384 THE FUNCTION AND FIELD OF GEOGRAPHY. 



in the subject has beeu extended by the foundation of geographical 

 societies in various large centers; whereas thirteen years ago the only 

 geographical society was that of London, there are now similar societies 

 in Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Edinburgh, the last with 

 branches in Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen. If this progressive move- 

 ment is maintained, as there is every reason to hope it will be, the 

 scientific and educational aspects of geography in Britain will be more 

 nearly on a par with exploration in which our country has so long held 

 the lead. 



In the United States I found that the position of the subject in edu- 

 cation was not much more satisfactory than it was in England. Since 

 then there is reason to believe considerable progress has been made. 

 One of the best text-books on physical geography, Hinman's Eclectic 

 Physical Geography, is of American origin, while in the States, as in 

 England, a school of scientific geographers has arisen which bids fair 

 to give the subject a high place in that country. 1 fear, from what I 

 can learn, that the position in Canada is not as satisfactory as it ought 

 to be. It seems to me, then, that one of the great i^roblems which 

 geographers have to face in the future is the place which this subject 

 is to hold in education, both as a body of information and as a disci- 

 pline. We have been making progress, and if we persevere with intel- 

 ligence and firmness and maintain the sabject at the highest standard 

 as a field of research, there can be little doubt of our success. 



There is a prevalent belief that geopraphers have nothing more to 

 learn in Europe — that the old continent has been thoroughly explored. 

 It is true that nearly ev«ry country in Europe has been or is being 

 trigonometrically surveyed. Except some j)arts of the Balkan Penin- 

 sula and north of Eussia the topography of the continent has been 

 accurately mapped on scales and by methods sufficient at least for the 

 purposes of the geographer. Yet there are districts in the Balkan 

 Peninsula — for example, Albania — which are as vaguely known as 

 central Africa. But it is a delusion to think that because a country 

 has been fully mapped the occupation of the geographer is gone. It 

 is only when a region at large is adequately mapped that the work of 

 geographical research begins. The student, with a satisfactory map of 

 a definite district as his guide, will find on the spot abundant occupa- 

 tion in working out its geographical details, the changes which have 

 taken place in its topography, and the bearing of its varied features 

 upon its history, its inhabitants, its industries. This kind of work has 

 been in progress in Germany for over ten years under the auspices of 

 the central commission for the scientific geography (Landeskunde) 

 of Germany, with its seat at Stuttgart. Under the collective title of 

 ''Forschuogen zur Deutschen Landes- und Volkskunde," a long series 

 of monographs by specialists has been published, dealing in minute 

 detail with one or more aspects of a limited district. Thus we have 

 such memoirs as "The plain of the (Jpper Ehine and its neighboring 



