SCIENCE. 



FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1885. 



COMMENT AND CRITICISM. 



There is a popular belief that demand be- 

 gets supply. If this be true, it would appear that 

 the deniand for good maps and atlases of this 

 country, on smaU scales, is very limited. In 

 respect to culture, the pubhshed maps are fairly 

 good, although m detail they are not what they 

 should be, even in this respect. In then- repre- 

 sentation of natural features, however, they are, 

 as a class, subject to severe criticism. It is not 

 too sweeping an assertion to say that there is 

 scarcely an atlas of this country which is abreast 

 of our geographical knowledge, or even within 

 several years of it. Indeed, in atlases dated 

 ' 1884,' there are to be seen maps of the western 

 states and territories, in which all geographical 

 work, executed subsequent to the Pacific railroad 

 explorations, has been ignored. The charitable 

 might assume that the compilers were not aware 

 of the existence of later and better material, were 

 it not for the fact that in many atlases the same 

 area is represented a second time by maps com- 

 piled from material of much more recent date. 

 One must conclude that the same old plates have 

 been made to do duty these many years, and that, 

 while the culture has been revised from time to 

 time, the natural features have not been con- 

 sidered of sufficient importance to warrant revis- 

 ion. On the most recent maps one still meets 

 with the old familiar errors. The mouth of the 

 Rio Dolores, in eastern Utah, is still frequently 

 represented thirty miles out of place. The myth- 

 ical island in Green River, in the Green River basin, 

 is occasionally seen ; and Sevier Lake, Utah, is 

 sometimes accompanied by its double, the so- 

 caUed ' Preuss Lake.' 



But it is not in this respect alone that our maps 

 and atlases are subject to criticism. As a rule, 

 the representation of the relief is a dismal failure. 

 There is scarcely a map published by private par- 

 ties which gives even a fairly good picture of the 

 orographic features of the country. No attempt 

 is made, by means of contours, at a quantitative 



No. 150—1885. 



representation of relief, but hachures and crayon, 

 or brush-work alone, are employed. In most 

 cases the expression is in the highest degree con- 

 ventional, a double line of hachures rejjresenting 

 a range, and an asterisk a peak. When an 

 attempt is made to represent properly the forms 

 of relief, it is seldom successful. Through the 

 ignorance of the compiler, the great ranges are 

 belittled, while minor ridges take on an imjjor- 

 tance altogether disproportionate to their size. 

 Every divide between drainage systems is repre- 

 sented as a mountain range. Plateaus appear as 

 ranges, and ranges as plateaus. Another feature 

 to be condemned is the raw and glaring colors by 

 which the states, counties, etc., are distiaguished 

 from one another. If colors must be used, let 

 them be subdued tints, which will not offend the 

 eye, or render the map illegible. Many American 

 maps and still more foreign maps are rendered 

 almost illegible from the quantity of material 

 which they contain. The names are so nimierous 

 as to obscure all other features, while the lettering 

 is often so fine that it can be read only with a 

 microscope. A map should be as legible as print. 

 There is certainly room for improvement in the 

 compilation and publication of maps. 



In the inaugural address of President Adams 

 of Cornell, reference is made to the need for the 

 establishment of regular courses of instruction in 

 the history and science of education at that univer- 

 sity. According to the census of 1880, there are in 

 the United States 64,137 lawyers, 64,698 clergymen, 

 85,671 physicians, and 277,710 teachers. For each 

 of the first three professions we demand a more or 

 less special training. Sometimes Ave ask much, 

 sometimes little ; but we always requh-e some- 

 thing, and in the more cultured sections of the 

 country that something is a great deal. With oui- 

 teachers the case is, or it may be more just to say 

 has been, radically and incomprehensively different. 

 Any person who chose could start a school, and 

 various influences aside from special training served 

 to secure responsible positions in institutions of 

 learning. Teaching may, and perhaps does, re- 

 quire what we are used to hearing called a knack. 

 But on what principle is it that teachers ai'e not 

 required to possess a scientific knowledge of their 



