The other alternative to complete drainage of the country is described as follows: "to drain the minimum area, and simply cover that with houses. These are built of imported wood and stone, and run naturally in thin lines along the narrow drained streets." As a matter of fact, houses are as a rule built along the polder-quays or dykes, at an elevation of from 1 to 4 metres above the level of the polders. They look out not over interminable expanses of water or of swamp, but over the besttended and most richly stocked pasture land in the world. Houses built of imported stone, too, would be a novel feature in a Dutch landscape! Dutch houses are built of brick, and the brickworks on the banks of the large rivers constitute one of Holland's most important industries. Professor Lyde admits the error, which arose in re-writing, by which a fraction originally 1/100 became multiplied by 10, with disastrous consequences to the argument. The error has been copied into at least one English elementary school-book, as is pointed out in the report made to the Society "Holland Abroad"; and it seems likely that the unfavourable conclusions deduced from the false figures are responsible in the first instance for the critical attention since given to the whole chapter. 6. Industry and Culture. "The small size and the rich soil encourage spade labour; but the high rent of reclaimed lands and severe agricultural competition depress wages, which means poor housing and under-feeding." The poorest regions in the Netherlands are not those where the reclaimed lands are to be found. In Zeeland, Holland, and Groningen, to mention only those, the agricultural population is quite prosperous indeed. But the less fertile regions, too, have greatly improved the conditions of their populations since the modern scientific agricultural methods came into practice. If any one will read Mr. Robertson Scott's 'Holland in War Time and Peace,' * or the Liberal Land Report, he will see how many parties of English housing experts have during the last four or five years come back from a tour in Holland full of admiration at what had been achieved there. "Under such circumstances," continues the chapter, "the poorest agricultural workers have been attracted to the industries of Belgium and Germany, as the high pay offered to soldiers in Holland attracts adventurers from Belgium and Germany, thus causing some international friction a typical phenomenon in a Buffer State-with two nations neither of which relishes losing good soldiers." The truth is that the Dutch Army is not an army of highly paid volunteers, like the British, but a conscript army, in which not a single foreigner is to be found. In the Dutch Indian Army, certainly, foreigners are accepted, but only when their papers are in good order, and I have never heard of international complications arising out of this practice. Professor Lyde refers to the Statesman's Year Book for 1925, which says A war-time edition of 'A Free Farmer in a Free State' (Heinemann). that part of the Home Army is volunteer; and Dr. Beekman agrees that volunteers, but always Dutch, are accepted in the cavalry, engineers, and medical services. The rest are conscripted. As for Dutch agricultural workers being attracted to foreign industries, this is certainly not a considerable phenomenon. But the whole of this picture of Dutch agriculture as being a depressed and necessitous industry is wrong. The cost of deep drainage, according to the book, "is in many places quite prohibitive. Agriculture, therefore, is relatively much more important in Gelderland and Brabant than in Holland and Zeeland." In Zeeland, the most fertile province, with a fat soil, of which not an inch remains uncultivated! Market-gardening is represented as especially important in Friesland and Groningen; "the horticulture of the west stands by itself, but it is significant that the typical products are all of a bulbous kind and humble habit." Yet the famous marketgardening centre of the Westland (in the province of South Holland) exports every year to England and Germany millions of pounds' worth of vegetables and fruit. Professor Lyde replies that agriculture is distinct from market gardening in the Netherlands Government Returns, and that he was speaking of agriculture proper. In speaking of the deplorable effects of the small size of the country Professor Lyde was perhaps thinking of spiritual or cultural " products." At all events, he goes on to speak very slightingly and patronizingly of Dutch political life. He says, for instance, that national feeling "has been wonderfully intensified by the religious unity of the people." Onethird of the Dutch people belong to the Roman Catholic Church, and the rest are much broken up into sects. A curious sort of religious unity! He also says that "unity of control has ruled out all vital differences" within the Dutch nation. The most characteristic feature of Dutch history is perhaps that there so rarely has been anything that might fairly be called "unity of control." Unfortunately," he says, "this control has been associated so largely with barge-life and constant fog that it has over-emphasized every tendency to caution and deliberation." I am not prepared to deny that the Dutch are a cautious and deliberate people. But if fog had made them so, what would not the people of London be! Professor Lyde replies that "to say that religious unity has not been a vital bond is to say that Motley and Lecky have written world-famous books full of nonsense." We have accepted for publication the above notes from an eminent geographer, as a valuable contribution to our knowledge in detail, and implying legitimate criticism of indiscriminate applications of the theory of geographic control. Triumph over environment, not subservience to it, is surely what distinguishes the best of a people-those who must influence the fate of their country. And in days of easy communication, size must be the least effective of geographic controls, much more than balanced by the patriotism and ambition of the smaller country to rival its bigger neighbours. The English can scarcely allow that a small country must have miniature features and diminutive human productsand they will not blame the Dutch for a certain impatience of such a conclusion being applied to Holland. SECOND NOTE ON DETERMINATION OF MY Arthur R. Hinks, C.B.E., F.R.S., Sec. R.G.S. Y first appearance before this Society was in November 1910, when I presented to the "Research Department" a brief paper: "Notes on Determination of Position near the Poles," with a Graphical Method of Reducing Polar Observations. The graphical method was designed for quick discussion of a long series of sun altitudes on an extended sledge journey, with some hope that it might save time in the field. I do not know that it was ever thus used, but have some recollection of an adverse criticism, that it was more comfortable to make even extended calculations in a sleeping-bag than to perform the simplest kind of geometrical drawing.