October 29, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



589 



regions may be adjusted in accordance with 

 definite mathematical processes. Some im- 

 portant expeditions on wliich infinite labor 

 and considerable sums have been expended 

 have presented their results, in so far as 

 they relate to the routes which have been 

 followed and the position of points which 

 have been determined, in such a way that 

 it is impossible to say within what preci- 

 sion such positions have been determined, 

 and consequently any combination of these 

 results with those of later expeditions has 

 to be carried out empirically, since ade- 

 quate data are no longer available for the 

 employment of better and more scientific 

 methods. 



This crude and unsatisfactory way of 

 treating observations, which in many cases 

 have been obtained under conditions of the 

 greatest difficulty and even hardship, is 

 largely due to the lack of interest which 

 geographers have shown in this part of 

 their subject. Methods of observation and 

 methods of computation are rarely discussed 

 before any of our geographical societies or 

 in any of our publications, and it is only 

 by such discussions that the importance of 

 properly working out the available material 

 at a time when the observer can be con- 

 sulted on points which are doubtful, or 

 where further explanation is desirable, be- 

 comes generally appreciated. 



No set of physical or astronomical observa- 

 tions is ever discussed or even presented 

 without the degree of precision or reliability 

 being definitely stated; yet in geography 

 this sound rule is too often neglected. 



There are several regions where travel- 

 lers' routes intersect which should provide 

 ample material for the careful reduction 

 and adjustment of the results. I fear, how- 

 ever, that there would be great difficulty in 

 obtaining the original observations which 

 are indispensable in such an investigation, 

 and in the interest of research it is highly 



desirable that the original documents of 

 all work of importance should be preserved 

 and the place where they may be consulted 

 recorded in the published account. 



There is room in the geographical inves- 

 tigation of sea and land, even within the 

 limits of the British Empire, for the em- 

 ployment of methods of observation and 

 computation of the highest precision as well 

 as of the simpler and more approximate 

 kinds, but every one who presents the re- 

 sults of his work should deem it his first 

 duty to state explicitly the methods which 

 he employed, and the accuracy to which he 

 attained, in such a form that all who make 

 use of them can judge for themselves of the 

 degree of their reliability. 



In such work, while the instruments used 

 are of great importance, too often the brief- 

 est description, such as "a 4-ineh theodo- 

 lite," is deemed sufficient. If the observer 

 Avishes his work to be treated seriously as a 

 definite contribution to science we require 

 to know more than this, and a clear account 

 of the essentials of the instrument, a state- 

 ment of its errors, and of the methods of 

 observation adopted are the least that will 

 suffice. The account of any expedition 

 should treat so fully of the instruments, 

 observations and computations utilized to 

 determine the positions of places visited 

 that any one can re-examine the evidence 

 and form his opinion on the value of the 

 results obtained. A mere tabular state- 

 ment of accepted values, which frequently 

 is all that is provided, is of small value from 

 a scientific point of view. Probably one 

 reason for this state of things is that too 

 little attention is being paid by geograph- 

 ers to their instruments. Theodolites, 

 levels, compasses, clinometers, taeheometers, 

 plane-tables, pantographs, coordinatographs, 

 planimeters, and the many other instru- 

 ments which are used by the surveyor, the 

 cartographer, the computer, have in no ease 



