420 bepoet — 1879. 



Section B.— GEOGRAPHY. 



President of the Section— Clements R. Markham, Esq., C.B., F R S., F.L.S. r 



Sec. RG.S., F.S.A. 



THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 1879. 



The President delivered the following Address : — 



Part I. 



I propose to open the proceedings of this Section by attempting to place in a 

 clear light the objects and aims of geographers, and the position which their science 

 holds relatively with reference to the other sciences, and positively as a distinct 

 body of knowledge with defined limits. 



Geography is a knowledge of the earth as it is, and of the changes which have 

 taken place on its surface during historical times. These changes explain to us the 

 laws according to which similar changes are now taking place around us. The 

 subject may be considered from various points of view ; but my present endeavour 

 will be to introduce to you, through the remarks I propose to make, the papers 

 that will come before you to-day and at our subsequent meetings. I shall tiy to 

 do this by explaining the practical uses of geographical knowledge, and its import- 

 ance to usi p a1 most every occupation in which we may be engaged. 



Our firs I work as geographers is to measure all parts of earth and sea, to 

 ascertain the relative positions of all places upon the surface of the globe, and to 

 delineate the varied features of that surface. This great work has been proceeding 

 from the first dawn of civilisation, and it will probably be centuries longer before 

 it is completed. Geographers and explorers, surveyors and geodesists, of each 

 generation, work their allotted time, gradually increasing the stock of human 

 knowledge, by enabling other sciences and other branches of inquiry to make 

 parallel advances. For they are all dependent on the accurate measurement and 

 mapping of the earth. Locality is the one basis upon which all human knowledge 

 must rest. Arts, sciences, administration, commerce, depend upon accurate geo- 

 graphical knowledge ; and as that knowledge becomes more extensive and more 

 exact, so will every other human pursuit gain increasing light and truthfulness. 



We are still very far indeed from an accurate scientific geographical knowledge 

 of even the most civilised countries, while by far the largest portion of the earth's 

 surface is inadequately surveyed, and a smaller, though far from inconsiderable, 

 part is unsurveyed or entirely unknown. In the division of labour, the geodesist 

 produces the accurate large-scale maps which are necessary in thickly populated 

 countries, the topographical surveyor furnishes less exact maps of more thinly 

 peopled and less civilised regions, while the trained explorer forces his way into 

 the unknown parts of the earth. 



From the labours of these three classes of workers we, in this generation, and 

 our descendants for many generations to come, must be content to derive our 

 knowledge ; but in the fullness of time the whole earth will be measured and 

 delineated as Hallamshire is now. It is to the furthering of this great work that 

 the geographers of each age devote their energies, and its advancement will 