* Soon after this note was published Professor Geelmuyden of Christiania kindly sent me a paper he had published long before: Stedbestemmelse paa hoia Bredder (Christiania Videnskabs-Selskabs Forhandlinger, 1892, No. 1), in preparation for Nansen's voyage in the Fram. It gives the theory for the construction of position circles on a stereographic projection, and its author calculated tables giving the radius and polar distance of the centre for any altitude and declination. Professor Geelmuyden wrote that "Scott Hansen procured a rod for drawing large circles, and used it to determine the ship's position during the first winter, but later on he preferred calculation." The method was, in fact, a general method for star observations, and so far as I can read the Norwegian with the help of the mathematics, it does not deal with the particular simplification applicable to altitudes of the sun. The paper has, however, historic interest, and must not be overlooked. The problem has recently taken on a new and strange form. It is becoming a habit to fly from Spitsbergen to the Pole, but not so easy to provide complete observations to show you have been there. You travel * The same method was described last year by Mr. S. W. Littlehales, of the Hydrographic Office, Washington, in a paper, "Finding Geographic Position in the Region of the North Pole" (United States Naval Institute Proceedings, 51, 1339, Aug. 1925). in relative comfort, but so quickly that the sun has no time to turn round through an angle sufficient for a successful fix. Various types of sun compass have been devised to maintain direction; drift recorders give some check on their indications; ground speed indicators provide the dead reckoning; and radio direction-finders may play their part. But a run of several hundred miles at least between two observations for a fix by Sumner's method is a little embarrassing, and the whole conditions of the astronomical fix are so unusual that it is rather hard to think them out. As there is sure to be some discussion of the question, how close did one man or another get to the Pole ? it is perhaps worth while to look again at the principles involved, before any of the observations made on recent polar flights are published in detail. I have therefore returned to the old problem of fifteen years ago, and propose to see how the graphical method adapts itself to the new conditions. The astronomical observations for position are altitudes of the sun obtained with an aeroplane sextant, probably of the form in which an image of the sun is placed centrally in a circular bubble. The accuracy of a single observation may be in skilled hands and, with a steady-flying pilot, perhaps within 5' of arc. It is essential that the time of each altitude shall be known, for there can be nothing like waiting for a meridian maximum altitude, owing to the great speed of the machine, which obliterates the maximum. Moreover the whole flight to the pole might be included between the epochs of upper and lower transit of the sun across the meridian on which the flight is made. C P The geometry of the graphical method is very simple. Suppose that the airman is flying on a meridian AP towards the pole, and that the apparent time of that meridian is 15h. Then the sun lies on the meridian PB. An observation of the sun gives altitude h, and the sun's declination is +8. Then the position circle cuts the meridian PB at a distance h - 8 from the pole, at C. let us suppose. The radius of the position circle is large, since the sun is low, and to a first approximation it is a straight line through C perpendicular to PB and cutting PA in D. Then if the airman is sure that he is on the meridian AP, his position is at D: or, allowing for the curvature of the position circle, a little south of D. When the sun is not more than about three hours from the meridian the fix is tolerable. But when the hour angle approaches six hours the position line is nearly parallel to the meridian AP ; the fix is geometrically weak, anyhow, and the departure of the position line from the position circle renders it still weaker for the determination of D. B A Figure 1. D On the other hand, such a position line gives an excellent check upon the presumption that the airman has kept to his initial meridian AP. The polar airman uses some form of sun compass to maintain his direction. If the sun keeps shining, and the sun compass works well, and the navigator remembers to adjust it from time to time to the approximate latitude, he can with this instrument be sure that he is flying at any moment in or parallel to the direction in which he started. But it gives him no check upon drift. He must therefore continually make observations on the ground with his drift recorder, and direct the pilot XIJI 345 Noon Apparent Solar Time of Meridian 15° E. Longitude from Greenwich Figure 2. Astronomical positions on a Trans-polar flight starting at 13 local time and flying 70 miles per hour. accordingly. How accurately this can be done, and a desired course maintained, is a technical question of airmanship on which it will be well to have expert opinion. A large drift will be shown up by an altitude of the sun if the local apparent time is near 6 or 18h, as we have seen. But anywhere near that time the sun will give no indication of distance from the pole. Indeed, it is most important to remark that within a few degrees of the pole the altitude of the sun at 6 or 18a is within a minute 270 VII |