504 



NA TURE 



[September 12, 1907 



the most recent developments of economic geography were 

 the subject of the communication by Prof. Max Eckert, 

 the author of one of the best treatises on that subject 

 which has appeared in Germany. Prof. Eckert pointed 

 out that the geography of mankind, understood as the 

 study of the relations of man to his environment, had 

 really only come into existence within the last few 

 decades. While supplying the one adequate bond of union 

 between the natural and moral sciences, it bases all its 

 considerations on the physical conditions of the earth, and 

 evolves general laws regarding the influence of the soil 

 on man and of man on the soil. Commercial or economic 

 geography, which was more specially considered in the 

 latter part of the paper, was defined as a study in which 

 the earth is viewed as the theatre of human production 

 and commerce, one of its most important tasks being 

 the determination of the factors which govern the occur- 

 rence of industrial products, though the methods and 

 apparatus of trafllc fall also within its purview. 



A third paper on the economic side supplied an example 

 of the application of such general principles to a special 

 problem. It was by Mr. J. McFarlane, of Manchester, 

 who set himself the task of determining the limits of 

 the area served by the Port of Manchester, and the 

 character of the trade so carried on. The inquiry had 

 involved much laborious research, the necessary data being 

 obtainable, if at all, only through correspondence with a 

 large number of individuals or bodies engaged in such 

 trade. The material collected, while not permitting a 

 complete answer to the question, was enough to give 

 some indication of the influence exercised by the ship canal 

 as a factor in the commercial relations of the region behind 

 Manchester — an influence which the reader considered 

 likely to increase with time. 



One of the afternoon lectures, that by Mr. Mark Sykes, 

 also dealt with the human side of the subject. The 

 attendance was, unfortunately, somewhat small, owing to 

 the counter-attraction of a social gathering, but those who 

 were present listened to a most graphic account of the 

 Kurdish tribes of Asiatic Turkey, among whom Mr. Sykes 

 has travelled very extensively, and whose intricate sub- 

 divisions and varying characters he has studied with great 

 care. The number of the separate tribes is astonishingly 

 great, and they differ, not only in religion and language, 

 f)ut in physique, character, and mode of life. The 

 lecturer traced the regional distribution of the principal 

 main groups, and brought home to the audience the 

 physical characteristics of the people bv a striking series 

 of photographs. One other short lecture, by Mr. J. D. 

 Rogers, should be mentioned here. It was entitled 

 " Explorers and Colonists," and traced in an instructive 

 way the various motives which have led men to explore 

 — exploration for exploration's sake being, as the lecturer 

 pointed out, a thing of quite modern growth, unless we 

 go back to the first beginnings of travel, and place men 

 like Ulysses in the category of explorers pure and simple. 

 Mr. Rogers spoke of the influence exercised by the 

 imagination in sending the early explorers into remote 

 corners of the world, and traced the connection which in 

 later times grew up between exploration and colonisation. 



The mathematical side of geography, which had received 

 attention, outside Section E. both in the address of Sir 

 David Gill and in that of the president of Section A on 

 the figure of the earth, was represented within the section 

 by two papers, both dealing with survey work in Africa. 

 Major Close, R.E., gave a lucid outline of the present 

 state of the official surveys in the several British 

 possessions, showing what a large amount of excellent 

 work is being carried out, often under great difficulties. 

 Captain Behrens, R.E., spoke more especially of the 

 methods of survey adopted, illustrating his subject by 

 instances from special surveys, particularly that of the 

 southern frontier of Uganda, in which he had himself 

 taken part. He also showed upon the screen a number 

 of views in the Ruwenzori range, taken during the expedi- 

 tion of the Duke of the Abruzzi. 



Three papers only were concerned with physical geo- 

 graphy pure and simple, which it is the modern tendency 

 to leave more and more to the geologist, so far as studied 

 independently of its bearing on man's activities. Prof. 

 J. VV. Spencer, who for many years has devoted his atten- 

 NO. 1976, VOL. 76] 



tion to the recession of Niagara, put before the meeting 

 the results of his latest survey, carried out some two 

 years ago on behalf of the Geological Survey of Canada. 

