GEOGRAPHY'S CONTRIBUTION 205 
Now better use of present resources undoubtedly involves wise 
allocation of such funds as are available for the rehabilitation and 
development of the semi-arid lands. An overextension of the 
bounds drawn for such purpose is contrary to the spirit and to the 
letter of the Constitution. By spreading financial resources thin, 
it seriously impairs the solution of the specific problems en- 
visaged. Here then we have a field of inquiry for the geographer— 
and the task of drawing boundaries is one of his least challenged 
attributions. 
The record shows several attempts to delimit the semi-arid 
Nordeste, but I am afraid none of them is very convincing. 
The area at present receiving official recognition as water- 
deficient is called the ‘“‘Drought-Polygon.”’ The formula by which 
it was delineated derives its origin from a report by the head of 
the federal agency dealing with droughts. Published some twenty 
years ago, immediately after a sequence of years with diminished 
rainfall, it is based on the assumption that ‘‘observations carried 
out during the dry years 1930, 1931, and 1932 permit a scrupulous 
and sufficiently exact delimitation ... of the area subject to the 
great periodic droughts, that is to say, the area defined as dry 
(séca)” (14). The following procedure was recommended: 
After drawing the isohyets corresponding to this triennium, the dry 
zone may be circumscribed by a polygonal line which accompanies the 
600 mm [23.62 in.] isohyet in such a fashion that [advancing] from the 
periphery towards the center, the 300 mm line is always found. 
This, the report explains, excludes the semi-arid zone of southern 
Bahia, where rainfall did not fall below the 300 mm [11.81 in.] limit in 
1932 (14). 
The ensuing geometric boundary, with minor variations, was 
subsequently written into law.* The same law provides that: 
The established boundaries may be altered by law if further observa- 
tions should reveal the occurrence of the sécas in other zones of the 
northern states with the same characteristics already observed in the 
area delimited in the present article. 
* Lei No. 175 de 7 de janeiro de 1936, Regula o disposto no artigo 177 
da Constituicao. 
