io8 



NATURE 



[September 23, 191 5 



this is not the work of a committee of selection, 

 but must grow out of the needs of the individual 

 workers. 



There is, it must be admitted, no small difficulty in 

 using the same preciseness of method in this portion 

 of the subject as is readily attainable in mathematical 

 geography, and is usually practicable in physiography ; 

 but at any rate it is undesirable to indicate any condi- 

 tion as the controlling one until all other possible influ- 

 ences have been carefully examined, and have been 

 shown to have less weight than that one which has 

 been selected. 



Whether the investigation deals with the settle- 

 ments of man or his movements and means of com- 

 munication, it is important that in the first instance 

 problem.s of a manageable size should be undertaken 

 and thoroughly treated, leaving larger areas and 

 wider generalisations until a sufficient stock of 

 thoroughly trustworthy material which is in the form 

 in which it can properly be used for wider aims is 

 available. 



The relation of geographical conditions to small 

 settlements can be satisfactorily worked out if sufficient 

 trouble is taken and all possible sources of informa- 

 tion, both of present date and of periods which have 

 passed away, are utilised. Such studies are of a real 

 value and pave the way to more elaborate studies, 

 but we need more serious study of these simpler cases 

 both to set our facts in order and to provide a method- 

 ical classification of the conditions which prevail in 

 this part of the subject. Out of such studies there 

 will grow such a series of terms with well-defined 

 associations as will give a real precision to the subject 

 which it seems at the present time to lack. 



The same benefit is to be anticipated from detailed 

 work in relation to man's communications and the 

 interchange of commodities in all their varied rela- 

 tions. Generalised and descriptive accounts are readily 

 to be found, and these are for the most part supported 

 by tables of statistics, all of which have their value and 

 present truths of great importance in geography, but 

 the spirit of active research which aims at clearing 

 up thoroughly a small portion of the wide field of 

 geographical activities has unequalled opportunities in 

 the somewhat shadowy relations between the pheno- 

 mena which we meet in this part of the subject, for 

 focusing the facts better, and obtaining a more exact 

 view of the questions involved. 



Where the geography of States (political geography) 

 is concerned the same need for original investigation 

 as a basis for generalisations may be seen. At the 

 present time there is much said about the various 

 boundaries of States, and in jreneral terms the advan- 

 tages and disadvantages of different boundaries under 

 varied conditions can be stated with fair approxima- 

 tion to accuracy. But I do not know of many detailed 

 examinations of these boundaries or portions of them 

 where full information of all the factors involved can 

 be found set out in an orderly and authoritative 

 manner, thus forming a sure foundation for the 

 generalised description and providing the means of 

 verifying its correctness or revising it where necessary. 



Perhaps there is really more scientific research in 

 geography being undertaken by individuals than I 

 have given credit for, but certainly in geographical 

 periodicals, and in the bibliographies which are pub- 

 lished annually, the amount shown is not larce ; neither 

 is the number of authors as large as mig-ht be expected 

 from the importance and interest of the subject and 

 from the activitv of those centres where geography 

 is seriously taught. There seems to be no reason why 

 individual research on true scientific lines should not 

 be as active in geography as it is in geology, botany, 

 zoology, or any other branch of knowledge; and, iust 

 as in these, the real advance in the subject is dependent 

 NO. 2.^95, VOL. 96] 



on such investigations rather than on travels and 

 explorations in little-known lands, unless these, too, 

 are carried out scientifically and by thoroughly trained 

 observers who know the problems which there await 

 solution, and can read the evidence which lies before 

 them on their route. 



If research in these directions is being actively 

 prosecuted, but the appearance of its results is delayed, 

 let us seek out the retarding causes, if there be any, 

 and increase any facilities that may be desirable to 

 assist individual efi"orts. 



Short technical papers of a thoroughly scientific char- 

 acter, such as are the outcome of serious individual 

 research, are, of course, not suitable for those meet- 

 ings of geographical societies where the majority of 

 the fellows present are not scientific geographers, but 

 should be presented to small meetings of other workers 

 in the same or allied fields, where they can be com- 

 pletely criticised. The reading, discussion, and the 

 publication of papers of this class are for geography 

 a great desideratum, for it is in them and by them 

 that all real advance in the subject is made, rather 

 than by tales of travel, however interesting, if these 

 are not the work of one trained in the subject, having 

 a knowledge of what he should observe, and of what 

 his predecessors have done in the same field. The 

 regional aspect of geography in the hands of its best 

 exponents has given to young geographers a wide and 

 comprehensive outlook on the interaction of the various 

 geographical factors in a region, the responses between 

 the earth's surface and the life upon it, and the control 

 that one factor may exercise upon another. In this 

 form the fascination of geographical study is apparent 

 to everyone, but I sometimes wonder whether tlie ex- 

 position of such a regional study by one who is 

 thoroughly master of the component factors, having 

 a first-hand knowledge of all the material involved, 

 and knowing exactly the trustworthiness of each por- 

 tion, impresses sufficiently upon the student the neces- 

 sity of personal research into the details of some 

 problem or phenomenon in such a way as to gain a 

 real working acquaintance with them ; or does it, on 

 rne other hand, tend to encourage generalisations 

 based on descriptive accounts which have not been 

 verified, and where coincidences and similarities may 

 be accepted without further inquiry as evidence of a 

 causal connection which may not really exist? I 

 imagine that the student may be attracted by the 

 apparent simplicity of a masterly account of the geo- 

 graphical contents and responses involved, and may 

 fail to realise that geographical descriptions, even 

 though technically phrased, are not the equivalent of 

 original quantitative investigation, either for his own 

 education or as a contribution to the subject. 



For these reasons I believe that societies can do far 

 more good in the promotion of geography as a science 

 by assisting competent investigators, by the loan of 

 books and instruments, and bv giving facilities for the 

 discussion and publication of technical papers, than 

 by undertaking the investigation of problems them- 

 selves. 



Among the earlier presidential addresses of this sec- 

 tion some have laid stress on the importance of the 

 recognition by the State of geography in education ; 

 others have represented the great part which the 

 geographical societies have played in supporting and 

 advancing the subject ; others again have urged the 

 fuller recognition of geography by educational insti- 

 tutions. I would on this occasion attach especial im- 

 portance to the prosecution of serious research by 

 individuals in any branch of the subject that is access- 

 ible to them, to the discussion of the results of such 

 work by others of like interests, and to the publication 

 of such studies as having a real value in promoting 

 the advancement of scientific geography. 



