THE rROORESS OK (4 K()(i R APHTO AL Kl^OWLP^DGK. 878 



niiittcr of cxuiiiiiKitioiis \n'o liiuc to chroniclo the issue of u most (excel- 

 lent syllabus for the new London matriculation which should ultimately 

 have <;'reat influence on the teachino" in many schools. 



Further, the (reoo-raphical Association, a body now of sc\'cral hun- 

 dred teachers, has made great progress. It has riM-ently conuncnccMl 

 th(e issue of a journal known as the "(Teographical Teacher," one of 

 whpse functions appears to l)e the criticism of the cpipstions set in 

 various })ul)lic examinations. 



In the University of Cand)ridge the interests of geography are 

 doubtless not overlooked, but they are not conspicuouslv in e\i(lence, 

 and I have no trustworthy data of tln^ ])r()gress made in their main- 

 tenance. 



In military scliools the report of the late connnittec appointc^d to 

 consider the education of army officers shows clearly enough that 

 among all the necessary subjects for a cadetAs education Avhicli have to 

 be cranuned into the exceedingly short course of his military school- 

 ing that bi'anch of geography which is em])raced l)y the term "mili- 

 tai'v topography"* finds a ^'ery conspicuous place. The short course 

 of a military school will never turn out an accomplished geographical 

 surveyor; n(n' does it in any way outflank the necessity for a military 

 school for professional topogra])hers. But it teaches the young officer 

 how maps are made and instructs him in the use of topograj)hical 

 sym]»ols. It would be w(dl if it could be pushed a little further — if it 

 could teach him how to make use of the maps when th(\v are made — 

 for personid experience convinces me that the apathy shown l>y many 

 of our foremost generals and leaders on the subject of maps arises 

 chiefly from a well-founded doul)t of their own ability to make use of 

 them. As for the broader basis of general geograpliical instruction 

 wdiich would deal with th(> disti'ibution of im])ortant military posts 

 and strategic positions throughout the Empire and teach officers the 

 functions of such }K)sitions, either individually or in combination, during 

 military or naval o])erations, it is perhaps; l)etter that such a sti-afegic 

 aspect of geography should be relegated to a later age, when the aver- 

 age intelligence of the cadet has Ixn-ome more fully de\'eloped. 



Taking it for all in all, thei-e ari^ distinct signs of a luoi-e genei'al 

 interest and more scholarly standard of thought in the sul)j<'ct of 

 geogra]ihy. This is probably due to the efi'orts of a comparati\'ely 

 small gn.up of workers at a time of general educational reform, |)ossi- 

 bly partly stinudated by the disclosures in connection with the late war. 



The methods of further improvemcMit an^ simple — ])etter tc^achiM-s 

 and better examining —and for both it is probable that we must look 

 more directly to civil sourc(\s than to the tentative efi'orts of the mili 

 tar\- schools. 



