Add MS 49994

GEOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA, surveyed by the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique de Panama; circa 1884-1887. French. Vertical scale of 1:500. Horizontal scale of 1:5000. Taken along the 74 km.-long line of the projected sea-level canal from Colon to Panama, abandoned when the company went bankrupt in 1889. Indicates the geological formation of the ground to a depth of 9m. below sea-level, as determined from borings (one dated 28 Feb. 1884) made at intervals of 1 km. or less. Probably drawn before 1887, when it was decided to construct the canal with a temporary lock system. Additional geological notes, in pencil, for the section between Km. 48.550 and Km. 53.600. A reduced version of a similar section, but with slight variations, is reproduced in F. Paponot, Achèvement du Canal de Panama, 1888, plate 6. See also M. P. Duval, And the Mountains Will Move, Stanford, 1944, and G. Mack, The Land Divided, New York, 1944. Acquired from a French engineer resident in Colon by a Mr de Mexia, an engineer-draughtsman employed by the Isthmian Canal Commission, and passed from him to Messrs Henry Stevens, Son and Stiles, from whom it was acquired by the British Museum.

446mm. x 15.50m.