-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: converting a verbal scale statement -- help needed!
Date:   Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:54:48 -0500
From:   John Hamilton <[log in to unmask]>
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I must say, I agree with Robert; I also think the phrase "Marine
Leagues 20 to a degree" is not a statement of scale. 20 marine
leagues would be about 60 miles, and degrees are about 69 miles apart
at the Equator (it varies), narrowing to zero at the poles. Since the
distance between degrees varies, knowing the distance between degrees
would be helpful, but doesn't seem to represent a scale. I just can't
see how to compute a scale without some information about the
distance on the map itself. Aren't we given only half the ratio?

I'll be happy to be proven wrong, though; it is an interesting problem.

John Hamilton
Cataloging and Metadata Services
Penn State University Libraries


>I'm thinking it's not a scale statement; but rather just a statement.
>
>found on the net:
>MARINE LEAGUE. A measure equal to the twentieth part of a degree. Bouch.
>Inst. n. 1845, not. Vide Cannon Shot; Sea.