
WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY? 
(InLusTRATED By THE LANTERN.) 
By Mr. ERNEST W. DANN, B.A. 28th February, 1905. 
The Lecturer said, Geography, according to the highest defini- 
tion, contained (1) the elements of science, (2) the elements of 
art, and (8) the elements that were essential to philosophy ; so 
that in its highest development and expression it was at once 
scientific, artistic, and philosophical. ‘They should take a noble 
conception of it, and see at what they were aiming. There were 
many false conceptions ou the subject. It could not be too 
emphatically stated that the theory of sound geographical 
teaching and its practice, were two very different things. In its 
widest sense Geography was a compendium of the sciences. The 
subject was sufficient to satisfy any ordinary mortal’s thirst for 
knowledge, and to leave him very incomplete. Was not that 
the hall mark of all sciences? Geology was its sister science. 
The two subjects were too closely connected to be regarded as 
distinct. The geological and geographical approached each 
other, and two students could look at the same facts from 
different points of view. He drew the line here—that when 
Geology presented them with facts Geography utilised them, but 
had nothing to do with the theories and speculations about 
them. It was common sense that the student should know his 
own district thoroughly. The Board of Agriculture had issued 
cheap ordnance maps to schools and duly accredited institutions. 
When they had extended their knowledge of this country, they 
could pursue the study of the great trade routes which led them 
to treat of other countries. A welcome attention was being 
paid now-a-days to nature study, and statistics were often of the 
most vital importance in clenching important truths. 
