THE DEFLECTION PRISM

Abstract

The optical principle of the deflection prism may not be known to all readers. Though there is nothing of very modern origin in the optics of a prism, as a wedge of very acute angle it possesses special powers which admit of useful adaptation to certain types of instrument. This application is a development of comparatively recent times. It will not be out of place, therefore, to make some reference to it in this Review.     

THE PENGGAWAS' ROADS OF KELANTAN

Abstract

The survey of roads in the densely settled areas of the Kelantan plain is a problem the solution of which is interesting, more because it illustrates one of the facets of the surveyor's life than because it is likely to have any general application.     

THE ADJUSTMENT OF A FIRST-ORDER LEVELLING NETWORK

Abstract

In the E.S.R. January and April numbers of 1955, Vol. xiii, Nos. 95 and 96, Mr. Hsuan-Loh Su described the “Adjustment of a Level Net by Successive Approximations and by Electrical Analogy”. It does not seem to be as generally known as it should be that the rigid least square solution can be greatly simplified by utilizing the electrical analogy and solving by Kirchhoff's method. The method as detailed below has been in use for over 40 years.     

THE ORDNANCE SURVEY AND THE FINAL REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE OF 1935

Abstract

The conclusions of this Committee have aroused small interest so far, because war was upon us almost as soon as the publication (1938). They may, however, greatly affect our surveys and maps of the future, and it is time to examine them. First of all, however, it is desirable to see the background against which the Committee's recommendations appear. For that reason the following chronological summary is given. It is divided into three periods, those of Growth, of Hesitation and of War, and it is given to supplement the chronology of the Final Report in matters which are discussed therein.     

THE GEODIMETER: AN INSTRUMENT FOR THE ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES BY HIGH-FREQUENCY LIGHT VARIATIONS

Abstract

The constant K in equation (12) represents distance expended through time lags in the instrument itself, and, although the value of K can be calculated from electrical data, this would not be very satisfactory and it would be better to determine it directly by means of observations over a line of known length. In addition, the point from which K would be reckoned is not a convenient one for actual field measurements. Instead of this, it is more convenient to choose an index mark on the instrument itself and referall measurements to this and thence to the mark over which the instrument is set up.     

THE ORTHOMORPHIC PROJECTION OF THE SPHEROID

Abstract

Chesterton did not, of course, intend this gibe to be taken literally. But the more we consider what he would doubtless have called the “Higher Geodetics”, the more we must conclude that there is some literal justification for it. Not only are straight lines straight. A sufficiently short part of a curved line may also be considered straight, provided that it is continuous (i.e. does not contain a sudden break or sharp corner), and provided we are not concerned with a measure of its curvature. Similarly a square mile or so on the curved surface of the conventionally spheroidal earth is to all intents and purposes flat. We shall achieve a considerable simplification, without any approximation, in the treatment of the present subject by getting back to these fundamental glimpses of the obvious, whether the formalists and conformalists accept them or not.     

THE CALCULATION OF THE HEIGHT OF KILIMANJARO

Abstract

The observations to height Kilimanjaro were made from two ground stations, Domberg (5,081·6 ft.) and Lelatema (5,323.1 ft.) and from a point called Kibo near Kaiser Wilhelm Spitze which is regarded as the highest point on the crater rim. It was originally intended to include a third ground station, Kifaru, but it was discovered that the ice cap obstructed observations between this point and the top.     

THE STRAIGHT POSITION LINE

Abstract

The article “Notes on the Position Line” by B. Chiat (E.S.R., xiii, 97, 137) is very informative in the conclusions reached regarding the validity of drawing the position line straight, but it seems, to me at least, that the discussion involving the effects of the earth's non-sphericity is an academic labouring of a difficulty which, in fact, is non-existent.     

THE NORTH AND SOUTH EXPERIMENT

Abstract

I Commenced this experiment many years ago, and other persons in various parts of the world have since tested it abroad. By far the greater number of their results are quite satisfactory.     

