3«4 



NATURE 



[September 22, 1910 



a smaller scale ; both invaluable to the geographer. The 

 thanks and congratulations of all geographers are due to 

 Prof. Suess on the conclusion of his classical work on the 

 Face of the Earth, the first comprehensive study of the 

 main divisions and characteristics of its skeleton. English 

 readers are indebted to Prof, and Miss Sollas for the 

 brilliant English translation which they have prepared. 



-A new movement, inspired mainly by Prof. Flahault in 

 France, Prof. Geddes in this country. Profs. Engler, 

 Drude, and Schimper in Germany, has arisen among 

 botanists, and at last we have some modern botanical 

 geography which is really valuable to the geographer. I 

 wish we could report similar progress in zoological geo- 

 graphy, but that, I trust, will come in the ne.\t decade. 



I pass over the various expensive arbitrations and com- 

 missions to settle boundary disputes which have in many 

 cases been due to geographical ignorance, also the 

 important and fascinating problems of the growth of our 

 knowledge of the distribution of economic products and 

 powers, existing and potential, and the new geographical 

 problems for statesmen due to the political, economic 

 revolutions in Japan and China. 



It is quite impossible to deal with the e.xploration of 

 the decade. Even in the past two years we have had 

 Peary and Shackleton, Stein and Hedin, the Duke of the 

 .Abruzzi, and a host of others returning to tell us of un- 

 known or little known parts of the globe. We hope to 

 hear soon from Dr. Charcot the results of the latest 

 investigations in the .Antarctic. 



Further work is being undertaken by Scott and his 

 companions, by Bruce, .Amundsen, Filchner, and others in 

 the South or North Polar ice worlds : by Longstaff, Bruce, 

 and others in the mountains of India and Central .Asia ; 

 by Goodfellow and Ryder in New Guinea ; and by many 

 other expeditions. 



One word of caution may perhaps be permitted. There 

 is a tendency on the part of the public to confuse geo- 

 graphical exploration and sport. The newspaper reporter 

 naturally lays stress on the unusual in any expedition, the 

 accidental rather than the essential, and those of us who 

 have to examine the work of expeditions know how some 

 have been unduly boomed because of some adventurous 

 element, while others have not received adequate popular 

 recognition because all went well. The fact that all went 

 well is in itself a proof of competent organisation. There 

 is no excuse for. us in this section if we fall into the 

 journalist's mistalce, and we shall certainlv be acting 

 against the interests of both our science and our section 

 if we do so. 



The Position of Geography in the Association. 



It was not my intention in this address to raise tlie 

 question of what is Geography, but various circumstances 

 make it desirable to say a few words upon it. We are 

 all the victims of the geographical teaching of our youth, 

 and it is easy to understand how those who have retained 

 unchanged the conceptions of geography they gained at 

 school many years ago cavil at the recognition of geo- 

 graphy as a branch of science. Moreover, the geography 

 of the schools still colours the conceptions of some geo- 

 graphers who have nevertheless done much to make school 

 geography scientific and educational. Many definitions of 

 geography are consequently (too much limited by the 

 arbitrary but traditional division of school subjects. In 

 schools, tradition and practical convenience have, on the 

 whole rightly, determined the scope of the different sub- 

 jects. Geography in schools is best defined as the study 

 of the Earth as the home of Man. Its limits should not 

 be too closely scrutinised in schools, where it should be 

 used freely as a coordinating subject. 



The present division into sections of the British .Associa- 

 tion is also largely a matter of practical convenience ; but 

 we are told that the present illogical arrangement of 

 sections distresses some minds. No doubt there are some 

 curious anomalies. The most glaring, perhaps, is that of 

 combining mathematics with phvsics — as if mathematical 

 methods were not used in any other subject. 



There is undoubtedly a universal tendency to subdivision 

 and an ever-increasing specialisation ; but there is also an 

 ever-growing interdependence of different parts of science. 

