496 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1919. 
geographic education which may be made to express visually the 
relief, the resources, the industries, the distribution of people, and 
almost every phase of human activity in any and every part of the 
earth. 
So far as expression can set forth the facts and principles of man 
and the earth, the finished product of geography will more and more 
be found in thoroughly attractive and informing descriptions of 
regions. We have had, and must always have, various types of de- 
scription, the gazeteer, the guide book, the encyclopedia article, the 
popular notes of the unprofessional traveler, and the special or tech- 
nical report. All these, however, should contribute to and, in turn, 
be enriched by regional descriptions which are scientifically accurate, 
serious without being too technical, expressed in good literary form, 
and giving balanced, interesting, and useful knowledge for the man 
of business, diplomacy, or pleasure, who needs to know the particular 
region. Even travelers see but a small part of the world, they 
deal in samples and they must exhibit and exchange their wares in 
order that anyone may know the earth widely. 
The world’s stock of geographic knowledge has been gathered 
through multitudinous agencies through the centuries. Commerce, 
war, love cf adventure, thirst for knowledge, immigration to new 
lands for a fresh experiment in living—all have had their part. It 
remains for geographic education to order this mass of material, 
develop geographic principles, and help toward a better use of the 
earth and its gifts. 
