GEOGRAPHY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 477 



observation of local features and scenery; (2) the art of " reading "^ 

 maps was not taught, nor was the construction of a map led up to- 

 by making plans of short walks and diagrams of the neighborhood ;. 

 (3) the study of political and commercial geography was not based 

 upon the study of physical geography, neither were the details of 

 geographical study connected as cause and effect. There was na 

 attempt to present a country to the scholar as a connected whole,, 

 and the lessons consisted of lists of names and figures, at the best 

 arranged^in groups. The chief reforms consisted, said Mr Rooper,. 

 in the intelligent study of local geography through local majjs and 

 models, and in object lessons which explained the principles of phys- 

 ical geography. The reliefs and models led up to the art of reading 

 maps and to tjie demand for better maps. Such lessons were an ex- 

 cellent introduction to reasoning, and proved how little there was 

 that was purel}'- arbitrary, even in the sites of towns and villages in 

 the neighborhood, much less in the industries Avhich were carried on 

 in them. The symbols on wall maps were vague and meaningless- 

 unless a context and significance were given them by previous prac- 

 tice in the building up of local plans and maps. The scholar should 

 be carefully taught how to translate the symbols back into the forms- 

 of nature which they inadequately represented. The value of graphic 

 work in the teaching of geography was strongly emphasized. The 

 mere copying and coloring of maps b}^ the pupil was rather an exer- 

 cise in drawing than in geography. Each map should be drawn to 

 serve some definite purpose. It should disentangle from a complex 

 whole some particular part which analysis brought to light, and illus- 

 trate it with precision and simplicity. Further, the sketch mai)s 

 should proceed from the simpler to the more comj^lex, and no map 

 should be made of a country as a whole until the leading features 

 had been dealt Avith separately, the constructive method l)eing thus 

 applied to the teaching of geography. 



The delicacy of the instruments now used for tlic detection of 

 earthquake disturl)ances was thorough)}^ appreciated \)y the audience 

 to which Prof. J. Milne made the sur|)rising statement that no lewer 

 than 130 earthquakes were recorded at Shide, in the Isle of Wight, 

 last year. Of these disturljances, 125 had suboceanic origins, the 

 Pacific origins being, with tlie possi))le exception of one group, on 

 the face or at the bottom of those remarkal)U' "deeps" wiiich are 

 found along the eastern and western margins of that ocean. Professor 

 Milne stated tiiat as there are reasons for believing that each of the 



