June 17, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



929 



Sir Archibald Geil?ie's "Scenery of Scot- 

 land" (1901), where one may read: 



The problem of the origin of the scenery of any 

 part of the earth's surface must obviously include 

 a consideration of the following questions : ( 1 ) 

 the nature of the materials out of which the 

 scenery has been produced; (2) the influence 

 which subterranean movements have had on these 

 materials, as, for instance, in their fracture, dis- 

 placement, plication and metamorphism, and 

 whether any evidence can be recovered as to the 

 probable form which they assumed at the surface 

 when they were first raised into land; (3) the 

 nature and effect of the erosion which they have 

 undergone since their upheaval; and (4) the 

 geological periods within which the various proc- 

 esses have been at work, to the conjoint operation 

 of which the origin of the scenery is to be 

 ascribed (pp. 9, 10) . 



Here Ave have the very essence of what 

 is implied under the terms ' ' structure, proc- 

 ess and stage" ; and I fully agree that "ob- 

 viously," as used im the first sentence, is 

 precisely the word with which to intro- 

 duce what follows. Yet, obvious as these 

 considerations are as regards the origin of 

 scenery, it is seldom that they are com- 

 pletely and systematically employed by 

 geographers in the description of scenery. 

 Their helpful use is furthered by their 

 systematic treatment according to a defi- 

 nite method; and therefore method has 

 here a practical value. Each member of 

 my party knew well enough the various 

 structures and processes involved in the 

 production of natural landscapes, and 

 could explain them item by item ; neverthe- 

 less, hardly any one had consciously 

 adopted a particular method for present- 

 ing the results of his observations regard- 

 ing the natural combinations of the items, 

 such as occurred in the landscapes that 

 were repeatedly spread before us. 



A generally favorable consideration was 

 given to the method of structure, process 

 and stage, during the excursion, but this 

 must not be taken as counting altogether 



in its favor. A definite method naturally 

 makes headway as against indefinite, un- 

 formulated methods; and moreover, as I 

 was the leader and oldest member of the 

 party, my views probably received a 

 greater consideration than they would have 

 gained if I had been a junior and a fol- 

 lower. Still, all allowances made, the ex- 

 cursion gave me great encouragement, and 

 I resolved to persevere in carrying the 

 development and the application of the 

 method as far as possible; but always in 

 the hopes of meeting other methods, devel- 

 oped by my colleagues; and always with 

 the promise, to myself at least, to make 

 careful trial of other methods as far as I 

 could learn them. 



THE DISSECTED COASTAL PLAIN NEAE ANCONA 



Let me give a few examples of our work, 

 beginning with two excursions in the neigh- 

 borhood of Ancona, where sheets 117, 118, 

 124, 125 of the Grande Carta topografica 

 del Regno d 'Italia, 1:100,000, served as 

 local guides. Here the earliest members 

 of the party, a Frenchman, a German Swiss 

 and an Austro-Galician, were present. The 

 results may be briefly summarized as fol- 

 lows : The northeastern Apennines serve as 

 the oldland to a dissected coastal plain, 

 some 20 or 30 kilometers in breadth, com- 

 posed of unconsolidated strata of clay and 

 sand. The dissection has been carried to 

 a stage of late maturity by prevailingly 

 consequent streams with short insequent 

 branches, the largest consequents being 

 those which have been extended across the 

 plain from the Apennine oldland to the 

 sea. The oldland, although not sharply 

 separated from the coastal plain, has a 

 more deformed structure, a greater alti- 

 tude, and a tendency to a longitudinal 

 rather than to a transverse arrangement 

 of its ridges. The relief of the district is 

 moderate or small, with altitudes of 200 



