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surveyors, geodesists, geologists, climatologists, ethnographers and others ; 

 climatology, or ethnography, hope to advance human knowledge? 



Question : Can a geographer who has not made a special study of one 

 or more of such subjects as geodesy, surveying, cartography, geology, 

 climatology, or ethnography, hope to advance human knowledge? 



Answer : He can do much to popularise these subjects, but he cannot 

 hope to do original work. 



Another way of attempting to ascertain the meaning and object of Geography 

 is to study the character of the instruction given in the universities, and we may 

 suppose that this can be fairly judged by the contents of standard text-books. 

 Let us take, for example, the ' Traite de Geographic Physique ' of M. E. de 

 Martonne, formerly Professor of Geography at the University of Lyons, now 

 Professor at the Sorbonne. The work in question was published in 1909 and is 

 divided into four main sections— Climate, Hydrography, Terrestrial Relief, and 

 Biogeography. 



The first sentence of the book is 'What is Geography? ' Twenty-four pages 

 are devoted to discussing this question, which the writer, with all his skill and 

 learning, finds it difficult to answer definitely and convincingly. One receives 

 the impression of the dexterous handling of a difficult question, and of a generally 

 defensive attitude. In this book geography is said to depend on three principles. 

 The principle of extension, the principle of co-ordination, and the principle of 

 causality. As an illustration of the meaning of the principle of extension, we 

 are told that 'the botanist who studies the organs of a plant, its conditions of 

 life, its position in classification, is not doing geographical work ; but if he seeks 

 to determine its area of extension, il fait de la geographie botanique. I believe 

 that we have here reached a critical point. The claim is, that when, in the 

 prosecution of a botanical study, a map is used to show the distribution of a 

 plant, the use of such a map converts the study into a branch of geography. 

 Well, it is a question of definition and convention, which cannot, I imagine, be 

 settled except by the general agreement of all the sciences. We have to make up 

 our minds whether a man who constructs a distributional map is doing 

 ' geography.' One thing, I suppose, is not doubtful. When the map is made it 

 will be better interpreted by a botanist than by a person ignorant of botany. In 

 the same way the discussion of an ordinary geological map is best undertaken 

 by a geologist, and so on. It would appear that geography, in the sense men- 

 tioned, is not so much a subject as a method of research. 



It will be convenient here to say a few words about the relations between 

 societies and schools of Geography and those important subjects geodesy and 

 geology. In the palmy days of the Ordnance Survey, when Colonel A. R. Clarke 

 was still at work, the headquarters of geodesy in England was doubtless at 

 Southampton. But, curiously enough, there is not, and has never been, in the 

 United Kingdom a society or body specially charged with the study of geodesy. 

 Geodesy, in fact, has no regular home in these islands. But the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society has done a good deal in the past few years to stimulate an 

 interest in the subject, thereby fulfilling what I believe to be one of the Society's 

 most useful functions, that of popularisation. 



If, however, an authoritative opinion were required on any geodetic question, 

 where could it be obtained ? Well, I suppose there is no doubt that the head- 

 quarters of this branch of learning is the International Geodetic Association, but 

 the scientific work itself is being largely carried out at the Geodetic Institute at 

 Potsdam, by the Survey of India, by the Geodetic Section of the Service 

 Geographique, by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, and by similar bodies. 

 Geodesy, especially in its later developments, is a definitely scientific subject 

 which demands much study and application. It is but slightly touched upon by 

 the schools of Geography. Perhaps I may here point out that geodesy is by no 

 means mainly concerned with the shape of the spheroid. The chief problems 

 are now those of isostasy and local attraction generally, the real shape of the sea- 

 surface, the continuity of the crust of the earth and changes of density therein. 



The position in which Geography finds itself with regard to Geology can be 

 clearly seen if reference is made to the new edition of the ' Encyclopaedia 

 Britannica.' In the eleventh volume of this work are two important articles. 

 'Geography,' by Dr. H. R. Mill, and '^-ology,' by Sir Archibald Geikie. In 



