NA TURE 



lOI 



THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, igii. 



Influences of Geo graphki-Environment. On ihe Basis 

 of Ratzel's System of \^jithropo-Geography. By 

 Ellen C. Semple. Pp.' ■xvii + 683. (New York: 

 Henry Holt and Co. ; London : Constable and Co., 

 Ltd., 191 1.) Price 4.00 dollars net. 



THE influence of geolog-y on that part of geography 

 which deals especially with the forms of the 



nrth's surface, and of mathematics on the measure- 

 ment and representation of that surface, have given 

 a definiteness and precision to the inorganic side of 

 the subject which are less evident in the geographical 

 study of man and of his relations to the region in 

 \vhich he dwells. In German the work of Ratzel has 

 long furnished a basis for the scientific development 

 (if this part of the subject, and though his 

 Anthropologic" is rather a collection of brilliant 



ssays than a logical and even treatment of this vast 

 -abject, its influence on subsequent workers has been 

 iar-reaching. In English such treatment of the 

 subject in a scientific manner on a like scale has not 

 been attempted, and the organic side of .geography 

 has been delayed in its scientific development here by 

 its absence. Miss Semple's volume is therefore par- 

 ticularly valuable, especially as it is not simply a re- 

 statement of the principles embodied in Ratzel's work 

 but comprises such amplification of some portions and 

 abridgment of others as were necessary to make a 

 more even presentation of the subject ; at the same 

 time as much evidence as possible of typical peoples 

 of all races and all stages of cultural development 

 living under similar geographical conditions has been 

 incorporated. 



A short account of geographical factors and infiu- 

 inces serves as an introduction to the subject, in 

 which the continuous operation of geographical condi- 

 tions on man is shown, and their importance in the 

 history of peoples is emphasised. These influences 

 • iiT classified into the physical effects of environment; 

 the psychical effects, which are bound up in many 

 physiological modifications, and help to differentiate 

 peoples and races in point of temperament ; the 

 economic and social effects; and, lastly, the influence 

 of the features of the earth's surface in directing the 

 movements and the ultimate distribution of mankind. 

 From this general statement of the scope of the sub- 

 ject illustrated by numerous instances from the history 

 of peoples (if all stages of development we pass to 

 the results of environment as seen in general location; 

 here the relations of a soeietv or state to the land come 

 first, since in i:i;e(>gra|)li\' a liuinan group is not con- 

 ceivable apart Ironi the land on which il dwells. 



Such considerations lead naturally to ihe more 

 definite treatment of the ^geographical significance of 

 environment in the bearings of geographical location, 

 the influence of geographical area on its inhabitants, 

 and the various t\'pes of geot^raphieal hoimdaries 

 which exist. The examples which sup|ioit and illus- 

 trate the treatment of these subjects are drawn from 

 primitive races, semi-civilised peoples, and the civilised 

 nations, from the races of the past as well as of the 

 NO. 2195, VOL. 881 



present, so as to show the importance of taking into 

 account the stage of culture and world-relations when 

 drawing deductions from the facts of geographical 

 environment. The aspects of specific location are next 

 discussed, and the part played by seas and oceans, 

 rivers and lakes, by continents and islands, plains and 

 deserts, mountain barriers and their passes is ex- 

 plained as influencing the distribution, development, 

 and movement of the peoples inhabiting them. The 

 people of the coast, island races, and mountain tribes 

 are thus investigated in order to show the effects 

 which have been produced on them by their environ- 

 ment. 



In this way and with the aid of a full bibliography 

 at the end of each chapter a very large amount of 

 information relating to the influence of the earth's sur- 

 face on its population has been collected and presented 

 in a verv convenient form. Definitions and systematic 

 classification have been avoided intentionally from the 

 conviction that the subject is being but gradually 

 evolved, and has not yet reached a stage at which such 

 can be usefully introduced, but some provisional efforts 

 in this direction would have assisted the geographer 

 who avails himself of the mass of material here pro- 

 vided and the original works to which he is referred. 

 Precise description and quantitative treatment by re- 

 cognised scientific method is much needed in this 

 branch of geography, and Miss Semple has placed 

 English-speaking geographers under a deep obligation 

 by her scholarly treatment of the influences of geo- 

 graphical environment. It is for them now to carry 

 forward the investigation Into specific instances in 

 order to determine the valug of the different factors 

 involved in each case, so that human geography may 

 be as precise and definite in its methods and its results 

 as the physical branch of the subject. To this end 

 accurate and well-designed maps are of great assist- 

 ance in representing the distribution of data, and we 

 must regret that most of those in the present work 

 are not satisfactory; the drawing" is coarse and the 

 scale is indicated by the lines of latitude and longitude 

 only. Printed on suitable paper line blocks give excel- 

 lent results, and looking at those which illustrate 

 German text-books on this and other subjects, it is 

 to be desired that they should be employed here to 

 better advantage. 



THE AMERICAN AND COrNrRV LIFE. 

 The Coiinlrv-Iifc Movemcni iti the I'liilnl Slates. 

 Bv Prof. L. H. Bailey. Pp. xi + 220. (New ^■ork : 

 The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmlllan and Co., 

 Ltd., 191 1.) Price 5s. 6d. net. 



TO the untravelled Englishman, who still looks 

 upon money-making and hustling as the natural 

 habit of the American, the steady outflow of books 

 from the Inited States dealing with the country and 

 with counirv life comes as a great surjirisv. But 

 those who have had the privilege of nieeiiiii^ the 

 American in real life Icnow that he, too. like the 

 Englishman, has an inhoin love of the counti\, which 

 has not been killed oil ■ \en hv a couple of genera- 

 tions of town li'e, .111(1 is now asserting itself mow 

 thrui at an\- ilnie in our previous history. Indeed, this 



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