544 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 173. 



appears to have been the first American in 

 the field. He continued to write for many 

 years, and after his death the son published 

 revised editions of his father's works. As 

 Morse's geographies, or abridgements of 

 them made by himself or others, were ex- 

 tensively used in the schools, we may now 

 learn from them something of the ' state of 

 the art,' as our patent experts and attor- 

 neys would say, of geographic teaching in 

 the early years of the century. 



It is worth while to note, in passing, the 

 high esteem in which the work of Morse 

 was held. The numerous editions called 

 for and sold at home, and its transla- 

 tion and sale abroad, attest its value. Sam- 

 uel Gr. Goodrich, who wrote so much over 

 the name Peter Parley, referring to his boy- 

 hood school days, about 1800 to 1810, in 

 Ridgefield, Connecticut, says: 



"When I was there two Webster's gram- 

 mars and one or two Dwight's geographies 

 were in use. The latter was without maps 

 or illustrations, and was in fact little more 

 than an expanded table of contents taken 

 from Morse's Universal Geography — the 

 mammoth monument 'of American learning 

 and genius of that age and generation." 



The third edition of Morse's abridgement 

 was published in 1791. As to maps it con- 

 tains only crude diagrams of the world, of 

 the continents and of the United States. 

 For the most part, therefore, it is clear that 

 our grandparents got vague and crude 

 ideas of geographic situation, extent and re- 

 lation, since clear views of these are not 

 gained without maps — sometimes, indeed, 

 not even with them. The points emphasized 

 by Morse are the points which were of com- 

 manding interest and importance in his 

 day. 



Fertile soil, healthy climate, but es- 

 pecially transportation routes, are de- 

 scribed in general and in particular and 

 are dwelt upon. The facihties which the 

 rivers and lakes afford for commerce im- 



pressed our forefathers much more forcibly 

 than even to-day the water routes to the 

 Klondike impress the imagination of the 

 gold-hunter. 



You will recall that on the old maps the 

 Ohio river appears as La Belle Riviere — the 

 beautiful river. To the French voyageurs 

 La Belle Riviere was more than a mere 

 name. Its deep and placid waters, aiibrd- 

 ing an easy and delightful natural highway 

 for a journey almost a thousand miles long, 

 unbroken by falls or rapids, were to them 

 indeed beautiful. Of it Morse says : 



" The Ohio is the most beautiful river on 

 earth. Its gentle current is unbroken by 

 rocks or rapids except in one place. It is a 

 mile wide at its entrance into the Missis- 

 sippi and a quarter of a mile wide at Fort 

 Pitt, which is 1,188 miles from its mouth." 



This distance, 1,188 miles, has now 

 shrunk to 965 miles. 



As to the Mississippi he says : 



" The principal river in the United 

 States is the Mississippi, which forms the 

 western boundary of the United States. It 

 is supposed to be 3,000 miles long and is 

 navigable to the falls of St. Anthony." 

 , In the numerous lakes and rivers scat- 

 tered over the land Morse saw a bond of 

 union between the future settlers. He 

 points out the ease with which a complete 

 network of waterways might be constructed 

 and its eifect. He says : 



" By means of these various streams and 

 collections of water the whole country is 

 checkered into islands and peninsulas. 

 The United States, and indeed all parts of 

 North America, seem to have been formed 

 by Nature for the most intimate union. 

 For two hundred thousand guineas North 

 America might be converted into a cluster 

 of large and fertile islands, communicating 

 with each other with ease and little ex- 

 pense and in many instances without the 

 uncertainty or danger of the sea." 



The Western Territory at this time (1790) 



