382 THE FUNCTION AND FIELD OF GEOGRAPHY. 



of researcli. I have thought then that the most useful and most man- 

 ageable thing to do on the present occasion will be to indicate briefly 

 what, in iny estimation, are some of the problems which geography has 

 to attack in the future, only taking such glances at the past as will 

 enable us to do this intelligibly. 



It has been customary for the occupants of this chair to try to define 

 the field of geography, and on occasions, in somewhat too apologetic 

 language, to justify its existence as a section of a scientific associa- 

 tion. I do not think this is any longer necessary. Even in England 

 and America, during the last thirteen years, geography has done work 

 enough to prove that she has a mission which no other department of 

 research can fulfill. I say thirteen years, because that not only carries 

 us back to the last Canadian meeting of the British Association, but to 

 the year when the Royal Geographical Society undertook an inquiry 

 into the position of geography at home and abroad, mainly with a view 

 to the imi)rovement of geographical education in England, During 

 that time a good deal has been written as to the field and scope of 

 geography, and a good many definitions given. But we really did not 

 require to go to Germany to teach us as to the field and functions of 

 geography. Sixty years ago, the then president of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society, Mr. William R. Hamilton, delivered the first 

 presidential address ever given at that society, and his conception of 

 the field and aims of geograx)hy was as exalted and comprehensive as 

 the most exacting German geographer could wish. It is too long to 

 quote here. ^ 



It would be dif&cult to improve upon Mr. Hamilton's definition, and it 

 shows that a correct conception of the wide and important field of 

 geography is no new thing in England. He i)roceeded to indicate what 

 remained to be done in the field of exploration, and I commend his 

 address to anyone desirous of forming a conception of the vast progress 

 that has been made since it was delivered sixty years ago. Since I am 

 dealing with definitions, I may be permitted to quote that given by one 

 so severely scientific as Gen. Sir R. Strachey in a course of lectures which 

 he gave at the University of Cambridge in 1888, in connection with the 

 establishment of a lecturership in geography in that university: 

 "The aim of geographical science," he says, "is to investigate and 

 delineate the various features of the earth; to study the distribution of 

 land and sea, the configuration and relief of the surface, position on the 

 globe, and so forth, facts which determine the existing condition of 

 various parts of the earth, or which indicate former conditions; and to 

 ascertain the relations that exist between these features and all that is 

 observed on the earth. * * * i claim for geography," Sir R. 

 Strachey says, "a place among the natural sciences as supplying the 

 needful medium through which to obtain a connected and consistent 

 conception of the earth and what is on it." He gives a list of the 



1 Journal E. G. S., Vol. VIII, 1838. 



