Geographical Maps and Sailing Charts. 267 



point antipodal to New York is in the Indian Ocean, about 

 600 miles southwest of Australia. 



If the idea of having two hemispheres projected on the 

 same plane appears to some too confusing to be regarded as 

 practical, it may be recommended to have in addition to the 

 customary maps of the western and eastern hemispheres, two 

 additional ones ; one with 30° W. as the central meridian, thus 

 giving a chart of the North and South Atlantic Oceans ; the 

 other with 150° E. as the central meridian, giving a chart of 

 the North and South Pacific Oceans. 



Generalizations concerning Maps of the Hemispheres. Com- 

 parison with a Globe. — Before closing the discussion of maps 

 of the hemispheres, it is desired to call attention to a few facts 

 concerning them. Considering their size, projections made 

 upon the plane of the equator or of a meridian, figures 4, 8 and 

 9, are unquestionably as good and serviceable maps as any that 

 can be made, regarded merely as representations of the earth's 

 surface. When one has once become accustomed to them, and 

 understands the nature of the distortion which they exhibit, 

 they are even more useful than a globe. The writer does not 

 wish to be misunderstood at this point. It is best that begin- 

 ners should get their first ideas of geography from a globe, and 

 this fact is recognized by teachers, and a globe is placed in the 

 hands of every scholar in our best elementary schools. The 

 small and inexpensive globes which are in common use, how- 

 ever, are necessarily rather crude, and one has but to examine 

 a number of them to discover that the segments of which they 

 are built up have not been pasted on and matched very care- 

 fully. They answer their purpose admirably up to a certain 

 point, but when it comes to accuracy they fail. Large globes 

 on the other hand are of necessity expensive, and there is 

 always some question as to how accurately they are con- 

 structed. When it comes to studying the details of geography 

 from globes, other difficulties are encountered ; thus, if the 

 globe is small, but few details can be shown on it, and only a 

 portion of a hemisphere can be seen at once ; perhaps not more 

 than a third to good advantage, while with a large globe the 

 portion seen is still less. In order to study relations where 

 large portions of the earth's surface must be taken into con- 

 sideration, if a globe is used it must be turned in order to see 

 its several parts, and, even when experienced, it is difficult to 

 keep in mind correct ideas of those portions which are either 

 out of sight or but imperfectly seen. With stereographic 

 maps, on the other hand, a hemisphere may be admirably 

 shown, even the whole world, figure 14. Moreover, there is 

 no difficulty in constructing the maps with extreme accuracy, 

 so that, with suitable protractors, reliable measurements of all 



