35 2 The National Geographic Magazine 



excitement aroused by his discoveries of 

 millions of people along the Kongo. 

 Geographical societies were founded 

 everywhere. In the ten years from 

 1 87 1 to 1880 thirty-nine important so- 

 cieties were founded, whereas only about 

 twenty had existed before that decade. 

 Chairs in geography were established at 

 different universities, and the applica- 

 tions of geography to education, to com- 

 merce, and to national policy were every- 

 where recognized. 



The second Congress was held in Paris 

 in 1875. Ferdinand de I^esseps, then at 

 the height of his fame, President of the 

 Geographical Society of Paris, presided. 

 The meeting marked an advance in en- 

 thusiasm and numbers. 



The third met at Venice, six years 

 later. It was carried out on a grander 

 scale than either of its predecessors and 

 was given national importance by the 

 Italians. The King and Queen of Italy 

 and the highest political officials were 

 present at the opening ceremony. The 

 Congress was specially noted for the 

 magnificent exhibition organized bj'- the 

 Italian Geographical Society. 



In connection with the Paris Exhibi- 

 tion of 1889 an international conference 

 on geography was held, which was after- 

 ward adopted as the fourth Interna- 

 tional Geographical Congress. Some 

 very valuable papers summarizing the 

 geographic work done by the principal 

 nations of Europe during the nineteenth 

 century! were presented to the conference. 



In the summer of 1891 the city of 

 Berne celebrated the seventh centenary 

 of the foundation of the town, and, at 

 the earnest invitation of its citizens, the 

 fifth Geographical Congress was held in 

 connection with the celebration . A good 

 exhibition of maps and geographical 

 text books, for the most part by Swiss 

 geographers, was the chief feature of 

 interest. At this Congress the members 

 voted to hold future meetings not of tener 

 than once in three years or more rarelj' 

 than once in five. 



Eondon was the scene of the sixth 

 Congress, which was held under the 

 auspices of the Royal Geographical So- 

 ciety. This was the first Geographical 

 Congress at which the National Geo- 

 graphic Society had representatives, for 

 at the time of the preceding meeting the 

 society had been in existence but three 

 years. Gen. A. W. Greely, U. S. A. ; 

 Mr. W. W. Rockhill, and Miss EHza R. 

 Scidmore represented the Society at this 

 meeting. Polar explorations received 

 considerable discussion, in which, nat- 

 urally. General Greely took a prominent 

 part. 



Meantime there had been a growing 

 feeling that the part played by Amer- 

 cans in the promotion of exploration 

 should be recognized by a meeting of 

 the Congress in the United States, and 

 at this Congress a cordial invitation by 

 the National Geographic Society to hold 

 the next meeting in Washington was 

 in the hands of our representatives. It 

 was deemed advisable, however, to con- 

 vene in Berlin. 



At the Congress held at Berlin in the 

 summer of 1899 as many as 1,600 per- 

 sons were enrolled as members actually 

 in attendance. Baron von Richthofen, 

 president of the Geographical Society 

 of Berlin, and recently appointed For- 

 eign Minister of Germany, presided 

 over the sessions of the Congress, which 

 were held in the building of the Prussian 

 House of Representatives. One pleasant 

 feature of the meeting was a series of 

 excursions to points of geographic in- 

 terest within a few hours of Berlin. The 

 National Geographic Society was rep- 

 resented by the following members': 

 Hon. Andrew D. White, United States 

 Embassador to Germany ; Gen. A. W. 

 Greely; Dr. Marcus Baker, of the U. S. 

 Geological Survey ; Prof. Wm. M. Davis, 

 of Harvard University, and Miss Eliza R. 

 Scidmore. 



The invitation of the Society to hold 

 the next Congress in Washington under 

 its auspices was informally renewed. 



