GEOGRAPHICAL MAPS. 237 



II. GEOGRAPHICAL MAPS. 



GEOGRAPHY is the science by means of which the surface of 

 the earth is delineated and described, boundaries are defined, 

 areas are exactly measured, and the relative positions of places 

 are determined. Political geography defines the present divisions 

 of the earth under its various governments. Historical or com- 

 parative geography records Ihe successive changes which have 

 taken place in past times. Physical geography turns from the 

 political aspects to the natural, and explains the different features 

 of the earth's surface, and the conditions that operate upon it. 

 The history of the progressive discoveries that have been made in 

 the delineation and exact measurement of the earth, of the labours 

 of the discoverers, and of the various uses to which their work has 

 been adapted, completes the knowledge by means of which this 

 science may be understood and studied. 



The history of geography is a subject which naturally divides 

 itself into three parts : first, the tools, secondly, the labourers, and 

 thirdly, the results : first, the scientific apparatus by means of 

 which the measurements and delineations are effected; second, 

 the work of explorers and geodesists in the field ; and third, the 

 practical utility to mankind of geographical research and exact 

 surveys. 



The three branches of the subject cannot fitly be considered 

 separately, because they are, in every stage, dependent upon and 

 closely connected with each other. The explorer and the 

 geographical student, from age to age, as their science advances, 

 on the one hand discover wants which must be met by the 

 improvement of old or the invention of new appliances, and on 

 the other fresh demands are made upon them as the results of 

 their labours become more important to science, and more useful 

 in all the administrative details of life. 



