Febeuaey 21, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



313 



' A Nineteenth Century Geometiy ' : Aeciiibaid 

 Hendekson. 



'The Absolute Properties of Molecules': J. E. 

 Mills. 



Chas. Baskerville, 



Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA. 



If a general American Geographical So- 

 ciety, equivalent in rank to the Geological So- 

 ciety of America, could be developed by 

 following Professor Russell's plan (Science, 

 Jan. 31), there is no question that great good 

 would come from it; but I do not believe that 

 his plan would lead to the desired end. After 

 stating some of its diiSculties, I will present 

 an alternative. 



Centralization that weakens local activity 

 is of doubtful value. It is perfectly true that 

 the publications of the existing geographical 

 societies are not always of a high order, but 

 they are the best that the local societies can 

 produce; they serve a very useful purpose in 

 providing opportunity for beginners to publish 

 their early efforts; they are the necessary 

 steps toward something better. Furthermore, 

 several of the local journals, being largely con- 

 cerned with personal narratives of outings and 

 excursions, are of greater interest to their 

 local readers than any general and scientific 

 geogi-aphical journal could be. It would more 

 likely kill than kindle geographical interest 

 to replace such local journals by a high-grade 

 scientific central journal. The sufficient rea- 

 son for this is that the great majority of the 

 local readers are not geographers. This leads 

 to the next difficulty. 



No equivalent of the Geological Society of 

 America could be made by uniting the exist- 

 ing geographical societies of the country. 

 Candidates for membership in the Geological 

 Society are carefully scrutinized. They must 

 have had good scientific training and they 

 must have actually accomplished something 

 in the way of geological work, either in the 

 field or in the lecture room, before they are 

 recommended by the Council of the Society 

 for election. The standard of training and 

 accomplishment is not by any means dis- 

 couragingly high, but it is set at such a level 



that membership in the Society really means 

 something regarding a member's geological 

 attainments. There is not a single geo- 

 graphical society in the country in which 

 there is any corresponding requirement for 

 membership. Any reputable person who is 

 willing to pay the necessary fee may be 

 elected. The societies are all glad to add his 

 name to the count of members, and his fee to 

 the treasury. In some of the societies it may 

 perhaps be assumed that a considerable num- 

 ber of members feel a certain interest in the 

 general subject of geography, an interest that 

 is passive rather than active ; but in nearly all 

 the societies there is a large number of mem- 

 bers whose interest is excited chiefly by the 

 meetings, outings and excursions that the so- 

 cieties promote. Even in this respect, only 

 one society, the Mazamas, exacts any perform- 

 ance as a measure of interest, and the perform- 

 ance that it demands — the ascent of a moim- 

 tain some thousands of feet in height — is no 

 more a test of geographical training and ac- 

 complishment than is the test that might be 

 exacted by a yachting or a hunting club. By 

 all means let the meetings, outings, excursions 

 and mountain ascents continue; let the socie- 

 ties that conduct them flourish; let the publi- 

 cation committees secure the best narratives 

 that the members can produce; but do not let 

 us imagine that the members of these societies 

 are all geographers. 



Turning now to constructive suggestions : 

 Let the proposed society be satisfied with the 

 northern part of the New World for its field; 

 let its name be the Geographical Society of 

 North America, in order not to imply that 

 America is all north of the Isthmus, and not 

 to infringe upon the name already occupied 

 by the society long established in New York 

 city. Let the various geographical societies 

 of North America be invited to send dele- 

 gates, one for every five hundred members, to 

 Pittsburgh next summer at the time of the 

 meeting of the American Association; and let 

 these delegates invite fifty or a hundred per- 

 sons of real geographical attainments to be- 

 come 'original members' of the new society. 

 Let those who accept this invitation meet at 

 Washington in Convocation Week, 1903, and 



