THE RATIONAL ELEMENT IN GEOGRAPHY 467 



The two chief causes of the change now in rapid progress from 

 an empirical to a rational geography originated outside of the 

 limits of geography proper. One of the causes is the. under- 

 standing of the evolution of land forms that has been contributed 

 by geology ; the other is the belief in the evolution of organic 

 forms contributed by biology. To these must be added the 

 better knowledge of meteorology through the application of 

 physics to the study of the atmosphere, as well as the results 

 of strictly geographical exploration of lands and seas ; but all 

 this is of secondary importance alongside of the revolution that 

 has been worked by the acceptance of inorganic and organic 

 evolution. The study of the earth in relation to man, as now 

 illuminated, has become wonderfully more interesting at this 

 end of the century than it was in Ritter's time in the beginning, 

 and we may well believe that the explorations of the twentieth 

 century will profit greatly by the more sympathetic appreciation 

 of nature that geographers will then carry into the field. 



It will not be possible to consider in this article any of the 

 organic elements of geography, and among the many inorganic 

 elements of the subject attention can now be given only to the 

 lands ; the earth as a globe, the atmosphere, and the ocean can- 

 not be included. Furthermore, only one of the most practical 

 aspects of land study will here be touched upon, namely, the 

 art of giving an accurate and effective verbal description of land 

 forms : a description that shall be at once accurate in represent- 

 ing the essential facts of nature, and effective in being intelligi- 

 ble to its hearers or readers. 



It is not a simple matter to frame a good verbal description 

 of geographical forms. The description must not attempt the 

 impossible by undertaking to set forth facts of form and relief 

 with the fidelity of a good model, or by trying to indicate facts 

 of distribution as accurately as they are shown on a good map, 

 or by seeking to present perspective impressions from a single 

 point of view, such as are given in good pictures. The patience 

 of the hearer or reader would be sorely tried if the perseverance 

 of the speaker or writer tempted him to indicate by words the 

 innumerable details that find proper expression by plastic, 

 graphic, or pictorial art. Verbal description has an object of its 

 own. It must be devoted chiefly to summarized facts, whether 

 they arc details or generalities, and it must deal with new facts 

 by means of their likeness or contrast with certain previously 

 known types whose forms serve as the standards upon which 

 descriptive terms are based. 



