connected with the art, and the one that is attracting most attention
among those engaged in it; as, until models can be reproduced cheaply,
they will never have any wide distribution and there will be far less
incentive to the modeler. Various materials have been suggested and
experimented on, but nine-tenths of the models that are made to-day are
made of plaster of Paris. Although this material was the first to be
used for this purpose, it has not yet been superseded. A plaster cast
is heavy, expensive and easily injured; but plaster gives an accurate
copy of the original, retains permanently the form given it, and is
easily finished and repaired. The weight is an obstacle that can be
easily overcome. By the incorporation in the plaster of fine tow, or of
bagging or netting of various kinds, the cast can be made very light
and at the same time strong, but the expense is increased rather than
diminished by this method. Models made in this way, however, have the
advantage that when broken the pieces do not fall out, they are,
however, fully as liable to surface injury as the other kind. The large
cast in the National Museum, before referred to, was made in this way.
It weighed nearly 2,000 pounds when boxed--not an easy thing to
handle--but it stood shipment to New Orleans and back without suffering
any material injury. This would hardly have been possible had the cast
been made from plaster alone.
Paper seems, at first sight, to be the material best adapted for the
reproduction of models; but no one has succeeded well enough with it to
bring it into use. Like nearly all those who have given this subject
attention, I have experimented with paper, but the only positive result
has been a loss of a large part of the confidence that I once had in
the suitability of the material. Paper has been used extensively for
large scale models of pueblos, ruins, etc., but I have never obtained a
satisfactory result with subjects in low relief and fine detail. A
paper cast may look well when first made, but it absorbs moisture from
the atmosphere, and contracts and expands with the weather. The
contraction is apt to flatten out the model and the expansion to make
it buckle up.
Casts of models have been made in iron; but this, while suitable
perhaps for models of mounds and subjects of like character, would
hardly be applicable to small scale models with fine detail; such casts
require too much surface finishing. The material known as
Lincrusta-Walton seems to me to be the ideal material for this purpose.
It is tougher than rubber, will take the finest detail, and its surface
can be treated in any way desired. Unfortunately the manufacture of
models in this material would require expensive machinery, and is
outside the scope of a modeling room. Should it ever become
commercially advantageous, however, casts of a model of ordinary size,
in every way equal to the original, can be turned out in this material
at a very small cost.
It remains to speak of the reproduction of models by
process-engravings--a method that will probably receive much more
attention in the future than it has in the past. It is perhaps along
this line that the cheap reproduction of models will develop; but the
subject is too large a one to be adequately treated here, and must be
postponed until some future occasion.
[Illustration: HACHURED AND CONTOURED MAPS.
REPRESENTATION OF A HILL ACCORDING TO THE TWO SYSTEMS AND ON DIFFERENT
SCALES.
From Supplement to Enthoffer's Topographical Atlas by permission of Mr.
Enthoffer.]
[Illustration: FROM BUTLER'S COMPLETE GEOGRAPHY.
COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY E. H. BUTLER & CO.
Printed by permission.]
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
ABSTRACT OF MINUTES.
_October 5, 1888, Ninth Meeting_.
A paper was read entitled, "Topographic Models," by Mr. Cosmos
Mindeleff. Published in the "National Geographic Magazine," Vol. I, No.
3.
_October 19, 1888, Tenth Meeting_.
The attendance being very small, no paper was read.
_November 2, 1888, Eleventh Meeting_.
The paper of the evening was entitled, "Surveys, their Kinds and
Purposes," by Mr. Marcus Baker. The paper was discussed by Messrs.
Ogden, Goodfellow, Gannett and Baker. Published in "Science," Vol. XII,
No. 304.
_November 16, 1888, Twelfth Meeting_.
A paper was read by Mr. Henry Gannett, giving certain "Physical
Statistics Relating to Massachusetts," derived from the map of that
State recently prepared by the United States Geological Survey. A
discussion followed which was participated in by Messrs. Baker,
Kenaston, Fernow, Weed, and the author. A second paper entitled,
"Something about Tornadoes," was read by Lieut. J. P. Finley, U. S.
Signal Corps.
_November 30, 1888, Thirteenth Meeting_.
The annual reports of vice-Presidents Herbert G. Ogden and Gen. A. W.
