586 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1087 



ation of geography now exists than that 

 which formerly prevailed. At the time of 

 the address to which I have referred the 

 serious study of geography in this country 

 was on the eve of important developments. 

 The Council of the Eoyal Geographical So- 

 ciety had for some time been urging the 

 importance of geography being studied at 

 the universities so that there should be an 

 opportunity for advanced students to 

 qualify themselves as scientific geographers 

 by study and original research in the sub- 

 ject. The time had arrived for this ideal 

 to become an accomplished fact, and in the 

 following year, 1888, a reader in geography 

 was appointed at Oxford University, and 

 a lectureship in the same subject was es- 

 tablished at Cambridge. Since then the 

 advance has been steady and continuous 

 not only in the increased attention given to 

 the subject, b^^t also in the way in which 

 it is treated. The earlier bald and unat- 

 tractive statistical presentation of the sub- 

 ject has now been almost everywhere re- 

 placed by a more intelligent treatment of 

 it, in which the influences of the various 

 environments upon the life which inhabits 

 a region are appreciated, and the responses 

 to such influences are followed up. In- 

 struction in the subject is given by those 

 who have seriously studied it, who realize 

 its importance, and who are in a position 

 to train up new scientific workers in the 

 field of geography. Though much remains 

 to be done, there should be now a steady 

 output of geographical investigators capa- 

 ble of providing an ever-increasing supply 

 of carefully observed data, which they will 

 have classified methodically and discussed 

 critically, in order that these may be util- 

 ized to form sound generalizations as to 

 their relationships and sequence in accord- 

 ance with the method which is employed in 

 all scientific work. 



In order that we may see what advance 



has been made in the scientific study of 

 geography in this country during t&e last 

 quarter of a century, we must turn to the 

 results that have been attained by the ac- 

 tivity of geographical investigators who 

 have devoted themselves to the serious 

 study of various phenomena, and the de- 

 tailed investigation of particular regions. 

 If we do so I think that we must admit that 

 the number of original investigators in 

 scientific geography who are extending its 

 scope in this way is not so large as it might 

 be, nor are we yet utilizing sufficiently all 

 the material which is available to us. Any 

 one who will examine the geographical ma- 

 terial which has been published in any 

 period which he may select for review will 

 find that purely descriptive treatment still 

 far outweighs the analytical treatment 

 which alone can lead to definite advances 

 in scientific geography. If pleasing de- 

 scriptions of this or that locality are sought 

 for, they are for the most part to be found 

 readily in the very large amount of such 

 material that has been and is being pub- 

 lished each year by residents, travelers and 

 explorers; but if information is desired in 

 the prosecution of a piece of geographical 

 research, we are checked by the lack of pre- 

 cise details. Few of this class of descrip- 

 tions are sufficiently definite to enable the 

 necessary comparisons to be made between 

 one locality and others which are similarly 

 situated; thoroughly quantitative treat- 

 ment is for the most part lacking, and 

 while a pleasing picture is drawn which is 

 probably true in character, it is usually 

 inadequately furnished with those definite 

 facts which the geographer requires. 



I propose, therefore, to examine a little 

 more closely the question of geographical 

 investigation and research in order to see 

 where we stand and in what direction it 

 behooves us to put forth our energies to the 

 end that a branch of knowledge which is of 



