“ We record with much regret that Sir John Keltie, the pioneer in this country of the scientific study of geography and an old and valued contributor to The Times, died yesterday of bronchitis at the age of 86.
John Scott Keltie was born at Dundee on March 29, 1840. His father's family had been settled for generation on their own lands in Perthshire, but, having suffered losses, were unable to save him from a struggle for existence in early life which braced and strengthened his character—a destiny shared by Mungo Park, Livingstone, and many other Scotsmen of geographical fame. ”

“ Text-books, maps and appliances of all kinds have been improved, and practical work in the field is common in many schools. In this movement Keltie played a constant and prominent part, as also in the gradual introduction into this country from Germany of the modern conception of geography, which no longer confined to an arid knowledge of the position of towns, rivers, and capes, has become a science dealing with the earth's surgace as the physical basis of all human activity. ”

“ A new phase in his career opened in 1884, when the Royal Geographical Society, which had long made fruitless efforts to secure the recognition of geography as a regular branch of education in this country, appointed Keltie Inspector of Geographical Education, and instructed him to make a searching inquiry into the whole subject of geographical teaching all over the world. ”