Science in Public Affairs 



varieties of regional phenomena ; for example, the 

 kind, the quantity, and distribution of its fauna 

 and flora, its rainfall and its sunshine, the statistics 

 of its population, its routes and communications, 

 and so forth indefinitely. The problems which 

 the young geographer finds in front of him grow 

 rapidly in number and complexity, but his interest 

 in facing, in investigating, and in solving them will 

 be found to grow still faster. The explorations 

 in the open air, alternating with research in library 

 and study and map-room, will very soon whet an 

 insatiable appetite for an understanding of the ever- 

 changing phenomena of his region. The pleasures 

 of observation, which, unlike other sensual plea- 

 sures, do not pall with usage, are themselves 

 succeeded by the still keener pleasure and intenser 

 joy of generalisation and interpretation. In brief, 

 the outlook on the visible phenomena of one's 

 region itself evokes and inspires a craving for 

 insight into the larger world into which our own 

 region extends on all sides by insensible gradation, 

 and to which it is felt to be linked by innumerable 

 bonds. It is just here, where the margin of his 

 own region melts into that of the surrounding 

 world, that the student requires and may readily 

 utilise, the full resources of the whole science of 

 geography. His previous reading will have been 

 of the best geological and geographical accounts 

 of his own region, and the comparison of these 

 with what he has seen with his own eyes. This 

 preliminary study will have insensibly familiarised 

 him with the technical phrases and formula which 



258 



