810 REPORT— 1900. 



Abstract numbers are thus converted into concrete space forms, and are tben much 

 more comprehensible. In conclusion the formation of local geographical 

 societies for educational purposes is recommended, and an account is given of the 

 formation and working of the Southampton Geographical Society. 



2. Commercial Geography in Education. 

 By E. R. Wethey, M.A., F.R.G.S. 



A description of a three years' course of lectures on Commercial Geography to 

 teachers in the West Riding, and of what has actually been done, on the diffi- 

 culties encoimtered and on ways of getting over them. 



1. The three years' course: (i.) The principles of Commercial Geography and 

 their application to the British Empire ; (ii.) the Commercial Geography of 

 foreign countries ; (iii.) special trades and commodities. 



Twenty-five lectures to the course — oO to 40 teachers in attendance ; average 

 percentage of attendances 92 ; centres Leeds and Huddersfield. 



2. The difficulties: (i.) The inadequate knowledge of general geography the 

 main difficulty, i.e. how best to explain commercial results of Physical Geography 

 to minds deficient in knowledge of the elements of Physical Geography. Remedy 

 obvious but not easy of attainment owing to multiplicity of school subjects. 

 Accessories wanted — Government grants for commercial as well as technical or 

 industrial side of education, (ii.) The inadequate notions still existing as to what 

 is meant by Commercial Geography, (iii.) The collection of appropriate lantern 

 slides. 



3. A selection of lantern slides illustrating some of the chief points brought out 

 in the three vears' course.^ 



FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. 

 The following Papers and Report were read : — 



1. The Treatment of Regional Geography. 

 By Hugh Robert Mill, D.Sc, LL.D. 



The author brought a scheme for a geographical description of the British 

 Islands, based on the 1-inch map of the Ordnance Survey, before the Section at the 

 Liverpool Meeting in 1896. He has since worked out the regional geography of the 

 area delineated in two sheets of the 1-inch map of South-west Sussex.^ The 

 extension to the whole country of work on an equally minute scale appears to be 

 rendered impracticable only by its cost and the indifference of the public to geo- 

 graphy. It is hoped, however, that the principles of regional description laid down 

 in the paper may be of service in promoting similar descriptions for other parts of 

 the countrv, whether carried out as part of a general scheme or independently. 



The configuration of the district as deduced from the 1-inch map is the first 

 condition in importance, and should be treated both generally, as to the main 

 features alone, and also specially, as to particular details which are of more imme- 

 diate interest than the rest. The distribution of rocks and superficial drift taken 

 from the geological map comes next in importance, and it is interesting, though not 

 essential, to trace the causal relation of geological structure and geographical form. 

 It is more important to indicate clearly the places where mineral products of 

 economic value occur. The next part of the description deals with what may be 

 called, in default of a better term, mobile distributions. These include all features 



' As it would be obviously impossible to show more than a mere fraction of 

 the slides used (nearly 3,000 in all), a further and much larger selection was placed 

 in the Association's temporary museum. 



- See Geographical Journal, vol. sv. 1900, pp. 205, 353. 



