564 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



essential east- and- west structure of the Old World. I have already 

 i-eferred to the great central axis of Asia. This axis is prolonged 

 westward through Europe, but it is cut through and broken to such 

 an extent that we may include the INIediterranean region with the 

 area lying farther north, to which indeed it geographically belongs, 

 in any discussion of this sort. But the Mediterranean region is 

 bounded on the other side by the Sahara, and none of our modern 

 inventions facilitating transport has made any impression upon the 

 dry desert ; nor does it seem likely that such a desert will ever become 

 a less formidable barrier than a great mountain mass or range. We 

 may conclude, then, that in so far as the Old World is concerned, the 

 " north-and-south " transport can never be carried on as freely as it 

 may in the New, but only through certain weak points, or " roimd the 

 ends," i. e., by sea. It may be further pointed out that the land areas 

 in the southern hemisphere are so narrow that they will scarcely 

 enter into the " east-and-west " category at all — ^the transcontinental 

 railway as understood in the northern hemisphere can not exist; it 

 is scarcely a pioneer system, but rather comes into existence as a later 

 by-product of local east-and-west lines, as in Africa. 



These geographical facts must exercise a profound influence upon 

 the future of the British Isles. Trade south of the great dividing 

 line must always be to a large extent of the " north-and-south " type, 

 and the British Isles stand practically at the western end of the great 

 natural barrier. From their position the British Isles will always 

 be a center of immense importance in entrepot trade, importing com- 

 modities from " south " and distributing " east and west," and simi- 

 larly in the reverse direction. This movement will be permanent, 

 and will increase in volume long after the present type of purely 

 " east-and-west " trade has become relatively less important than it 

 is now, and long after the British Isles have ceased to have any of 

 the special advantages for manufacturing industries which are due 

 to their own resources either in the way of energy or of raw material. 

 We can well imagine, however, that this permanent advantage of 

 position will react favorably, if indirectly, upon certain types of our 

 manufactures, at least for a very long time to come. 



Reverting briefly to the equalization of the distribution of popu- 

 lation in the wheat-producing areas and the causes which are now at 

 work in this direction, it is interesting to inquire how geogi-aphical 

 conditions are likely to influence this on the smaller scale. We may 

 suppose that the production of staple foodstuffs must always be more 

 uniformly distributed than the manufacture of raw materials, or 

 the production of the raw materials themselves, for the most im- 

 portant raw materials of vegetable origin (as cotton, rubber, etc.) 

 demand special climatic conditions, and, apart from the distribution 

 of energy, manufacturing industries are strongly influenced by the 



