December 27, 1900J 



NATURE 



207 



we are told nothing about the nature of the notes, nor 

 about those written in a copy of the work of Copernicus 

 (the Basle edition of 1566J, which are also supposed to 

 be in Tycho's hand. 



One of the finest Tychoniana at Prague is a copy of 

 the original edition of the " Astronomice Instauratas 

 Mechanica," printed (apparently in a small number of 

 copies) in 1598. As in several other existing copies, 

 the illustrations in this one have been coloured by 

 hand, and there is a portrait inserted in it of which 

 we are glad to be able to append a copy as well 

 as a copy of the author's dedication to the Bohemian 

 Baron von Hasenburg. As we have already remarked 

 elsewhere ("Tycho Brahe," p. 263), this portrait does 



4//^5w ^ (i^Hyoh(pc 



CMiMI 



Qomui if amu)jM) in 

 brim ()PH/iyan^. 



A3 



^/ 



Fig 2.— Autograph Dedication by Tycho Brahe. 



not offer much resemblance to those already pub- 

 lished ; but as Tycho himself distributed copies of it 

 pasted into this magnificent book, we shall perhaps 

 be justified in thinking that he considered it a good 

 likeness. 



Finally, Dr. Studnicka gives a picture of a sextant 

 made by Habermehl, of Prague, in 1600, and which 

 tradition insists must have belonged to Tycho, though it 

 has none of the characteristics of his own instruments. 

 Though this memoir does not bring out any new facts, 

 the numerous illustrations in it are very interesting, and 

 it is a pleasant proof of the veneration in which the 

 memory of the great astronomer is held in the country 

 where he finished his career. J. L. E. D. 



1626, VOL. 63] 



PHYSIOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL 

 GEOGRAPHY. 



THE progress of science, and human perversity, are 

 jointly responsible for remarkable variations under- 

 gone by scientific words and terms with the lapse of 

 time. Natural science, which once comprised all know- 

 ledge obtained by experiment and observation, now, as 

 many think, only signifies natural history ; physical 

 science includes chemistry ; physical astronomy is no 

 longer the astronomy of Kepler, but that of the telescope 

 and spectroscope ; and physical geography is gradually 

 assuming the name of physiography without acquiring the 

 breadth of* view ,which characterises this science. An 



article by Prof. W. M. Davis 

 in the School Review, pub- 

 lished by the University of 

 Chicago Press, brings this 

 nominal metamorphosis pro- 

 minently before us. Prof. 

 Davis defines physical geo- 

 graphy — or physiography — 

 which he considers as 

 synonymous, as "the study 

 of those features of the earth 

 which are involved in the 

 relation of earth and man ; 

 that is, the study of man's 

 physical environment." So 

 far as physical geography is 

 concerned, this statement of 

 its boundary lines is satis- 

 factory, but when Prof. Davis 

 uses the definition as a 

 touchstone to test the cha- 

 racter of physiography as 

 understood by the examiners 

 for the Department of 

 Science and Art, he employs 

 a criterion having no logical 

 basis whatever. 



Though, unfortunately for 

 precision of scientific ex- 

 pression, physiography is 

 often taken to mean physical 

 geography, especially in the 

 United States, the two de- 

 partments of knowledge 

 ought to be distinctly re- 

 cognised as separate and 

 fundamentally different in 

 scope. It is perhaps a little 

 late in the day to insist upon 

 the distinction, for a hybrid 

 has been produced which has 

 commendable features and 

 gives hopes of fertility ; but 

 what we do object to is 

 that the hybrid is being 

 used as a type-specimen, and its parents are being 

 compared with it to their own detriment. To drop the 

 metaphor, the physiography of South Kensington is 

 criticised by Prof. Davis because it does not possess the 

 points of virtue characteristic of physical geography in 

 the sense understood by him. As he appears to be under 

 a misapprehension as to the original use of the word and 

 the scope of the subject — an obliquity shared, moreover, 

 by many other physical geographers — it may be worth 

 while to recall the circumstances which led to its 

 adoption. 



Until the year 1877 the Department of Science and 

 Art held examinations in physical geography as gener- 

 ally understood. The Education Department also held 



NO. 



