January 27, 11)05.] 



SCIENCE. 



125 



still open to geographical societies, and by 

 some persons may even now be considered 

 as the chief aim they should have in view. 



With the change from traversing un- 

 known areas to exploring the domain of 

 ideas, which made geography a science, 

 the sphere of usefulness of the geograph- 

 ical society has been vastly enlarged and 

 new duties placed upon it. Thus far, how- 

 ever, geographical societies do not seem to 

 have awakened to the full realization of 

 the dignity of this new life, and the vast 

 possibilities it opens for their own growth 

 and elevation. It needs no argument to 

 show that it is a duty of a society having 

 the study of the earth's surface for its 

 chosen field, to foster and encourage geo- 

 graphical research in the laboratory and 

 library, in cultivated fields, and amid hills 

 and valleys, just as truly as it is to aid the 

 African explorer or encourage the moun- 

 taineer who would scale Mount Everest. 



To be reckoned among the functions of 

 geographical societies, is the search for the 

 exceptional man, not only he of strength 

 of limb who can climb mountains, and of 

 great endurance who can brave the perils 

 of ice-fields or tropical jungles, but the 

 man of broad philosophical ideas and log- 

 ical mind, who can correlate the facts ex- 

 plorers gather, supplement them by his 

 own field-studies, and deduce from them 

 the laws that have governed the earth's 

 development and still control the winds, 

 the streams, the glaciers and other agen- 

 cies by which the earth's surface is being 

 modified and changed. 



The comer-stone of every geographical 

 society should, therefore, be geographical 

 research, under which term sys+ematic en- 

 deavor to enhance any branch of geograph- 

 ical knowledge is included. 



Diffusion of Geographical Knowledge. — 

 While an increase in knowledge should be 

 the leading ambition of geographical so- 

 cieties, their greatest activity and chief ex- 



ertion, as shown by their histories, has been 

 in the direction of spreading or dissemi- 

 nating knowledge already acquired. Ac- 

 tivity in this direction is highly commend- 

 able and should be encouraged, as it is a 

 most important function; but it is an out- 

 come of research and occupies a lower 

 plane. The means for disseminating 

 knowledge available for geographical so- 

 cieties, as is well known, are : Both popular 

 and scientific meetings, public lectures, 

 field excursions, joint sessions of two or 

 more societies, international congi'esses, 

 together with the printing and distributing 

 of journals, proceedings, magazines, etc. 



Intimately connected with the distribu- 

 tion of a special kind of knowledge from 

 a given center, is the gathering together at 

 that center the records pertaining to the 

 specific aim in view distributed from other 

 centers. One function of a geographical 

 society is, therefore, to maintain libraries 

 of books, maps, charts, and, also, in these 

 later days, of photographs. Necessitated 

 by this and other functions is the owner- 

 ship or control of a building suitable for 

 library purposes, places of meeting, etc. 



Individual Conferences. — All the func- 

 tions of geographical societies have not 

 been stated, however, when the aids they 

 offer to exploration and study, and their 

 various means of publication are reviewed. 

 There is an important and wide-reaching 

 influence which results from the personal 

 contact and friendly exchange of ideas and 

 experiences between persons engaged in the 

 same or similar lines of work. It is seem- 

 ingly this phase of the social instinct of 

 mankind, more than any other element in 

 scientific cooperation, which leads to the 

 organizing of geographical societies, and 

 serves to hold their members to a common 

 purpose. The importance and value of 

 the contact of man with man, while de- 

 pendent mainly on the personalities, 

 breadth of experience and richcess of 



