144 



GEOGRAPHY 



( marine ) flora from the terrestrial forms, and the 

 latter he divides into three great groups, and these 

 again into fourteen floral domains ( florenreiche ), 

 the limits of which are shown on the accompanying 

 map. 



See P. L. Sclater's paper on the Geographical Distribu- 

 tion of Birds, in the Jour. Linn. Soc. (Zool.), vol. ii., 

 and his Address to the Biological Section of the Brit. 

 Assoc. at Bristol, 1875 ; A. R. Wallace's Geographical 

 Distribution of Animals (2 vols. Lond. 1876), and his 

 Island Life ( Lond. 1880 ) ; A. Murray's Geographical 

 Distribution of Mammals ( Lond. 1866 ) ; Angelo Heilprin, 

 The Geographical and Geological Distribution of Animals 

 ( New York and Lond. 1887 ) ; Bentham's Presidential 

 Address to the Linnean Society, Jour. Linn. Soc., x. 

 ( Botany, in trod.) ; A. de Candolle's Geographie Botanique 

 ( 2 vols. Paris, 1855 ) ; Sir J. Hooker's Introduction to the 

 Flora of Tasmania, and Handbook of the Flora of New 

 Zealand ; also papers by him On Insular Floras, Brit. 

 Assoc. 1866, and On the Distribution of Arctic Plants, 

 Trans. Linn. Soc., xxiii. ; Asa Gray s Forest Geography 

 and Archaeology, in Ainer. Jour, of Science and Arts 

 (ser. iii. vol. xvi. 1875) ; Grise bach's Vegetation der Erde 

 (Leip. 1872 ; 2d ed. 1884 ; French translation with valu- 

 able additional notes by Tchihatchef, 1875-78); F. 

 Beddard, Text-book of Zoogeography ( 1895 ) ; Engler's 

 EntwicklungsgeschichtederPftdnzenwelt (1879-82); Oscar 

 Drude, Die Florenreiche der Erde ( Erganzungshef t, No. 

 74, to Petermann's Mitteilungen, Gotha, 1884) ; and the 

 chapters on Geographical Distribution in Darwin's Origin 

 of Species, as well as chap, xxxviii.-xlii. of Ly ell's 

 Principles of Geology. 



Geography ( Gr. ge, ' the earth ; ' graphein, ' to 

 describe ' ) etymologically means a description of 

 the earth. The term as now accepted hy its most 

 competent students is applied to that department 

 of science whose function it is to investigate the 

 features of the earth's surface, and the distribution 

 and mutual topographical relations of all which 

 that surface sustains. It thus involves a study of 

 the atmosphere or air-covering ; the geosphere or 

 land surface ; and the hydrosphere or water-covering. 

 The basis of geography is topography, including 

 topographical relations and distribution. But to 

 understand this thoroughly a certain elementary 

 . knowledge of various departments of science is 

 necessary ; and this knowledge is often included in 

 what is somewhat vaguely known as Physiography 

 (q.v.). To understand what may be regarded 

 as the subject proper of geography viz. the 

 features of the earth's surface, their distribution 

 and relations, and the distribution and relations of 

 the denizens of the surface some knowledge is 

 required of the relations of the earth to the sun and 

 the other members of the solar system, and of the 

 celestial sphere generally. For exact topographical 

 observation (see SURVEYING) a precise knowledge 

 of certain astronomical data is required. This 

 department is treated in the ordinary text-books 

 under the heading of Astronomical or Mathe- 

 matical Geography. An elementary acquaintance 

 is also advisable with certain physical and chemical 

 facts and laws, in order to understand the action 

 of the atmosphere, of wind, rain, ice, and water 

 (rivers, lakes, the ocean), and those other factors 

 which help to constitute climate, and which do so 

 much to shape those features with which geography 

 has chiefly to deal. Equally useful is a general 

 knowledge of the character of the great classes of 

 rocks which compose the surface, and of the lead- 

 ing families of plants and animals which cover it, 

 especially those of economical importance. This, 

 though strictly preliminary, is often included along 

 with a study of the features themselves, in Physical 

 Geography. The investigation of the ocean and its 

 denizens has recently been made a new department 

 under the title of Oceanography or Thalasso- 

 graphy. Again, to an account of the different 

 states or communities into which man is divided 

 the term Political Geography is commonly applied. 



