794 General Notes. [December, 
the 27th of August. While the general attendance was much 
smaller than usual, the Geographical Section, under the presi- 
dency of Mr. Clements R. Markham, and favored with the pres- 
ence of several distinguished travelers from abroad, had large 
assemblages at all its sessions. Mr. Markham, in his opening 
address, treated of the objects and aims of geographers and the 
position which the science holds, relatively, with reference to 
other sciences, and positively as a distinct body of knowledge 
with definite limits. 
“We are still very far indeed,” he said, “from an accurate 
‘scientific geographical knowledge of even the most civilized 
countries, while by far the largest portion of the earth’s surface is 
inadequately surveyed, and a smaller, though far from inconsider- 
able, part is unsurveyed or entirely unknown. In the division of 
labor, the geodetist produces the accurate large-scale maps which 
are necessary in thickly populated countries, the topographical 
surveyor furnishes less exact maps of more thinly peopled and 
less civilized regions, while the trained explorer forces his way 
into the unknown parts of the earth. 
Accurate maps are the basis of all inquiry conducted on scien- 
tific principles. Without them a geological survey is impossible; 
nor can botany, zodlogy or ethnology be viewed in their broader 
aspects unless considerations of locality, altitude and latitude are 
kept in view. : 
The sufveying and mapping of the ocean is only second in 
importance to that of the land; and this work also divides itself 
into three sections, namely: the coast surveyed, the coasts par- 
tially surveyed and the unsurveyed coasts. Hydrography will 
net be completed until all the coasts in the world are included in 
the first section, which is now very far indeed from being the case. 
He had spoken of the measurement of the surface of land and 
sea, and of their heights and depths; to the mapping of the world 
and to the innumerable uses of maps and charts. But this only 
forms the skeleton of our science, which is endued with flesh and 
blood, with life and motion by those who study the causes and 
nature of the changes that have taken place and are now taking 
place upon the earth ; by comparative and physical geographers, 
by those who study and classify natural phenomena, and demon- 
strate their connection with each other and their places in the 
great scheme of nature. The importance of the study of history 
and of early narratives for the elucidation of points in physical 
eography will appear from the consideration of a few instances. 
Take, for example, the great and fertile basin of the River Ganges, 
in India. The Sanscrit historian finds reason for the belief that 
in 3000 B. C. the only habitable part of the alluvial plain of India 
was the water-parting or ridge between the Sutlej and the Jumna. — 
he rest was a great estuary or arm of the sea. It has only been 
t for man’s occupation within the historical period, and hundreds 
