Jan., 1906.] Physiography and Geography. 431 



PHYSIOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY— THEIR RELATIONS, 

 DIFFERENCES AND ESSENTIAL FIELDS.* 



Geo. D. Hubbard. 



Theoretically, it is conceded that geography shall be taught 

 in the grades and physiography in the high schools, but prac- 

 tically both are taught more or less all the way through. Hence ^ 

 many do not see the boundary line which separates these twO' 

 sciences. I speak of the subjects in the public schools only, 

 because at present they are best known as parts of public school 

 curricula, not because I believe they are or should be confined to 

 these stages. Neither do I object to the above mentioned lack 

 of differentiation in the elementary teaching. 



Pupils came to us in the colleges and universities totally 

 blind, as have been their teachers before them, to any real dis- 

 tinction between geography and physiography. The idea seems 

 to prevail that the former includes the latter. Undoubtedly 

 the use of the name physical geography for the latter cultivates 

 the notion. Truly they are related but not quite in that way. 

 Physiography, if not able to go alone, is more properly consid- 

 ered a corporate part of geology. What then is the relation 

 existing between these two sciences? Can one be studied with- 

 out the other? Which one should receive attention first? Are 

 they so related that they may be concurrently studied? 



These questions will be discussed in inverse order. In ele-. 

 mentary work the pupil's interest centers in, and radiates from 

 the human or life element. So in his geography he finds man 

 harvesting grain with a cradle in Vermont, with a two- or three- 

 horse reaper in Ohio and a steam header in Southern California, 

 and he asks why. The answer comes in noting the topography, 

 soil, and climate, and the condition of, and uses for, the straw. 

 He incidentally learns something of the physiography of the 

 places studied in order to explain the relations and responses 

 which he has found. He reads of the arid climate of the Great 

 Plains and then discovers the influence of the Rockies in pro- 

 ducing the aridity, and ultimately comes to appreciate several 

 points about mountains. He finds the railroads coming into 

 Indianapolis and Columbus from all directions while they enter 

 Cincinnati, Albany and Helena from only three or four. The 

 teacher calls attention to the topography and he learns facts 

 about plains and prairies, about mountains, passes and valleys. 

 But through it all he is studying geography, not physiography. 

 He is using simple, physiographic facts to explain and answer 

 geographic questions. It is time enough to introduce the 

 physiographic when the geographic requires it. 



* Read at the Cincinnati meeting, Ohio St. Acad, of Sci.. Dec. 2, 1905. 



