642 TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION E. 



school subjects. In schools tradition and practical convenience have, on the 

 whole rightly, determined the scope of the different subjects. Geography in 

 schools is best denned as the study of the Earth as the home of Man; its limits 

 should not be too closely scrutinised in schools, where it should be used freely as 

 a co-ordinating subject. 



The present division into sections of the British Association is also largely 

 a matter of practical convenience, but we are told that the present illogical 

 arrangement of sections distresses some minds. No doubt there are some curious 

 anomalies. The most glaring, perhaps, is that of combining mathematics with 

 physics — as if mathematical methods were not used in any other subject. 



There is undoubtedly a universal tendency to sub-division and an ever- 

 increasing specialisation, but there is also an ever-growing interdependence of 

 different parts of science. The British Association is unquestionably bound to take 

 the latter into account as well as the former. At present this is chiefly done by 

 joint meetings of sections : a wise course, of which this section has been one of 

 the chief promoters. It is possible that some more systematic grouping of sections 

 might be well advised, but such a reform should be systematic and not piecemeal. 

 It is one which raises the whole question of the classification of knowledge. This 

 is so vast a problem and one on which such divergent opinions are held that I 

 must apologise for venturing to put forward some tentative suggestions. 



It might be found desirable to take as primary divisions the Mathematical, 

 Physical, Biological, Anthropological, and Geographical groups. Mathematical 

 applications might also be considered in each of the sections which use mathe- 

 matical notations. In the Physical group there should be the sub-divisions 

 Physics and Chemistry. Each would devote a certain proportion of time to its 

 applied aspects, or these might be dealt with in sub-sections which would include 

 Engineering and Applied Chemistry. In the Biological group there would be 

 Botany, Zoology, in both cases including Palaeontology and Embryology, and 

 Applied Biology, which would be dealt with in one or other of the ways I have 

 suggested, and would include Agriculture, Fisheries, &c. (Medicine we leave 

 out at present.) In the Anthropological group, in addition to the present Anthro- 

 pological and Economics, there should be a section on Psychology, which might 

 or might not be attached to Physiology and have the Education Section as a 

 practical appendage. In the Geographical group there would be Geography and 

 Geology, the practical applications of Geography and Geology being considered 

 in joint meetings with other sections or else in sub-sections — for instance, Geo- 

 graphy and Physics for questions of Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation. 

 Geography and Economics for questions of Transportation, &c. 



The Need for Classifications and Notations in GeomorpJwlogy , <bc. 



So much, then, for the classification of Geography with reference to the other 

 sciences. I should like to say a few words about the sub-divisions of Geography 

 and the vexed question of terminology. 



In the scheme of the Universe it is possible to consider the Earth as a unit, 

 with its own constitution and history. It has an individuality of its own, 

 though for the astronomer it is only one example of a particular type of heavenly 

 bodies. As geographers we take it as our unit individual in the same way that an 

 anatomist takes a man. We see that it is composed of different parts and we 

 try to discover what these are, of what they are composed, what their function 

 is, what has been their history. 



One fundamental division is into land, water, and air. Each has its forms 

 and its movements. The forms are more obvious and persistent in the land. 

 They are least so in the atmosphere, though forms exist— some of which are at 

 times made visible by clouds, and many can be clearly discerned on isobaric 

 charts. The land is the temporarily permanent ; the water and atmosphere 

 the persistently mobile ; the latter more so than the former. The stable forms 

 of the land help to control the distribution and movements of the waters and to a 

 less extent those of the atmosphere. How great the influence of the distribution of 

 land and water is on the atmosphere may be seen in the monsoon region of 

 Eastern Asia. 



The study of the land, the ocean, and the atmosphere has resulted in the 



