January 27, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



129 



manifest. As shown by a considerable 

 body of evidence that has been gathered, 

 and as is a matter of current knowledge, 

 the greatest efforts our societies have made 

 have been in the direction of disseminating 

 geographical information and attracting 

 popular attention to the results explorers 

 and travelers have brought home. During 

 the year 1903 our geographical societies, 

 clubs, etc., held a total of over 60 home 

 meetings, in part scientific and in part 

 popular; conducted not less than 44 public 

 lectures, and engaged in about 16 field 

 meetings. In addition to these direct 

 methods of spreading information, mostly 

 by addresses and lectures, our societies 

 publish on an average approximating 2,000 

 octavo pages of printed matter each year. 

 These statistics certainly make a favorable 

 showing, and furnish hopeful signs by 

 which to judge of the possibilities of the 

 future. 



The net results just referred to, however, 

 pertain to quantity, not quality. The 

 quality of the work our geographical so- 

 cieties are doing is difficult of even ap- 

 proximate determination, since there is no 

 generally accepted standard of measure- 

 ment available. This is also a delicate 

 matter to discuss, for the reason that local 

 pride and personal ambition are involved. 

 Certain general conclusions, in this connec- 

 tion, however, seem too evident to be in 

 danger of challenge. 



The quality of a popular lecture may be 

 said to be good, when its theme is enter- 

 taining and instructive, its presentation 

 clear and forceful, and so adjusted to the 

 audience addressed as to hold its attention 

 and lead to logical and consecutive thought 

 concerning the ideas presented. Since a 

 popular lecture has for its principal aim 

 the dissemination of knowledge, its success 

 depends in a large measure on the number 

 of persons who hear it. Judged from this 

 composite standard, the lectures delivered 



under the auspices of our geographical so- 

 cieties must in general be adjudged good 

 and their influence wide reaching. 



The quality of a scientific session of a 

 geographical society for the purpose of 

 presenting and discussing the results of 

 exploration or the conclusions obtained by 

 painstaking research, may be said to be 

 good when the subject-matter is a contribu- 

 tion to previous knowledge. Added to this 

 quality there should be intelligent and sug- 

 gestive discussion, bringing to the front 

 various points of view, and showing inci- 

 dentally whether or not the principal 

 speakers have presented their ideas clearly 

 and logically. The success of a scientific 

 meeting is also to be judged, to a consider- 

 able extent at least, by the number of per- 

 sons in attendance, since one aim, and in 

 general the main desire, is the diffusion of 

 knowledge. Judged by these standards 

 the meetings of our geographical societies 

 must be accredited with having added im- 

 portant truths to the world's store of 

 knowledge and to have exerted a beneficent 

 influence on thought and methods of think- 

 ing. In large part, however, the degree of 

 success in the case of the meetings in ques- 

 tion has been less than could have been 

 desired, owing to the small measure of en- 

 couragement extended by our geographical 

 societies to research, lack of adequate prep- 

 aration on the part of the audience, and as 

 an element necessary to the dissemination 

 of knowledge, the smallness of the assem- 

 blies usually in attendance when questions 

 bearing on scientific geography are dis- 

 cussed. 



Success in the case of the publications 

 of geographical societies lies mainly in two 

 directions, one the importance of the addi- 

 tions made to knowledge, and the other the 

 extent to which knowledge is distributed. 

 The pages printed are in the main either 

 popular or scientific, but the highest ideal, 

 as I think may justly be claimed, is at- 



