Geography 



485 



to its vast importance in regard to social 

 life and the art of government, geog- 

 raphy unfolds to us the celestial phe- 

 nomena, acquaints us with the occupants 

 of the land and ocean, and the vegeta- 

 tion, fruits, and peculiarities of the 

 various quarters of the earth." 



This was written when geography in- 

 cluded all natural science, and before it 

 gave birth to so many separate subjects ; 

 but it sets forth so admirably the aims 

 which the geographer still pursues that 

 it is worthy of remembrance. 



GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE ESSEN- 

 TIAL TO THE MAN OF AFFAIRS 



It is not advocated, nor is it in any 

 way necessary, that all should study 

 geography in the extended sense thus 

 indicated ; but it cannot be too strongly 

 pointed out that an educated man — and 

 education is now essential to the suc- 

 cessful conduct of affairs — must have a 

 considerable knowledge of the element- 

 ary facts of geography. 



These elementary facts are, it is true, 

 of the nature of a lesson, and must be 

 learned, so to speak, by heart by the aid 

 of maps and books ; but this is nothing 

 more than making use of the labors of 

 others, without which no advance is pos- 

 sible in any subject, and is common to 

 all studies. 



We must, in fact, distinguish between 

 the science of geography, which con- 

 sists in ascertaining and coordinating 

 new facts and putting them into a shape 

 for the use of others, which is the work 

 of comparatively few; and the practical 

 geography which consists of making use 

 of that work, and, as in many other 

 branches of science, is within the reach 

 of all who choose to devote time to it. 



It is impossible to have a clear com- 

 prehension of history, whether past or 

 current, without calling in the aid of 

 geography ; but unfortunately much his- 

 tory has been written and taught with- 

 out such aid. 



To read the daily papers requires 



either geographical knowledge or con- 

 stant reference to maps, and if readers 

 would only make a practice of such ref- 

 erence on every occasion when they are 

 at fault, they would soon find themselves 

 acquiring knowledge of the greatest use 

 to them in the easiest and most interest- 

 ing manner and with the smallest ex- 

 penditure of time. 



The mistakes made even by those re- 

 sponsible for the conduct of public af- 

 fairs, by reason of the want of this 

 essential but elementary knowledge, are 

 innumerable, and to this day there are 

 many who consider themselves highly 

 educated and capable men who cannot 

 even rightly understand a map. 



GOOD MAPS THE FOUNDATION OF 

 GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE 



As I have before indicated, good maps 

 are the foundation of all sound geo- 

 graphical knowledge, and these maps 

 must be founded on good surveys. 



Now a good survey is a comparatively 

 modern operation, and the parts of the 

 world that have been subjected to it are 

 small indeed. 



It is true that we now have general 

 maps of the larger parts of the world, 

 which more or less convey a fair repre- 

 sentation of the configuration of land 

 and sea when large areas are considered, 

 but details are sadly lacking almost 

 everywhere. 



To many people one map is as good 

 as another. They do not pause to con- 

 sider on what it is based or what degree 

 of accuracy it probably possesses, but so 

 long as there is a map they are satisfied. 



A vast number of existing maps are 

 compiled from the roughest materials ; 

 in partly occupied countries, from draw- 

 ings of small areas placed together as 

 can best be done, by means of places 

 here and there, the relative positions of 

 which are fairly known by distances 

 along roads, with perhaps in some cases 

 angles and astronomical positions ; in 

 less civilized parts by routes of travelers 