Greely were delivered. Published in the "National Geographic Magazine,"
Vol. I, No. 2.
_December 20, 1888, Fourteenth Meeting_.
Held in the Law Lecture Room of the Columbian University. The President
delivered his Annual Address, entitled, "Africa." Published in the
"National Geographic Magazine," Vol. I, No. 2.
_December 28, 1888, Fifteenth Meeting_.
The Society met in the Society Hall of the Cosmos Club, President
Hubbard in the chair. Owing to the absence from the city of the
Secretaries, Mr. O. H. Tittmann was requested to act as Secretary of
the meeting. The minutes of the first and fourteenth meetings were read
and approved. The report of the Secretaries was read, in their absence,
by the temporary Secretary, and was approved. The Treasurer's report,
showing a balance on hand of $626.70, was read and approved, as was
also that of the auditing committee.
The President announced that vacancies caused by the resignation of two
of the managers, Messrs. W. D. Johnson and Henry Mitchell, had been
filled by the Board on the 15th of November, by the election of Messrs.
O. H. Tittmann and C. A. Kenaston; and that a vacancy caused by the
resignation of Vice-President John R. Bartlett, had been filled by the
election of Lieut. George L. Dyer, on November 30th.
The Society then proceeded to the election of officers, with following
result:
_President_--GARDINER G. HUBBARD.
_Vice-Presidents_--HERBERT G. OGDEN, [land]; GEORGE L. DYER, [sea];
A. W. GREELY, [air]; C. HART MERRIAM, [life]; A. H. THOMPSON,
[art].
_Treasurer_--CHARLES J. BELL.
_Recording Secretary_--HENRY GANNETT.
_Corresponding Secretary_--GEORGE KENNAN.
_Managers_--CLEVELAND ABBE, MARCUS BAKER, ROGERS BIRNIE, JR.,
G. BROWNE GOODE, W. B. POWELL, J. C. WELLING, C. A. KENASTON,
O. H. TITTMANN.
_January 11, 1889, Sixteenth Meeting_.
The paper of the evening was entitled, "The Great Plains of Canada,"
and was presented by Professor C. A. Kenaston, of Howard University.
_January 25, 1889, Seventeenth Meeting_.
The paper of the evening was entitled, "Irrigation in California," by
Mr. William Hammond Hall, State Engineer of California. To be published
in the "National Geographic Magazine," Vol. I, No. 4.
_February 8, 1889, Eighteenth Meeting_.
The following papers were read by Prof. W. M. Davis, of Harvard
University: "Topographic Models," and "Certain Peculiarities of the
Rivers of Pennsylvania." Published in the "National Geographic
Magazine," Vol. I, No. 3.
_February 22, 1889, Nineteenth Meeting_.
The paper of the evening was entitled, "Round about Asheville, N. C.,"
by Mr. Bailey Willis. The paper was illustrated by charcoal sketches
and lantern slides. Discussion followed, which was participated in by
Messrs. Baker, Merriam and McGee. To be published in the "National
Geographic Magazine," Vol. I, No. 4.
_March 8, 1889, Twentieth Meeting_.
The following amendments to the By-Laws were adopted.
[For Article VI substitute the following]:
ARTICLE VI.
MEETINGS.
"Regular meetings of the Society shall be held on alternate Fridays,
from November until May, and excepting the annual meeting, they shall
be devoted to communications. The Board of Managers shall, however,
have power to postpone or omit meetings, when deemed desirable. Special
meetings may be called by the President.
"The annual meeting for the election of officers shall be the last
regular meeting in December.
"The meeting preceding the annual meeting shall be devoted to the
President's annual address.
"The reports of the retiring Vice-Presidents shall be presented at the
meetings in January.
"A quorum for the transaction of business shall consist of twenty-five
active members."
In Article V, the following paragraph was introduced immediately after
the first paragraph of the article:
"The dues of members elected in November and December shall be credited
to the succeeding year."
The following papers were then presented: "A Trip to Panama and
Darien," by Mr. R. U. Goode, and "Survey of Mason and Dixon's Line," by
Mr. Mark B. Kerr.
A Trip to Panama and Darien, to be published in the "National
Geographic Magazine," Vol. I, No. 4.