 The British .Association is unquestionably bound to take 



NO. 2134, VOL. 84] 



the latter into account as well as the former. .At 

 present this is chiefly done by joint meetings of sections : 

 a wise course, of which this section has been one of the 

 chief promoters. It is possible that some more systematic 

 grouping of sections might be well advised, but such a 

 reform should be systematic, and not piecemeal. It is 

 one which raises the whole question of the classification 

 of knowledge. This is so vast a problem, and one on 

 which such divergent opinions are held, that I must 

 apologise for venturing to put forward some tentative 

 suggestions. 



It might be found desirable to take as primary divisions 

 the Mathematical, Physical, Biological, Anthropological, 

 and Geographical groups. Mathematical applications 

 might also be considered in each of the sections which use 

 mathematical notations. In the Physical Group there 

 should be the subdivisions Physics and Chemistry. Each 

 would devote a certain proportion of time to its applied 

 aspects, or these might be dealt with in sub-sections, which 

 would include Engineering and .Applied Chemistry. In 

 the Biological Group there would be Botany, Zoology, in 

 both cases including Palaeontology and Embryology, and 

 .Applied Biology, which would be dealt with in one or 

 other of the ways I have suggested, and would include 

 Agriculture, Fisheries, &c. (Medicine we leave out at 

 present.) In the Anthropological Group, in addition to the 

 present .Anthropology and Economics, there should be a 

 section on Psychology, which might or might not be 

 attached to Physiology, and have the Education Section 

 as a practical appendage. In the Geographical Group 

 there would be Geography and Geology, the practical 

 applications of Geography and Geology being considered in 

 joint meetings with other sections or else in sub-sections — 

 for instance, Geographj' and Physics for questions of 

 .Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation, Geography and 

 Economics for questions of Transportation, &c.. 



The Need for Classification and Notation in 

 Geomorphology, i5~c. 



So much, then, for the classification of Geography with 

 reference to the other sciences. I should like to say a 

 few words about the subdivisions of geography and the 

 vexed question of terminology. 



In the scheme of the Universe it is possible to consider 

 the Earth as a unit, with its own constitution and history. 

 It has an individuality of its own, though for the astro- 

 nomer it is only one example of a particular type of 

 heavenly bodies. As geographers, we take it as our unit 

 individual in the same way that an anatomist takes a 

 man. We see that it is composed of different parts, and 

 we try to discover what these are, of what they are com- 

 posed, what their, function is, what has been their history. 



One fundamental division is into land, water, and air. 

 Each has its forms and its movements. The forms are 

 more obvious and persistent in the land. They are least 

 so in the atmosphere, though forms exist — some of which 

 are at times made visible by clouds, and many can be 

 clearly discerned on isobaric charts. The land is the 

 temporarily permanent ; the water and atmosphere the per- 

 sistently mobile, the latter more so than the former. The 

 stable forms of the land help to control the distribution 

 and movements of the waters, and to a less extent those 

 of the atmosphere. How great the influence of the dis- 

 tribution of land and water is on the atmosphere may be 

 seen in the monsoon region of eastern -Asia. 



The studv of the land, the ocean, and the atmosphere 

 has resulted in the growth of special branches of know- 

 ledge — Geomorphologv, Oceanography, and Climatology. 

 Each is indispensable to the geographer, each forms an 

 essential part of the geographical whole. Much research 

 work is and will be carried on in each by geographers who 

 find their geographical studies hampered for the lack of it. 

 As geographical progress is to a considerable extent con- 

 ditioned by progress in these subjects, it would be legitimate 

 to examine their needs. Time, however, will admit only a 

 note on one of the barriers to progress in geomorphology — 

 the lack of a good classification and notation. 



Geomorphologv deals with the forms of the land and their 

 shaping. Three' things have to be kept clearly in view : 

 (i) The structure, including the composition, of the more 

 permanent substance of the form ; (2) the forces which. 