Commercial Geography discusses the various 

 countries and regions of the earth with special 

 reference to their products and their requirements 

 as affecting trade and commerce ; and Medical Geo- 

 graphy deals with localities as liable to become 

 the seats of special diseases or groups of diseases. 



Of course any section of geography may be treated 

 and studied by itself, just as in the case of geology, 

 or chemistry, or physics. But for purposes of re- 

 search, for practical results, and even for educa- 

 tional uses, it is now considered more satisfactory 

 to treat geography as one whole, dealing with the 

 characteristics, distribution, and mutual relations 

 of the great features of the earth's surface, the 

 great classes of plants and animals which cover 

 that surface, and of man himself. Such a study, it 

 is maintained, is not only an excellent discipline, 

 but the knowledge of facts and laws so obtained 

 can be applied in many useful practical directions. 

 Most of all it may be applied to the distribution of 

 man in communities or states, and so, combined with 

 other considerations, lead to a rational study of 

 political geography and the course of history. In 

 the same way the knowledge may be applied in the 

 interests of industry, of commerce, of colonisation, 

 and in many other economical directions. Geo- 

 graphy, when thus treated, is, it is maintained, both 

 more interesting and more profitable than when dealt 

 with as a mere collection of unconnected facts and 

 factors. It has long been so treated in Germany by 

 such geographers as Bitter and Peschel, and their 

 followers, and similar views are rapidly prevailing 

 in England and America. In Germany the subject 

 is often divided into general physical and political, 

 and special physical and political geography, the 

 latter, of course, dealing with particular countries or 

 regions. Of course, like all other departments of 

 learning, the subject may be broken up into sections, 

 and dealt with for teaching purposes, and in a more 

 or less elementary manner. For the most element- 

 ary stage, it is now generally considered advisable 

 to begin with the immediate topographical surround- 

 ings of the pupil and proceed outwards. It should 

 be stated that the eminent German geographer, 

 Professor G. Gerland, maintains that geography 

 has to do with the earth as a whole, and that the 

 human side of it, or anthropogeography, belongs 

 exclusively to history. 



Special aspects of geography will be found treated in 

 the articles ANTHROPOLOGY, ASTRONOMY, CLIMATE, 

 CLOUDS, EARTH, ETHNOLOGY, GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBU- 

 TION, GEOLOGY, HEAT, LAKES, LATITUDE AND LONGI- 

 TUDE, MOUNTAINS, RAIN, RIVER, SEA, WIND, &c. As 

 authorities to consult on the various aspects of geography 

 referred to, may be mentioned Ritter's Erdkunde ; 

 Mrs Somerville's Physical Geography ( latest edition ) ; 

 Peschel's Physische Erdkunde, Abhandlungen zur Erd- 

 und- Volkerkunde, and Neue Probleme der Vcrgleichenden 

 Erdkunde; Suess, Das Antlitz der Erde; Ratzel, Ait- 

 thropogeographie ; Unser Wissen von der Erde : I. A II- 

 gemeine Erdkunde; Hinman's Eclectic Physical Geo- 

 graphy; the volume of 'Education Reports' issued by 

 the Royal Geographical Society, and the Lectures 

 contained therein; General R. Strachey, Lectures in 

 Geography ; ' The Scope and Methods of Geography,' by 

 H. J. Mackinder in Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. ( vol. ix. ) ; ' Scien- 

 tific Earth-knowledge as an Aid to Commerce,' by H. R. 

 Mill in Scot. Gear/. Mag. (vol. v. p. 302); ' Applied Geo- 

 graphy,' by J. S. Keltie in Contemp. Rev. (Sept. 1888); 

 Chisholm's Handbook of Commercial Geography ( 1889 ). 



The facts of Political Geography will be found under 

 the headings of the different continents, countries, and 

 towns in this Encyclopaedia. As authoritative works 

 on the subject (both general and political) may be 

 mentioned Reclus, Geographic univer stile (with its 

 English translation); and Stanford's Compendium of 

 Geography and Travel. 



For the purposes of geographical discovery, or the geo- 

 graphical knowledge of various parts of the earth, reference 

 must be made to the articles on continents and oceans, 



