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II. The particular methods of defcription pro- 
pofed or ufed by geographers are fo various, that we 
might, on that very account, fufpeCt them to be 
faulty j but in mod of their works we actually find 
thefe two blemifhes, the linear difeances vifebly falfe , 
and the interjections of the circles oblique : fo that a 
quadrilateral rectangular fpace fhall often be repre- 
fented by an oblique-angled rhomboid figure, whofe 
diagonals are very far from equal ; and yet, by a 
ftrange contradiction, you fhall fee a fixed fcale of 
diftances inferted in fuch a map. 
III. The only maps I remember to have feen, in 
which the laft of thefe blemifhes is removed, and 
the other leffened, are fome of P. Schenk’s of Am- 
iterdam, a map of the Ruffian empire, the Ger- 
mania Critica of the famous Profeffor Meyer, and a 
few more J. In thefe the meridians are ftraight lines 
converging to a point j from which, as a center, the 
parallels of latitude are defcribed : and a rule has 
been publifhed for the drawing of fuch maps* *. But 
as that rule appears to be only an eafy and conveni- 
ent approximation, it remains ftill to be inquired, 
What is the confer uSHon oj a particular ?nap> that 
fhall exhibit the J'uper fecial and li?iear meafures in 
their truefe proportions ? In order to which, 
IV. LetE/LP, in this figure (See Tab. XXI.) 
be the quadrant of a meridian of a given fphere, 
whofe center is C, and its pole P j E L, E /, the la- 
titudes of two places in that meridian, E M their 
4: Senex drew feveral of that form. 
* See the Preface to the frnall Berlin Atlas. 
middle 