_March 22, 1889, Twenty-first Meeting_.
The paper of the evening was entitled, "Recent Events in the U. S. of
Columbia," by Mr. W. E. Curtis. The discussion which followed was
participated in by Messrs. Baker, Gannett, and others.
_April 5, 1889, Twenty-second Meeting_.
The paper of the evening was entitled, "House Life in Mexico," by Mr.
A. B. Johnson.
_April 19, 1889, Twenty-third Meeting_.
This meeting was devoted to papers upon the Samoan Islands. The
following programme was presented:
"Samoa; the General Geography and Hydrography of the Islands and
Adjacent Seas," by Mr. Everett Hayden.
"Climate," by Prof. Cleveland Abbe.
"Narrative of a Cruise Among the Islands," by Capt. R. W. Meade, U. S.
N.
"The Home Life of the Samoans and the Botany of the Islands," by Mr. W.
E. Safford, U. S. N.
_May 3, 1889, Twenty-fourth Meeting_.
The paper of the evening was entitled, "Across Nicaragua with Transit
and Machéte," by Mr. R. E. Peary, U. S. N. To be published in the
"National Geographic Magazine," Vol. I, No. 4.
_May 17, 1889, Twenty-fifth Meeting_.
The paper of the evening was entitled, "The Krakatoa Eruption," by Dr.
A. Graham Bell. The paper was discussed by Captain C. E. Dutton.
(Translated by Mr. R. L. Lerch.)
INTERNATIONAL LITERARY CONTEST
To be held at Madrid, Spain, under the auspices of the Commission in
charge of the celebration of the Fourth Centennial Anniversary of the
Discovery of America.
PROGRAM.
The work for which a prize is offered is to be a prose essay, a true
historic picture giving a just estimate of the grandeur of the occasion
to be celebrated.
So much has been written on this subject since the opening of the XVIth
century that it would seem difficult to say anything new and good.
Perhaps the details, perhaps the circumstances in the life and acts of
Columbus are worthy of no little research; but already the Royal
Academy of History is engaged in the erudite and diligent task of
bringing together and publishing the un-edited or little known papers
bearing on this question.
The book required by this contest must be of a different nature: it
must be comprehensive and synoptic, and must be sufficiently concise
without being either obscure or dry.
Although there is an abundance of histories of America, of voyages and
discoveries, of geographic science, and of the establishment of
Europeans in remote regions of the earth, there is no book that sets
forth as it can be done the combined efforts of the nations of the
Iberian peninsula, who, since the commencement of the XVth century,
have, with a fixity of purpose and marvelous tenacity, in almost a
single century of silent efforts brought about the exploration of vast
continents and islands, traversed seas never before cut by Christian
prows, and in emulous strife obtained almost a complete knowledge of
the planet on which we live.
There is a growing interest and manifest unity in all those more
important events; not to mention the circumstantial evidence borne by
the charts of 1375 and the semi-fabulous voyages, such as that of Doria
y Vivaldi and others less apocryphal though isolated and barren of
results, like that of Ferrer, begun in 1434, when Gil Eannes doubled
Cape Bojador, discovered Guinea, and dispelled the terror inspired by
the unknown ocean, and ended in 1522 with Elcano's arrival at Sanlucar
after circumnavigating the globe.
In all this activity very little occurs by chance. The progressive
series of geographic discoveries, due to persistent premeditation and
not to accident, was inaugurated at Sagres by the Infante D. Enrique
and his illustrious pilot Jaime de Mallorca.
Well might Pedro Nuñes exclaim that from that time forth until the form
and size of the terraqueous globe were thoroughly known, the most to be
obtained would not be firmly established, "unless our mariners sailed
away better instructed and provided with better instruments and rules
of Astronomy and Geography than the things with which cosmographers
supplied them."
The culmination in the progress of that beautiful history falls on the
12th of October, 1492, when Columbus was the first European to set foot
upon the intertropical shores of the New World. But this act,
considered apart from its intrinsic value, as purely the individual
inspiration of a mariner and the generous enthusiasm of a patron Queen,
derives a higher value when regarded as part of a summation of efforts,
a grand development of an idea, a purpose to explore and know the whole
globe, to spread the name and the law of Christ together with the
civilization of Europe, and to reap a harvest of gold, spices, and all
the riches of which costly samples and exaggerated reports were
furnished by the traffic of the Venetians, Genoese and Catalonians, who
in turn got them from Mussulmans.
