June 17, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



943 



and in which the spurs in the foreground 

 are all evenly truncated by the former sea 

 cliff, in front of which the strand plain is 

 now prograded. 



Similarly, the invented sketch given in 

 Fig. 3 shows only the kinds of features 

 that were noted in the valley of the La- 

 mone, and not the actual features them- 

 selves. The maturely dissected hills de- 

 veloped on the more resistant structures 

 occupy the middle and left of the view ; the 

 incised meandering valley of the second 

 cycle, is maturely opened beneath the floor 

 of the broader, late mature valley of the 

 first cycle ; the sharp-cut side gorge through 

 the hills of harder structure in the left- 

 center contrasts with the wider side valley 

 on the right, where the weaker clays of the 

 dissected coastal plain replace the more 

 resistant strata of the Apennine foothills; 

 and in immediate association therewith is 

 seen the broadened floor of the main stream 

 after it passes from the more resistant into 

 the less resistant structures. The diagram 

 would surely be much more faithful, if it 

 had been drawn from a hilltop on the near 

 side of the valley instead of from the 

 imagination of what siich a hilltop view 

 would be. Many of the lines would be 

 smoother and steadier, if they had been 

 drawn by a professional draftsman; but 

 diagrams prepared by some one else than 

 the observer are hardly more satisfactory 

 than lectures prepared by an expert type- 

 writer instead of by the lecturer himself. 

 Block diagrams are more immediately 

 understood than maps are; they are vastly 

 superior to mere profiles, which of all 

 graphic devices are of least value to the 

 geographer; for he is concerned with sur- 

 faces, not with lines; yet if profiles are 

 wanted, they are found along the side of 

 block diagrams, in their proper position 

 with respect to the adjoining surface. For 

 the purpose here indicated— that of giving 



an immediate introduction to the whole 

 story— block diagrams are as much more 

 serviceable than photographs, as photo- 

 graphs are more serviceable than block 

 diagrams when it comes, later, to the, pre- 

 sentation of details. One of the chief 

 values of block diagrams remains to be 

 mentioned; they can be drawn from any 

 desired point of view, as in the ease of 

 Figs. 2 and 3, so as to show the features 

 represented in the best possible relation to 

 each other. Some ingenuity in the way 

 of inventing and designing is here called 

 for; and it is well expended if the final 

 diagram is thereby drawn in the most ef- 

 fective manner. 



An objection that is often raised against 

 the use of block diagrams— that their 

 preparation demands a knowledge of draw- 

 ing—ought to have small weight among 

 practical geographers, especially among 

 the younger ones. To object to an effective 

 kind of diagrams because their preparation 

 demands a moderate skill in drawing, is 

 like objecting to horseback riding during 

 a geographical excursion in the West be- 

 cause it involves a little skill in the saddle ; 

 or to the use of original photographs as 

 illustrations, because their preparation re- 

 quires a little acquaintance with cameras 

 and films; or to the consultation of Euro- 

 pean jovirnals, because this calls for a mod- 

 erate knowledge of foreign languages; or 

 to map-making, because it depends on an 

 elementary understanding of cartography; 

 or to preparing a written report, because 

 it involves a knowledge of composition. 

 There must, of coiarse, always be a great 

 difference in the proficiency that different 

 geographers will reach in these several as- 

 sociated arts ; but any one who is in earnest 

 in his work may soon acquire a profitable 

 reading knowledge of a foreign language 

 or two, or a sufficient comfort in horse- 

 back travel, or a simple proficiency in 



