GEOGRAPHIC CONGRESS ABSTRACTS 



TOPOGRAPHIC METHODS USED FOR 

 THE NEW DETAIL MAPS OF THE 

 GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADO 



BY FRANCOIS E. MATTHES 



Two atlas sheets comprising about 500 square 

 miles have recently been completed on a scale 

 of T injo anc * with a contour interval of 50 feet. 

 With the exception of the plateaus bordering 

 the chasm, the entire area has been mapped 

 by planetable intersections taken from sta- 

 tions on the two rims. The peculiar topog- 

 raphy of the Grand Canyon lent itself admi- 

 rably to the intersection method. Indeed, it 

 proved altogether unique in this respect, a 

 thousand "cuts" from one station being by 

 no means uncommon. The profuseness and 

 intricacy of the details and the vast number 

 of intersections they made necessary for the 

 sketching precluded the use of such methods 

 as are ordinarily employed by topographers 

 for describing and recording ' ' cuts ' ' for future 

 reference. Nor could any method be used in 

 which the memory is in part relied upon in 

 identifying points previously cut in. At the 

 Grand Canyon hundreds of points were not 

 located by intersection until more than a year 

 after they had been cut in the first time. 

 Again, the difficulties of drafting the ex- 

 tremely dense contouring on the often almost 

 mathematically chiseled outlines of the so- 

 called Temples rendered it necessary to evolve 

 some method by which this laborious and 

 time-robbing work could be done in the office 

 without the great expense of maintaining a 

 field party. The method adopted at the 

 Grand Canyon fulfilled all the requirements, 

 essentially through one and the same device. 

 It may be termed the Preliminary Sketch 

 method ; and, while not claimed to be alto- 

 gether novel, it certainly has never before 

 been applied on so extensive a scale and with 

 so much systematic elaboration The paper 

 described this method in detail and was ac- 

 companied by a series of sketches showing the 

 successive steps in the work. 



GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY IN THE 

 UNITED STATES 



BY ALBERT PERRY BRIG-HAM 



The object of this paper was to suggest the 

 nature and limits of geographic influence upon 

 American history, and to inquire after the best 

 correlation of such closely related themes in 

 American schools. 



Certain results flow from geographic condi- 

 tions, while others belong to personal initiative 

 and to social traits, which in turn may follow 

 upon untraced geographic influences. But 



geographic conditions are vital and do not 

 merely form the "theatre " of history. 



This appears locally, as in the development 

 of cities, in forms of agriculture and in routes 

 of travel. It appears in great regions, as in the 

 domain of a nation, especially with swift geo- 

 graphic adjustments in a young country which, 

 like our own, has had a migrating frontier. 

 Illustrations — recent changes in New England, 

 and in the shifting status of the northern Mis- 

 sissippi states in their relations to the East 

 and to the South, as affected by routes of trans- 

 portation and by social and industrial differ- 

 ences. The reclamation of the arid lands 

 belongs also to this series of adjustments. 

 Finally, there may come worldwide adjust- 

 ments of our own and other nations, in which 

 all men shall be so placed as to win the best 

 things for groups and for the race. 



These relations between man and his en- 

 vironment must be appreciated by teachers of 

 both subjects under consideration, and each 

 must know in good measure the subject-matter 

 of the other. These ideals are not now real- 

 ized ; the teacher of geography is not com- 

 monly familiar with history, while the Com- 

 mittee of Seven of the American Historical 

 Association makes but meager reference to 

 geography as a fundamental subject- 



The two themes may be taught by one 

 teacher, a common German method, but this 

 is not possible in the best American high 

 schools and colleges. The paper then con- 

 sidered methods of more formal correlation 

 and discussed the gains to be won in each field. 



A COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE ARCTIC 

 AND ANTARCTIC 



BY FREDERICK A. COOK, M. D. 



In forming a comparative view of the two 

 polar areas there are encountered few points of 

 similarity. In the Arctic the climate is usually 

 stimulating. The storms, though at times se- 

 vere, are spasmodic and separated by interven- 

 ing periods of agreeable weather, while the 

 color effects are generally cheerful. The sea 

 is quiet, and the land has a coastal fringe free 

 of snow and ice, where lite thrives vigorously. 

 To this the Antarctic offers a disheartening 

 contrast. Depression, despair, and melancholy 

 are here pressed into every realm of nature. 

 Almost ceaseless winds drive the air and water 

 with maddening agitation. Continuous low 

 temperatures depress ambition, and the usual 

 play of colors is a veil of gloom. The ice-cap 

 fits the land surface so snugly that there is 

 almost no uncovered ground where life can 

 subsist. 



Aside from the unequal distribution of heat 

 supposedly due to the eccentricity of the 



