in use in some parts of the continent; and this study has resulted in the formation of two schools of American anthropologists. The one school, impressed by the very numerous resemblances to be found between existing Indians and the mound-builders, maintain the practical identity of race and continuity of habitation from the epoch of the earliest prehistoric remains down to the date of the European discovery. The other school, laying more stress on the differences between the remains left by the mound-builders and other prehistoric races and the works of modern Indians, and being convinced, further, that there are indications of great antiquity and successive occupation in many areas, believe that there has been a long series of changes in America as in the old world, that each group of remains and each area has its characteristic features, that there have been higher grades of civilisation succeeded by lower as well as lower by higher, and that the facts, no less than the probabilities, are all in favour of successive displacements of tribes or races, of which the displacement of the moundbuilders by the ancestors of the historic "red men" was perhaps the latest.

This divergence of opinion is probably the very best security for the ultimate discovery of the truth, since it assures us that no important evidence on either side will be neglected. The whole inquiry is in good hands; fresh material is continually being obtained and elaborated; and we may look forward with some confidence to a final consensus of opinion which shall disperse, by the light of accurate knowledge, some portion at least of the obscurity which has hitherto overshadowed the early history of the American continent.

CHAPTER III

HOW BEST TO MODEL THE EARTH

M. ELISÉE RECLUS, the well-known geographer, in a pamphlet printed at Brussels,1 has elaborated a startling and even sensational proposal for the construction of a huge globe, on a scale of one hundred thousandth the actual size of our earth. This is only about one-third smaller than the maps of our own one-inch Ordnance Survey; and the magnitude of the work will be appreciated when it is stated that the structure will be 418 feet in diameter, so that the London Monument, if erected inside it, would not reach to its centre, while even the top of the cross of St. Paul's Cathedral would fall short of its highest point by fourteen fect. This enormous size is considered to be necessary in order to allow of the surface being modelled with minute accuracy and in true proportions, so as to show mountains and valleys, plateaux and lowlands, in their actual relations to the earth's magnitude. Even on this large scale the Himalayas would be only about three and a half inches high, Mont Blanc, about two inches, the Grampians half an inch, while Hampstead and Highgate would be about one-sixteenth of an inch above the valley of the Thames. It may be thought that these small elevations would be quite imperceptible on the vast extent of a globe which would be a quarter of a mile in circumference; but the visibility of inequalities of surface depends not on their actual magnitude so much as on their steepness or abruptness, and most hills and mountains rise with considerable abruptness from nearly level plains. All irregularities of surface are appreciated by us owing to the effects of light and shade produced by them; and by a proper arrangement of the illumination the smallest deviations from a plane can be easily rendered visible. Again, the slopes of mountains are always much broken up by deep valleys, narrow gorges, or ranges of precipitous cliffs, which give a distinct character to mountainous countries, thus producing striking contrasts with lowlands and plateaux, which, when brightened by appropriate colouring and brought to view by a suitable disposition of the sources of light, would give them any desired amount of distinctness.

It is proposed that the globe shall always be kept up to the latest knowledge of the day, by adding fresh details from the results of new explorations in every part of the world; so that, by means of photography, maps of any country or district could be formed on any scale desired; and for a small fee the globe might be available to all mapmakers for that purpose. Such maps would be more accurate than those drawn by any method of projection, while the facility of their construction would render them very cheap, and would thus be a great boon to the public, especially whenever attention was directed to any particular area.

M. Reclus states the scientific and educational value of such a globe as due to the following considerations—(1) its accuracy of proportion in every part, as compared with all our usual maps, especially such as represent continents or other large areas; (2) the unity of presentation of all countries, by which the erroneous ideas arising from the better-known countries being always given on the largest scale will be avoided; and (3), that the true proportions of all the elevations of the surface will be made visible, and thus many erroneous ideas as to the origin, nature, and general features of mountain ranges, of valleys, and of plateaux, will be corrected, He has fixed upon the scale of one hundred thousandth for several reasons. In the first place, it gives the maximum size of a globe that, in the present state of engineering science, can probably be constructed, or that would be in any case advisable; secondly, it is the scale of a considerable number of important maps in various parts of the world; and, thirdly, it is the smallest that would allow of very moderate elevations being modelled on a true scale. He considers that even Montmartre at Paris, and Primrose Hill at London, would be distinctly visible upon it under a proper oblique illumination.

When, however, we consider the size of such a globe, nearly 420 feet in diameter, it is evident that both the difficulties and the cost of its construction will be very great; and both are rendered still greater by the particular design adopted by M. Reclus-a design which, in the opinion of the present writer, is by no means the best calculated to secure the various objects aimed at. I will therefore first briefly describe the exact proposals of M. Reclus as set forth in his interesting and suggestive pamphlet, and will then describe the alternative method, which seems to me to be at once simpler, less costly, and more likely to be both popular and instructive.

The essential features of the proposed globe are said to be as follows. Nothing about it must destroy or even diminish its general effect. It must not therefore rest upon the level ground, but must be supported on some kind of pedestal; and it must be so situated as to be seen from a considerable distance in every direction without any intervening obstruction by houses, trees, &c. But, in our northern climate, the effects of frost and snow, sun and wind, dust and smoke, rain and hail, would soon destroy any such delicate work as the modelling and tinting of the globe; it is therefore necessary to protect it with an outer covering, which will also be globular, its smooth outer surface being boldly and permanently coloured to represent all the great geographical features of the earth, so as to form an effective picture at a considerable distance. In order to allow room for the various stairs and platforms which will be required in order to provide for access to every part of the surface of the interior globe, and to afford the means of obtaining a view of a considerable extent of it, there is to be a space of about fifty feet between it and its covering, so that the latter must have an inside diameter of about 520 feet. It is also to be raised about sixty feet above the ground, so that the total altitude of the structure will be not far short of 600 feet.

M. Reclus adds to his general description a statement furnished by a competent engineer giving a general estimate for the erection of the globe, with some further constructive details which are, briefly, as follows: Both the globe and the envelope are to be built up of iron meridians connected by spiral bands, leaving apertures nowhere more than two metres wide. The envelope is to be covered with thick plates of glass, and either painted outside on a slightly roughened surface, or inside with the surface remaining polished, either of which methods are stated to have certain advantages with corresponding disadvantages. The envelope being exposed to storms and offering such an enormous surface to the wind would not be safe on a single pedestal. It is therefore proposed to have four supports placed about 140 feet apart, and built of masonry to the required height of sixty feet. The globe itself is to have a surface of plaster, on which all the details are to be modelled and tinted, the oceans alone being covered with thin glass. In order to provide access to every part of the surface of the globe it is proposed to construct in the space between the globe and its covering, but much nearer to the former, a broad platform, ascending spirally from the South to the North Pole in twentyfour spires, with a maximum rise of one in twenty. The balustrade on the inner side of this ascending platform is to be one metre (three feet three inches) from the surface of the globe, and the total length of the walk along it will be about five miles. But as the successive turns of this spiral pathway would be about twenty feet above each other, the larger portion of the globe's surface would be at too great a distance, and would be seen too obliquely, to