Supplement to “ Nature,” May 2, 1912. 
SUBEBLEEBMENT TO.“ NATURE.” 
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY. 
The Clarendon Geography. Vol. i. Part i., 
“Principles of Geography.’’ Part ii., ‘‘ The 
British wisies.” Part iti. ""SBurope.” By 
F. D. MHerbertson. Pp. viiit+379. (The 
Oxford Geographies.) (Oxford: Clarendon 
Press, 1912.) Price 3s. 
A Geography of the World. By B. C. Wallis. 
Pp. xvi+372. (Macmillan’s Practical Modern 
Geographies.) (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Exdsamqmie)| Price 35. 6d. 
Buckinghamshire. By Dr. A. 
Pp. xli+222+maps. (Cambridge County 
Geographies.) (Cambridge: University Press, 
tgtI-12.) Price 1s. 6d. 
Northamptonshire. By M. W. Brown. Pp. xii+ 
215+maps. (Cambridge County Geographies.) 
(Cambridge: University Press, 1911-12.) Price 
ts. 6d. 
Midlothian. By Alex. McCallum. Pp. x+208+ 
maps. (Cambridge County Geographies.) 
(Cambridge : University Press, 1911-12.) Price 
1s. 6d. 
HESE five books are pre-eminently up-to- 
date geographies. Each may be taken to 
present with vivid force the dictum which Mr. 
Wallis emphasises in his preface, ‘‘ Geography 
deals with the co-existence at the present time 
of the many forces which tend to shape human 
effort.’ Each, therefore, is to be commended, 
for each strikes the right note in latter-day geo- 
graphy, the human note. 
Summarising their respective schemes of con- 
tents, it may be said that the two general geo- 
graphies work more or less on the same plan, 
viz., an introductory part of general principles 
(earth-movements, climate, physiography in the 
Herbertson, and the same with a stronger ten- 
dency towards ‘‘ commercial ’’ geography in the 
Wallis), followed by parts dealing with regional 
geography, in which the principles already laid 
down are shown in practical application. The 
three county geographies include within their 
scope a good deal of history, as a glance at their 
contents-index shows: ‘‘County History and 
Antiquities,’”” ‘‘ Architecture,” ‘‘A Roll of 
Honour ’’ supplement the more orthodox headings 
of physical geography, natural history, industries, 
and communications. Classifying, therefore, the 
objective of the writers, we should say, without 
prejudice, that Mrs. Herbertson and Mr. Wallis 
have written emphatically for the class-room, 
and Messrs. Brown, Davies, and McCallum for 
the school library. In the former case geography 
NO. 2218, VOL. 89] 
Morley Davies. 
| out question rightly ; 
is presented on the make-it-yourself principle, i.e., 
the true principle of all good teaching where the 
class does the work, and the master, or mistress, 
supplies the guidance; in the latter, facts are 
presented to the reader certainly in a logical order 
and an interesting fashion, but he may enjoy them 
in an easy chair. 
Mr. Wallis’s book is a veritable apotheosis of 
facts and figures, but facts and figures used with- 
they have to be worked 
out, or thoroughly examined, and then they lead 
to important and always interesting deductions. 
Nothing is told in isolation; all is correlation. 
This is making geography, as it should be, an 
educative study. There is a good deal of “‘ stiff ”’ 
material when the two authors are dealing with 
principles, and in the Herbertson this, unfor- 
tunately, comes quite at the beginning. It cannot 
be helped, and we would earnestly counsel no 
teacher to be deterred thereby from adding one 
or the other, or both books, to his stock of texts. 
We guarantee he will learn much himself. How 
many men or women, for instance, who are now 
teaching geography are sound on “‘ isonephs ’’ and 
‘‘isonomalous lines’’ (Wallis) or ‘‘ erosion 
cycles’’ and ‘‘ earth pyramids ’’ (Herbertson) ? 
A striking feature of all five books is the wealth 
of maps, diagrams, and illustrations. Where 
there are so many there is much variety both of 
execution and of presentation, nor are all of equal 
merit. The weakest maps, we think, are the two 
coloured ones, one physical and one geological, 
at the beginning and the end of the three county 
geographies. They are so crowded with names 
as to appear confused, and, worse than all, their 
colours stop with the county confines. North- 
amptonshire. therefore appears as an undulating 
island in a sea of nothingness. On the other 
hand, the two coloured maps in the Herbertson 
are educatively perfect. There is no overcrowd- 
ing; the features of note are obvious; they are 
full of deductive lessons. A class with these two 
maps in their hands would understand in a 
moment the isolation of the United Kingdom and 
of Italy, the importance of the Sadne-Rhone 
valley to France or the Severn to West England, 
the connection of Swedish history in Vasa times 
with the opposite shores of the Baltic. The un- 
coloured maps are equally satisfactory, though 
there is a tendency here and there, especially in 
the Wallis, to introduce too much matter. By 
way of illustration, compare ‘“‘N. America: 
Relief’? (Wallis, p. 228), which is absolutely 
illuminative in its clearness, .with “India: In- 
ternal Trade” (ib. p. 190), which is approximating 
a jig-saw puzzle in its hieroglyphics. 
Illustrations in a school book should be speak- 
