Weekly national intelligencer., 1851-04-26
GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION.



GEoeRAPHy 10 branch Of knowledge which has
long been admitted a. an ornamental addition 70 a
respectable education: and il was not thought q
good sicn 10 be ignorant Of che place on the map
on which China should be looked Cor or Kant
schaika found. Small, however, was the real
knowledge impaired even in this branch OF science.
II is not easy 10 instruct child to read map or
10 comrrshend ihe nsi surface OF globe; and q
yery cursory examination, even among people Of
liberal education. will convincingly prove that ord.
nary geography is very imperfecily understood and
that wide ignorance Of physical geography pre-
walls. Regarding Mr.. WfLD's Model Of lhe Earth
as great sisp towards general remedy. we think
il worth while, afier inspection Of iis materials
aud Of the processes in operation, 10 put our read
ers in possession Of It's characters and It's objects
In looking on an ordinary globe limited portion
OF ihe.earih's surface only comes under survey al
once. It has therefore occurred 10 Mr.. Wyid 20
figure the earths surface the inside, instead OF
the outside, Of sphere--to give. in fact, an In.
yer.ed globe--enabling the observer 10 embrace at
one view the physical features OF the world which
he inhabits. That surface which will be looked on
as the inside coating Of the sphere s actually that
which exists on The exterior crust Of the great globe
itself. This very allowable departure from the
truth, without misleading any one, admits Of obtaining
knowledge Of the distribution Of land and water over the
whole planet which could not be in any other way secured
The great feature, in fact Of this globe medium of
mary tesehng s that pfesens (what nothing on less
scale can do the Of presenting the various great ply
scs phenomena Al and In their relations, which 10 all
other educational documents have 70 be studied separately and
in detail
The sphere on which the earth modeed-snd which is
now ia process Of erection, readers know, 10 the
Leicester Squares 65 feet In diameter. ysiers will
pass into the interior Of this huge ball and BY means Of
winding staircase gallery will proceed round II viewing
every part Of the model at distance Of four feet fom the
eye and these arrangements contived thsi they will
not interfere with the genera view Of the entire surface The
scale s ten miles to inch horzona and one mile 70
inch vertical This enables the constructor 70 exhibit oil the
details Of Hill snd valley lake and river with facility. and to
produce an effective representation Of the earth which could
be done the scales for height and for distance were alike
looking at this model the observer 10 q once struck
with the distribution Of land and water He sees the great
oceans occupying nearly 900 square miles, while
the old and continents and oil the islands esimskd
at but CO. 600 900 square miles The immense expsnse Of
in the southern hemisphere 10 brought out In strong
with the widespread snds c the nohern and the
great chains Of mountsns which remarkable features Of
t eas surface shown 10 be ranged in circle around
the and the Indian The wster-shedor river
=. .eS eauasea NE ss .s 4:
elevations and depIessons Of the land ell which are dis
played in relative ruthfulness and with remarkable exac
tude BY no other means than this, repeat could
points. model in relief speaks the eye way which
It impossible for any map globe with fat surface 10 do
Beyond the points Of physical geography which We have
mentioned ss being necessarily involved in this idea there
are Others Of no less importance and interest TO be embraced
The limits Of perpetual will be shown Mont Blanc,
"the monarch Of mountains with his dsdem Of snow"
the hoay peaks Of the Andean and Hmalayan range-
with the lower bills, which, they approach the pole pre-
sent their constantly snow-bearipg iopss alike be faith
fully represented The great forest ranges will be ndcated
and the deserts with their OF sand exhibited Many
Of the geological aspects Of the globe win be dspsyed not
merely IN the form Of the surface but in the colos Of the
rocks in fact perfect picture Of The surface Of earth
possible will be presented One view n this gigantic
model. This will be holiday show Men may take
her children to It TO instruct them the subject Of that
world on which they live and the Of our day may
here they choose learn something than they know
Of that surface Of which Mrs. Somevie in her Physical
Geography" has written so well.
~ we have already minated that regard ths model ss
Inc commencement Of new in geographical instruction
his great globe made up Of thousands Of castings
an plaster from the original models In clay The fret plaster
cast which 10 OF course, in reverse, will he
sron any number of models may be had Nothing
could be more instructive than such sections Of the earth
Those raised maps telling the tale Of distance and eIevson
would mpart amount Of information in schools which
eoud not be given BY any other method In aew weeks the
desert Of Leicester Square WILL in fact, be converted into
greet geographical school,