128 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



Anglo-Saxon to English is one of ' decay.' They would seem to deplore 

 the loss of the cumbrous and countless inflections. A study of language- 

 distribution would show them that the languages still more marginal 

 than Latin have even larger development of inflections. For instance, 

 they are peculiarly abundant in Australian aboriginal speech and in West 

 African languages ! I venture to predict that philologists will soon accept 

 the following general ecological and cultural ' law ' : Marginal languages 

 are primitive, and characterised by cumbrous inflections ; they evolve 

 by loss of inflections and by the development of an analytical character ; 

 this gradual change is illustrated by the concentric zones of actual lan- 

 guages. This ' law ' was pointed out by the writer in a tentative dis- 

 cussion of Language Evolution in 1921 (Griffith Taylor 1921), when 

 the general ' key * to the whole process (suggested in Fig. 12) was first 

 published. 



I. Graphs of Culture Growth. 



It is often of great help to the research student in cultural problems if 

 he can make a mental picture of the processes involved in culture-spreads. 

 In the following section I have endeavoured to realise such a picture. 



City growth of a type which is familiar to every geographer is illustrated 

 in the stage-diagram given in Fig. 14. Here four stages in the develop- 

 ment of the City of Chicago are represented in a sort of isometric pro- 

 jection. The years chosen were 1846, 1873, 1899 and 1926. The diagram 

 is a modification of the ' Zones and Strata Concept,' and emphasises the 

 fact that ' the Zones of to-day are the Strata of to-morrow.' 



The maps extend about 16 miles south and 10 mUes north of the geo- 

 graphical centre of Chicago. In the lowest map is shown the site of the 

 fort which was built in 181 6 ; just where the voyageurs paddled up the 

 Sourh Chicago River to reach the boggy divide, which alone separated 

 the Mississippi Basin from the Great Lakes Basin. In 1828 there were 

 three inns and about a dozen huts near the Forks of the small Chicago 

 river. Farms existed in Madison Street in 1833, though to-day the nearest 

 farm is about 15 miles away to the south. So also private houses have 

 been displaced about 8 miles to the south. Forest covered much of the 

 area south of Madison and this has been displaced about 30 miles to 

 the south (Hoyt 1933). 



In 1873 factories developed along the small river, while the best 

 business section was still near the Forks. The old negro quarter was 

 I mile south of the river near State Street. It now occupies an elongated 

 belt from 3 to 7 miles away from the old city centre. The better residences 

 are also migrating to the periphery. In the last map (for 1926) skyscrapers 

 have developed along the lake from for a dozen miles, as well as in the 

 old centre of the city. Very large Polish, Czech and Italian communities 

 build up most of the population to the west of the city centre. 



Crop-farming has now been pushed right out of the city limits, though 

 small truck-farms are still to be found on some vacant lots. Within this" 

 fringe comes a zone of small two-story houses which are built mostly of 

 wood. Still nearer the centre is a zone of better residences both north 

 and south of the city, wherever industrial pursuits are not too prevalent. 



