Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 29.djvu/218

 of longitude, were connected with the principal triangulations; and the direction of the meridian was observed at Valentia and compared with the direction as calculated from Greenwich by means of the triangulation connecting Greenwich with Valentia. The lengths of the arcs of parallel from Greenwich to Mount Kemmel in Belgium, from Greenwich to Haverfordwest, and from Greenwich to Valentia were also calculated.

Besides these services immediately connected with the ordnance survey, James, in 1864–5, arranged for a survey of Jerusalem, which was made by a party of royal engineers under Captain (now Sir Charles) Wilson; the survey was published in 1865, with descriptive notes and photographs. In 1868–9, on James's initiative, the two rival mountains, Jebel Musa and Jebel Serbal, were surveyed by Captains Wilson and Palmer.

The principal work with which the name of James will always be associated is photozincography. With a view of substituting photographic carbon prints for the tracings of the six-inch plans which were made for the purposes of the engraver, James had a carbon print of a small drawing prepared and transferred to zinc with perfect success. The new art was found invaluable. It was introduced at the ordnance survey office in 1859, under the supervision of Captain (now Major-general) A. De C. Scott, R.E., who had charge of the photographic establishment at Southampton. Without its assistance it would have been impossible to keep pace with the demand for maps on a variety of scales, while the gain in accuracy was reported by a committee under the presidency of Sir Roderick Murchison to be such that the greatest error in a photozincograph reduction did not amount to 1/400 part of an inch, a quantity quite inappreciable, and much less than the error due to the contraction and expansion of the paper on which the maps were printed. The resulting economy was obviously considerable. Photozincography in its application to maps attracted much attention abroad, and representatives of the principal European powers were sent to Southampton to study the process. The Spanish government especially interested itself in the process, and sent officers on several occasions to study it; in 1863 the queen of Spain appointed James a commander and Scott a knight of the royal order of Isabella the Catholic. The services of photozincography, as developed under James, have proved most useful in popularising the study of palæography and philology. At James's suggestion this process was adopted in the reproduction of Domesday Book.

On 6 March 1868 James was promoted major-general, and on 21 Nov. 1874 lieutenant-general. He remained at the head of the ordnance survey until August 1875, when failing health compelled him to resign. He died 14 June 1877 at his residence in Southampton. He married Anne, daughter of Major-general Watson, R.E., by whom he had two sons and a daughter who survived him. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society on 30 Nov. 1848, and an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 1 May 1849.

James was a man of varied gifts, strong personality, and commanding presence. Somewhat egotistical and imperious in manner, he was unpleasant if opposed, but was possessed of so much humour that he was a most agreeable companion. He was a keen sportsman, a good shot, and a successful fisherman. He was always particular to clear the survey men out of the deer forests before the close season began.

For the following publications James was responsible: 1. ‘Abstracts from the Meteorological Observations taken at the Stations of the Royal Engineers in 1853–4,’ 4to, 1855; those from 1853–9 were published in 1862. 2. ‘On the Deflection of the Plumb-line at Arthur's Seat, and the mean Specific Gravity of the Earth,’ pamphlet, 4to, 1856. 3. ‘On the Figure, Dimensions, and mean Specific Gravity of the Earth as derived from the Ordnance Trigonometrical Survey of Great Britain and Ireland,’ 4to, 1856. 4. ‘Principal Triangulations of the Earth,’ 2 vols. 4to, 1858. 5. ‘Lecture on the Ordnance Survey,’ pamphlet, 8vo, 1859. 6. ‘Tables for the Reduction of Meteorological Observations,’ 8vo, 1860. 7. ‘Photozincography,’ 8vo, Southampton, 1860. 8. ‘Abstract of the principal Lines of Spirit-Levelling in England and Wales,’ with a volume of plates, 4to, 1861. 9. ‘Extensions of the Triangulations of the Ordnance Survey with France and Belgium, and Measurement of an Arc of Parallel 52° N.,’ 4to, 1863. 10. ‘The Astragalus of Tin: Note on the block of Tin dredged up in Falmouth Harbour,’ 8vo, London, 1863. 11. ‘Comparisons of Standards of Length of England, France, Belgium, Prussia, Russia, India, Australia. …’ 1866, 4to. 12. ‘Determination of the Positions of Feaghmain and Haverfordwest, longitude stations on the great European Arc of Parallel,’ 4to, 1867. 13. ‘Plans and Photographs of Stonehenge and of Turnsachen in the Island of Lewis, with Notes relating to the Druids, and Sketches of Cromlechs in Ireland,’ 4to, Southampton, 1867. 14. ‘Notes on the Great Pyramid of Egypt and the Cubits used in its