122 
BAUER. 
plan in his “Cosmos” for a general magnetic survey of the 
globe.* 
“ Four times in every century an expedition of three ships 
should he sent out to examine as nearly as possible at the same 
time the state of the magnetism of the earth , so far as it can 
be investigated in those parts which are covered by the ocean. 
* * * Land expeditions should be combined with these 
voyages * * * 
“ May the year 1850 be marked as the first normal epoch 
in which the materials for a magnetic chart shall be collected, 
and may permanent scientific institutions ( academies ) im- 
pose upon themselves the practice of reminding , every twen- 
ty-five or thirty years, governments, favorable to the advance 
of navigation, of the importance of an undertaking whose 
great cosmical importance depends on its long continued 
repetition .” 
Here was a noble project, universally conceded to be not 
only of the greatest scientific interest, but also of the greatest 
practical importance. Yet why is it that this grand plan has 
never been carried out by the foremost nations in friendly 
concert ? Have our Academies, as Humboldt suggested, never 
“imposed upon themselves the practice of reminding every 
twenty-five or thirty years governments, favorable to the 
advance of navigation, of the importance of an undertaking” 
of this character? 
Instead of working along a common and definite plan, the 
magnetic operations hitherto have consisted of more or less 
isolated and incomplete surveys, independently undertaken 
by various nations and distributed over a great number of 
years. Not even for a single epoch has it been possible to 
construct the magnetic charts on the basis of homogeneous 
material, distributed over the greater part of the earth, with 
some attempt, at least, at uniformity. And as to the possi- 
bility of constructing the charts, with the aid of similar data, 
for epochs 25-30 years apart, as Humboldt had dreamed, this, 
in spite of the enlightened interest of many countries, is even 
more remote. 
*The quotation is from E. C. Otte’s translation of the Cosmos, vol. 
ii, pp. 719-720. 
