34 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



scenic features is equally marked. Wordsworth's well-known 

 sneer at the geologist was unmerited when he penned it, and 

 few would approve it at the present day. The author of 

 Modem Painters has written chapter upon chapter with reference 

 to the importance of our subject to the lover of scenery, for, as 

 he observes, " the real majesty of the appearance of the thing to 

 us depends upon the degree in which we ourselves possess the 

 power of understanding it." 



Many books have been written to satisfy the wish to know 

 something of the causes which produced the earth's features. 

 How many of our intelligent countrymen have read Sir Archibald 

 Geikie's Scenery and Geology of Scotland, Lord Avebury's 

 Scenery of England and his Scenery of Switzerland '! Many of 

 these have no doubt wished that they had been taught somewhat 

 of the subject in their school-days. 



There is yet one other difference between the study of 

 physical geography and that of physics and chemistry, in that 

 the laboratory of the former is no confined room, but the open 

 country. 



In these days, when some deplore the extreme devotion of 

 our countrymen to athletic sports, all are agreed as to the value 

 of outdoor exercise. To the student of our subject this exercise 

 is obtained in the pursuit of his science, which often leads him 

 into the most health-giving places on upland moor and mountain 

 side, or by the cliffs which overlook the ocean's marge. 



When the study is further pursued, another element which 

 gives zest to sport is also encountered — that of danger. That 

 this is present is sadly manifest, owing to the geologists who 

 have lost their lives in pursuit of their calling ; but it is slight, 

 and its presence calls into play other important qualities — 

 namely, the care which should lead people to avoid such 

 danger as is avoidable, and the presence of mind which enables 

 them to cope with it when it cannot be avoided. 



I have laid stress upon the importance of physical geography 

 in that it is largely an open-air study, for I look back to very 

 happy days spent in attempting to elucidate the causes of 

 various physical features in many a fair part of the country, and 

 recall the envious tone in which students of other sciences have 

 remarked, " What a lucky man you are, being able to do your 

 work in places like these ! " 



It was before remarked that the whole of geology is not 



