The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1879-07-01

not live 10 complete. The modern ap-
plication OF the word atlas" We owe
TO Asrcator. and it originated With
thi, work. The Introductory pages Of
The book, which was published by his
son, after his fathers death, containe q
gene logical tree of the ancestors and
descendants OF Atlas of Grecian Ny.
tholooy. who as . punishment for lead
ing the Titsns in the:rswsr against Ju-
piter. was CONDEMNED 10 bear the heav-
ems upon his shoulders. As Humboldt
ha, adopted the Greek word "Kosmos"
a, title to the crowning work Of his
life. 80 Mercator adopted Atlas" as
the title of the work which be planned
and projected as the crowning work Of
his life. He did not mean to call it an
Atlas, or the Atlas. but simply Atlas"
lie never intended 10 give to it the
generic sense ia which it is now used as
applicable to any and every collection
OF maps but - there was no word in
the classical or modern languages that
had done such service. the title WAS bor-
rowed in course Of time by other chart.
ographers, until it has gradually lest
its special application, and come to
designate simply . collection Of maps.
From the treatment to which two of
his works were subjected by the Catho-
lie Church, Mercstor has been::supposed
TO have been q Catholic; bnt this is
said 10 have been an error. His pos
thnmus work on the creation was con-
dem red in the Index Expurgatorius
because its treatment Of the doctrine OF
original sin bore too close q re.em.
Llance to the teachings Of Luther and
his chronology was prohibited IN &C
count OF the extracts contained in il
from writings that had been condemned.
Mercator having lost bis wife IN 1886.
married again. His second wife was
the widow Of . burgomsster Of Duis.
burg. The issue of bis tfirst msrriaGs
was six children. three sons and three
daughters. lie died in December, 594.
The fame Of Gerard Mercator rests
chiefly upon his achievements in the
department Of mathrm sticsl geography
and chart ':rnphy. lie il known to US,
principally. rs the inventor Of the pro-
jec.i,n which bears bis name. The
value of what is low known as the
"Mercator Projection" was 50 little ap-
precated at first that bis successors did
not deem, it ofsufficient account to place
it in the Atlas of Modern Geography.
Ii it ever occurred to the inventor that
this rather than any other of his pro-
duc'ions would immortalize him, he
probably banished the idea long before
lr,a =. - ha,
thrown aside and forgotten. or only
remembered As q scientific curiosity.
1t is unknown exactly when Mercator's
projection was first used we only know
that about the year 1880, the French
seaport Dieppe was the principal en-
porium for the sale of nautical charte,
ard that those then sold at that place
were mostly on this projection. The
practical signiication of Mercator's
protector is this He says to the mari
ncr If you wish to sail form one port
to another. here is chart and q straight
line on it, ard if you follow this line
carefally. you will certainly arrive at
your destination. The length Of the
line is not correct. yet it points exactly
in the right direction. Consequently.
if you follow the line, you may get to
your destination sooner than you ex.
pect. or you may not get there so soon.
Blu. you will certainly get there
Such are the leading features in the
life Of one to whom Malte-Brun paid
IN eloquent and fitting tribute when he
said /: Modern geography dates from
Mercstor." The memory Of Mercator
has been sadly neglected by the Eng
disappearing races. and until the re-
cent paper of Mr.. Elial r. Hall before
the American Geographical Society, no
full account of his life has appeared in
our language We are indebted 10 Mr..
Halls paper for the materials Of this
brief sketch Of the celebrated cosmog.
rspher.