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SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1440 



me answer that question by a celestial analogy. 

 The astronomical observatory maintained on 

 Mt. Wilson in Southern California by the Car- 

 negie Institution of Washington — this being a 

 shining example of one of those lofty mountain- 

 top castles already alluded to — has a corps of 

 high-grade astronomers devoting all their time 

 and abilities to the study of the sun and the 

 stars. They have nothing whatever to do with 

 teaching. They never stop to ask whether their 

 discoveries will have practical application or 

 not. But first informing themselves thoroly in 

 all branches of astronomy as well as in the 

 allied sciences of mathematics and physics, they 

 perseveringly catalog and chart the stars, large 

 and small, as so many facts of occurrence; 

 they measure their brightness with the photo- 

 meter and they analyze their composition with 

 the spectroscope; and, marvellous to say, by 

 combining spectrum and brightness they de- 

 termine the distance of stars that are so im- 

 mensely far away that they have no measurable 

 parallax I They give the most ingenious and 

 penetrating study to the distribution and move- 

 ment of stars in space. They determine with 

 great accuracy the periods of revolution of 

 what are known as spectroscopic doubles, the 

 two components of which cannot be separated 

 even by the most powerful telescopes. Can 

 you conceive of anything more utterly useless? 

 And yet the world applauds their work. 



The spirit of devotion to research which 

 characterizes the staff of an astronomical ob- 

 servatory is the spirit which should dominate 

 and guide the staff of a Graduate School of 

 Geography. For if it be praiseworthy to spend 

 years, without the least regard to what is vainly 

 called "utility," on the construction of catalogs 

 and classifications of stars, most of which are 

 invisible to the naked eye and inconceivably 

 distant from our solar system, shall it not be 

 praiseworthy also to spend years in the study 

 of every geographical feature in every part of 

 the world, without the least regard to whether 

 the study leads to utility or not? The facts of 

 one science are of the heavens, heavenly; those 

 of the other are of the earth, earthy. But who 

 shall say that a ninth magnitude star in such 

 and such a part of the sky is a more worthy ob- 

 ject of study than a ridge or a ravine in such 



and such a part of the earth? The star may be 

 very large, but it is far away; the ridge or 

 ravine may be very small, but it is near at hand. 

 The study of the earth, our own earth, is surely 

 deserving of all the, time and skill we can give 

 to it. And even if, among various other geo- 

 graphical strongholds, the one here to be es- 

 tablished eventually gains its quota of nine 

 professors of geography, there will be abundant 

 work for all to do for years and years to come. 

 Indeed, it is highly probable that, what with the 

 ever-growing demands of science, the scope of 

 the work to be done in geography will be ex- 

 panded about as fast as the advance of the 

 work goes on. 



The Standaedization op Geography 



But even as geography is now conceived, do 

 not imagine that the staff of nine professors 

 will find their progress to be all clear sailing, 

 as if their courses were already charted and 

 their duties specified. That is by no means the 

 ease. One of the most important parts of their 

 work will be its standardization, both as to con- 

 tent and as to method, concerning which many 

 problematic matters, now unsolved or imper- 

 fectly solved, must be carried to a conclusion. 

 Let us examine first those touching the content 

 of geography. 



How shall the description of land forms be 

 treated so as to distinguish that special division 

 of geography from its relative in geology? 

 How much physical meteorology shall be in- 

 cluded in climatology? What facts concerning 

 the plants and animals of a region shall be 

 treated in a truly geographical essay, so that 

 it shall not duplicate sections of botanical and 

 zoological essays? How shall the essential 

 factors of economic and of historical geography 

 be treated so that they shall have a quality of 

 their own, and not be merely selections from 

 economics and history? All these questions 

 must be examined and answered before the 

 geographer can assure himself that all phases 

 of geography, systematic as well as regional, 

 are not merely restatements of parts of other 

 subjects. He must see to it that all his own 

 statements are essentially geographical state- 

 ments, and of a kind that other subjects do 

 not directly duplicate. Not that the establish- 

 ment of sharp limits between the contents of 



