726 REPORT— 1903. 



(c) The influence of the plant world on the earth's surface. Most suh-aerial 

 plants penetrate into the soil for purposes of attachment or absorption of food 

 material. Their action may be a physical one only, or a chemical one in addition. 

 Plants are as often responsible for the first crumbling away of the solid rock as 

 for the binding together of loose soil. 



These three subjects are of great interest to the geographer, but ecology is in 

 addition of the greatest importance to the traveller. 



Ecology teaches the traveller how to analyse and classify the forms of vege- 

 tation met with. He is enabled through it to make out many of the prevailing 

 conditions by reference to the plant forms observed. He is also enabled to give a 

 scientifically accurate account of what he has seen, because he understands the 

 relation existing between the plants and the conditions under which they are 

 living. A knowledge of ecology should, in fact, be considered a most necessary 

 part of the scientific equipment of any professional traveller. 



2. The Observation of Features of Vegetation in Geographical 

 Exploration. By Dr. W. G. Smith. 



Descriptions or even notes on vegetation are not a feature in the majority of 

 papers in English relating to travel and exploration. Yet the vegetation of a 

 country is, after the configuration, the most important factor in a landscape. 

 There are in existing books and papers descriptions of vegetation which show that 

 these can be made, and that thereby the utility of the observations is greatly 

 extended, not only from an economic aspect, but also in the direction of plant 

 geography. Considerable progress has been made towards representing the 

 vegetation of a country on maps. This is done by recording the limits of distri- 

 bution of the most abundant (or dominant) plants, such as trees ; and already the 

 vegetation of considerable tracts of Britain, Europe, and North America has been 

 charted. The detail in simple cases shows the region of deciduous trees as 

 distinct from that of coniferous trees, and the forest lands as contrasted with 

 treeless. Or greater detail may be shown, as in the series of maps now being 

 issued in Britain. 



Vegetation charts of all parts of the earth would be a distinct gain to plant 

 geography. The scope of such a survey for any area would depend on the maps 

 available and on the observer's knowledge of plants. In the case of a party 

 which included a botanist and traversed a country with fairly complete maps 

 there should be considerable opportunity of ascertaining and recording the limits 

 of important dominant plants. Such a survey, accompanied by the collecting of 

 plants, would fiirnish material of great value. In the case of an expedition in 

 an area poorly charted there would still be opportunities of collecting fragmentary 

 evidence regarding vegetation. Notes on the dominant plants could be made at 

 places where geographical observations were taken, and where a change occurred 

 from one type of vegetation to another the limit could be ascertained with as 

 much accuracy as possible. Even in a case where the dominant plants were 

 unknown to the observer a small collection of them labelled by numbers for 

 reference could be afterwards identified. An acquaintance with the methods of 

 botanical survey followed in Britain and elsewhere would be a useful preliminary 

 for intending travellers. 



3. Botanical Survey of the Basins of the Rivers Eden, Tees, Tyne, 

 and Wear. By Francis J. Lewis, F.L.S. 



The survey was begun during the summer of 1900, and had for its object the 

 mapping of the various plant associations and observations on the different factors 

 governing their distribution. 



The whole of the work has been done with the aid of the 6-inch Ordnance 

 maps, the boundaries of the different associations as observed in the field being 

 drawn on these, and subsequently reduced oji to smaller scale maps, 