 Ihis has permitted conclusions as to the rate of recession 

 since the date of earlier surveys, and Pr»f. Spencer finds 

 that this rate is more variable than has been supposed, 

 much depending on the shape of the crest at the time 

 and the varying manner in which the rock is worn 

 away. He has endeavoured to trace the state of affairs 

 In the days of the early visitors to the falls, such as 

 Hennepin, and has found what he considers must have 

 been an old channel of the river in their time. He also 

 spoke of the results of his soundings of the river below 

 the falls. The physical geography of the Etbai desert 

 of Egypt was spoken of by Mr. H. T. Ferrar, of the 

 Geological Survey of that country, who exhibited a large- 

 scale map specially drawn to bring out the physical 

 characters of the country. He discussed various morpho- 

 logical features in regard to their mode of origin, and 

 explained the meanings and mode of use of a number of 

 .Arabic geographical terms. Lastly, Mr. M. Allorge de- 

 scribed the recently discovered cave of .'\toyac, in Mexico, 

 paying special attention to the relation borne by the 

 passages and chambers to the structural planes of the 

 limestone formation in which the cave occurs. 



An afternoon lecture by Dr. Vaughan Cornish, on the 

 Jamaica earthquake and its effects as witnessed by him- 

 self and Mrs. Cornish, dealt with a physical phenomenon, 

 though much of its interest lay In the vivid way in which 

 the effects of such a catastrophe on the life of the people 

 were pourtrayed. \ thrilling account was given of the 

 personal experiences and sensations of the lecturer and 

 his wife during the earthquake, and the effects on the 

 buildings of Kingston were well illustrated by photographs. 

 Dr. Cornish investigated the place of origin of the earth- 

 quake, the character of the shock, and the effects on 

 buildings of different kinds, and he briefly described the 

 methods by which these researches were carried out. 



An interesting paper by Mr. R. B. Woosnam described 

 briefly the recent British Museum expedition to Ruwen- 

 zori, giving a general account of the features of the 

 range, and especially of the life-zones upon it. The 

 differences between the east and west sides, due to the 

 greater humidity of the latter, were explained, and the 

 question of the modifications or variations of type with 

 change of altitude was briefly touched upon. Nothing 

 very remarkable in the way of special adaptation to the 

 wet and cold of the mountain slopes was noticed, and It 

 was pointed out that the bird most commonly met with 

 In the wettest and coldest zone is a sun-bird of brilliant 

 colour. On the other hand, a species of sun-bird which 

 occurs below 7000 feet is represented above 10,000 feet 

 by another twice the size, though otherwise an exact 

 facsimile ; and a similar case occurs among the plants. 



Two papers presented detailed studies of special regions 

 from the all-round point of view. Mr. O. J. R. Howarth 

 described the district of Jasderen, In southern Norway, 

 which he showed to possess special characteristics 

 separating it entirely from the typical scenery of that 

 country. The hills rise In partially isolated groups, the 

 whole forming a practically unbroken tract of naked rock, 

 which reveals, to an extent dominating every other 

 feature, the work of the glacier which once covered it. 

 The coast presents exceptionally clear evidences of the 

 upward movement of the land, in the form of old fjords 

 and islands, as well as an old beach, dating from a period 

 of subsidence following that of glaclatlon, in which last 

 the land stood even higher than at present. The paper 

 Indicated briefly some ways in which the distribution of 

 the population had been influenced by the diverse physical 

 characters. The other paper, by Mr. A. W. Andrews, 

 described the Land's End peninsula, an isol.nted area of 

 old rock separated from the rest of Cornwall by a neck 

 of low land, and thus presenting characteristic features 

 of its own. This granite plateau forms in its higher parts 

 a bare and wind-swept moorland, with undulating hills 

 rising above It. The coast Is, as a rule, lofty, with 

 striking granite and greenstone cliffs, and is almost 

 harbourless. The whole area is but little Inhabited, though 

 mining was once more actively prosecuted, and there are 

 some signs of a resumption of activity In this direction. 



