THE MEDITERRANEAN, PHYSICAL AND HISTORICAL.* 



By Sir R. L^iMBERT PLA.YFAIR. 



When the unexpected honor was proposed to me of presiding over 

 your deliberations, I felt some embarrassment as to the subject of my 

 address. Geography as a science, and the necessity of encouraging a 

 more systematic study of it, had been treated in an exhaustive manner 

 during {)reyious meetings. - - - In my perplexity I applied for the 

 ad y ice of one of the most experienced geographers of our Society, 

 whose reply brought comfort to my niind. He reminded me that it was 

 generally the custom for presidents of sections to select subjects with 

 which they were best acquainted, and added: "What more instructive 

 and ca})tiyating subject could be wished than the Mediterranean, physi- 

 cal and historical?" 



For nearly a quarter of a century I have held an official position in 

 Algeria, and it has been my constant delight to make myself acquainted 

 with the islands and shores of the Mediterranean, in the hope of being 

 able to facilitate the travels of ray countrymen in that beautiful part 

 of the world. 



I can not pretend to throw much new light on the subject, and I have 

 written so often about it already that what I have to say may strike 

 you as a twice-told tale ; nevertheless, if you will permit me to descend 

 from the elevated platform occupied by more learned predecessors, I 

 should like to speak to .^ ou in a familiar manner of this " great sea," as 

 it is called in sacred Scri[)ture, the Mare internum of the ancients, "our 

 sea," Mare nostrum of Pomponius Mela. 



Its shores include about 3,000,000 square miles of the richest country 

 on the earth's surface, enjoying a climate where the extremes of tem- 

 perature are unknown, and with every variety of scenery, but chiefly 

 consisting of mountains and elevated plateaux. It is a well defined 

 region of many parts, all intimately connected with each other by their 

 geographical character, their geological formation, their flora, fauna, 

 and the physiognomy of the people who inhabit them. To this geiieral 



* Vice-presidential address Itefore the Geographical Section of the British Associa- 

 tion Ad\^. Sci. meeting at Leeds, September, ISDU. (From Nature, September 11, 

 18U0, vol. XLli, pp. 4H0-4-5.) 



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