276 



NATURE 



[November 4, 1915 



3. Forms due to the action of streams and rivers. 



4. Forms due to the action of life. 



5. Forms due to the action of lightning. 



6. Forms due to the action of sun-heat. 



7. Forms due to the action of the atmosphere. 



8. Forms due to the action of frozen water. 



9. Forms due to the action of the sea. 



Each family is then subdivided into genera and 

 species or specific forms. 



In the discussion which followed, Prof. Gregory 

 said that the initial difficulty lay in the fact tha't 

 different classifications were required by geography 

 and by geology. Dr. Falconer had restricted the term 

 land-form to what may be called the simple land 

 forms, whereas the term was originally used for the 

 greater features which may be called compound land 

 forms. The geographer needs ? classification which 

 is based more on form than on origin, and uses 

 familiar terms, such as mountain and valley, with 

 the help of which he cannot afford to dispense. At 

 the same time, Prof. Gregory thought that Dr. 

 Falconer's classification would be of great value as 

 a complete systematic tabulation of land-forming 

 processes. Prof. Grenville Cole said that a systematic 

 classification of land forms might tend to check the 

 descriptive faculty of the teacher. Brief but compre- 

 hensive description in language familiar to the reader 

 or hearer was needed to bring home the relation of 

 surface features to man's life among them. Close 

 definition, especially in the Greek language, might 

 tend to obscure the beauty of a landscape. Mr. G. G. 

 Chisholm considered that the distinctive feature of 

 geography was the study of the influences of terres- 

 trial local conditions and place relations. For this, 

 of course, description wa^ necessary, but he failed to 

 see_ the utility for geographical description of the sub- 

 divisions of simple land forms proposed by Dr. 

 Falconer. 



The discussion with Section H on Racial Distri- 

 bution in the Balkans was opened by Prof. G. Elliot- 

 Smith. An account of it will appear under the pro- 

 ceedings of Section H. 



In the afternoon a paper was read by Mr. P. M. 

 Roxby on North China and Korea, in which he 

 embodied many of the observations he had made in 

 these regions during his tenure of an A.K. fellow- 

 ship. He dealt principally with the railway situation, 

 the relations of China to Russia and Japan, China's 

 interest in the European war, and the work of the 

 Japanese in Korea. The paper was illustrated by an 

 exceptionally fine set of lantern-slides. Dr. R. N. 

 Rudmose Brown followed with an account of the 

 political and economic position of Spitsbergen at the 

 outbreak of war. He also explained the results 

 obtained by Dr. W. S. Bruce 's expedition there in 

 1914. 



On Friday, the first business before the section was 

 the consideration of the report of the committee 

 appointed to inquire into the choice and style of atlas, 

 textual and wall maps for school and university use. 

 Thereafter a paper was read by Mr. Raymond Curtis 

 on the distribution of population in the district round 

 Leek, in which he showed how in the agricultural 

 area the^ village nucleus of farmhouses might develop 

 in turn into the inn-village, the shop-village, the fair- 

 village, and the market-town. Mr. C. B. Fawcett 

 discussed the development of the middle Tees and its 

 tributaries. _ He considered that the river system as 

 a whole is in a comparatively early stage of develop- 

 ment, but that it is the product of at least three dis- 

 tinct cycles of erosion. The morning sitting con- 

 cluded with a paper by Prof. H. J. Fleure on the 

 distribution and movement of population in South 

 Britain in early times. In Neolithic times the chief 



NO. 2401, VOL. q61 



areas occupied in England were the chalk downs, the 

 moorlands of the south-west, the Cotswold top, a few 

 patches, especially near Birmingham, in the Midlands, 

 some valleys In the East Anglian Chalk, as well as 

 a few chalk ridges, e.g. above the Fen edge, the 

 Pennlnes, moorland tops in South Wales, etc. 

 Descendants of the dark, long-headed Neolithic folk 

 who occupied these uplands are still found in the 

 valleys around them, except that they have been 

 nearly washed out along the Chalk in the south, 

 which has been the scene of many invasions. The 

 valleyward movement of people In Britain is therefore 

 of great importance, and evidence was given of its 

 various stages and sociological results. 



The proceedings of the section concluded on Friday 

 afternoon, when Prof. Patrick Geddes read a paper 

 on the study of cities, and at its conclusion conducted 

 a party over an exhibition arranged by himself and 

 Miss Barker of maps, pictures, books, and broad- 

 sheets Illustrating the war, and of regional surveys 

 illustrating the geographical and historical growth of 

 cities. John McFarlane. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



London. — A memorial service for members of the 

 University who have fallen in the war was held at the 

 Temple Church on November i. The service was con- 

 ducted by the Master of the Temple, assisted by Bishop 

 Hine and the Bishop of London. The Bishop of 

 Kingston was the preacher. Included in the list of the 

 250 graduates and students commemorated are the 

 forty-two from University College, thirty from King's 

 College, eighteen from the Royal College of Science 

 and the Royal School of Mines, sixteen from the City 

 and Guilds College, seventeen from the South Eastern 

 Agricultural College, seventeen from St. Bartholo- 

 mew's Hospital, fourteen from Guy's Hospital, nine- 

 teen from London Hospital, and eleven from St. 

 Mary's Hospital. 



It is understood that the appointment of a Principal 

 to succeed Sir Henry Miers is to be postponed. 



The first list of students serving in the war, to 

 whom honorary war degrees have been granted, has 

 been published. 



Oxford. — The Vice-Chancellor's choice of a 

 Romanes lecturer has this year fallen on an Oxford 

 resident, viz., Prof. E. B. Poulton, Hope professor of 

 zoology. The subject chosen, " Science and the Great 

 War," is one to which Prof. Poulton is known to 

 have given great attention. For many years past he 

 has lost no opportunity of advocating an increased 

 attention to the results of scientific research In relation 

 to all forms of national activity, whether warlike or 

 peaceful, and he has consistently deplored the Indiffer- 

 ence to the lessons of science displayed by most of 

 our leading politicians and statesmen. A valuable 

 and interesting utterance on his part is confidently 

 looked for. The lecture will be delivered at the 

 Unlversit}' Museum, on Tuesday, December 7, at 

 3.30 p.m.' 



It is stated In the Pioneer Mail of October 9 that 

 on October i the Bill to establish and incorporate a 

 teaching and residential Hindu university at Benares 

 was passed into law. Now that the Bill has been 

 passed, the promoters are about to address them- 

 selves to details connected with the institution. The 

 Viceroy will lay the foundation-stone early in February. 

 It is hoped that the work of the University will be 

 entered upon T)y July next, though, of course, at first 

 on a limited scale. 



