Januaky 1, 1896.] 



KNOWLEDGE, 



Mr. Markham bails as the greatest English geographer, 

 did much to bring the methods of scientific criticism to 

 bear on the discussion of the observations of travellers ; 

 and from his own early training in the practical work of 

 surveying, his theorising was sobered by a knowledge of the 

 limitations of methods of observation and delineation. 

 Rennell foimd no successor to continue his masterly 

 handling of the divers strands of geographical science. 

 Men like Eawlinson, Bunbury, Yule, and Freeman followed 

 him in researches into ancient and Oriental geography, 

 piecing together the broken records of past knowledge in 

 the hght of geographical principles. Men like Arrowsmith 

 and A. Keith Johnston raised practical cartography to the 

 highest level it ever reached in this country ; and the 

 Ordnance Survey of the United Kingdom slowly produced 

 the finest map which has ever been completed. 



The Royal Geographical Society and the British Associa- 

 tion, originating almost at the same time, have done much 

 to advance and popularise geography in many forms ; but 

 even the former, despite great efiforts from time to time by 

 the inauguration of valuable lectures on scientific geography 

 by specialists in different departments, has failed to ensure 

 the continuous and systematic pursuit of geographical 

 science. The disquieting feature, from a national point of 

 view, is that our original part of pioneer exploration is 

 almost played out. The Polar areas remain the only 

 unexplored territories. Science must now La large measure 

 take the place of mere pluck ; the work of the explorer is 

 giving way to that of the trained investigator, and the popu- 

 lar task of recording explorations must continue to give 

 way to the more exacting labour of discussing investigations. 

 It is in this direction that the great advances of geography 

 in the immediate future will have to be made. 



An illustration will give point to this statement, and show 

 how much work lies surprisingly near our hands, yet waiting 

 to be accomplished. If anyone wishes to study the geo- 

 graphy of the British Islands he finds no treatise to guide 

 him except some small school books, a few popular and un- 

 systematic compilations of more size than substance, guide 

 books designed for the sightseer, and gazetteers of value only 

 for occasional reference. There is no scientific treatise on the 

 subject, because no one has yet attempted to apply scientific 

 geographical methods to the treatment of the abundant 

 (though by no means complete) raw materials which have 

 been collected, and maybe unearthed by thediligentstudent. 



The materials available are : — (1) The Ordnance Survey 

 maps showing the whole surface of the United Kingdom 

 on three scales of ample size ; with two difl'erent styles of 

 delineations of physical features on the smallest and most 

 convenient scale. (2) The work of the Geological Survey, 

 which has nearly completed a map of the kingdom showing, 

 on the topography of the Ordnance Survey, the nature 

 and structure of the underlying rocks, with evidence of the 

 utmost value as to the distribution of economic minerals. 

 (3) The Hydrographic Surveys of the Admiralty round the 

 coasts, by which the submarine configuration is shown with 

 great exactness, and the shifting features of moving 

 sandbanks traced by periodical re-surveys. (4) The Census, 

 taken decennially, which shows, lor every registration dis- 

 trict, a mass of statistics as to the number and nature of 

 the population, their occupations, origin, and ago. (5) The 

 statistics of births, marriages, deaths, and migration, which 

 serve, though as yet imperfectly, to bridge the long gaps 

 between successive verifications by Census. (6) The Board 

 of Trade returns as to commerce by sea and land, the 

 movements of seaports, and the tratlic of railways, 

 showing how the life-blood of the country circulates 

 through its arteries. These Government sources may be 

 supplemented by statistics of climate which have been 



accumulated partly by the Meteorological Office, more 

 largely by the Royal and the Scottish Meteorological 

 Societies, and by the individual efforts of ilr. Symons for 

 rainfall. 



All of these supply data which are essentially distributional , 

 and therefore amenable to the principles of geography for 

 discussion and co-ordination ; but they are not officially 

 brought into unison. They remain the separate work of 

 specialists, and one throws the minimum of light upon 

 another. The Ordnance Survey, it is true, provides the 

 topographical outlines on which the geological maps are 

 constructed, and it supplies to the Census Office the outlines 

 of the registration districts which accompany the Census 

 reports. But the Ordnance Survey is itself undescribed. 

 It exists in mere maps, to be turned over carelessly or 

 curiously, and passed by, forgotten and unappreciated. It is 

 only within the last few years that the maps have been com- 

 pleted by the addition of contom'-lines of submarine slopes 

 supplied by the Admiralty ; although the Admiralty has 

 always been indebted for the coast-lines, and such land 

 features as are shown on the charts, to the Ordnance Survey. 



The Admiralty charts are accompanied by official sailing 

 directions which often go beyond the bare facts necessary for 

 purposes of navigation, and give interestuig scraps of 

 information as to the bordering laud. The Geological 

 Survey also has its memoirs, settaig forth for every sheet 

 of the map the details which have been ascertained by the 

 geological surveyors, with theories suggested by the 

 observations, and now and then a good deal of physical 

 geography. In a few instances, such as Topley's " Memoir 

 on the Weald," the work includes a true geographical 

 treatise, tracing the relations of human institutions to the 

 physical character of the ground, and explaining village 

 sites and parish boundaries by reference to the escarp- 

 ments and dip of the strata. The otiicial Census and lioard 

 of Trade reports are extremely elaborate, but their treat- 

 ment is rather statistical than distributional. All the 

 meteorological data have been treated cartographically 

 and discussed by the societies collecting them. 



Only the Ordnance Survey remains without an official 

 description. A memoir to the Survey was commenced for 

 Ireland, but at the commencement it stopped. The data on 

 the various sheets of the map are discussed nowhere, and the 

 scores of interesting featm-es whichappearhave only received 

 passing notice from chance geologists. I should like to 

 see, and would gladly help to make, a handbook or des- 

 criptive pamphlet of every sheet of the one-inch map. This 

 should show the relation of the 216 square miles (432 square 

 miles for the Scottish map) comprised in it, to the great 

 natural features of the comitry, and then go on to describe 

 the special features of the sheet. It would state the area 

 between the various intervals of altitude, describe the river 

 systems with their associated lakesiif any), and the structure 

 of the valleys, the lines of communication, roads, railways, 

 or canals, with the reasons for them. The sites of towns and 

 villages would be treated so as to throwlight on their origin ; 

 the distribution of scattered farms, country houses, and 

 cottages would be handled so as to explain the distribution 

 of population. County and parish boundaries would be dis- 

 cussed historically, so far as the vanishing evidence admits, in 

 order to account for the eccentricities of outline and detached 

 areas. The place names would be considered philologically, 

 and grouped so as to throw light on early movements. 



No such description could be complete without introducing 

 explanatory ficts drawn from the geological, meteorological, 

 and statistical memoirs available ; and, in many instances, 

 historical events which are inextricably linked with the 

 locality woukl be introduced. These would, however, be 

 strictly subordmatod in the plan, and nothing should be 



