September 7, igi ij 



NATURE 



33i 



regular home in these islands. But the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society has done a good deal in the past few 

 years to stimulate an interest in the subject, thereby 

 fulfilling what I believe to be one of the Society's must 

 useful tunctions, that of popularisation. 



If, however, an authoritative opinion were required on 

 any geodetic question, where could it be obtained? Well, 1 

 suppose there is no doubt that the headquarters of this 

 branch of learning is the International Geodetic Associa- 

 tion ; but the scientific work itself is being largely carried 

 out at the Geodetic Institute at Potsdam, by the Survey 

 of India, by the Geodetic Section of the Service Geo- 

 graphique, by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, and 

 by similar bodies. Geodesy, especially in its later develop- 

 ments, is a definitely scientific subject which demands 

 much study and application. It is but slightly touched 

 upon by the schools of Geography. Perhaps I may hen- 

 point out that geodesy is by no means mainly concerned 

 with the shape of the spheroid. The chief problems are 

 now those of isostasy and local attraction generally, the 

 real shape of the sea-surface, the continuity of the crust 

 of the earth, and changes of density therein. 



The position in which Geography finds itself with re- 

 gard to Geology can be clearly seen if reference is made 

 to the new edition of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." 

 In the eleventh volume of this work are two important 

 articles, "Geography," by Dr. H. R. Mill, and 

 " Geology," by Sir Archibald Geikie. In the article on 

 " Geography " we find a description of geomorphology as 

 that part of Geography which deals with terrestrial relief, 

 and a remark is made that " opinion still differs as to 

 the extent to which the geographer's work should overlap 

 that of the geologist." In this article, however, most of 

 the authorities quoted are geologists, and the author 

 remarks that " the geographers who have hitherto given 

 most attention to the forms of the land have been trained 

 as geologists." 



Turning to the article on " Geology." we find an 

 important section on " Physiographical Geology," which 

 is described as dealing with the investigation of " the 

 origin and history of the present topographical features of 

 the land." N r ow this is the exact field claimed for geo- 

 morphology. It has been observed by others, notably by 

 Prof, de Martonne, that the interpretation of topographic 

 forms has been most successfully undertaken by geologists, 

 and he gives as an instance of this the good work done 

 by the United States Geological Survey. 



I do not know whether any geographer untrained as a 

 geologist has contributed anything of value to geo- 

 morphology. 



Another test which may be applied is the following : 

 Let us imagine Geography to be non-existent, and note 

 what the effect would be. Suppose there were no such 

 things as Government Geographical Services, or Schools 

 of Geography at the Universities, or Geographical Socie- 

 ties. The first and most obvious result would be that 

 most, if not all, of our apparatus of exploration and 

 mapping would have disappeared. But as we are all in 

 agreement as to the necessity of this branch of human 

 effort, let us restore this to existence and examine the 

 effect of the disappearance of the rest. 



So far as concerns geodesy, we should still possess the 

 International Geodetic Association, the Geodetic Institute 

 at Potsdam, and the United States Geodetic Survev, and 

 similar bodies. But we should have lost the means of 

 popularising geodesy in the proceedings of Geographical 

 Societies ; and, as there would be now no geographical 

 text-books, elementary geodesy would not find itself 

 between the same covers as climatology and geo- 

 morphology. 



As regards geomorphology. or physiographical geoloijv, 

 not very much difference would be noted. The geologists 

 would still pursue this important subject ; but here again 

 their writings would perhaps appeal to a more expert and 

 less popular audience, although it is not to be forgotten 

 that many admirable introductions to the subject have 

 been written by geologists. 



Much the same might be said about mrteorologv and 

 climatology. There would be text-books devoted to these 

 studies, but there might be a diminution of popular 

 interest. 



NO. 2184, VOL. 8"] 



Such names as phyto-geography would disappear, but 

 the study of botany lif we permit it the use of distribu- 

 tional mapsj would not be affected. The loss to know- 

 ledge would be mainly that of getting to a certain extent 

 out of touch with the public. The constitutions of the 

 various learned bodies would remain the same, and so 

 would their functions. The constitution of the Royal 

 Society, which has never recognised geography as a sub- 

 ject, would be totally unaffected. 



If we thus study the relations between Geography and 

 other subjects we are almost bound to arrive at the con-' 

 elusion that Geography is not a unit of science in the 

 sense in which geology, astronomy, or chemistry are units. 

 If we inquire into the current teaching of Geography, and 

 examine modern text-books, we find that most of the 

 matter is derived directly from the workers in other fields 

 of study. And if we inquire into the products of Geo- 

 graphical societies, it becomes evident that one of the most 

 important functions fulfilled by these useful bodies is to 

 popularise the work of geodesists, geologists, climatologists, 

 and others, and to provide a common meeting-ground for 

 them. If Geography had been able to include geology 

 and the other sciences which deal with earth-knowledge, 

 it would then, indeed, have been a master science. But 

 things have worked out differently. 



I shall very probably be told that, in laying some stress 

 on the above-mentioned aspects of the subject, I have for- 

 gotten that the main purpose of Geography is the study 

 of the earth as the home of man, or the study of man as 

 affected by his environment, and that, however necessary 

 it may be to begin with a foundation of geodesy, geology, 

 and climatology, we must have as our main structure the 

 investigation of the effect of place conditions on the races 

 of man, on human history and human industry, on 

 economics and politics. 



It is obviously and abundantly true that no student of 

 history, economics, or politics can disregard the effect of 

 geographical environment. But it is not, as a fact, dis- 

 regarded by writers on these subjects. The question is, to 

 a large extent, whether we should annex these portions 

 of their studies, group them, and label them " Geography." 

 Our right to do this will depend on the value of our own 

 original investigations. We have the right to use the 

 results obtained by others, provided that we add some- 

 thing valuable of our own. 



Before this human aspect of geography — or, for that 

 matter, any other aspect of the subject — is recognised by 

 the world of science as an independent, indispensable, and 

 definite branch of knowledge, it must prove its independ- 

 ence and value by original, definite, and, if possible, 

 quantitative research. 



Part II. Geography and the Government Departments. 



Whatever definition of Geography is accepted, we are 

 all in agreement that the map is the essential foundation 

 of the subject. I propose now to indicate very briefly how 

 the British Government, as represented by the great 

 Departments of State, is, in this respect, assisting the 

 cause of Geography. The Departments which are 

 interested in maps and surveys are the following : — The 

 Admiralty, the War Office, the Colonial Office, the India 

 Office, the Board of Agriculture, and the Foreign Office. 



The immense services rendered, not only to this country, 

 but to the whole world, by the Hydrographic Department 

 of the Admiralty are known to all. But it would be some- 

 what rash of a soldier to talk about hydrographic surveys, 

 so I will confine my remarks to surveys on land. 



First, it should be remarked that the British Govern- 

 ment as a whole has for many years shown its interest in 

 Geography, and has recognised the good work done by 

 the Royal Geographical Society by contributing an annual 

 sum of 500;. towards the funds of the Society. Next, it 

 should be noted that from time to time British Govern- 

 ments have contributed large sums of money towards 

 Arctic and Antarctic exploration. The most recent 

 examples of this very practical form of encouragement will 

 be remembered by all ; I mean the Government expendi- 

 ture on Scott's first Antarctic Expedition and the hand- 

 some sum contributed towards the cost of Shackleton's 

 great journey. 



