24 



REPORT ON THE LABORATORY OF PHYSICAL 



GEOGRAPHY. 



By Professor W. M. Davis. 



Instruction in Physical Geography and Meteorology has been 

 continued on the same plan as in former years ; the intention 

 being to give under the first heading a general account of the 

 oceans and a more particular account of the meaning and develop- 

 ment of land forms and their relation to habitation ; and under 

 the second heading, an understanding of the arguments on which 

 the acceptance of the modern physical theories of meteorology are 

 based. The instruction in these elementary courses was given in 

 the form of lectures delivered in the large Geological Lecture 

 Room, supplemented by exercises in the Laboratory on the fourth 

 floor. Written and verbal tests were required nearly every week 

 under the two instructors, besides the usual final examinations. 



The lectures, particularly those on Physical Geography, re- 

 ceived frequent illustration by the lantern, for which our growing 

 collection of slides gives abundant means. The laboratory exer- 

 cises were based, much as in previous years, on the special collec- 

 tion of maps and models formed for this purpose and still increas- 

 ing. The paper models, described in previous Reports, are still in 

 constant use in the Laboratory ; although it is now desirable that 

 a new edition of them should be prepared, not only thus better to 

 meet our own needs, but also to be able to supply the demand for 

 the models that comes from other colleges. At present the series 

 is not duplicated for sale or exchange. The employment of a 

 capable assistant to revise the models is greatly desired. 



An almost equal use is made of the large-scale topographic maps 

 of our own and of foreign countries, of which the Laboratory con- 

 tains an extended collection, apart from the much larger collection 

 in the University Library, which is referred to below. In most 



