In  the  United  Kingdom  the  general  survey
known  as  the  ordnance  survey  was  intended  at
first  for  purely  military  purposes,  and,  in  par-
ticular, to  provide  plans  for  purely  military
purposes  (hence  the  name  the  ordnance  depart-
ment) ;  but  as  the  real  value  of  the  work  and
the  various  uses  which  it  might  serve  were  per-
ceived, the  scheme  expanded,  and  in  England
and  Wales  it  is  now  proceeding  on  the  following
scale  :  Towns  having  4000  or  more  inhabitants
are  surveyed  on  a  scale  of  1*500  of  the  linear
measurement,  which  is  equivalent  to  126*72
inches  to  a  mile,  or  41f  feet  to  an  inch  ;  parishes
(in  cultivated  districts)  1*2500  of  the  linear
measurement,  equal  to  25*344  inches  to  a  mile,
or  1  square  inch  to  an  acre  ;  counties  on  a  scale
of  6  inches  to  a  mile  ;  kingdom,  a  general  map
1  inch  to  a  mile.  The  maps  issued  by  the  sur-
vey are  largely  used  for  evidencing  the  particular
properties  referred  to  in  legal  and  other  docu-
ments, for  planning  public  and  private  works,
and  for  the  delimitation  of  boundaries.  But
the  absence  of  any  information  as  to  the  value
of  the  property  delineated — an  essential  ele-
ment in  a  true  cadastral  survey — makes  the
ordnance  survey  inapplicable  to  purposes  of
taxation,  and  the  system  of  land  registration
and  transfer  which  such  a  survey  renders  pos-
sible has  not  yet  been  fully  organised  in  the
United  Kingdom.
In  France,  cadastral  survey  has,  since  1790,
been  a  matter  of  great  importance  owing  to  the
prominent  position  of  the  contribution  foncUre  in
the  financial  system  of  that  country.  The
French  literature  of  the  subject  is  proportion-
ately extensive.  In  Germany  a  fairly  accurate
cadastral  survey  has  (1861-1864)  been  com-
pleted.
