242 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



My own life has taught me to recognise the great importance 

 of such a survey-record as I have in mind, and I would include 

 within its fold everything of interest, for even isolated facts, 

 when properly strung together, have a knack of dovetailing into 

 a well-planned scheme, so that a worker in any department for 

 which he, or she, is fitted, is encouraged to proceed with a very 

 desirable end in view. Every class of student can assist in this 

 organised study of a region which may be approached from every 

 conceivable aspect, and " the co-relation of all aspects, so as to 

 give eventually a complete picture of the region surveyed, both 

 in its past history and present features, and from these to indicate 

 its probable future development. . . . Further, the relation of 

 the various branches of study to the same region, brings together 

 in a very living way the specialists in each of them who are still 

 too apt to work in watertight compartments." Thus writes my 

 friend, Mr C. C. Fagg, in an excellent paper read before the Library 

 Association and the Library Assistants' Association at Caxton 

 Hall in 1916. 



Although as old as the hills in one sense, this New Domesday, 

 as I call it, or regional survey, owes its more modern inspiration 

 to Professor Patrick Geddes, who undertook a pioneer survey of 

 the city of Edinburgh, as displayed in his " Outlook Tower " 

 there. Another pioneer who is deserving of mention was the 

 late Professor Herbertson, who carried the idea to Oxford, where 

 it became a leading feature of the Geographical school, and Dr 

 H. R-. Mill has also helped the movement forward in various 

 influential ways, not the least of which was a series of papers 

 written in 1895-6, in which he specifically advocated the regional 

 description of the British Isles. 



In addition to the practical support which can be accorded to 

 this scheme by various local research societies, several schools, 

 in which there is an enthusiast as principal, or upon the staff, 

 have commenced operations, and I see no reason why this should 

 not be indefinitely extended. Boy scouts, Girl Guides, Guilds, 

 Rambling Clubs, and the rest might very well assist, under the 

 organisation of a local Scientific Society, or Regional Survey 

 Committee, and from my own experience I have no hesitation 

 in testifying as to the interest created, the personal and collective 

 knowledge that is acquired, and the keenness displayed by young 

 people in this all-important work. 



Various schools, under the most excellent School Journey 

 Association (now in its twenty-first year), have for several years 



