5o6 



NA TURE 



[Sept. 29, 1887 



to their possessors, or mt more useful to them than many 

 other existing structures would have been. . . . Less 

 attention has been directed tothe non-adaptive characters, 

 yet they are as numerous as the adaptive. I do not 

 include under this head useless organs or parts only, but 

 also those which are useful, but whose peculiarities do not 

 relate to that use as advantageous to it." 



By the last qualification is meant that even useful 

 organs often present peculiarities, which may run through 

 whole orders and classes, and which nevertheless present 

 no utilitarian significance. In the opinion of the present 

 reviewer, the above estimate of the proportion of non- 

 adaptive to adaptive structures is excessive, and some of 

 the instances which are given of the former may be open 

 to question. But even if a Darwinist is not prepared to 

 allow that so many as " one-half of all the peculiarities of 

 the parts of animals (and probably of plants) are of no 

 use to their possessors," he may feel that the mere possi- 

 bility of such a first-hand observer as Prof. Cope making 

 such a statement is enough to discredit the non-Darwinian 

 assumption of utility as universal. 



George J. Romanes. 



THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY. 



The Teachiftg of Geography. By Archibald Geikie, 



LL.D., F.R.S. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1887.) 



EIGHTEEN years ago the Royal Geographical 

 Society instituted its public school medals. That 

 was the beginning of its efforts in the cause of geogra- 

 phical education. We believe that it is to Mr. Francis 

 Galton that the honour of having started this policy is 

 due. For many years he, Mr. Clements Markham, and a 

 few others persisted in the face of cold indifference and 

 with little success. At last, in 1884, it was determined to 

 make a fresh and energetic start. Mr. Keltie was ap- 

 pointed Inspector of Geographical Education, and from 

 the date of the publication of his report progress has 

 been very rapid. It was seen at once that one result of 

 that report would be a large crop of geographical text- 

 books.- Of those which have already appeared that of 

 Mr. Chishohn is certainly the best ; and although it bears 

 sadly too many of the marks of haste, it is a decided 

 advance on all previous work of the kind in the English 

 language. In Dr. Geikie's little book we have before us 

 the first instalment of a still more ambitious scheme. 

 Fourteen more volumes are contemplated to complete the 

 series to which this is an introduction. 



It is needless to say that when it was first rumoured 

 in geographical circles that the author of " The Scenery 

 of Scotland " was engaged on a book on the teaching of 

 geography much was expected. After reading the work 

 carefully through we cannot say that we are disappointed. 

 Except in matters of detail, the only criticism we feel 

 inclined to pass has reference to the title. The author 

 has scarcely been just either to his book or to geography 

 in using the present title. We have before us in fact an 

 admirable essay on certain methods of teaching, but 

 applicable to many subjects, and illustrated by many 

 subjects which even the most grasping geographer would 

 scarcely claim as his. It is surely an abuse of terms to 

 say that we are teaching geography when we are giving 

 lessons on the "house-fly, grasshopper, dragon-fly, wasp, 



beetle, and butterfly — showing the similarity and diversity 

 of plan in the great)class of insects" (pp. 103-4), or learn- 

 ing that "the breast fins in fishes, the wings in birds, the 

 fore-limbs in quadrupeds, and the arms in man are all 

 modifications of the same parts of the vertebrate 

 skeleton." Again, on p. io5, the teacher is advised to 

 insinuate the laws of health into his geographical teach- 

 ing, and to explain the physiology on which they are 

 based ; and on p. 1 19 to tell of exchange by barter, and of 

 the value of a medium of exchange. There are many 

 similar instances, but we are reluctant to press this kind 

 of criticism too far, for in this book Dr. Geikie renders 

 great services to the causes both of education and of 

 geography. 



There are, in truth, at the present time, several great 

 ideas in the air, destined probably to revolutionize educa- 

 tion, but as yet hardly differentiated from one another. 

 It is beginning to be generally recognized that geography, 

 so far from being an elementary subject, is one which 

 requires as a basis a great and most varied fund of in- 

 formation. But there is a tendency to throw geography 

 into confusion by including all this within the subject 

 itself. The essence of geography is topography, and its 

 method is the comparative method of Carl Ritier. Its 

 function is to compare localities, to ascertain their rela- 

 tions in space, and to assign causes for those relations 

 and for the similarities and differences of the localities 

 compared — and all this, as Dr. Geikie says, with especial 

 reference to the earth as a dwelling-place for man. But 

 before we can with advantage compare localities, we must 

 know scientifically and by personal experience at least 

 one. To acquire such knowledge is to learn to observe 

 and to reason independently, to learn the use of our eyes 

 and hands, to learn many of the great laws of science 

 and the scientific explanations of a multitude of every- 

 day experiences. In the greater portion of his book Dr. 

 Geikie is occupied in asserting and demonstrating the 

 possibility of laying this foundation in general science 

 outside the laboratory, and by a skilful use merely of the 

 experience of common life, and he does so with signal 

 success. If teachers will study this method, and if ex- 

 amining authorities will cease to thwart their efforts, 

 there may be some chance of removing the book-bias 

 from our teaching, and of making the decisions of our 

 examiners more nearly resemble those of the great world 

 in after life. It is natural that at first these efforts should 

 be made in the name of geography. But a cleavage is 

 already discernible in the geographical confusion. On 

 the one hand, is a science investigating a definite set of 

 relations, but linked in all directions with other subject 

 and in that similar to other composite sciences, like ge^ 

 ;ogy and anthropology ; and, on the other hand, ai 

 educational method for the teaching of the rudiments 

 scientific thought and facts, an excellent foundatio; 

 equally for scientific specialism and for practical life 



In matters of detail we have found many valuable hinti 

 in the last few chapters, which deal with subjects more 

 strictly geographical. The list of books of reference at 

 p. 46, however, hardly rises to our ideal. The list is, 

 course, intended for general teachers, and not for ge 

 graphical experts. Bearing the practical requirements of 

 this class in view, we should have preferred fewer books 

 of early, and more of recent, date. The lack of modem 



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