SIR DAVID GILL AND THE GEODETIC SURVEY OF SOUTH AFRICA AND THE ARC OF THE 30TH MERIDIAN

Abstract

In the memoir of the late Capt. G. T. McCaw which appeared in the January number of this Review (vii, 47,2), reference was made to the part which the late Sir David Gill played in the origin of the work on the survey of the Arc of the 30th Meridian in Africa. This year is the centenary of Gill's birth, as he was born in June 1843, and it is therefore timely to give some account of his work during his long term of office as Her Majesty's Astronomer at the Cape which resulted inthe inception and completion of the Geodetic Survey of South Africa and the survey of the Arc to the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika. He died on 24th January 1914.     

THE ADJUSTMENT OF TRIGONOMETRICAL LEVELS AND THE EVALUATION OF THE COEFFICIENT OF TERRESTRIAL REFRACTION

Abstract

This paper is written primarily with the object of ascertaining how other Colonies and Dominions deal. with the adjustment of their trigonometricallevels; further, since the greater part of Nigeria is now covered by a framework of levels of primary accuracy it is of interest to examine the results. Moreover, the evaluation of the coefficient of refraction, and from it the temperature lapse-rate, is of some importance in view of the recent publication of the War Office Aneroid Tables. These tables are based on a standard lapse-rate of temperature.     

THE ACCURACY OF TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS

Abstract

“Accuracy” in relation to maps is a term very frequently and widely used. Nevertheless it is hard to obtain any comprehensive precise definition of the word in this connection.     

THE LIFE OF A SURVEYOR IN JAMAICA

Abstract

Legend has it that when Don Christopher Columbus was describing Jamaica to his patrons Ferdinand and Isabella, he crumpled a piece of parchment in his hand and placed it upon the table before their Spanish Majesties, saying “That is Jamaica”.     

THE YEAR 1933 IN CEYLON

Abstract

IN the absence on leave of the Surveyor General, a full Report for the Colonial Survey Committee was prepared by Mr. R. W. E. Ruddock, the Deputy Surveyor General. The Department in Ceylon covers so many activities that it would be impossible to mention here more than a few.     

THE FIXATION OF MINOR TRIANGULATION ON THE TRANSVERSE MERCATOR PROJECTION

Abstract

The fixation of Minor Triangulation in a Primary system does not, in general, warrant rigorous adjustments of figures; less laborious methods are desirable. For Secondary work a least square adjustment to approximate coordinates is quite sufficient, while, for Tertiary, graphical solutions are amply accurate. Apart from that, cases may arise to which a figure adjustment is not applicable, as in the small net shown in Fig. 2, p. 464. The line BC cannot be equated to the line AB in the ordinary way since it is not the side of a triangle. In this case an adjustment to approxima te coordina tes will overcome the difficulty.     

THE LATE CAPTAIN McCAW'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE E.S.R.

Abstract

The volume of this Review which has just been completed commenced with a memoir of the first Editor, the late Captain G. T. McCaw, C.M.G., O.B.E., M.A., who died in October 1942, and, in view of his great services to the Review and to the survey world in general, it is thought to be not in-appropriate that this, the first number of a new volume, should contain a list of his contributions to the Review. The power and versatility that they display are remarkable.     

THE CADASTRAL MAP

Abstract

In the Empire Survey Review for April 1934 (No. 12, pp. 382–4), the Editor has raised the question of the function of the cadastral map. As he remarks, the question is not simple, but it is easier to say what the function of the map is than to decide of what the map should consist in order that it may fulfil its function. Broadly speaking we may state that the function of the map is to record the boundaries of landed property in such a manner as not only to afford a pictorial representation but also to supply data for the identification of these boundaries on the ground when occasion requires. Apart from this the map should show the areas of properties, as this information may be required for taxation purposes.     

PROGRESS OF THE GEODETIC SURVEY OF NEWFOUNDLAND

Abstract

The third season (1937) of the Geodetic Survey of Newfoundland has now ended, the second in which angular measurements were made. Approximately half of the basic project has been finished, and two more seasons will leave little of it incomplete.