A RAISED MAP OF ENGLAND AND THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
[To THE EDITOR OP THR ".SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—Several points urged by Mr. W. Bremner Davis in your issue of January 20th, under the heading " A. Raised Map of England and the Crystal Palace," seem to call for further discussion. It may he desirable, in the first place, to state more explicitly the main ground for objection to any great exaggeration of the vertical scale. The effect of foreshorten- ing in reducing the appearance of relief can surely only be described as tremendous when the lino of sight is at a high angle to the horizon, but cases must frequently occur (from a monorail carriage, say) in which the line of sight directed to a profile not in the immediate vicinity would he more nearly horizontal. The impressions gathered from a map of the kind suggested by your reviewer are bound to be extraordinarily vivid; and from the educational stand- point it would he a grave misfortune if, in the mind of a child, to take two cases, some river with an easy gradient should present itself as an innavigable torrent, or the rounded massive forms of the Gram- plans be associated with a vision of Alpine-looking spires, as would inevitably be the case if the horizontal scale is not to vary.
There is a danger, one cannot help feeling, in accuracy (not necessarily meticulous) being sacrificed to scenic effect. The question of compromise between the ideal (no exaggeration of the vertical scale) and the claim for effective bird's-eye views would no doubt cause trouble to a representative com- mittee, and the fullest discussion of this point seems desirable at the outset. The ingenious devices suggested for facilitating observation are decidedly attractive, but one feels compelled to enter a mild caveat against the spectacular side being made too prominent at the expense of the educational, which latter Mr. Davis clearly realizes to be the first con- sideration. Would it not, by the way, add greatly to the educational value if the area could be represented with the duo curvature of the earth's surface P With regard to hard paths in the valleys, your reviewer, as I understood him, proposed not so much definitely laid-out tracks as that the valleys and so forth should be accessible to personal exploration and observation, What could be more stimulating to the opening mind P Even at the risk of some wear and tear to the fabric it would appear advisable to allow, with fitting safeguard against accident, considerable freedom for individual tours of discovery.
It is with some reluctance that I have ventured to discuss various points in the letter referred to, as the practical sug- gestions made by Mr. Davis are, it seems to me, exactly what is needed to convince those not specially interested in this question that the idea is no visionary impracticability.—I am, Sir, &c., A. JAMES POTTER. [We have dealt with the subject of this letter in our leading columns,—EP. Spectator.]
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