to the gov- 

 ernment of the United States the execu- 

 tion of a general map of America on the 

 scale of i : 1,000,000, similar to the 

 maps on the same scale of Asia, China, 

 and Africa, now in preparation by the 

 Service Geographique de l'Armee a 

 Paris, by the Koniglisch - Preussiche 

 Landsaufnahme, in Berlin, and by the 

 Intelligence Division of the War Office 

 at London, each sheet of the map being 

 projected on its own plane and being 

 limited by parallels 4 degrees apart and 

 meridians 6 degrees apart, the initial 

 meridian for the division being that of 

 Greenwich, the initial parallel the Equa- 

 tor and the standard of measures being 

 the meter. 



POLAR EXPLORATION 



The following resolution introduced 

 by Sir John Murray: 



The Eighth International Geographic 

 Congress, realizing that the only un- 

 touched fields for geographical discovery 

 are the regions immediately surrounding 

 the poles of the earth, desires to place on 

 record its sense of the importance of 

 forthwith completing the systematic ex- 

 ploration of the polar areas. It is very 

 desirable that the experience gained by 

 men of science and officers in the recent 

 Antarctic expeditions should be turned 

 to account by following up without delay 

 the successes they have obtained. The 

 Congress recognizes that the Arctic re- 

 gions possess a more immediate interest 

 for the people of North America and ex- 

 presses the con6dent hope that the expe- 

 ditions now being prepared will be so 

 supported as to secure early and com- 

 plete success. 



EARTHQUAKE INVESTIGATION 



The formation of the International 

 Seismological Association has accom- 

 plished the wishes of the Seventh Con- 

 gress in this respect : The Eighth In- 

 ternational Congress sends its congratu- 

 lations to the International Seismologi- 



cal Association, whose further work is 

 awaited with great interest. 



DEEP-SEA MAPS AND NOMENCLATURE 

 OF THE EARTH'S BOTTOM 



The Eighth International Geographic 

 Congress expresses its thanks to His Se- 

 rene Highness, the Prince of Monaco, 

 for having executed the map of the 

 ocean, the execution of which was de- 

 sired by the Congress of Berlin, and ex- 

 presses especially its agreement with the 

 chosen scale and projection, with the 

 adoption of the meridian of Greenwich 

 as initial, and with the adoption of the 

 meter for indication of the depths, and 

 the principle of the sj^stem of interna- 

 tional submarine terminology used. 



RULES FOR GEOGRAPHIC NAMES 



Local names are, as far as possible, to 

 be preserved not only in those regions 

 where this is already an established prin- 

 ciple, but also in the southern oceans. 

 They should on this account be deter- 

 mined with all the accuracy possible. 



Where local names do not exist or can 

 not be determined with safety, the name 

 of the first discoverer is to be applied 

 until further investigation. The arbi- 

 trary altering of historical, long-existent 

 names, well known not only in common 

 use but also in science, is to be regarded 

 as extremely reprehensible, and every 

 means should be employed to resist such 

 alterations. Inappropriate and fantasti- 

 cal names are to be replaced, as far as 

 possible, by local and more appropriate 

 names. 



The above rules are not to be rigor- 

 ously construed, yet they should be fol- 

 lowed to a greater extent than hereto- 

 fore by travelers and in scientific works. 

 Their publication in periodicals as the 

 opinion of the Congress will probably 

 prove of great weight. Although in re- 

 cent years many official systems of de- 

 termination of geographic names have 

 been enunciated, we have still much evi- 

 dence of the influence which the wishes 



