436 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 



Section E.— GEOGRAPHY. 

 President of the Section. — Lieut.-Colonel Close, C.M.G., R.E. 



THURSDAY, AUGUST 31. 



The President delivered the following Address : — 



I propose to devote the first part of this address to an examination of the 

 purpose and position of Geography, with special reference to its relations with 

 other subjects. It will not be possible entirely to avoid controversial matters ; 

 but, if some of the questions touched on are controversial, this only means that 

 these questions have a certain importance. I shall try to describe the facts of 

 the case impartially. 



In the second part I shall try to indicate briefly what the Government, as 

 represented by the great Departments of State, is doing for Geography. 



Part I. The Position of Geography with reference to other Subjects. 



It is no secret that the geographical world is not unanimous about the meaning 

 and object of Geography. The definitions suggested by such writers as Mr. 

 Chisholm, Professor Davis, Professor Herbertson, Mr. Mackinder, or Dr. Mill 

 are not in agreement. From time to time an attempt is made to formulate some 

 statement which shall not commit the subscribers to anything very definite. But 

 differences of opinion on the subject persist. 



There are, of course, a great many ways of approaching the question. Let 

 us, for example, examine the proceedings of such representative bodies as 

 the British Association and the Royal Geographical Society, and of such assem- 

 blies as the International Geographical Congresses, and let us see if we can 

 find out what is, as a fact, the scope of the subject as dealt with by these 

 bodies. They are institutions which work in the full light of day, and they are 

 too large to be dominated for any length of time by individuals. If we can 

 find any working principle, any common term, amongst these societies, we shall 

 have gone some way towards arriving at a solution of the problem. 



A simple method of investigation is to discuss the character of the publica- 

 tions of these societies and of the lectures delivered before them. And I feel 

 that I cannot do better than devote most of this brief analysis to the Royal 

 Geographical Society and its admirably edited Journal. Here we are on safe 

 ground. If an inhabitant of another planet wished to know what we understand 

 by astronomy we could confidently refer him to the ' Monthly Notices ' of the 

 Royal Astronomical Society. If he were curious about the condition of geology, 

 we should give him the volumes of the Geological Society. And, if he were so 

 rash as to ask what are the objects of the modern mathematician, we should 

 hand him the papers published by the London Mathematical Society. The ' Geo- 

 graphical Journal ' occupies no lower a position with reference to Geography 

 than do the other journals mentioned with reference to the sciences with which 

 they deal. 



In analysing the contributions to the Royal Geographical Society it is im- 