Doubtless the moving cause, whose gorgeous banner so many men of our
peninsula followed, was clothed in great sentiments, good or bad; their
hearts were filled with religious fervor, thirst for glory, ambition,
Christian love, cupidity, curiosity, and violent dissatisfaction (even
during the Renaissance), to seek and undergo real adventures that
should surpass the vain, fruitless, and fanciful adventures of
chivalry; and to make voyages and conquests eclipsing those of the
Greeks and Romans, many of which, recorded in classic histories and
fables, were now disinterred by the learned.
What must be described is the complete picture in all its sumptuousness
so that its magnificent meaning may stand out distinctly, without which
the conviction would be lacking that the studies, voyages, and happy
audacity of Bartolomé Diaz, Gama, Alburquerque, Cabral, Balboa,
Magallanes, Cortes, Pizarro, Orellana, and a host of others, do not dim
the glory of the hero whose centennary is to be celebrated, even though
it heighten and add greater luster to the work of civilization begun by
Portugal....
The book here vaguely outlined must also contain a compendious
introduction, notices of voyages, ideas, and geographic progress up to
the date of D. Enrique's establishment at Sagres, and an epilogue or
conclusion of greater extent, in which are examined and weighed the
changes and progress that our subject has made, collectively, in the
civilization of the world--in the commerce, economics and politics of
the peoples, in regard to the broad field opened to the intelligent
activity of Europe, over which it could spread and dominate; the
abundance of data, sunken hopes, and more secure basis lent to the
studious and wise for the extension of our knowledge of Nature, the
unraveling of her laws, and penetration of her mysteries.
The vast, elevated argument of the book requires it be a finished work
of art, not in fullness and richness of diction, but in plan and order,
in sobriety and unity of style, whose nobility and beauty must lie in
simplicity of phrase, correctness of judgment and richness of thought.
There may enter into this contest any unpublished work written to this
end in Spanish, Portuguese, English, German, French or Italian.
The tribunal that is to award the prize will be composed of two members
of the R. Acad. of History, and one member from each of the Spanish R.
Academies of Moral Sciences and Politics, and Exact and Natural
Sciences--all to be chosen by the Academies themselves.
Furthermore, there will be included in the tribunal the diplomatic
representative of every power whose subject or subjects wish to enter
the contest, which is to be done through said representative or some
person duly appointed to act in his place.
The tribunal will elect its presiding officer and will decide on the
best works by an absolute majority of all the jurors who take part in
the vote.
Each work submitted in this contest must be neatly copied, in legible
writing, on good paper, without the author's name but with a quotation
to identify him afterwards.
Each author will inclose a separate folded sheet on whose exterior is
written the quotation he has chosen and the opening sentence of his
work; within, he will write his name and residence.
The folded sheets corresponding to the works that did not get a prize
will be burnt publicly without being opened.
Though it is difficult to set a limit as to size, the works should not
have more reading matter than is contained in two volumes of the shape
and size of the complete works of Cervantes issued by Rivadeneyra in
1863-4.
If the plan or purpose of any of the works require it, there may be
added another volume of documents, maps, or other illustrations.
As it will take time to examine and judge the works, they should be
sent to the Secretary of the R. Acad. of Hist. prior to January 1,
1892.
There will be first prize of 30,000 pesetas ($5,790) and a second of
15,000 pesetas ($2,895).
Besides this, each of the two successful authors will receive 500
copies of the printed edition of his work.
It rests with the Centennial Commission to determine the number of
copies in the edition of each of the two prize works, and what
disposition is to be made of the copies that are not given to the
authors.
These (the authors) keep the right to re-print and to sell their works,
and to translate them into other tongues.
The Commission, however, will have the right, if either or both prize
works are in a foreign tongue, to have them translated and published in
Castilian.
The Commission affix their seal to the preceding directions for the
information of the public and government of those persons who desire to
participate in the contest.
Madrid, June 19, 1889.
The Vice President, DUKE OF VERAGUA.
Secretaries, JUAN VALERA, JUAN F. RIAÑO.